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1994 Mazda Miata Convertible 2-door 1.8l ---no Reserve--- on 2040-cars

Year:1994 Mileage:103000 Color:
Location:

There is no reserve.  Do not worry about your valuable attention being wasted, the auction will not be ended early.  At the end of this listing, someone, possibly you, will be happier by a factor of one Miata.

Mechanical:  The engine starts easily with no smoke, rattles, or ticks.  It runs smoothly from idle to redline, and has solid oil pressure at all times.  I have always used the appropriate Mobil1 in the crankcase, transmission, and differential.  The ignition consumables (plugs & wires) have about 3,000 miles on them, and are oem NGK parts.  The injectors are a stock set from a 1999 Miata, and have been matched and flow tested.  This car dyno'd just a little more than a hundred horsepower to the tires, which is consistent with a healthy engine.  It is equipped with the Torsen Limited-Slip differential, which works perfectly and quietly.  The only modification to the drivetrain is a stainless-steel Borla cat-back exhaust, which not only sounds great, but weighs about half as much as the factory setup.  The A/C system worked fine, but I realized this was a convertible, so I removed what I considered 30lbs of dead weight.  I will include at no additional charge, a Goodyear timing belt component kit and OEM water pump.

Suspension:  Within the last 1000 miles I have installed a Flyin' Miata's V-Maxx Adjustable Coilover/Strut setup.  It also has a set of their adjustable sway bars, with adjustable end links.

Brakes:  5000 miles ago I replaced all four calipers, all four rotors, all the pads, and all the fluid.

Electrical:  12 months ago I installed a 500cca Lithium-Ion battery, that weighs 3 lbs.  The Stereo system is terrific.  It has a "Heavy-Duty" series Jensen head unit, meaning it is moisture and dirt resistant, and can be read easily in direct sunlight.  There are USB and mini-jack inputs on the front of the CD player.  I removed the interior of the car and re-wired the door speakers directly to a 75w-rms/channel amplifier in the trunk.  The door speakers are just the nicest set of Polk 6.5" separates you can find.  There is no distortion, even at surprisingly high volume.  

Exterior:  The body is a mixed bag.  I keep it garaged at all times.  There has never been any rust.  All of the body panels are original, and all the paint is original, and I wax it often.  As you may know, the hood is aluminum.  It has some hail dings in it that the rest of the car doesn't have, due to the softer metal.  On the passenger side there is some damage that I have tried to highlight in pictures.  The plastic rear panel that goes around the tail lights has two cracks, also seen in the pictures.  The front fascia has a crack on the passenger side, I took pictures of that too.  The fabric on the convertible top is better than nothing, but basically shot.

Interior:  Very clean.  No odors.  No stains.  No burns.  I replaced the plastic bezel surrounding the gauge cluster with a new OEM piece, since they apparently crack and rattle.  That shifter is a genuine MOMO knob that fits tightly to the stock shaft.  The steering wheel is a very nice NOS piece I found three years ago, as the leather on the original one was cracking.  The only bad news is that when I installed the aftermarket tweeters in the doors, the vinyl on the door cards split on one side, illustrated in the pictures.  The drivers window regulator requires significantly more effort than the passenger one, not sure what's going on there.  There is a four inch long crack in the windshield down close by the dash.  It's been there three years and hasn't spread at all.  Frankly, I kind of forgot it's there.

Rolling Stock: If I have to explain why these are awesome, this may not be the car for you.   The wheels and tires have ~500 miles on them.  They are genuine ATS 15" Cup wheels, wrapped in 225-width BFGoodrich Rival tires.  They do not rub under any circumstances.  


The auction winner will be entitled to purchase some additional goodies at very attractive prices
1) Flyin' Miata Butterfly Brace and Frame rail kit & strut tower brace signed by Keith Tanner.  $600
2) Flyin' Miata coolant reroute kit.  $200
3.)Stock 14" Aluminum wheels this car was delivered from the factory with $75


Ask all the questions you want.  If your question is dumb, or I answered it already in the description, I reserve the right to respond sarcastically.  I don't want to sell this car at all, so at least grant me that.
There will be no surprises.   I have been selling on ebay for over a decade, including other vehicles.  I'm willing to help with shipping, or if you want to fly-&-drive.  Don't be the least bit concerned about making it home.  This car will do it.

I posted some more photos on my face book page:
Search "The Vehicle Rescue", and you'll find a crap ton of pictures in the album entitled "Sleepy".

Auto blog

From Maseratis to rental cars | Autoblog Podcast #511

Fri, Apr 7 2017

On this week's podcast, Mike Austin and David Gluckman are in a huddle room (again), because the studio was already taken (again). We talk about the all-wheel-drive Dodge Challenger GT (again), as well as the Jeep Wrangler, Maserati Levante, Miata RF (again), and then David waxes poetic on mediocre rental cars (or similar). The episode wraps up with the traditional doling out of Spend My Money buying advice, with some input from an S2000 owner on advice discussed last time. The rundown is below. Remember, if you have a car-related question you'd like us to answer or you want buying advice of your very own, send a message or a voice memo to podcast at autoblog dot com. (If you record audio of a question with your phone and get it to us, you could hear your very own voice on the podcast. Neat, right?) And if you have other questions or comments, please send those too. Autoblog Podcast #511 Topics and stories we mention Dodge Challenger GT Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Maserati Levante Mazda MX-5 Miata RF Used cars! Rundown Intro - 00:00 What we're driving - 06:11 Spend My Money - 32:45 Total Duration: 55:30 Get The Podcast iTunes – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes RSS – Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator MP3 – Download the MP3 directly Feedback Email – Podcast at Autoblog dot com Review the show on iTunes Podcasts Dodge Jeep Maserati Mazda Nissan mazda mx-5 rf dodge challenger gt

Mazda to celebrate 25 years of MX-5 with 15 Miatas in New York

Thu, 20 Mar 2014

Having first debuted at the Chicago Auto Show in 1989, the Mazda MX-5 Miata has been on the market now for an impressive 25 years. So to celebrate that quarter-century anniversary, Mazda is bringing no less than 15 examples of the legendary roadster from throughout its history to the New York Auto Show this year.
Mazda isn't saying just which versions of the MX-5 it's bringing to the Javitz center this year, but with three generations to choose from and over 900,000 units built and sold, there are plenty of examples - including production versions, special editions and concept cars.
What would really put the cherry on this birthday cake, however, would be if Mazda were to surprise us in Manhattan with the debut of the highly anticipated fourth-generation Miata that we're expecting to debut sometime this year.

Half of Chinese car buyers won't shop Japanese over hard feelings

Mon, May 26 2014

The hard feelings between China and Japan is no real secret. Besides modern-day disputes, the two countries have had a long-running enmity that dates back to well before the atrocities of World War II. All things considered, then, it shouldn't be a shock that half of Chinese car buyers wouldn't consider a Japanese car. This survey, conducted by Bernstein Research, found that 51 percent of 40,000 Chinese consumers wouldn't even consider a Japanese car – which, again, isn't really surprising, when you consider stories like this. According to Bernstein, the most troubling thing is the location of these sentiments – smaller, growing cities where the population is going to need sets of wheels. We imagine it wouldn't be as big of an issue in traffic-clogged Shanghai or Beijing, but these small cities are going to become a major focus for automakers. "Nationalistic feelings are an impediment. [Japanese] premium brands will struggle," analyst Max Warburton wrote in a research note, according to The Wall Street Journal. Things will improve for Japanese makes, although China will remain a challenge, with Warburton writing, "the one thing that comes out most clearly is that most Chinese really want a German car. While we expect Japanese brands to continue to recover market share this year, ultimately the market will belong to the Germans." There are a few other insights from the study. According to WSJ, Japanese brands are viewed better than Korean brands, and they're seen as more comfortable than the offerings from Germany or the US, despite the fact that everyone in China apparently wants a German car. This is a tough position for the Japanese makes to be in, as there's really not a lot they can do to win favor with Chinese buyers. It will be interesting to see how this plays out, particularly as the importance of the PRC continues to increase year after year. News Source: The Wall Street Journal - sub. req.Image Credit: Kazuhiro Nogi / AFP / Getty Images Honda Mazda Nissan Toyota Car Buying