2008 Mazda Miata Project Car / Parts

Automotive
#1

I wouldn’t normally just post something for sale on the forums but I thought this might be of particular interest to some people here. Forgive me if this is inappropriate.

The head gasket blew on my miata and burned the pistons. Mechanic says it needs a new engine to the tune of about $3,500. The car is otherwise in pretty good shape. It’s a 2008 3rd generation MX-5 2.0L 6-Speed manual with 65k miles. Black soft top, red body with Bluetooth head unit and run flat tires that have 75% or more tread still on them. lots of life left in the tires. The driver’s rear tail light has broken plastic and that corner has a telephone pole shaped dent.

I’m about to donate it to charity but if someone here wants it for a project (24 hour lemon race?) or is a Miata buff… I’d let it go for $1,000. With a working engine it’d be worth about 5-6k.

email me for more details and pics if interested.

[email protected]

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#2

I just sent you an email.

#3

I’ve been trying to convince my wife I need a Miata. She is less than convinced. I wish I could pick it up.

Money can’t buy happiness, but it can buy a Miata, and you never see an unhappy person driving a Miata.

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#4

You do see a unhappy person sitting on the side of the road in their miata with blown pistons :slight_smile:

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#5

That’s a very good argument! :slight_smile:

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#6

He’s unhappy because he’s not driving it. :smiley:

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#7

Lol. We used to joke around in our Jeep club about using a Miata as a RTI ramp. Pretty sure the driver would be unhappy. Lol

I’ll have to find a picture of my Jeep on an RTI ramp.

#8

This is the offspring from such shennanigans!

#9

You haven’t seen me trying to cram myself into one. Last time I tried, I discovered that at 6’4" with a 36" inseam I’m apparently an outlier the designers failed to account for. A tilt steering wheel would have solved the problem, but that generation opted not to provision one.

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#10

And more money would get him driving it again. Again, money buying happiness.

#11

Third gen has the best chance of accommodating the big guys.

#12

Got a taker.

And for the record, driving a Miata makes you smile. Being stranded on the side of the road in a Miata made my wife sad. That’s for sure. I love roadsters and this won’t be my last.

#13

I have this problem with surprisingly random vehicles. When I was shopping for cars earlier this year, every freaking Honda dealer had the Civic Si coupe but almost noone had the sedan. This was a show-stopping consideration since they all came equipped with a standard/unwanted sunroof (minus ~2 inches of headroom) and the coupe opted for a critical 1" less driver headroom than the sedan, which meant my head was nearly in contact with the interior roof just sitting still with the seat all the way down.

My 2003 Ranger came without a tilt steering wheel, so it takes a practiced movement to get in and out. I recall a similar situation with my '87 Celica.

The bigger problem is I don’t like even like sunroofs, so convertibles are wasted on me.

#14

But…that’s unlimited head room… :confused:

#15

And for ~14 random days of the year the roaring slipstream is almost tolerable. Except it’s still roaring slipstream.

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#16

I am no fan of sunroofs, but I never miss the headroom. It’s just something else to break or leak, and if it leaks it’s above everything. Plus they make you pay for this headache-in-waiting. A convertible has the same problems, but it creates a wide open feeling while you are driving that a sunroof can’t approach.

I can understand that when your ears a near or above the top of the windshield, the rush of air would be a less than pleasant experience. In fact, I wouldn’t go without a rear wind deflector to alleviate the wind swirling around my ears, but I don’t think that they make those tall enough for someone of your stature.

#17

Maybe it’s a consequence of my height, frequently riding in friend’s cars with sunroofs where I didn’t have sunglasses (I wear eyeglasses so sunglasses are prescription or not at all), the generally unpleasant climate around here, the omnipresent sound of traffic everywhere I routinely drive, or some combination of the above but I pretty much don’t enjoy sunroofs nor convertibles. I’ll open the windows a few times a year when the weather is nice and I’m cruising secondary streets and that’s about it.

I rode in Allen’s convertible a few times, which was positively exciting with the top of the windshield nearly obscuring my direct view of the road. One certainly became immediately an inexorably aware of the fleeting nature of life when riding in the 'Cabby…

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