Even though it has high mileage, today’s Nice Price or No Dice Miata still looks to be in great shape. We need to discuss whether those miles matter and, if so, what they should reasonably make the car worth.
During World War II, the Axis war machine relied heavily on synthetic fuels manufactured from coal and hydrogen through a catalytic process known as Fischer-Tropsch synthesis. Recognizing their importance, the Allied Air Command set a goal to destroy these hydrocarbon-producing refineries through intensive bombing. The Germans, however, placed such a high value on these factories that they protected them more strongly than their major cities, and significant disruptions in production through the Allies’ efforts didn’t happen until late in the war.
The 2019 Toyota Mirai we looked at yesterday also used hydrogen as a fuel, although not in the form of a manufactured hydrocarbon, but as a liquid, which, combined with oxygen from the air, generates electricity in a fuel cell. As one would imagine, liquid hydrogen is hard to come by, and one of the biggest challenges faced by owners of these cars is route planning around the 50 or so stations where they might find fuel. That proved too vexing an issue for the vast majority of you, who gave the Mirai’s $5,900 asking price a resounding 82% No Dice loss.
Special Edition?
Happily for us, today’s 2001 Mazda Miata NB runs on good old gasoline. Refined from crude oil that is often misidentified as being “dead dinosaurs,” gasoline remains reasonably plentiful and, thanks to government subsidies to the companies that produce it, relatively cheap here in the U.S.
Even though this Miata runs on run-of-the-mill pump gas, its seller claims it to be special. A special edition, that is. There have been about 1.7 million special editions of the Miata over the years, and this one doesn’t seem to have the talismans of the best-known special from this model year, which included woodgrain appliqué on the dash and Nardi pieces for the steering wheel, shifter knob, and hand brake.
On this car, those are all just leather wrapped, and the console is a tree-free zone. Still, the arrest-me red over a tan top and interior is a nice color combo, and that shifter does work a six-speed gearbox, so there’s a lot to like here, special edition or not.
The timing is right
The appreciation party continues under the bonnet. According to the ad, and backed up by a picture of the service sticker, the 1.8-liter 142-horsepower four received a new timing belt in 2019 at 173,999 miles. The seller states that the car now has 180,000 miles on the clock, which means it has only done a little over 1,000 miles per year since the replacement.
No additional information is provided about the remaining mechanical components, except that the AC is cold. There’s also no word on whether or not the car has a limited-slip differential, which is a plus on these. We can also not determine the age of the Bridgestones the car is wearing, nor the condition of the brakes and other consumables. On the plus side, these are generally reliable cars with no major gotchas and plenty of support from an avid owner base and robust factory and aftermarket parts availability.
You don’t look your age
Aesthetically, this Miata is a bit of a mixed bag. Overall, its condition appears to be top-notch, with good paint, a solid top, and clear headlamp lenses in its favor. On closer inspection, though, a few boogers do pop up. The factory alloys show some signs of intimate contact with a curb, while above that, the paint is chipping on one of the wheel arches. Aside from those issues, it seems like a good ten-foot car.
Things look just as good in the cabin. The leather and vinyl upholstery appear to be in amazingly good shape for the car’s age and those not-insubstantial miles. Other niceties here include a Bose stereo and Miata script factory floor mats. A notable upgrade over the first-generation Miata is the glass rear window in the top. That has a defroster, and as the glass doesn’t cloud like the earlier plastic ones inevitably do, it makes the car look all the nicer.
Hot summer nights
One final thing to note about this Miata is that there’s still plenty of summer evenings to enjoy driving with the top down (and maybe the AC blasting if you live somewhere crazy-hot like Phoenix.) In fact, the Miata is such an all-around good car that it could be a four-season daily driver if you put your mind to it.
The only question, of course, is whether this one’s $6,900 asking price sours that plan. What’s your opinion on this high-mileage Miata and that asking price? Does that seem fair given the car’s description? Or does the odometer count and the few nits that have been picked demand a lower price?
You decide!
Nice Price or No Dice:
Los Angeles, California, Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.
Help me out with NPOND. Contact me at [email protected] and send a fixed-price tip. Remember to include your commenter handle.
