More and more, I'm seeing completely trashed miatas, especially NA ones, for insane money. Ok, WRXs too, but not to the same degree. When did a rusted out, non running, trashed interior NA become a 4 figure car?
More and more, I'm seeing completely trashed miatas, especially NA ones, for insane money. Ok, WRXs too, but not to the same degree. When did a rusted out, non running, trashed interior NA become a 4 figure car?
There's a few left but you're about 5 years late if not more.
After I sold both of mine it seems.
Sucks as I want another now.
The newest NA is 26 years old. Let that marinate.
Ah, I see you haven't tried buying a 240sx.....
In reply to EricM :
Lol. Yeah. Drifting a secretary's car. Never understood that one. But that's just me. The prices on those went bananas years ago.
In reply to Appleseed :
I'm old enough to see a 26 year old car as relatively new
Just the way of the market unfortunately. Very few cheap and reliable sports cars made over the last decade means the 20yr market is in more demand. The BRZ/FRS have $$$ engines, the RX8 is enough said, 350Z aren't as consumable friendly or track ready...which leaves miatas in high demand. It won't get any better either, it's just the price to play now.
About the time Spec Miata racers depleted the supply.
Given that a new Miata will set me back $30-45K, a quarter of that for a nice one, or a tenth of that for a crapper doesn't seem out of line. I just sold my NB for $4500 and the kid couldn't get here fast enough to give me the cash. He was very happy and I more than doubled what I had in the car, so I was good, too.
It's crazy right? I got my 99 for $3500 in like 2020. It's probably worth like $5000 now with the E36 M3ty paint. Seems like ones with good paint and similar miles are going for upwards of $8000 now. Guess I'll just hold onto it forever
This is what happens to car values, especially iconic ones. Their value climbs after traversing the valley of depreciation, and the ones that have been identified as iconic climb more. Meanwhile, whilst in that valley, the cars are treated badly and the available supply diminishes and degrades quickly. This is accelerated if the car also becomes a faddish object like a drift or stance target. All this happened to the NA, and it dragged the NB up with it. And of course, used car values overall have gone up due to supply constraints and overall inflation.
The good cars are still out there, but they're becoming more valuable as people seek them out. They're making the sellers at the bottom end think their stuff is worth more. For an extreme example, just look at the 911 market :)
In reply to Keith Tanner :
Actually, I think the e30 m3 is the extreme example. Prices on those are beyond nuts
Heck, my jaw hit the floor the other day when I had to pay $55 for a gallon of paint stripper. Con sarn it.
In undergrad, a roommate had a '70-something MGB. That was circa 2005, so we were looking at 30 year old car at that point. I think he bought it for 3k and it was project, but a running/driving one. I look at Miatas the same way. Running/driving NA6s that need paint, body, and interior but are otherwise in good shape are about 5k near me. That's not too far off from the '70s MGB we were playing with in the early 'oughts. Early Miatas are classic no matter how you slice it and the costs of classics are, in my experience, always more than you really want to pay.
Docwemple said:More and more, I'm seeing completely trashed miatas, especially NA ones, for insane money. Ok, WRXs too, but not to the same degree. When did a rusted out, non running, trashed interior NA become a 4 figure car?
When we looked at the new-to-market Miatas in 1990, they were asking $20,000, so your "4-figure car" seems like a deal...
I had this discussion with my friend recently when he bought a '96 Miata for his 18 year old son to start autocrossing in. Slightly rusty rocker panels, so-so paint, and lack of major maintenance (tires had 2004 DOT codes, guy hadn't done a timing belt in the 12 years he owned it, etc), and yet at $3500, by today's market and in the Rust Belt, it was a good buy. I said, "You know, five years ago that would have been a $1500 car all day long." But, as I pointed out when he was waffling on whether to buy it or not "They aren't getting newer, they aren't getting nicer, and they aren't getting more plentiful."
Now, the market that baffles me is the MR-2 Spyder. MR-2 guys, and car guys in general, love to rip on the Spyder; it's ugly, it's a convertible, you couldn't get it with a turbo or blower, it's slow, it's impractical, it's the worst of the MR-2s. And, yet, when looking at them for sale, they're almost all in the $7-12k market, and half of them need engines. Right now, on my area, there are three of them with sub-10k miles, all listed for $20k+. You'd think if they're so reviled, they'd be much cheaper.
In reply to NickD :
The $1500 Miata was never really a thing around here. I think part of it is also that when they were at their least expensive, people bragged about their best possible deal. Now that they're appreciating, people talk about the outliers priced at the higher end instead so we see OMG HOW MUCH?
Something else that both helps/hurts Miata values: A fairly big pool of interested parties from those new on the scene to others who remember when they were new.
In reply to David S. Wallens :
And the selection of other small, manual , fun-to-drive cars is diminishing, leaving the supply of Miatas as the remaining choice. I can still find sub-40k Miatas, but all the other fun cars from the same era will have tons of miles, or be rusted beyond use.
Just because people are listing them for crazy prices doesn't mean they'll sell for that. My parents have a mint 94 Miata with less than 100k on the clock. Listed it here for $9k, then had it listed on other sites for anywhere between $7500-9k and had barely any bites. Ultimately took it off and they just enjoy it for weekend drives now. We bought it for $5k and put about $2k into it between a new top, some paint work, NA spec wheels, brakes, plugs, gaskets, etc. Maybe they just aren't worth that much. I'm not disappointed because whenever I visit, I've got a sporty little car to use.
I have a rustless 95 without an interior and blown engine. Make me an offer
In reply to pilotbraden :
Where are you located
Flint Michigan 810 3niner seven uno 4 seven sis
DeadSkunk (Warren) said:In reply to David S. Wallens :
And the selection of other small, manual , fun-to-drive cars is diminishing, leaving the supply of Miatas as the remaining choice. I can still find sub-40k Miatas, but all the other fun cars from the same era will have tons of miles, or be rusted beyond use.
That is true as well.
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