- 7,402
For one, not the 323 anymore. I haven't seen the poor car in over a year now...it's still ours though...
Of course I still have my '94 Protege...gathering turbo parts now.
The real reason to post this is my newest addition, my 1994 Miata Package A 5 speed.
That's how it sits now, but the exhaust tip is a tad bit bigger.
Anyway, I bought the car Nov. 19th. A customer of my dealership came in with it, looking at Outback XTs, and when I saw the car I went to the saleswoman dealing with the lady and told her that if the customer was going to trade the car in, I'd buy it. Kind of illegal for me to do(taking profit from the dealership), but when I saw the condition of the car I didn't really care.
I got the chick's number(I know what you're thinking, but I'm not interested in 30-somethings with boyfriends), and called her. Of course the biggest question was "How much are you looking to get for the Miata?", and she said "$2,900 seems fair" I said "Oh(high-pitched, lol), I'm very interested". She drove the car to my house so that I could test-drive it. I knew I had to buy it, there was no way I could let it pass me by. She drove it to the dealership the next day where I purchased it for $2900.
~100,000 miles, 2 year old Mazda soft-top, always serviced at my dealership. Becides front brake pads and turning the rotors, and an alignment(2, actually, and needs another...long embarrasing story but I managed to hit a curb, something I haven't done in any other car ever, and bent the right front lower A-arm), and new fluids, I haven't had to do anything else.
Now comes the fun. I got a FREE hard top from my dealership...it was in my dad's work area, a warranty claim. It was painted at my dealership pretty crappy, the front edge is slightly warped as well(makes some wind noise at 100+mph), and it's Titanium, as you can see. It's off of a 2004 MazdaSpeed. A $1,595 value, plus paint and hardware, for $42 for 2 pieces of hard ware and 4 screws needed to put it on my car.
I also have learned that I can trade parts with whole-sale cars. We had a '99 Miata come in, beat to hell and didn't start, and once I got it to start(lots of starter fluid) it knocks very bad. But it had a set of the 15" wheels with Yokohama ES100s. I asked my used car manager if I could trade wheels. He said I could...little did he know I was going to give him 14" Protege LX wheels with mis-matched unballanced tires. But I did. The Miata wheels are in pretty good shape...very little curb rash but the inside edge of 3 of them is bent, somehow. Once ballanced they're fine though.
I've also got a Jackson Racing hi-flow converter and a bosal-brospeed cat-back, both used but in great condition. Car sounds good, is quiet(something the Protege isn't, with the 2.5" downpipe-back exhaust and all), and drives like a dream. Best $2,900(well, $3,300 total as it stands) I could have ever spent!
-Ryan
Of course I still have my '94 Protege...gathering turbo parts now.
The real reason to post this is my newest addition, my 1994 Miata Package A 5 speed.
That's how it sits now, but the exhaust tip is a tad bit bigger.
Anyway, I bought the car Nov. 19th. A customer of my dealership came in with it, looking at Outback XTs, and when I saw the car I went to the saleswoman dealing with the lady and told her that if the customer was going to trade the car in, I'd buy it. Kind of illegal for me to do(taking profit from the dealership), but when I saw the condition of the car I didn't really care.
I got the chick's number(I know what you're thinking, but I'm not interested in 30-somethings with boyfriends), and called her. Of course the biggest question was "How much are you looking to get for the Miata?", and she said "$2,900 seems fair" I said "Oh(high-pitched, lol), I'm very interested". She drove the car to my house so that I could test-drive it. I knew I had to buy it, there was no way I could let it pass me by. She drove it to the dealership the next day where I purchased it for $2900.
~100,000 miles, 2 year old Mazda soft-top, always serviced at my dealership. Becides front brake pads and turning the rotors, and an alignment(2, actually, and needs another...long embarrasing story but I managed to hit a curb, something I haven't done in any other car ever, and bent the right front lower A-arm), and new fluids, I haven't had to do anything else.
Now comes the fun. I got a FREE hard top from my dealership...it was in my dad's work area, a warranty claim. It was painted at my dealership pretty crappy, the front edge is slightly warped as well(makes some wind noise at 100+mph), and it's Titanium, as you can see. It's off of a 2004 MazdaSpeed. A $1,595 value, plus paint and hardware, for $42 for 2 pieces of hard ware and 4 screws needed to put it on my car.
I also have learned that I can trade parts with whole-sale cars. We had a '99 Miata come in, beat to hell and didn't start, and once I got it to start(lots of starter fluid) it knocks very bad. But it had a set of the 15" wheels with Yokohama ES100s. I asked my used car manager if I could trade wheels. He said I could...little did he know I was going to give him 14" Protege LX wheels with mis-matched unballanced tires. But I did. The Miata wheels are in pretty good shape...very little curb rash but the inside edge of 3 of them is bent, somehow. Once ballanced they're fine though.
I've also got a Jackson Racing hi-flow converter and a bosal-brospeed cat-back, both used but in great condition. Car sounds good, is quiet(something the Protege isn't, with the 2.5" downpipe-back exhaust and all), and drives like a dream. Best $2,900(well, $3,300 total as it stands) I could have ever spent!
-Ryan
