Did you recently take on (or consider) a loan of 84 months or longer on a car purchase?
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you missed their September incentives, they had $3000 rebate on Mazdaspeed Miatas!
hope i got a decent deal...
while the intake already looks pretty decent- it attempts to block sucking in too much air from the hood but from the fender, are there gains to be had? any opinions on good performing exhaust that's not too loud?
I suggest that you go to the tirerack.com site to read their tire recommendations and reviews for more information.
Figure about $500-700 for an extra set of rims / snow tires that will give you about 3-4 seasons of good safe snow driving. Compare that to "saving" the $500-700 and getting some no-season tires, that will not perform nearly as well in the dry (80% of your driving probably) as summer tires, and then the white knuckle driving you'll endure slipping and sliding your way to work without snow tires in your sub 2,500 lb rear wheel drive sports car.
Or do what I do...buy an OTM for days when driving conditions get bad or you need to transport something besides yourself and a 6-pack of beer LOL.
Check the reviews.
-juice
Thanks
Quite a few people go ahead and put tops from the latest Miata models (M2) on their early model (M1) cars. This will get a glass window for you. You can get good used late model tops at many salvage yards for $400 - $600 including the frame. The replacement procedure is a 2-4 hour job, depending on how mechanically skilled you are. This is comparable to buying a new replacement top for your car and having it installed. Search a www.car-parts.com for a 1999 or later "roof" to see what is available.
The M2 top's advantage is that you don't have to unzip the window first. But I think the window itself is smaller, isn't it?
I have a '93, it has the plastic window, which I replaced with a Robbins top with glass. You still need to unzip, but it's OK, no big deal. I'm very happy with the top.
Performance Buyers Club in VA installed my new top for $800, and it's been perfect.
-juice
Thanks,
Don 2004 Silver Miata w/6-speed
Does anyone else have this problem?
Also, has anyone ever worked INSIDE your door. if they did, and forget to replace the plastic sheeting (moisture barrier), that'll cause this too.
I don't have a Miata in front of me but I think these observations apply.
Mine broke and I didn't even know what it was. It leaked very slightly, until I replaced the whole top. The installer pointed it out to me.
So check those cables! There is one on each side I think.
-juice
PS It was $80 extra to replace it, installed
Are there any special start up or shut down procedures that have to be followed? thanks
the engine is not stressed that much, it's only a bit more output. somewhere beyond 100k miles you'll have to overhaul the turbocharger, just like the engine will need an overhaul to return like-new performance. but odds are both will run for a long time.
start-up: don't drive until the coolant needle starts to move. don't drive hard until 5 minutes after the coolant temp reaches normal-- this is approximately when oil temp reaches normal and the engine is really ready to party down.
shut-down: if you use synthetic oil, which I would highly highly recommend on a turbocharged car, you have no real need to cool-down the engine with prolonged idling if you've just been driving fairly normal in the minutes before you park. if you've just flogged it pretty hard, then you would want to idle for 2-3 minutes and let the turbocharger cool off. an aftermarket turbo timer is mostly irrelevant these days, but some people install them anyway.
~Colin
You probably do this anyway, hopefully, for pedestrian safety. :-)
-juice
There was also a lot of condensation in the trunk area and a little inch diameter spot of water as well. The carpet back there seemed dry, but is this most likely a sign of a cracked rain rail?
I've done the paperwork, but am waiting to take delivery on it until they get the leak repaired. They will let me run the car through their car-wash to make sure it is really fixed before I pick it up.
What do you guys think? Should I take the car only if it gets a new top or could this just be a weather stripping problem?
but if everything is solid, the 10AE is my favorite Miata.
~c
It could be that cable that we discussed earlier. My driver side one broke, and that created a very slow leak along the window. It was never enough to get the carpets wet, which tells me that one had a more serious leak.
-juice
Well I didn't see anything I thought looked like rust starting in the trunk (but then I am no rust expert). Should I be able to pull up the carpet on the passenger side to check over there?
One thing I forgot to mention before is that I could see where the top was patched once on the drivers side of the car (the opposite side of the leak). Looks like it might have been slashed. The patch looks solid, but maybe this cable was also damaged at that time. Is it easy to determine if this cable you are talking about is broken?
How would one go about arranging a third party inspection when the car is sitting on a big dealer lot? Would I just ask them to let me drive it over to a shop myself?
in 1998-99, they were referred to as the 10th Anniversary Edition. everyone then called them the 10AE.
~Colin
10AE is nice, I might trade up my '93 for one of those later on.
Sorry but I never saw the cable until it was broken and basically poked me in the head (literally). That was the final straw - I went ahead and replaced the entire top, rain rail, and the cable on that side.
Paid $800, BTW, but my top is a different design with a window you unzip. Your '99 does not need to be unzipped to fold. The rain rail might be new enough to save, so it might even cost you a bit less.
I used PBC (Performance Buyers Club) in VA. They were great.
-juice
I finally got around to replacing my shift boots in my 1990 MX-5. It has 130,000 miles so not surprisingly, the two rubber shift boots in my shifter were long gone.
It was incredibly simple. Step 1: order them from local Mazda dealer. Step 2: Remove a few 10 mm screws the get the center console loose. Step 3: Remove the shift knob. Step 4: Remove the shifter. Step 5: Remove the old shift boots...one of them had to be cut away with a knife. Step 6: lube up the shifter shaft with some motor oil to get the small shift boot to go ont easier (a lot of people complain that this is difficult, but mine with on easily). Step 7: Replace the "big" shift boot and replace the insulation, console and shift knob...you're done.
While you have the shifter off you may want to check the conidtion of your turret lube. Mine had none so I replaced it with Redline MTL. I've heard of others using all sorts of stuff from motor oil to petroleum jelly. In retrospect, I would NOT have used MTL...it stinks too much.
If you haven't checked yours recently and you've got some miles on your Miata, you may want to spend a half hour or so and check out yours.
Mine avoids me for about 3 days.
-juice
* fuel filter
* air filter
* oil change plus filter
* bleed brakes
* rotate tires (they're off anyway)
* coolant flush
* spark plugs
* spark plug wires
* gear oil
* differential oil
* PCV valve
* O2 sensor
Sound about right folks?
For 60k and 120k I'd do all the same stuff plus the belts.
-juice
They grip so much better than my old tires that I felt some tramlining at first. It took some adjusting!
-juice
2001 Prelude Type SH, 2022 Highlander XLE AWD, 2025 Camry SE AWD
What IS an issue is the check engine light. It went on when I hit first the highway on my way home after taking delivery. We immediately turned around and took the vehicle back to them. The dealer promised to stand behind their vehicle and took it in for service and hooked us up with a free rental. A few days later they call and say it was the catalytic converter and they replaced it and we could go pick it up.
After getting the car back we drove it for several days when the light went on again. Brought it back. Again they gave us a free rental. This time they say it was the oxygen sensor and they replaced it. Picked up the car this evening.
Right before I got home guess what went on again?!?!?
ugh
Man I am sick of this. Any thoughts?
it might be a useful second opinion...
~Colin
My conversation with others on another forum leads me to think that this may be a coil pack issue. Guess I'll get them to check that out.
Hang in there, once this is sorted out it'll just be a bad memory.
You may want to ask them to do a longer test drive after the next fix. If they get another MIL, let them diagnose it themselves.
-juice
either way, glad you have a new lead and good luck! keep us posted.
~Colin
-juice
~c
They've been great in the rain so far. I don't drive my Miata in the snow because I own a Forester that'll do circles around it when it's snowing.
-juice