Battery question

Actually most of the later Miatas have a "glass mat" battery, not a gel cell. There are several companies that sell a glass mat battery with the correct vent and post arrangement for the Miata. If you want to order one by mail, look at the miata.net website. A popular battery brand for the Miata is Westco. Optima also makes a compatable battery, for a lot more money. My local battery specialty shop even carries a private label glass mat battery that is built for the Miata configuration. Gel cells are a good battery, but not the best type of battery for starting a car.

They never had a gel cell, though it is commonly called one.

Leon

Thanks, guys. Yeah, I went to miata.net and printed out the whole story of the battery, along with info on the WestCo replacement. I see it's about $90 on the website. The Optima for my truck was $130.

I examined and test drove a 2001 today. Nice condition, though when I checked the battery it didn't say Panasonic, but Mazda on it; and I noticed a small amount of corrosion on a holding bracket. If I read right, Mazda has created a lead-acid sealed type? They expect it to be OK in the Miata? Just seeing a tiny bit of corrosion made me uncomfortable. If I buy this one I'd try to hit the owner for at least $100 off so I could get an AGM replacement.

Many thanks to the Miata.net site, I may have scared the owner a bit with my complete checklist :) When I started to crawl under the front and rear he asked, "...what are you looking for?" I just said "anything out of the ordinary." I think I was thorough. It's on the list as a possible candidate.

I've got a 2003 to look at Saturday, then I could likely make a decision.

Got my loan approved no problem, and thanks to another great source of information I opted for a credit union and got a very nice APR.

You'll hear more from me when I settle on a Miata!