miata newbie...

[drtomx5]

Hello everyone from Richmond, VA! I am going to Maryland to purchase a '90 miata with 130K miles tonight! As I am trying to educate myself as to what I'm getting into I'm reading about "short cranks"...in the 90-91.5's, and, not having a lot of automotive knowledge, don't know about this. Is this something I should necessarily be worried about? Also, the seller says the airbag light comes on intermittantly-he doesn't know what that means. Any other questions I should ask him? He will take $1900, but may go lower. The top is perfect and 90% tread on OEM wheels. Paint good, not perfect...Thanks for any advice-I'll hope to be able to give some back some day...however, if you want to talk teeth, I'm your man!

[whitetiger777]

The flashing air bag light is actualy a service light. Pick up a shop maunal and it will tell you what the parerns of the flashing mean. My fathers flash, and the pattern told up the the compressor for the airbag is going out.

[badboy916]

did you buy the miata? how does it run?

[drtomx5]

Originally Posted by whitetiger777

The flashing air bag light is actualy a service light. Pick up a shop maunal and it will tell you what the parerns of the flashing mean. My fathers flash, and the pattern told up the the compressor for the airbag is going out.

Thanks so much for the reply, but at the last minute the deal fell through and am still looking for a good deal on a late '91 or newer...in the meantime I purchased a '90 automatic Geo metro convertible for $350 from an auction ( my girlfriend's 16 yo son calls it an extremely 'gay' car, but it drives like a top...yes you can do the Flinstone jumpstart from either the driver's or passenger's side, the A/C doesn't work and there is no workable top, but it is a blast to drive!), so Im still looking for my dream Miata...any leads??

[drtomx5]

Originally Posted by badboy916

did you buy the miata? how does it run?

Thanks for the reply, see below. Tom

[badboy916]

try looking on autotrader.com
that is where i found my 2003 miata LS. one of my close friends has a geo and i always tease her about it, but they are solid cars.
how come the top doesnt work? is it in the up or down position?

[badboy916]

tom,
a friend of mine told me i was gay for buying a miata. then when he asked me what color it was i told him it was hot pink..lol.

brian

[drtomx5]

Originally Posted by badboy916

try looking on autotrader.com
that is where i found my 2003 miata LS. one of my close friends has a geo and i always tease her about it, but they are solid cars.
how come the top doesnt work? is it in the up or down position?

The frame and mechanism for the top work great-it's just the fabric has been ripped and "repaired" so many times it's unusable and unrepairable. These folks actually sewed each rip as it would occur and then cover the "suture line" with duct tape! The car has more sutures than I have placed in my career as a dentist!
I can buy a new top for $200, but I've heard they're a nightmare to do unless you have done a few...Plus I don't know all the other stuff like padding, weatherstripping, etc, that I'll need to make it work. I think what I am going to do is attempt to repair the holes in the floor pan with some riveted sheet metal myself, and see if just replacing the A/C belt fixes that this winter first , then if those 2 things work, then I can justify tackling the top... I've been blessed with dry weather so have driven it a bunch. It's actually fun. I'm not a cpmputer wiz, but I'll try to get some pics of the top up for you to see-it's hysterical.

If you or anyone else have any pointers on the tools, auxilliary parts, and installation tips for this Geo soft top, please pass them on. Thanks again. Tom
Oh, and by the way, I have looked on autotrader-nothing yet. Also, Miata.net has some great used miatas. Thanks for the tips!

[opa1604]

I saw several miatas on Ebay Motors