Uh oh, stepson's Miata buy is too good . . .

My stepson found a 1990 Miata for sale in his budget range. It had high miles, and a low price, and he and I both thought it would an ideal daily driver for a responsible 17 year old.

Here's the problem. The car may be too good to drive in the winter. Someone clearly loved this car, and I don't think there is any rust on it at all. It has Tein coil overs, a Hard Dog roll bar, a hard top, new soft top . . . Etc, etc, etc.

It was cheap. Really cheap. But now I've both feel badly about sacrificing it to the rigours of Canadian winter. Problem is, he has no more budget for a winter car. Or space to store it.

I know this is clearly a first world problem. But darn . . .

The nice thing about the Miata is, they made a whole lot of them.

Sounds like a nice car, but I'd winter it, if I had to.

Simple, let him buy a beater $350 Saturn or similar disposible sacrificial anode as a winter car, you grab the Miata. Everybody wins, more or less. In a related story, apparently (some of) this generation of teenagers seem to like Miatas. We just drove past a nice red NA a few minutes ago, and my son commented that he wants one.

XLR99 wrote: Simple, let him buy a beater $350 Saturn or similar disposible sacrificial anode as a winter car. Everybody wins, more or less.

An 80's -'90s Toyota Celica would make a great winter beater. Ask your friends if they have a beater that they are looking to part with. All of the amazingly cheap deals I gotten have been though friends and friends-of-friends. Example: I just picked up a '90 Miata for $8. Granted, it needs an engine... but $8!

Cars are made to be driven and enjoyed.

Drive the ever loving hell out of it! Nothing worse than being supermodel that is too good to play with.

Just take care of the sills and drive it.

Purchase car from him and let him start over?

Make sure to have the car "krowned", buy a set of snow tires, and get him a session at the MCO winter driving school as a xmas present. He'll have a ball...

dean1484 wrote: Purchase car from him and let him start over?

This. ^^^^ Sounds too nice to sacrifice. Then you can both enjoy it in the summer.

Take off the door sill protectors. There will be several holes that you can get into and take a limited view of the inside of the rockers. You can also spray rust preventative in these holes. I know someone who used to dump used oil into the rocker panel (joey I think?). Also, there are two drain points in the pinch weld. Open those up and then give them a coat of touch up paint. They can clog. Take a wire coat hanger,open it up and clean out the drains too. You can see them from under the car in front of the rear wheel. Those few things should help ward off the rust a bit.

Buy the $350 Saturn for him and park the miata in the winter, if you don't have a fwd beater he can use. The little miata might become victim of sliding into a pole before the rust has a chance if he is driving in the snow and ice.

Sitting outside for the winter shouldn't hurt the Miata, its salt and "the other guy" that you need to avoid. Just let it sit in the driveway. Maybe a friend can offer a parking spot next to a shed or something. Start saving now for a cheapo winter car and maybe you'll have enough by the 1st of the year. Thats only a couple months of snow to manage. Do some odd jobs or something.

I loved my 91 in the snow but it was already rotten through. The winter beater idea is a good one.

NA Miatas are so good in the winter it's such a shame that they rust like they do.

gearheadmb wrote: Buy the $350 Saturn for him and park the miata in the winter, if you don't have a fwd beater he can use. The little miata might become victim of sliding into a pole before the rust has a chance if he is driving in the snow and ice.

2nd this suggestion. (My current set up is a 94 M and a 97 Saturn SL) The good thing is driving the Saturn through the winter will remind him why he loves the Miata so much, and may discourage shenanigans.

In reply to ZOO:

We had the same issue with my son's Miata. I spent a great amount of effort up front to protect it from the salt, and he drives it 365 days a year. Snow tires are a must.

You guys seem to forget that cars are a consumable. Kid needs wheels and this sounds like a great way to roll. I have done the year round Miata thing London to Milton for 5 years and it ain't no big deal; snow tires and opposite lock. . My old Miata is actually still on the road with its 4th owner.

If the car is rust free and he has it Krown oil sprayed with an emphasis on the rear of the sills it will last a long time. Not forever, but long enough.

I would go so far as to take some pictures in to the Krown shop and show them the trouble spot with and without the outer skin in place. Maybe they can focus better on where they apply their efforts. It is a hard spot to get into unless you flood the cavity.

ggarrard wrote: Make sure to have the car "krowned", buy a set of snow tires, and get him a session at the MCO winter driving school as a xmas present. He'll have a ball...

This, plus wash it as often as the weather permits. Great winter car.

If the car is going to get driven in the winter, my suggestion is pull the Tien coilovers during road salt season and put some used stock dampers and springs back in. 2 reasons:

1. The ground clearance and softer spring rates from the OEM parts will be better for getting through the snow.

2. Japanese OEM's can be as good as anyone at making their cars and parts rust resistant. I doubt the Japanese aftermarket sellers like Tien are putting anywhere near the same effort. If you want all the nice machine surfaces and adjustments to continue working easily, keep them out of the winter brine.

alfadriver wrote:

ggarrard wrote: Make sure to have the car "krowned", buy a set of snow tires, and get him a session at the MCO winter driving school as a xmas present. He'll have a ball...

This, plus wash it as often as the weather permits. Great winter car.

I have the opposite mentality: NEVER wash the car so that all that good Krown stuff stays where it needs to be. The FRS has three layers of the Krown product around every panel edge on the car.

Course that might just be rationalizing cause I hate washing cars?!

NOHOME wrote:

alfadriver wrote:

ggarrard wrote: Make sure to have the car "krowned", buy a set of snow tires, and get him a session at the MCO winter driving school as a xmas present. He'll have a ball...

This, plus wash it as often as the weather permits. Great winter car.

I have the opposite mentality: NEVER wash the car so that all that good Krown stuff stays where it needs to be. The FRS has three layers of the Krown product around every panel edge on the car. Course that might just be rationalizing cause I hate washing cars?!

It is the introduction of water with the salt that causes corrosion. So keep the water away from it as long as possible but clean it as soon as you can in the spring.

All of Dec., Jan and Feb. up her last year it was simply too cold to wash cars. If you did everything froze up on them.

So now we have gotten to the point that we can't drive a cheap car in the winter because it might rust? The miata is never going to be a collector car. At least not one that can be thought of as an investment. He got a great deal, let him drive it, take car of it, and have fun.

I say that he should buy it and the both of you should try some rust prevention to the body.

It's not a collector car. It already has a hardtop. It was cheap. It will cement great driving skills in his long term memory banks. There is too much to be gained by driving it during the winter to pass up. Get snow tires and drive it.

NGTD wrote:

NOHOME wrote:

alfadriver wrote:

ggarrard wrote: Make sure to have the car "krowned", buy a set of snow tires, and get him a session at the MCO winter driving school as a xmas present. He'll have a ball...

This, plus wash it as often as the weather permits. Great winter car.

I have the opposite mentality: NEVER wash the car so that all that good Krown stuff stays where it needs to be. The FRS has three layers of the Krown product around every panel edge on the car. Course that might just be rationalizing cause I hate washing cars?!

It is the introduction of water with the salt that causes corrosion. So keep the water away from it as long as possible but clean it as soon as you can in the spring. All of Dec., Jan and Feb. up her last year it was simply too cold to wash cars. If you did everything froze up on them.

Heated garages kill cars. Keep 'em frozen.

Of course, if you're in London or southern Ontario it's not cold enough for that.

I agree that the Teins will probably suffer badly from the salt. No great loss , but the adjusters will seize up. I'd throw on a set of FM springs and Tokicos and enjoy. Heck, I've done just that through Ontario winters with my own 1990.