On buying another car for now. Subaru's are stupid-expensive up here right now and I can't find anything else. Couple that to the fact that the Miata gets 25MPG+ and has a hardtop, it doesn't really make sense to buy one anyways. I shall instead fix all of the problems on the Miata, pay off the wedding, and start saving for next year.
In closing, Javelin's P71 replacement is his Miata.
And the go-kart, I need to get that running again before the snow hits...
Javelin wrote: Javelin's P71 replacement is his Miata.
Proving once again that Miata is THE answer.
I say buy a $2K Subaru wagon, a can of satin black paint, some lights for the bumper to get through the winter. Makes a decent family car too.
Javelin wrote: pay off the wedding
Oh I'm so glad mine just let us do it in Vegas on the cheap. 
z31maniac wrote:Javelin wrote: pay off the weddingOh I'm so glad mine just let us do it in Vegas on the cheap.
$50 at the Justice of the Peace ($25 for license and $25 for the JP's fee)
maybe a roadtrip for a cheap subaru further south? I am sure somebody here can take a look for you if you ask nicely and offer a suitable bribe
Cheap? Subaru? Not around here.
I'd have to travel a 1000+ miles to get a "cheap" scoobie now, which totally defeats the purpose. I don't need another car right now, it can wait 6 months or whatever.
Cheap and Subaru dont seem to go together. They seem to hold their value very well, which can stink for those of us counting on depreciation. The other thing I have seen is that they seem to have higher insurance rates as well.
That said, you cant beat them in the snow!
I will be doing the winter in a miata as well.. possibly worse, mine has an open diff. Looking for deals on snow tires right now.
Mine's open diff as well. I'm looking out for some 14's to mount some dedicated winter/snow tires on. I'm on Falken Azenis RT-615's right now!!! 
At least I have a hardtop and a roll bar.
Keep your eyes peeled, E30 wheels will fit. I picked up a set of bottlecap wheels really cheap awhile back.
+1 on Scoobie resale value.
Make that -111,000,000,000
Subarus hold their value too well to be worth buying a high mileage one. They are fine when they are newer, but its not cheap to fix up one thats starting to need alot of stuff replaced that wasnt really ever intended to be.
In reply to Travis_K:
Got out of Subie's for that exact reason
I bought a 97 Subaru Outback way up here for $495 (CAD). You have to be patient and jump on stuff quick.
Except I don't want an Outback (or any Naturally-Aspirated Subie, been there, done that, stupid heads never again!) and I actually want a nice one. This is supposed to be my DD, not my race car.
They were reasonable up here all summer. Now that it started raining every $2,000 Scooby became a $3,000 Scooby and every rebuilt-title WRX is worth $10K again. I'll wait for the spring and find a STOCK bugeye wagon. I'm really not interested in anything else except maybe a Legacy Turbo Wagon (good luck) or a Mazda6 Wagon, though I would like the AWD better.
Apexcarver wrote: Cheap and Subaru dont seem to go together. They seem to hold their value very well, which can stink for those of us counting on depreciation. The other thing I have seen is that they seem to have higher insurance rates as well. That said, you cant beat them in the snow! I will be doing the winter in a miata as well.. possibly worse, mine has an open diff. Looking for deals on snow tires right now.
I think your better off with an open diff, in the snow in my experience.
Joey
Open diff in the snow in a Miata is no biggie, so long as you have decent snows. My 2 full Buffalo winters in a Hakka-1 shod '96 Miata with open diff are testament to that. The only time I ever had any problem was a day that the roads were sheeted over with ice, and I only realized it was slippery when I watched an S10 do a full 360 in front of me at 50 MPH. Only studded snows or possibly brand new Blizzaks would have been sufficient in those conditions. The rest of the time I plowed through all conditions including snow up to hood height; it only became a problem once when I packed the radiator with snow and had to clear it out a bit. Light weight, good handling and good tires are very good attributes in a snow car.
+1 on good snow tires and an open diff being fine. I don't hesitate to dive mine to Ontario in a snowstorm. Hardtop certainly helps the car, especially if you want to scrape the rear window.
I'm shopping for a set of 14's right now to mount new snows on 
I took the GT6 out in 6" of snow last winter, on A/S tires....
I managed to get almost a block before I heard a little birdie telling me "wow, you're pretty stupid" and decided to spin a 180 (not difficult in a GT6 in the snow) and go back down the road and back into the garage, lol....
pigeon wrote: Light weight, good handling and good tires are very good attributes in a snow car.
QFT, FTW, ect...
I also preferre stick over auto for the snow...
Javelin wrote: On buying another car for now. Subaru's are stupid-expensive up here right now and I can't find anything else. Couple that to the fact that the Miata gets 25MPG+ and has a hardtop, it doesn't really make sense to buy one anyways. I shall instead fix all of the problems on the Miata, pay off the wedding, and start saving for next year. In closing, Javelin's P71 replacement is his Miata. And the go-kart, I need to get that running again before the snow hits...
Do what I did. Buy a miata in the late fall then sell it in the spring. Take the handsome profits and buy a Subie (Forester in my case) in the spring and sell it in the late fall. I spent 1 year driving "off season" cars and doubled my money............and miata+LSD+snow=SERIOUS fun 
I already bought the Miata, in February Though buying another does sound good...
Pretty much any 14" wheels with a 4x100 bolt pattern will fit. Miatas have a small hub, so OEM wheels with larger center holes - Honda, BMW, VW, Saturn, etc. - will all fit. The cheapest winter wheels I ever got were when I went to a salvage yard and asked for a set of steelies for my 95 Mercury Tracer. I got them for $50 total, and they're a perfect fit for a Miata. 
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