Drove my Miata across the country, twice.

Hello, Some of you may remember I came here in the spring asking about the perfect fun, cheap car to drive across the country (thanks for all the help!). I ended up going with what I had in mind in the first place, a NA Miata, despite what some of you suggested! We picked up our car, a '97 with 149k miles for $2,850 with AC, cruise and CD player. It came with a folder full of receipts and was given a clean bill of health from a dealership. It was the best maintained car we looked at, and was a lot of fun to drive. Over the next 3 months we drove the car 11k miles (!!!), changed the oil 4 times and crossed the US twice!!! First through the South: Big Bear, Route 66 to Santa Fe, Amarillo, Austin, New Orleans, Athens GA, Chapel Hill, then up to DC then Boston, back down to NYC. Then it was westward through Pittsburgh, KC via Deep Creek Lake (our longest day at 15 hours) when we passed trough W Virginia, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois and Missouri. Chicago, Madison, back to KC, then Colorado, Salt Lake, Boise, Seattle, down to Portland and finally back to San Francisco.

It was an epic trip and our little Miata was absolutely flawless. We got around 34 mpg most of the time and the car never missed a beat. The only maintenance was the oil changes. The trunk had enough space, we used compression bags for our clothes, and we were never uncomfortable. I will say that cruise control and AC were very, very nice to have and I wouldn't have been nearly as happy without them.

In New Orleans:

In the Lucerne Desert, Southern CA.

fotos es no bueno.

I don't know if dropbox can 'host' photos for everyone to see, but I've never used it. If you have a gmail address, picaso is free and yahoo's is flickr.

Well that is epic and I say a job well done. You should try and post some pics I would love to see them. I have a late model Miata and I am not sure I could do what you did, but then I am likely a lot older too.

Sounds like a fun trip but why so many oil changes ?

Reaffirms, Miata is always the answer.

Sounds like a fun trip.

I want to see the pictures! Sounds like a great trip!

Whoops on the pics, thought I could use dropbox, guess I'll have to try flickr.

The oil changes were every 3k miles, we traveled nearly 12k miles, hence 4 oil changes.

Anybody know how to post photos directly in the post? I can only seem to add the link. Edit: Apparently I have to insert the BBCode...not sure why. The car at sunset in the Lucerne Desert in southern CA.

Did I mention we cooked on the engine!!! It was really fun.

Saw this gorgeous 'Vette on Route 66.

My girlfriend in our Miata on Route 66:

That guy in the hat knows exactly what he's doing. Awesome trip, would love to see more highlights.

looks like an awesome trip. enjoy the memories. they fade too fast.

Nice! I love road trips! Did you use recipes from that cookbook that tells you how to cook food on your engine?

On a farm in Missouri and the Arch.

More pics!

This sounds amazing!

Well done, and for once I will have to agree, Miata is the answer.

I keep looking at cars to replace my '91 Miata for doing highway trips and in all reality I already have the car. An old, cheap sports car that's as reliable as a Toyota is just still mind boggling to those of us old enough to know what it was like before the Miata came along. Congrats on the trip! Maybe I just need to install cruise in mine.

Very nice.

While your choice of car was obviously a good one, it seems your choice of girl might be even better. I'm not sure how many SO would do this!

60mga wrote: I keep looking at cars to replace my '91 Miata for doing highway trips and in all reality I already have the car. An old, cheap sports car that's as reliable as a Toyota is just still mind boggling to those of us old enough to know what it was like before the Miata came along. Congrats on the trip! Maybe I just need to install cruise in mine.

Thanks! No kidding, I flat out love this car, it IS mind-boggling how much car you are getting for so little money.

stan wrote: Very nice. While your choice of car was obviously a good one, it seems your choice of girl might be even better. I'm not sure how many SO would do this!

You're right. What's funny is this was HER idea! Thanks for the reminder on how fortunate I am. :)

I too am blessed with an SO that puts up with all of my sports car idiosyncracies. We did do a 3000+ mile trip in my Miata a few years back and other than being noisy(almost all of it was top down) it never missed a beat. Every time I make noises about replacing that car she gives me the "are you nuts?!" talk.