Miata NA for first car?
 

MY girlfriend is getting her drivers license in around 2 weeks time and shes in the market for her 1st car. She really likes the 3 and will be getting one, however, she wants a beater before she gets a 3 to toughen up her driving skills, so I suggested a Miata.
Shes most likely getting a 1991~1993 Autotragic

Is there anything I should look out for her when I take her test driving? Any problems of NA Miata's I should be concerned about?

And we've kinda agreed on sharing the car so what's the best first mod you guys suggest?

sorry I'm not really bothered going on the Miata forums cause I know some of you here own Miatas and I'm not putting a lot of effort into this NA....yet

much appreciated

NOpe, awsome car zara. i owned a 97 NA , probably my favorite car ever owned.

i love the old 94+ na miatas (94 because of the 1.8 engine) currently looking for one my self so i can work on the 8 and have a second car

make sure it run, if its a manual make sure all the gears work go in and out, check to see if the maintenance was done timing belt etc, but they are pretty strong little things

The NA Miata is a great little car that is a lot of fun to toss thru the twisties. I still love mine after 160K miles and 16 years.

BUT I will warn you that the car was first sold twenty years ago. In the US the 1.6 liter engine was last sold in 1993 which means sometimes being cleaver to find parts and information. I don't know about Auckland as the 1.6 was used later in some markets due to tax laws and might have better parts availability. They are popular Spec Miata cars in the US which helps on parts but the loacl Mazda dealer does not stock them for sure. Mail order is the solution in the US. Also the automatic was a slightly different engine for the 1.6 which could complicate finding parts.

Here's a buyer's guide from Grassroots Motorsports

Apparently, the 90-91 cars had a crank issue.

Miata's a great first car. Why bother with the 3?

The only concern I would have with a Miata is crash safety. To be perfectly honest, most new drivers will get into an accident. It's a fantastic car otherwise, I've been tossing around the idea of picking up an NB or NC as my next car.

Oh and I would strongly encourage a manual transmission in a first car. You don't have to like it, but it forces you to learn a lot of good driving habits - mainly situational awareness. I'm convinced that owning all manual cars has kept me out of trouble, when I drive automatics I get bored and start finding other things to do (this is VERY BAD). Plus it's a good thing to learn just in the event of an emergency - knowing how to drive both types of transmissions can come in very handy (this makes even more sense when you turn 21 :p:). It doesn't hurt that most drivers will learn to love MT even if they're initially opposed to it.

Yes! Make her learn how to drive a manual first!!!
Miata would be perfect for that.

I disagree. Novice drivers are just learning how to move with pedals and a wheel, so they need to focus on turning, parking, lane changes, etc. Getting the right gear should be the least of their concerns. Once they're comfortable with the rules of the road and moving around, stirring gears will be a lot easier. People turning slowly at a green arrow is annoying enough, but if they are in the wrong gear it's even worse.

Also, most people learning manual tend to look down while shifting, if they've been driving for a while they'll know not to do that for more than a fraction of a second.

Another plus for the MX-5 as a first car: it's easy to see out of. Parking and turning will be easier than a big car.

I learned in an MT - started in a parking lot off in a quiet section of town, got comfortable and did my "trial by fire" by driving around in light traffic areas, then once I was comfortable with that, I went off on my own. It only took a day or two of practice. Those first few laps around the block certainly make you wake up, take notice and think about what you're doing. I think that awareness outweighs the slight uncertainty of vehicle dynamics, which are usually understood after just a few blocks of driving.

I disagree with your disagreement.

Absolutely the same way I learned to drive. Nobody wants to invest a few days to learn anymore. "Today, I'm going to learn to drive." Bullshit. I practiced with a standard in my Dad's office parking lot where it was empty. I practiced coming to stop and pushing the clutch in. I practiced taking off without stalling it. I even found a little incline where I would deliberately stop, and practice feathering the clutch to take off, and all this was in a VW that had an idle problem in hot weather. Care to guess what else I learned by driving that thing? That's right, to keep the idle up, I had to learn to heel-toe. I knew how to heel-toe before I even knew how to drive on the street. I spent a couple of days practicing, asking my Dad questions, and then I would drive him home each night. He would help me and give me tips.

It took just a few days to learn. Invest the time to do something right. Learn from somebody that knows more than you. /soapbox

You're speaking from an auto-enthusiast's point of view. You and I like to spend our free time enjoying driving. Realize not everyone is like that.

Crap, missed that part. If you go for the auto, remember you're dealing with crappy ones from the early 90s.

autotragic on a miata = Biblical FAIL. Learn her to use the stick or drive a mazda3 instead.

I don't think it's an issue of enjoyment really, I think that learning stick as you begin to drive encourages much better awareness behind the wheel - even for non-enthusiasts. Most people already understand the basics of steering, accelerating, and braking just from watching their parents, and they'll perfect these skills within just a few miles. They'll quickly feel very confident behind the wheel and will likely end up driving with one hand, leaned over into the center of the vehicle, playing with their phone (we've all seen them). However, learning to drive stick is something that promotes focus and good driving habits when behind the wheel. When learning to drive stick, it really takes a lot of focus, and that focus will turn into a habit. I remember how quickly learned to not pull up too close at red lights, how to watch my speed, and to be keenly aware of what other drivers are doing in order to prepare for gear changes while in traffic. I don't know if those concepts would have been as clear if I learned in an automatic.

True, true. But maybe she'll take some pride in the fact that she can drive a standard, and will become an enthusiast? We can only hope...

My wife learned to drive a manual early on. I remember taking a new 1999 Miata 10AE on a test drive. I took it out of the parking lot, but she drove it back (salesman let us go without him). She had always driven cars with shit gear boxes and shit handling, and the grin on her face rowing through the gears with perfectly short throws, going around the corners, and enjoying the drive with the top down near sunset... Dude. Anybody can be an enthusiast when you have a Miata. It's just plain fun.

Needless to say, we owned an NB and enjoyed the heck out of it. I still think it would make a good first car.

reminds me of many many moons ago, true story:::my old girlfriend had bought a 92 miata...
this was back in 99 because it was cheaper than a new civic si at the time, and she didnt want to beat on a new car. knowing statistics and all.
I made her get a manual tranny then....needless to say...she lives in my city and she currently drives a mazdaspeed miata (MT) and when i ran into her at starbucks she said, thats all she has ever owned and she commended me on a choice of rx8....I doubt your girl will go from a open top semi sports car to a slow boggy 3.

and supercharge the thing, the kits are a dime a dozen used right now. (hint: jackson)

Thanks everyone for your reply! Your posts has certainly started swaying her stubbornness on Autotragics. She loves cars but I'm not that sure about driving, so I think I'll respect her opinions on autotragics. "Novice drivers are just learning how to move with pedals and a wheel" I absolutely agree with that and I think she needs to learn how to do that first. I hope she doesn't turn out to be a very clumsy female driver= =

I agree! I have driven sadly only once in a Miata before and boy it was fun! I personally wouldn't like it though, for practicality reasons and I do prefer something with a bit more weight.

She'll still keep the Miata, or I will, so on sunny days in summer we can cruise around the twisties beside the beach. However, she loves parties and sometimes she needs to haul her girlfriends so...I'm not quite sure her parents' 1997 Camry's gonna do a good job in terms of looks.

Any other suggestions on a replacement for the 3 that's around the same price range? She wants something thats a "girlie car" but she doesn't like the Fiat 500...so not that girlie and she prefers something that fits more than 2.2 Children in the back seat (so no beatles and minis....God I hate them...)