How much should I pay for a first gen. Miata?

[PR5speed]

Hello all,

I am devastated from the loss of my Protege 5.. I'm seriously mourning it about as much as a friend of mine that passed away!

Anyways.. I don't really wanna spend alot of money on my next car, but want something fun.. which = Miata!

However, the few I was looking at online seemed a bit over priced to me.

Here are the links:

http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-...=[MAZDA[MIATA[]][]]&listingId=332108511&Log=0

***^^^ He's asking $3,900, but KBB values it at $2,200 for private party sale. He is insisting he will accept no less than 3900 / "market value"

http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-...=[MAZDA[MIATA[]][]]&listingId=327024741&Log=0

***^^^ This guy is asking $2,600, but KBB values it at $1,600 for private party sale.

Is this common with Miata's to be sold for this much above book values, since they're so popular?

About how much should I be paying for a high-mileage, 5 speed, early 90's Miata?

** Lastly, will the Miata fix the pain of loosing my Protege 5? (I deffinitely think it will help!)

 

[THE Phen]

Unfortunately, I'm not hip to how much the NA's are worth currently. What I can attest to is that yes, it will definitely help with the mourning. The moment you throw one into a turn and realize "Hey... this thing darted into the turn, no understeer, and when I push on the right pedal, the tail starts to step out just enough to help rocket you out of the turn in ways that NO FWD car can. You become one with the car, rather than just trying to will it into a direction of your choosing.

 

[WillD]

You can't really use KBB or Edmunds when valuing a Miata because they almost always go for more. For high mileage NAs if you can find something that runs and has no rust for $1k or less that is an incredible steal.

If I were you I'd stay away from '90s and early '91s because of the short nose crank issues that those years had.

You really should check out this section of Miata.net: http://forum.miata.net/vb/forumdisplay.php?f=16 for tons of information on what you can expect to pay.

 

[PR5speed]

Thanks.. that's a great site!!

 

[WillD]

You're welcome! If you need to know anything about a Miata it's on there somewhere

 

[THE Phen]

Yeah... we hate to steer people away from here, but that truly is one of the best sources for Miata information on the interwebs. Don't forget about us over here! Haha.

 

[PR5speed]

why of course not!

I must add though, this site is THE BEST site for P5's!!

I miss mine! =(

 

[WillD]

Yeah... we hate to steer people away from here, but that truly is one of the best sources for Miata information on the interwebs. Don't forget about us over here! Haha.

Yeah I feel bad doing it but seriously 90% of my Miata related information came from reading info on that forum or in the garage section.

 

[THE Phen]

Yeah I feel bad doing it but seriously 90% of my Miata related information came from reading info on that forum or in the garage section.

Why feel bad? There's a difference between going to a place that is chock full of information on a specific product line and coming to a site like this that's 95% Protege fanbois and praying that you find something. I'll take the valuable source of information any day. Plus, 247 and M.net don't have bad blood between them, unlike SU and MSF.

 

[WillD]

Good point.