Up for sale is my 1999 Miata. I've had this car for a while, and I'm actually kind of reluctant to sell it for that reason, but at the same time I'm ready for something new. The history of this car in my ownership's been pretty convoluted. I bought it bone-stock as a bone-headed 18 year old at a used car dealership 3 years ago and it was autocrossed the day after I bought it. It's seen a lot of autocross miles in CS/RTR, and then STR later on. Last winter someone pulled out in front of me and I t-boned them, unable to stop in time. Insurance totaled it out, but I opted to retain the salvage (and the clean title) and I "repaired" it. I'm going to make every attempt to list the car accurately, but there will probably be a few things I forget here and there, so bear with me. Feel free to ask any questions.
Good:
- This is the fully loaded "Leather Package" with the Bose stereo, and all power accessories. I guess this doesn't really count as Good depending on who you are.
- Low-ish mileage. Bought it with 75k, now has 130k on it. Will go up steadily, I drive ~400 miles a week.
- Maintenance has been up to me the entire time, which is both good and bad. I'll leave approximate records at the bottom to not clutter up this section.
- Still has a Racing Beat header on it.
- 4.3 Torsen.
- Healthy powertrain. Last time I checked the engine still had >190 compression readings, and the transmission shifts very smoothly. During its stint as a double duty autocross/daily driver, oil was changed every 5k with M1/Synpower/Pennzoil Platinum, and the last 15k with the car in DD-only use it's changed every 7500.
- Has a fresh alignment, as well as a basically new set of General Altimax Arctics.
- Car is relatively rust free. I see no bubbles on the actual shell, but the undercarriage does have surface rust on most of the bolts and stampings. The car was completely rust free before I got my grubby mitts on it.
- Top is in excellent shape. Despite currently owning two convertibles, I never considered myself to be a convertible person, so it was very rarely used. I put it up and down for autocrossing far more than I did for regular reasons, and since the accident it's been down approximately twice.
Bad: (prepare yourself)
- Car's not exactly a looker. I repaired it with the cheapest junkyard parts I could find. The core support/bumper bar were bent badly so I cut them out, and welded a replacement back in. However, I am nor a welder nor a bodyman. The replacement's not quite straight, and the welds may be some of the worst some of you folk have seen, ever. I was getting pretty tired of dailying the STS CRX at that point, and I haven't cared too much about this car since the accident.
- In its past life the car had a set of polyurethane bushings for STR. I replaced all the lower control arms F&R with factory rubbers but it still squeaks like an old box-spring mattress over every single little bump and whoop. The front uppers are ISC offset delrin, no idea what their condition is like these days with the car having been through 1.5 winters, but they have no play, and don't appear to make much noise. I suspect the squeaking up front is from the sway bar bushings, but it's cold and I haven't looked into it much. Rear uppers are the old poly.
- Exhaust is broken. Cracked at the resonator, so the entire tail-section is missing. Well, it's in my garage. Quite loud, but I haven't received any attention from the authorities for it. Your mileage may vary.
- Car is starting to act a little strange electrically. The battery/charging system light flickers on occasionally, and when the blower motor's turned up full blast, and the stereo's on. In addition to that, the relay or something for the AC fan doesn't work, I solved that by wiring the main fan and the AC fan in parallel. The connector for the driver's side low-beam is melted and has some issues working occasionally, sometimes when I start the car in the morning I have to smack the fender to get it to light, and then it's a non-issue for a while.
- Power antenna is jammed. I just disconnected it and pulled it out manually.
- Differential has a whine. The original differential broke when the car was rear-ended and I finished it off with side-loading driving it home from the scene of the accident. The one that's in it now is a junkyard diff, and I had a local shop swap the open for my Torsen internals. It only makes noise on acceleration/cruise below 70. After that it quiets down, and on deceleration/lift it doesn't make noise either. I check/change the oil on a regular basis and it shows no signs of distress or shavings in the fluid, so I deemed it a non-issue until further notice. -Bags blew in the accident. The car was actually totaled before I got it as well, but the title was laundered, or the person retained salvage like I did. So it's led a rough life. The driver's bag blew in the recent accident, but despite being turned on, the passenger bag didn't. I haven't checked under the cover, there's a good chance it just isn't there.
Photos of the car in its past life:
Anyways, I am currently asking 2000 for the car. Let me know if that seems high to you, I am open to negotation. Here's the caveat: I can't really sell it right now. As it's still the dead of winter, I have no other car to drive at the moment. I wasn't planning on listing this until Spring rolled around, but I figured I'd see if anyone was interested. If I can manage to find a car I'm willing to buy, and work things out so that there's little/no downtime, then I can sell it. I also fully intend on replacing this car with another Miata, so if you don't want the steelies/Generals, that pulls 200 off the price. If you want me to include a Hard Dog Ace single diagonal, add on 300, and if you want a set of Kosei K4R's in 15x7 +40, then add another 300. Anyway, I'm sure there's something I'm forgetting, so feel free to ask questions, or make offers.
Car is located in Clarkston, MI. Willing to deliver pretty much anywhere in the country, as long as I'm compensated and I have a way to get home that doesn't involve walking. Might want to get your head checked though.
Maintenance (from memory, so all approximate):
80k: Used OE coils, NGK wires, NGK Iridium plugs 85k: New used midpipe/cat 90k: New rear brake pads 100k: New clutch/slave cylinder/RMS/braided line, Mazdacomp motor mounts, other associated STR prep 125k: New RockAuto Sensen shocks 128k: New front brake pads 129k: Wheel alignment, tires 130k: New thermostat
