The Semi-Unofficial Pistol-Forum Car geek, gearhead, hot rodder, and vehicle thread

[hufnagel]

The $3500 Miata is a thing of the past unless you want a basket case.

A friend of mine has been looking for an NA Miata. He started off expecting to find one for $3k locally, no problem. Now he's combing every listing service and option within a 500mi radius and expecting to pay $6k+ and jump in the truck to buy it immediately to get one worth owning.
Genuinely nice examples are mostly in the $6-8k range, +$1500 or so if it comes with a factory hardtop.

But there's a weird 'gap' happening right now, where sellers of 90's "Golden Era" Japanese sports cars in really nice shape are expecting a ton of money, but nobody's buying, and beat up examples that will be harder to restore sell for *significantly* less than that.

NC Miatas can occasionally be found for $4-6k because a lot of purist Miata people don't really like NC's. But for a teenage girl learning stick I think being a little larger and more modern is ideal.

Ain't that the truth. It's why we wound up going the route we are for a car for the kid.

[mmc45414]

And i'm hearing stories about Ford NOT delivering the vehicles ordered. Due to the shortage of certain chips and whatnot, they're sending out vehicle to "customers" missing things like heated seats, and "crediting" them back the cost.

I have heard specifically heated steering wheels were a problem, not seats, and I think the examples of de-contenting are more for standard or package features. In the case of options there are certain options that will just flat ass stop the order from being submitted, or it will just be a hang-fire that never gets scheduled for production, possibly being canceled and maybe automatically scheduled for the subsequent model year. One death knell seems to be the power sliding door (I think not available for low roof cargo anyway), trying to order that seems to be a waste of keystrokes. On the upside deleting the auto start-stop is simple now, I think it was a $50 credit and I probably woulda paid $500 to eliminate it. They use the term "Balance Out", meaning that they have sold their projected number of (for example) 60/40 side doors and if you want to order a van you need to order the slider to submit the order. We also intended to get the Crew Van configuration, where there is one removeable bench seat and windows both sides (and side airbags for the bench), but those were balanced out and according to the chatter likely discontinued. If they don't project having what you ordered they will just move along and build something for somebody else that wanted the stuff they have on hand.

I'm going to assume the ST doesn't have any sentimental value, or isn't in some rare configuration.

Only rare in the sense that they don't make them any more, and only sentimental in the sense that it sure has brought me a lotta enjoyment. It is a 2016 and has had over 130k on it for a while. Before the vid I put in plenty of 1600mi weeks doing sales in a big territory. It is bonus that between the car allowance and mileage reimbursement my employer paid for it and I still have it. Realistically I could keep it, but as much as I love it, it is something that needs maintained and takes up a spot, and lately it gets driven 2-4 times a week. Maybe more when it gets hotter out and the dog(s) cannot tag along. The plan is to do nothing until the van would get built and shipped, then I might get it detailed and marketed and potentially sold before the van (that can take its spot in the garage) shows up.

[mmc45414]

Customer sold the T-bird and bought an SS-R, and we supercharged that instead. Lived happily ever after.

A friend's dad had an SS-R and I had an opportunity to drive it.
Said dood musta really wanted a supercharger...

[hufnagel]

I'm trying to find a "cut off age" for what vehicles I'd consider buying to own long term. The problem with newer vehicles I see, is repairs on them is an absolute nightmare in lots of cases, and the parts they're making them with are decreasing in quality. Plastic water pump housings for example. Not the impellers, but the actual housing bodies being plastic. They warp and fail before the seals do. Combine that with some "dubious" placements, like Ford making water pumps that leak into the oil pan, creating Forbidden Milkshake and roaching the motor. As it's probably clear i'm a Mopar guy, so i'm thinking early/mid aughts as the cut off time, depending on when they did certain things like adding drive-by-wire (i'm looking at you, 2007 Jeep Liberty.) Parts for all my chosen vehicles are still available, still cheap, and still do-able under the shade of a tree. I'm also quietly building up a stash of spare parts as various places (like Rock Auto) decide to do clearance sales; ex: $50/set parking brake shoes for $6/set. I don't *need* them right now, but inevitably I will.

I admit i'm cut from a different cloth than some.

[theJanitor]

I'm trying to find a "cut off age" for what vehicles I'd consider buying to own long term. The problem with newer vehicles I see, is repairs on them is an absolute nightmare in lots of cases, and the parts they're making them with are decreasing in quality. Plastic water pump housings for example. Not the impellers, but the actual housing bodies being plastic. They warp and fail before the seals do. Combine that with some "dubious" placements, like Ford making water pumps that leak into the oil pan, creating Forbidden Milkshake and roaching the motor. As it's probably clear i'm a Mopar guy, so i'm thinking early/mid aughts as the cut off time, depending on when they did certain things like adding drive-by-wire (i'm looking at you, 2007 Jeep Liberty.) Parts for all my chosen vehicles are still available, still cheap, and still do-able under the shade of a tree. I'm also quietly building up a stash of spare parts as various places (like Rock Auto) decide to do clearance sales; ex: $50/set parking brake shoes for $6/set. I don't *need* them right now, but inevitably I will.

I admit i'm cut from a different cloth than some.

My Honda is 17 years old, and my Chevy truck is 39. But I lease my wife a new car every three years. It might not make the most financial sense. But she and my young son are in a new car, that SHOULDN'T break down, with the newest safety features, etc. It's piece of mind I'm paying for.

[EmpireOutfitters]

Love that you're here, Brother. Craig is one of the good guys, my friends.

And I love you.
Thanks buddy! I appreciate the support. You and Rich have been talking this place up for years so I finally caved.

[mmc45414]

I admit i'm cut from a different cloth than some.

I am maybe more like you when it comes to motorcycles, after spending $385 (one time...) to get fresh brake fluid (front only...) in a BMW I used to have.

[mmc45414]

I lease my wife a new car every three years. It might not make the most financial sense. But she and my young son are in a new car, that SHOULDN'T break down, with the newest safety features, etc. It's piece of mind I'm paying for.

As I creep up on retirement I am just trying to get situated. Late 2021 we got the boat we wanted, after that I bought a new(er) ATV we needed, last week I bought a new(er) mower we would have eventually needed, we have two new vehicles on order that will replace our current three vehicles (2009, 2014, 2016) with two new ones (one will be covered by the value of the prior three). Plan to sell the two motorcycles soon and get a single one (that transaction should be a wash), that will probably just leave me needing a more touring capable motorcycle, and that can wait until I might have time to use a touring motorcycle.

So basically we need to get and pay for one new vehicle between now and then.

[0ddl0t]

But there's a weird 'gap' happening right now, where sellers of 90's "Golden Era" Japanese sports cars in really nice shape are expecting a ton of money, but nobody's buying, and beat up examples that will be harder to restore sell for *significantly* less than that.

Same thing for 90s & 00s Japanese 4x4s. If you don't want to spend all summer fixing up a basketcase, you'll probably be spending $10-15k for a clean 300k mile survivor...

[JRB]

A friend's dad had an SS-R and I had an opportunity to drive it.
Said dood musta really wanted a supercharger...

IIRC it was a Magnuson SC kit with a TVS1900 head unit. Magnuson didn't list the kit for the SS-R but they did runs of it occasionally, and since we sold a lot of maggies at the time so we managed to get one for him. The install was... interesting... with the SS-R's packaging being as it was but the kit and components were top shelf. The biggest problem with that wasn't the SC kit but the headers that didn't fit and went back to the maker twice before the customer finally listened to us and just got a set of Kook's headers and they fit, looked way better, and made great power.

We saw that kind of thing and preached it a lot - never go cheap on headers if you're paying someone else to install them. Fitment issues with crappy headers that require re-fabricating stuff adds up labor and fab costs real fast, and I've seen a few sets of cheaper headers that cost more than top shelf stuff by the time they were finally installed.

Same thing for 90s & 00s Japanese 4x4s. If you don't want to spend all summer fixing up a basketcase, you'll probably be spending $10-15k for a clean 300k mile survivor...

It's depressing to think about, but in 2019 I passed up a 100% stock '95 FZJ80 with factory triple lockers and 170k miles for $6k. It interior and exterior were clean, cold A/C & the lockers all worked perfectly... and an AZ and NM truck its whole life so ZERO rust. I passed it up because I was about to deploy and I'd just sold a 2004 V8 4Runner that I loved to reduce the number of cars my wife had to worry about.

Got back in the summer of 2020 and went LC shopping and started kicking myself.. and I haven't stopped kicking myself since. The same FZJ80 could sell for $20k in less than a day right now.