Does My Girlfriend Want a Miata?

So, Nicole currently drives a '98 BMW 318ti with an auto. It's in good shape cosmetically, but needs a new catalytic converter, brakes, an idle air controller, and a headliner. Her parents bought it for her a few years ago (at my instruction). For some reason they refused my suggestions of "Focus" or "Corolla," and said the cheap appliance for their daughter had to be a premium German sports car. I had a $2,000 budget to work with, and I told them it would instantly need $1,000 of work to be a nice car. They said okay.

Long story short, almost none of that work has been done, and the car is showing the signs of a neglected E36 BMW. They're against her spending any money on it, and not really willing to put any of theirs in. They are awesome people and I love them dearly, but they just aren't car enthusiasts and this is outside their comfort zone.

To complicate matters further, I took Nicole to a street survival school a few weeks ago. She now says she wants something "faster, without this stupid automatic."

We're thinking it might make sense to just dump the 318 and buy a Miata. She has a 40-mile commute 3 days per week. I'd help her with the 318ti work, but it constantly gets almost sold, and I don't want to put a bunch of time and/or money into a car that we don't own that could vanish at any moment.

Thoughts? Anybody want a 318ti that needs a little mechanical work?

And yes, this may or may not be related to this thread: http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/bought-another-crappy-miata/87845/page1/

Not sure if the answer is Miata, but whoever buys this let me know as I have most - if not all - of those parts and would let them go for an amazing price.

well, I think it is safe to say that we all want her to want a miata...

Maybe a 5spd swap on the 318? those can really be fun little cars with the right gearbox.

Fiscally probably better to just sell and buy a manual one though.

Yeah, keep in mind that she doesn't (and likely never will) own the 318, so a manual swap is out of the question there.

I chose Miata because 1. she said she liked them and 2. they are as reliable as gravity or trolling on message boards.

318tis are cool and rare on the street. If I were her i'd keep that car as long as possible and fix it up to my liking. Like someone said above manual swap if. If she wants more power she can put a i6 in. If she doesn't want to do that then find something else it's just that i like those cars a lot, lol.

Worst case, get the BMW parts for seriously cheap and earn brownie points when the parents sell it from under you for a likely profit. Recent maintenance and non-potato photos go a long way and they'll appreciate the extra cash they earned from your slave labor and investment. Plus, GF might appreciate it too! Win/win.

Clearly, an Abarth is the perfect answer!

I would suggest that she look for a first gen Mazda 3 or a Mazda 6, with a 5 speed, of course. I'm not so sure that she really wants or needs a sporty car with a V6, straight 6, or turbo/supercharged 4. The NB Miatas aren't all that fast, acceleration wise, and it depends on if she needs a fair amount of trunk space (probably not).

Do you want your girlfriend to want a Miata?

You're asking us the question we should be asking you. Does your girlfriend want a Miata?

If so, great. It's not like it would be hard for you to find one for her to try.

If not, then no, she doesn't want a Miata.

Tom Suddard wrote: And yes, this may or may not be related to this thread: http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/bought-another-crappy-miata/87845/page1/

Umm... give her this car for a few days and see if she likes it?

The correct answer is on the board right now for sale.......

http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/open-classifieds/1995-318ti-with-m52-engine-swap-328ti-fl/87904/page1/

I'd say the suggestion to let her try the Miata is a good one. That way she can determine if she likes it before jumping ship, especially switching to a stick (which is a change during a commute if you're used to an auto).

Miata is always the answer.

In reply to yamaha: that is a smoking deal and i wish I had the cash laying around... but Miata is the answer, if the girlfriend likes driving one