Used Car Face Off:  NC MX5 Edition

"Milky" (jordanmielke) 05/24/2017 at 11:38 • Filed to: Miata, MX5, used car face off, NC

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Still car shopping and looking for oppoinions.

Sorting insurance for a Soarer has become a PITA and the Crossfire’s miles keep climbing, now at 195,000. But while looking around I came across these seemingly good deals:

!!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , hard top for winter, pretty low miles, refreshed so I’m sure it already has AUX/USB.

!!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! has a hard top too but its older, has more miles and doesn’t look as nice.

BUT it has this:

What would Oppo do?

TheD0k_2many toys 2little time > Milky 05/24/2017 at 11:47

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newer on looks better. But NC is the least Miata of all Miata generations.

I like newer as i would turbo a Miata not supercharge it

Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer > Milky 05/24/2017 at 11:53

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Option 1 Car car car car car car car car car car car car

Option 2 Car car car car car SUPERCHARGER car car

Pretty easy choice. The looks don’t matter, the mileage on one is 35% higher but still fairly low... the tiebreaker is POWAH

Milky > TheD0k_2many toys 2little time 05/24/2017 at 11:55

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I’m okay with the NC being the least Miata because I have a 40 minute commute and live in Detroit. I’m looking for a commuter-2 seater that I can also rally cross. I’m kind of leaning towards newer too though.

Tekamul > Milky 05/24/2017 at 12:00

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Sure, newer is nicer, but the color on the 08 is better, and if that SC has been properly sorted, and has some miles behind it, it’s going to be much more enjoyable.

Blowiata all the way.

TheTurbochargedSquirrel > Milky 05/24/2017 at 12:00

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I really dig the look of the 2013.

Carsbikesscooters > Milky 05/24/2017 at 12:01

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Did you ever think about z4 coupes? Carmax has a few

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > Milky 05/24/2017 at 12:02

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The grand touring. 10/10. Forced induction is fun and unique and the supercharger will keep things predictable, that interior color combo is fantastic, and the pre-facelift “face” is far more reminiscent of the NA than the ridiculous leering Mazda3 grin the facelifts got. GTs are also significantly more comfortable for a day-to-day commute than a Club would be on account of the suspension, but you can get “back” a lot of the quick turn-in and ‘nimble’ feeling with minimal loss of ride quality by putting a large front sway bar on it.

yitznewton > Milky 05/24/2017 at 12:06

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If you do a Club, test out the suspension for ride. I test-drove one at a dealer and it was super hard, but I supect it may have been a tire overinflation issue. Mazda dealers are famous for not letting out the extra shipping pressure from the tires.

I shopped NC’s for a while, I ended up gravitating toward Touring hardtop with the LSD package, FWIW. I think I remember that they had a significant refresh around 2009? There was a Grassroots Motorsports article that had a lot of advice about NC’s.

Chariotoflove > Milky 05/24/2017 at 12:06

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I like stock everything on my cars, so I’d go with newer for the same money. I do like the color combo on the other though.

ToyotaFamily > Milky 05/24/2017 at 12:08

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The price on that Miata Club is suspiciously low. Granted, I live in a different area from you.

Jarrett - [BRZ Boi] > Milky 05/24/2017 at 12:12

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Red. Club.

I love red. I would pick the red one because it’s red. And happier

Milky > Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer 05/24/2017 at 12:13

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I test drove a pretty beat NC a while ago, it didn’t feel slow but POWAH would certainly make the driving I do more enjoyable.

Milky > Chariotoflove 05/24/2017 at 12:16

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I’m not one to mod really either and lower mileage/newer for the price is hard to argue against for sure.

Milky > ToyotaFamily 05/24/2017 at 12:19

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I actually live no where near these cars, just willing to travel. The Club could be a salvage title for all I know, haven’t spent the most amount of time looking. Will have to look further into obviously.

Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer > Milky 05/24/2017 at 12:19

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Something not feeling slow is no reason not to add more POWAH

Being already scary to drive is the only acceptable reason

TheD0k_2many toys 2little time > Milky 05/24/2017 at 12:21

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tru they are good commuters. i commute in mine thats lowered 2in lol.

NC1 just doesnt do it for me with the looks thats the main reason for me

Milky > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To 05/24/2017 at 12:21

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I’m liking the idea of some supercharger whine and a bit more power while doing the Detroit commute. I don’t need the stiffer suspension at all.

Khalbali > Milky 05/24/2017 at 12:21

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Not to be buzzkill but I thought I would be ok with “least Miata” and I have come to hate it (see previous post if desired). The cozzie kit is definitely the highest quality FI out there for these so it could be worth it, I got a 2008 because I prefer the prefacelift models since I had an NA before. I do really like the black hardtops though it makes it look so much less awkward when up, if I ever have the energy I want to dip mine or something. Happy to answer any specific questions though, haven’t done anything major to mine but don’t see a whole lot of NCs on OPPO.

Milky > yitznewton 05/24/2017 at 12:23

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I have not test driven a club, good point. Will have to look up that article too, my Miata knowledge is not strong.

Also +1 for LSD, wouldn’t have it any other way.

Milky > Jarrett - [BRZ Boi] 05/24/2017 at 12:26

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But Burgundy is kind of red?

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > Milky 05/24/2017 at 12:27

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The GT isn’t a great Miata but it’s a great fun car that can be dailied.

Jarrett - [BRZ Boi] > Milky 05/24/2017 at 12:30

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No.

Textured Soy Protein > Milky 05/24/2017 at 12:52

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The GT probably also has the LSD. It was a much more common option before the ND came around. I’m still salty at Mazda only including it on the ND Club.

Milky > TheD0k_2many toys 2little time 05/24/2017 at 12:58

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It is quite the bar of soap.

Milky > Carsbikesscooters 05/24/2017 at 12:59

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I drive 25k miles a year and after 100k on the Crossfire, I’m avoiding German for my next purchase.

Carsbikesscooters > Milky 05/24/2017 at 13:00

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No BRZ?

Milky > Textured Soy Protein 05/24/2017 at 13:23

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That and the 124 only having LSD on the Abarth. Come on, it could be an option on every trim.

mazda616 > Milky 05/24/2017 at 13:41

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The Club is what I’d lean towards, just because it is newer and has low miles and you’ll be driving a lot. As long as its ride isn’t too rough. And that traction control light is not something broken.

Milky > Khalbali 05/24/2017 at 13:44

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Good thing I’m only 27!

But really I already DD a pretty stiff car, but its an auto and I want to try manual life out. I’ve honestly have been trying to avoid NCs just because of how common they are, but a Club or supercharged one might make it unique enough IMO.

My commute is long but it goes pretty quickly, 30 miles in 40 minutes. I don’t think I’ll hate having a manual.

Textured Soy Protein > Milky 05/24/2017 at 14:00

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The 124 options mix bugs me less.

Aside from the LSD & sport suspension, the things I want are the Brembo brakes, heated seats for top down cold days, auto-dim mirror, and non-cloth seats since I have 3 cats and in spite of my best efforts to remain fur-free I inevitably track some cat hair into my car.

The ND Club + Brembo/BBS package costs $33,075, or another $300 for Soul Red paint. Cloth seats, no auto-dim mirror, no heated seats. The BBS wheels are the same damn size as the base wheels. The aero bits included in that package do nothing for me.

On the 124 Abarth, heated seats are standard, the Brembo brakes are a standalone option for $1495. The auto-dim mirror is part of the $1495 Safety & Comfort package. With those two options you’re at $32,180. The seats are leatherette on the bolsters and microfiber in the middle so there’s still probably a cat hair adhesion problem.

Switching to the Luxury package instead of Safety & Comfort adds full leather seats, and raises the price to $34,680. You also get the assorted other goodies that are basically the same stuff as the Miata Grand Touring trim.

Oh and these prices are before the $500 rebate Fiat is running at the moment.

Arrivederci > Milky 05/24/2017 at 14:00

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Someone else may have commented the same, but do your diligence on reading about the Cossie SC’s. From my NC Miata days, I remembered them destroying engines - so much that I thought Cosworth stopped making them for a period.

Milky > Carsbikesscooters 05/24/2017 at 14:02

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Slim pickings below $15k. Haven’t test driven one but I’ve always been kind of meh on it. To be honest I was meh on the NC too.

t0ast > Arrivederci 05/24/2017 at 14:06

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That was due to problems with the ECU tuning. The company that Cosworth partnered with was woefully under-prepared to deal with Mazda’s new and somewhat tricky ECU. The currently available tuning options have got things pretty safely sorted out now and people have been running the same supercharger hardware without issue for quite some time. As long as the OP makes sure the tuning is in order or doesn’t mind spending a few extra hundred bucks to buy a round of tuning from a reputable vendor for some extra peace of mind, he shouldn’t have much to worry about outside of bracket/pulley/belt health.

Arrivederci > t0ast 05/24/2017 at 14:12

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Ah, cool, good to know! I couldn’t remember specifics, but I knew that Cosworth SC’d cars were going boom :(.

Milky > mazda616 05/24/2017 at 14:14

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Is the tractional control system breaking a thing? Miles do make a difference though, I’d have the ‘08 close to 100k in a year.

TylerJ > Milky 05/24/2017 at 14:31

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Not a Mazda, but my wife’s traction control light came on along with a check engine light when a coil pack needed to be replaced. After replacing that, both lights went off. It could be something similar.

t0ast > Milky 05/24/2017 at 14:36

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Tough call.

The 2013 has the advantage of being a Club and a 2009+ car, which has several benefits over the first few model years. Among them, is the suspension package which includes stiffer springs/shocks + an LSD (standard on Club, optional elsewhere IIRC), slightly improved suspension geometry, better ratios for the 6-speed manual, higher rev limit, and stronger engine internals.

The 2008 would be tempting as well, but only if you can get more information about the car regarding the age of the install, the health of the engine, and how it is currently tuned. Here’s why:

The Cosworth Supercharger has a bit of a history with NCs due to getting released before a fully-sorted ECU tuning solution was achieved. Early adopters encountered a several damaged engines and those which blew up were compensated with a beefier, rebuilt engine with some Cosworth internal bits having a slightly lower compression. Cosworth halted production and eventually handed the keys to Flyin’ Miata. Tuning has largely shifted to a few trusted vendors using EcuTek, and everything has been fine since then.

Seeing how this example has a Cosworth-branded supercharger, it points to an earlier hardware version, as Flyin’ Miata brands the exact same hardware as their own now. The hardware itself is perfectly fine, save for perhaps a slightly less-than-robust pulley bracket (which has since been revised if you run into problems), but I’d be concerned about the install date and the age of the tune. If you see Sniper or XEDE, walk away, as the former is the original engine destroyer and the later is an outdated, half-baked piggyback. If you can’t get any info about the tune, I’d seek out a more in-depth engine health check (compression, etc.) and if things still look good, expect to spend a few hundred bucks getting the latest EcuTek tune from an experienced and trusted tuner (Dynotronics, MotoEast, and Jay / Tuning Done Right are all good) for some peace of mind. If it has a recent EcuTek tune, then it’s probably good to go, but I’d still check with the tuner (or any of the ones I mentioned). Maybe you’ll get lucky and have a car that got the Cosworth internal overhaul treatment and a proper tune. Regardless, I would absolutely not pull the trigger on this one until I knew more.

Milky > Arrivederci 05/24/2017 at 14:41

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Well wether its fixed or not its good thing to know of. I just assumed all things cosworth were well sorted. Thanks for the info.

t0ast > Milky 05/24/2017 at 14:43

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No problem. Wrote up a more comprehensive bit of info in a top-level comment. I spend too much time on the Miata.net forums...

Milky > t0ast 05/24/2017 at 15:38

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Well hell. The supercharged one looks like the most fun but its also from a dealer and the ad doesn’t even mention the modifications. Not sure if they would know when anything was done. Definitely will have to weigh the options and maybe send an email/call to see if they know anything.

Thanks for all the info! This is why oppo is good.

mazda616 > Milky 05/24/2017 at 16:21

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It’s not common but a wheel speed sensor or something of the sort would cause that light to come on, I think. But that would mean an ABS light would be on too.

t0ast > Milky 05/24/2017 at 16:37

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No worries, didn’t mind sharing because it happened to be a fascinating little shitstorm that I watched play out not long after I purchased my ‘07.

I also saw that as well about the dealer. Guessing they won’t have a clue and wouldn’t be able to provide a trustworthy warranty, so you’d more or less be stuck spending the time/coin to properly assess the engine’s health depending on how much of a chance you want to take. The only other tip I could provide might be to either do some digging/asking on Miata.net or possibly pass the car’s info and VIN along to the tuners I mentioned to see if it gets recognized. FWIW, Jay / Tuning Done Right is based in the same state as where that ‘08 is listed, but tuning is usually done remotely and who knows where that car lived previously, so it’s still a crapshoot. Good luck either way!