Although it may cost you a little more, start your shopping here and at
Miata.net. Most, if not all, of the people here and there are
miataphiles and although we may often have lots of miles (122K here),
you'll find meticulous maintenance, parts like brakes and shocks
replaced as needed, fluids (brakes, clutch, trans, diff) changed every
couple of years and a record of such. My car (not for sale) is probably
"better" than 90% of the ones being sold by dealers that are off lease
from somone who was having a mid-life crisis. Yet, the book value on my
car is probably about 3K and has at least another 100K in it. Someone
on these groups will always have theirs for sale because of buying a
different one, needing a more family oriented vehicle, etc.. and you can
probably be assured your getting a car that's in as good a shape as
possible. As I said, you may pay a few hundred dollars more for that
maintenance history but it will be well worth it. As for more NBs than
NAs, my opinion is that most true sports car afficianados from the old
school acquired an NA as soon as circumstances allowed and have more of
a tendency to hold onto them. The NBs, because they came ten years
after the introduction of the car may have appealed more to the "hey,
that might be fun crowd" and they don't really enjoy a true sports car
and trade out of them fairly quickly. This is all hypothesis but my
observation of owners seems to confirm his. In any case, don't worry,
you'll find a nice example of an NA within your price range that has
been lovingly taken care of and will pass to you with years of useful
life yet. Actually, I don't think there are many Miata that have
actually worn out.

Tom
92 Red

Anthony wrote:
> Hi again. I posted a message about a week ago titled "So I've got a
> little over a year to think this one over." I mentioned that in a
> little more than a year I will be able to buy a Miata. Thank you for
> the replies and information. I have spent a lot of time at Miata.net
> and also searching the archives of this board.
>
> Anyway, here's the news thus far:
>
> Fiancee and parents have no issues with me buying a small impractical
> sports roadster. (Yay!) (I still would have gotten one anyway....but
> it's nice to have their "blessing."
>
> I have no issues with a small impractical sports roadster. (of course
> not...what did you think I was, an idiot? I just want to drive it
> and have a load of fun in the process!
>
> Unfortunately, it is now certain that I won't be able to buy the car
> until summer of 2006....which is quite a ways from now; much over a
> year. I won't be able to spend more than about $4500 on it. For the
> past week I've been looking through Autotrader.com and Ebay trying to
> get a feel for the pricing on these cars. Lemme tell you, it's all
> over the place.
>
> It seems like there are TONS of NBs for sale, and hardly ANY NAs for
> sale. All I can afford, by looking at the average prices of these
> cars, will be a base model from years '90-'95 at newest, which is FINE
> but....
>
> In a sudden paranoid thought I had today, I wondered "will there be
> any good ones left in two years?!" Two years is going to be a
> tortuous wait for my car...but I can't afford one until then. I have
> to pay for school first. Anyway, is this a legitimate concern? Will
> I be able to find a decent unabused car from my range by that time?
> It seems like too many people are turning them into spec racers and
> gutting the interiors etc. I just want it stock! Why the hell are
> there so many '00s '01s and '02s for sale and hardly any '90s to '95s?
> I won't be able to afford one of those NBs in my dreams (or fit in
> one). At this point, it seems like there are one or two decent NAs
> for sale in a huge list of expensive NBs and trashed/modified/turbo'd
> NAs. Will there be any good cars left from the '90 - '94 range?! I'm
> seriously freaking out about this right now. I've never wanted a car
> so much in my life! I pray that there are enough caring owners out
> there to baby their precious NA Miatas and then sell them in two
> years...but I'm terribly worried I won't be able to get a decent car
> for $4500 in two years.
>
> Somebody please tell me it's going to be OK!
>
> ~Anthony