Sitting in the new Miata got me rethinking my plan of no project cars

I swore off project cars to get things in line for a new daily drive that's good on gasoline, automatic, reliable and still fun to drive. I didn't have many requirements beyond that.

This weekend, I was at the local Mazda dealer looking at the end of year Mazda3s as a new potential candidate, and SURPRISE!, they have two ND Club Sports. One with BBS Package, and one without it,. Both have a pretty heavy end of year discount. I sat in the BBS equipped one. It felt nice. The sales guy mentioned that we qualify for the Mazda loyalty plan. I may also possibly qualify for the Mazdaspeed pricing, too, even though I didn't have any results this year.

Buying a two seater was NOT on the list of things to do, but I miss my Miata. That particular Miata wasn't right for me, so I passed it to another GRMer. I'm not sure I want to spend almost $30k on a roadster, though. That led me to my next thought: this is also a great time of year to pick up Miatas on the used market. To Craigslist, I went! Yep, there are Miatas for sale.

So, now I'm sitting here trying to decide if I want to buy an NB, NC or ND Miata. I've not driven the NC or NDs, yet.

The thought of a PRHT NC with the Supercharger on it makes me giggle a bit, but I probably can't find one at a price that I can buy out of pocket. An ND is just a buy and drive proposition, albeit an expensive one. An NB is a known quantity, and I can probably buy it without any sort of financing. Getting a hard top is possible, and roll bars fit under the hard top without issue. Turbo kits are available, too, if I was inclined to do that.

I am thinking a moderately priced NB is the way to go.

Like this one.

The seller says the paint is good, the top is good, it runs, stops and drives. The passenger window doesn't go all of the way down and the cruise control is broken. I don't know about anything else, yet. I'm going to go check it out.

Like the color combo.

In reply to Brett_Murphy:

From the photo, it looks like the headlight lenses have gone yellow/opaque, which the seller thinks he can hide in the pic by having the lights on. So add in the cost of a headlight buffing kit to your negotiation.

I still think the NB is one of the prettiest cars ever made, so no arguments from me. The one thing that keeps me from buying one (other than already having 5 cars to deal with), is I already have a Spitfire that I love and I know buying a Miata would mean one of them wouldn't get driven often enough. And the Spit doesn't get driven enough as-is.

Ill sell you an 01 six speed torsen car for similar money....

Dusterbd13 wrote: Ill sell you an 01 six speed torsen car for similar money....

I'd be interested in your car, but not at that price point. I read your answer 42 thread.

Plus, I am partial to green.

NCs are getting surprisingly cheap, especially the earlier ones. I haven't seen any truly cheap PRHT cars yet, but winter is the time to be convertible shopping!

In reply to Brett_Murphy:

Cant blame a guy for trying....

I am a relatively recent convert to the NC and think you should try one of those out before settling for a NB.

cmcgregor wrote: I haven't seen any truly cheap PRHT cars yet, but winter is the time to be convertible shopping!

Kind of waiting on that myself. The Wife wants one in the GT package.

Claff wrote: I am a relatively recent convert to the NC and think you should try one of those out before settling for a NB.

I want to try an NC, but I also don't want to waste anybody's time. So, finding one in the right price point that I'd be serious about buying or finding one on a car lot in December are my current choices for an NC.

I've read somewhere that some company out in Colorado makes a suspension kit for the NC that doesn't suck.

I've been shopping for my next car and have done some research on NCs. It looks like the 09+ is the way to go and any package with the 6 speed will have a LSD. The 2013+ Club ticks everything for me and are hovering around $15k. I do keep coming back to NBs knowing I could get a hell of a car for 1/2 that, plus lower insurance cost (my son will be getting his license in the very near future).

Brett_Murphy wrote:

Claff wrote: I am a relatively recent convert to the NC and think you should try one of those out before settling for a NB.

I want to try an NC, but I also don't want to waste anybody's time. So, finding one in the right price point that I'd be serious about buying *or* finding one on a car lot in December are my current choices for an NC. I've read somewhere that some company out in Colorado makes a suspension kit for the NC that doesn't suck.

Frickin Miata, something like that. I think there's a dude, Kyle Tanker or something, you should talk to about it.

So, there was an NC on a lot just a couple miles from the house. It was a 2006 Limited edition, black interior, red exterior with a 6 speed and Bilsteins. Not surprisingly, it drove much like my RX-8. I think I may like it better than an NB, but it is also almost three times the price.

I just want to add, that a few years back either Car & Driver or Road & Track did a piece called "10 Cars to Keep Forever." The NB2 Miata was #3 on the list. Just sayin'.

I drove the NB I linked above at lunch time today, and it's not perfect, but it is pretty good. I'm not sure the NC I drove is 6K better than the NB.

The NB is wearing the original Sport S suspension, and it felt a bit worn. The top is worn (glass rear, though) and the owner did bump a deer. He replaced the headlight that cracked, but the rest of the damage to that area is still there. I've seen more damage from parking lot episodes, it may have been very low speed.

This is kind of a tough choice. The VIN (jm1nb3535x0108340) puts the NB among the ones with the end play issue, but it should have exposed itself by 120k miles, right?

Bah. I pointed out the maintenance due on the NB, and the guy took it to his mechanic to have it done. There goes my leverage.

I guess at this point I should drive the ND and decide if I want to stick to the no projects stance a bit more or not.

Well, now you know what kind of guy is selling the NB! I'd take that as a good sign.

Don't drive the ND unless you are willing to accept a car payment The NB is still better in the steering feel department - especially on a short test drive - but the NB has to be in top shape and you'll discover all the other advances that have happened since the basic NB platform started development in the 80's.

In reply to Keith Tanner:

Even still, I found the NB superior to the NA that I owned when I bought the NB.

I actually also liked the NC, but upgrading from the NB to NC wasn't good enough for the price increase.

OK- I'm biased a little, too- my NB is one of my two favorite cars I've ever owned.

The differences between the NA and NB are mostly fine details. The high level of interchange tells the story. Sure, the NB is better in a bunch of ways but it's still just bandaids. Rear suspension travel never was long enough, for example, and the extra rigidity in the chassis came at the expense of increased weight. The last NBs were the best of the bunch but they're still an old platform.

The NC is quite a different car. Completely different mechanically, there's almost zero interchange with the NA/NB.

IMHO, you can feel the difference.

It's just that when I made the first change, I thought it was worth it, not quite worth it for the second.

I'd love to have an NC, since the engine has had my fingerprints on it. Just not quite worth it to me, personally.

To the odd point that I'm still planning on charging after windmills, and restoring my '99.

Of course you can feel the difference between an NA and an NB - the car improved over the years. That doesn't change the fact that the platform was basically the same as the NA, and you can REALLY feel the difference between that and a 2016-era chassis. There have been improvements in three decades. That was my original statement.

Personally, if I had a nice NB, I probably wouldn't be shopping for an NC. Just not to my taste even at the same price point. Right now, I'm trying to decide if I should keep my fettled NA (which has a bunch of NB parts under the skin) or go with an ND. I'm lucky in that I get the chance for VERY extensive test drives

The NC was good, and reminded me a lot of my RX-8. I liked driving the RX-8, I hated wrenching on it to keep it operational. The NC would solve that.

I've decided after reading Keith's replies that I should drive an ND, just to be fully informed.

Whatever Miata I get, though, I'm going to have somebody make up some "Frickin' Miata" stickers.

Keith Tanner wrote: Don't drive the ND unless you are willing to accept a car payment The NB is still better in the steering feel department - especially on a short test drive - but the NB has to be in top shape and you'll discover all the other advances that have happened since the basic NB platform started development in the 80's.

Steering feel is probably the biggest gripe my ex has about her ND. Back to back with her R53 MINI, the ND doesn't have the same "weight" to it. Has there been any thoughts on how to change that?

While I haven't really shopped for the NC (the only version I'd be interested in would be a PRHT), so I don't really know what the pricing is like, it seems amusing to me how the prices for really clean NA and NB cars are about equal and have stabilized.