Unofficialbmw.com

[JRS]

Okae, I gotcha.

JRS

[rld777]

Thanks for the further tips, all the VIN numbers are intact, untouched, and unpainted. (a black one I looked at was missing two of them, the fender stickers had overpray on them, etc. Dead giveaway.) I'll check the valve cover oil leak test. The engine does cold tick a little. The spare, jack, and associated parts are in there. Have not tried the soft top. Would like to run it through a carwash with hardtop on. Thanks again!

[rld777]

Thanks for this board's continued help--Dad tried out a '99 witha hardtop & 58k miles first today, then the '96 blue w/hardtop. The '96 had some bubbling just behing the door in the lower "quarter panel" area, which looked rather un-fixable to us. There was also some bubbling and rust on the driver's door and the rear edge of the decklid. Just overall, not a likely good choice for a car he wants to keep several years.

Did have one strange occurance with the car today. Dad was looking uder with hood with the engine idling and the A/C on. He asked if I would turn on the headlights to check that they popped up properly. Immediatly upon turning the headlight switch, a very loud squeal came from the belts and the engine nearly completey died. I shut down the car. I switched off the lights & A/C, re-started and all was fine. Tried that stunt several more times, with A/C both on and off, nothing like it happened again. Guess maybe it was a sudden electrical load? But I had already lowered the driver's side electric window, and the A/C had run for several minuites, with no problem. Just curious as to what this could have been?

Dad's still looking, personally I think this one looks like a good deal, price is maybe a bit high, but for an "M" with 14k and a hardtop, maybe it's worth it?http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.jsp?car_id=161862683&dealer_id=580139&car_year=1997&search_type=used&make=MAZDA&model=MIATA&transmission=MAN&distance=any&address=60187&advance d=y&max_mileage=&max_price=12000&min_price=0&end_year=1999&start_year=1996&drive=&engine=&body_style=&advcd_on=y&doors=&fuel=&color=GREEN&cardist=327

[Roadstergal]

This is as much of the URL as you need: http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.jsp?car_id=161862683

It's a high price, but that is a low mileage car. What's with the "warranty"?

That behavior with the lights is definitely indicative of a problem. It sounds like a sudden massive load - a short somewhere? Anyhoo, it shouldn't do that. Skip it. There are too many nice Miatae out there to get one with Issues (unless you want a cheap project, in which case get it for cheap!).

[rld777]

Thanks for all your info guys, however for the time being Dad is deciding to stop looking. He's only remodeled the complete inside and most of the outside of one house this year, designed many others, and has decided to wait on this "project" for a while.

Definetly not a good sign on that '96 Miata, I wondered about sudden electrical loading myself. That car also had some rust issues, so it's better for him to decide exactly what he wants, do a nationwide search for it, and drive it back from a non-salty part of the country.

I have certainly learned a lot, so all is not in vain! Thanks again!