Miata vs MR2...or others? (cheap sports car for a girl..)

PM

 

I wouldn't get near a Del Sol.

I'd go with the Miata. They are pretty much bulletproof. It will be louder at 70 than the MR2. Just depends on your tolerance.

I own 2 Mazdas and recommend them all the time. Why wouldn't you buy one?

 

Ryan, in Texas (the only rates I have readily available, but should give an idea):

Disregarding liability insurance costs (which would be constant in this example), and focusing on comprehensive and collision coverage only, and all other things being equal;

A 1991 Miata is about 25% less costly to insure than a 1991 MR2 non-turbo.

This is most likely due to the parts availability of Miatas vs. MR2s. i.e. If an insured crumples a fender, the Miata fender is probably either easier to come by, or cheaper, or both.

Hope this helps. It sounds like your friend deserves all the help we can give her.

PS - Don't try to sell her on a del sol. She seems like a cool chick and cool chicks don't drive del sols. Besides, from an insurance standpoint, they are about 12% costlier to insure than a Miata.

 

Go for the mazda mx5 far better than the mr2 reliabilty wise,

Dale.

 

Glad to hear she is going with a Miata. I've had 3 and absolutely adore them. Fantastic little cars for the money.

If she is looking for different colors I'd suggest she search for a 94 or 95 M-edition. The 94 was montego blue(green-blue) and is an unusual color. The 95 was merlot paint(dark burgandy). I had a 94 M and loved it.

The 95 in particular looks really stunning. The merlot paint really works well with the miata lines.

 

Heh.. I own a miata now, and owned a mr2 as my last car. I recommend the miata, it's a far more fun car to drive - and the convertible top is a lot more fun than the mr2.

The mr2 is more of a gt car, and although it's faster - it understeers quite badly, has bad turn in - the suspension doesn't feel that tight. The miata - even when driven in normal conditions, feels more responsive, turns in very sharply, the power delivery is nice and linear... But it still urges you to rev it out.

I've had far more compliments driving around in a silver mx5 with the hood down than I ever did in the red mr2. I've had the mx5 3 weeks and have had me, a friend and 3 girls on the back (with the hood down). I don't think I ever had more than one girl at a time in the toyota. Heh.

The mx5 honestly is the best handling car that you can buy for the money by a country mile!

 

MR2..but it seems out the price range.

 

The Miata slushbox is, in my opinion, horrible. I wouldn't even consider it. I'm not sure about the MR2's.

 

As someone who has owned both of these cars (at the same time) maybe i can help a little. The miata is a fun car. it sounds cool, its fun to drive and you can park the damn thing anywhere. However, if over 5'10" its a pain in the ass to see traffic lights, signs, etc... its a perfect girl car, any man wouldnt be caught dead in one, and the minute you sit in it, it takes your balls away.

The MR2 on the other hand is even cooler. it is soo powerful because it doesnt weigh anything, and with the turbo, the car is really fun. the insurance is a little more, however they hold value better, last longer, have more of a cult following, and have a little more room inside. (thats if you can find one). I just sold mine which was a 93 turbo with only 7,133 miles on it for 13K.

I would go with the MR2. It is just a much better car.

 

We need pictures of her first in order to decide....

 

MR2 MR2 MR2 MR2 MR2 MR2 MR2 MR2



i have had several............ i dont like the Miata's, but thats just me. oh yea, the MR2'S i had NEVER EVER let me down or left me stranded. i drove the crap out of one , a red 1986 with a supercharger and a sunroof for 216,000 miles. it lived for 2 more years after i sold it to a 16 year old girl that my parents knew. someone hit the car when it was parked and thats what finally killed it. i bought back the wreck and chopped it up for parts / fun.

 

I'll have to remember that.

http://pages.villagephotos.com/page.asp?page_id=2759

 

I never had a problem with visibility in any of mine and I'm a little over 6'1".

The testicle deletion option wasn't available for the ones I had(not that I would have ordered it ). Maybe it's standard for those who don't have the balls to drive whatever they enjoy regardless of perception.

 

My mr2 history

86 na 180,000 miles
91 turbo 252,000 miles,
Now 91 NA about to turn 100k

The MR2 is the most fun car you can buy in the price range your friend wants.

BE aware parts are expensive for the mr2(esspecially turbo) and labor will eat you alive if you aren't handy with a wrench.

Alternators on the 91-95's are a particular joy to get out and yes they do go bad.

The NA is a very differnet car from the turbo. My turbo was a td=06 with all the fixins. Wickedly fast, sounded glorious and probably the greatest car I ever owned. The engine on the na will just never compare but has more driveable torque. I drive my na at 4.5-5k rpms all day long to keep what little power there is on tap.

The syncros in an mr2 will probably be bad on at least second gear and the trannys are a tad expensive. Redline mt-90 will smooth them out for 40k or so. After that throw it away.

Miatas are fun but just not the same.

 

I pity anyone who thinks this. Have some real balls, and drive what makes you happy, not what other people want.

 

I miss driving my miata it is sitting in the garage waiting for a new engine. Should be back on the road soon.

I put 280k miles on it before I had the crank problem that the first year cars have. The original a/c lasted until 270k miles. They are great cars.

Go read around on miata.net, check the classifieds and the forum. There is a good garage/tech section too.

 

MX-5 vs MR-2 non turbo.....the choice is clear for me...ha ha, MX-5!!!!!

However, she is single and will have only one car...MX-5 will be a bit difficult to live with; small storage area, soft top (buy it with the hard top if possible). But it's an extremely fun car to drive. If she can live with a small car, then MX-5 is it.

I am currently on my 2nd MX-5 and loving it. I recommend manual tranny, but if auto is a must, MX-5's is OK. My ex-girlfriend used to drive MX-5 auto daily for several years with no problem. It was a bit slow, but the handling made up for the loss of power.

The soft top on the old car might have hazy rear plastic but you can rub it off mostly. The glue on the top usually deteriorate in about 10-12 years, and you will need to fix the roof (cheap and easy). Leaking is not a problem (at least from 3 MX-5 that I have experienced).

It will be quite noisy on highway at 70mph....go a bit slower and you also save some gas...ha ha.

All in all, I highly recommend it.

 

MR2 Board that you can browse around on:
http://www.mr2oc.com/

For the price range she has it would be sort of difficult to find a very clean, good example of an MR2. I personally like the car because it is more rare in comparison to other cars in this price range (the last year it was available here was 1995 and there was an estimated 350 imported that year) and I must say I love the looks of the MR2.

Couple things to know about the MR2: 1991 was the first year for the new body style, in 93+ MR2's they changed the suspension making the springs a bit stiffer and the car sits about an inch lower then the 91-92's, also the 93+ had bigger brakes I believe, they also gave the car bigger 15" wheels as opposed to the 14" on the 91-92's and on the 93's it came with a slightly bigger front lip. The 94-95 years are the hardest to come by and more expensive then the previous years due to the rarity. Changes in the 94+ MR2's include color matched mouldings/sideskirts/lip for the turbos and color matched sideskirts/lip on the non-turbos. The 94+ also came with a different style tail light, a more updated look, as well as a new one peice spoiler as opposed to the 3 piece on the 91-93's. Also the 94+ came with a passenger side airbag standard, previous years did not have this even as an option. All turbo's came with foglights, except for very early 91 models. Turbo models have always had 200hp and 200tq and the 91-92 non turbos had 130hp and 130 something tq while the 93+ had 135hp and 140tq. The car weighs around 2700 or 2800 lb's I believe. T-tops are very common, sunroofs are not as common as the t-tops, but they seem the least desirable, and the hardtops are the most rare and most desired by the "auto-x" or racer crowd due to the stiffer chasis of the hardtop. The t-tops are known to have a leaking issue, but it is fairly easy to fix. The non-turbo motors are also known to have leaky valve seals and so upon cold starts they smoke a little bit of white smoke, but it is not really a big deal. As for storage space, the trunk can accomodate maybe one golf bag and the front trunk (under the hood) can fit a backpack or 2. Inside the car behind the seats there is also a small storage space, not very big though. Lots more information could be found via the MR2 message board.

*shameless plug*My car is up for sale on autotrader, however, I'm looking for a couple thousand more then she is willing to spend I believe. These cars hold their value really well.
1995 MR2, non-turbo, hardtop, manual.
http://photobucket.com/albums/v249/Lkihunh/Car/

I've loved owning this car, I got countless compliments on the car and plenty of gawkers. It's not uncommon for MR2 owners to say that people have asked what kind of Ferrari it is, it's happened to me before and I laughed and corrected the guy. This car has also been nothing but reliable for me, it is a Toyota afterall. It is definitely common for MR2's to last upwards of 200k miles with regular maitenance.

 

LAWR, if it was a turbo i would have sent you $$$$ NOW!!! VERY VERY nice car. great pics too, thanks for sharing! the '95's are rare!

 

haha, thank you very much. I try my best to keep the car in the best shape possible. If it were a turbo I would be able to ask a couple thousand more for the car

 

i was looking at your getting your car on autotrader but i will not have money tell end of summer(if some how you dont sell it by then, we can talk). i had a 91 N/A but i could not put more money into so i had to sell it. i loved that car and i have to admit i took it out in the snow a few times it is fun with no other cars but dumb. also i drove the hell out of it but treated her good, i only did one autocross but it felt like what the car should be doing.

i am one of the people that love cars, clean keep everything up but think they should be drivin all the time in any whether(if safe, snow is not really but you have to try stuff)

 

Haha, I definitely agree with you. Cars are meant to be driven. This is my daily driver and I do pamper the crap out of it still. I've owned it for a little over a year and put on about 20k miles :\ So a quarter of the miles on this car are just from me and from the last year..But it's reliable as heck so it can take it I get some bites on the car, but nothing too serious. I'm not really in a rush to sell, I enjoy driving the car. So who knows, I may still have it then, but it'll probably have more miles on it Thanks!

 

not sure why it has to be japanese...

my standing recommendation would be for an X1/9. for $3-5k in the US you can certainly get a well sorted late-model (87-89) Bertone. if well looked after, resale value is almost certain to be what she paid for it, if not more.

fun-factor is pretty much unbeatable this side of an elise, plus it's italian and has a certain X-factor to it (so to speak ) rather than the kind of fleet-car feel of japanese stuff. also, it doesn't sound like a vaccuum cleaner, is a lot less common, - and although more personal than any other comments here - is beautifully styled. hey, 17 years of production without changing the body, you can be sure they got it right first time. it can mingle with classics and modern cars alike.

here's a great little article on how the Lampredi engine came to be (Enzo content included ): The Mouse That Roared

of course you can turbo it...