Good car for the right person?

[davidg]

I, however, am not that person. I initially had a deposit on the car to hold it until I could see/drive it for myself. I have, and now decided that this car was not the one I wanted...for the right person I think this *might* be a good value.... DISCLAIMER : I am not affiliated with the seller at all.....
There is a car lot in Norman,OK selling a 2002 blazing yellow SE with under 20K miles with a LOT of work done to it for just under $10k. Interior is real clean, leather still looks new, body is good and no rust. It has, from what I could see, an MP62 supercharger setup with intercooler w/both fuel and timing powercards, ceramic coated headers, dual-outlet exhaust, lowering springs and adjustable KYB's, and a bunch of other little aftermarket stuff all over the car.... It was originally a Dallas area car, which is i had had another post trying to find the original owner.

The bad news is:
a) somebody -either at the current dealer or wherever they bought it from- has been fingering with the powercards and it is not running properly, or it has possibly has some other problems. It has a rough/low idle, and actually died on me several times while test driving it. I would put the clutch in, take it out of gear and come to a stop at red lights/stop signs and the RPMs would continue to drop until it just died. Before I took it for the drive, the dealer replaced the plugs as the ones in it were fouled and smelled of gas. I did notice it was not impressively-throw-you-back-in-the-seat fast, which leads me to think it is just severely out-of-tune. Might be an easy fix if you're familiar with the set-up.
b) it looks like it was involved in a mishap, possibly on a track (?) There appears to be black rubber from a tire on the rear wheel opening. The rear bumper cover sticks out further on the left side, and the gaps between the cover and quarter panel are quite noticeable. There were also some silver headed screws in the wheel well helping to hold the tupperware mud-guard in place.

if it had JUST the body damage -but ran perfectly, I might have bit on it....or if it was just the tuning problem and the body was flawless I might have also, but combined, I just thought I'd pass, since it was going to be used as a daily driver. Anyway, I thought maybe someone here may like it enough to see past these issues OR is familar enough with tuning the S/C engine to be interested in it.

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[cwisenheimer]

The bumper fix looks dead simple if it's ONLY the bumper (no fender involvement). Polishing compound (or less) will take the rub marks off. If there's no significant paint damage, the surface work is just a few minutes' worth. As for its alignment, the whole bumper cover unbolts and the supports underneath can be bent at will and then covered back up with the bumper cover. The cover itself is very flexible and can be convinced to line up. It just takes some patience and manual labor.

On the engine maladies, I wouldn't be surprised if it's something as simple as a cam sensor or coil pack either. Your assumption of the aftermarket fuel/timing band-aids is pretty good too. Either way, it likely wouldn't be expensive or difficult to fix.

Are you sure you don't want to pick that up and take it straight to Rogue or TDR for some therapy? Given the troubles it has, you should be able to get a bargain. (You know it's easy to fix, they don't or they would have fixed it).

[Sharpie]

Hopefully Gary will reply with some knowledge after they all get back from Hallett. I see trackdog parts......

[davidg]

yeah I guess it's not the known problems but rather the unknown problems. Its not tagged or inspected so I don't know if it will currently pass Texas inspection...plus with it running rich who knows if anything got damaged. Plus it only had one
key that's a couple hundred bucks right there get another key made.

[POS Racing]

Plus it only had one
key that's a couple hundred bucks right there get another key made.

Actually if you go to a reputable locksmith you can have them made for under $50.00 BTDT on our '02.

[slowchildmiata]

Vacuum leak.

[lostlorin]

It has to be plug wires.

[chriscar]

There's probably more than just this one.



C

[davidg]

There's probably more than just this one.



C

LOL...wow. I was thinking it could possibly be a vacuum leak, since the power card has a vacuum line run to it. If there was a leak, it would be making rapid changes as the pressure rose and dropped. But yeah, I'm sure its more than just that one thing....

plus another fly in the ointment: somebody on the miata.net site found the info from when it was wholesaled at carmax...on their page it states:
" Title branded-miles exempt"

What the frick? On the experian/Autocheck report it says mileage checks out. When it was last inspected in Richardson, on 04/18/2012 it shows to have had 17,740 miles. Why would the state of Oklahoma deem it "miles exempt" ? It the mileage was wrong , wouldn't it have shown up in TX or on the autocheck report?

[trickyrix]

It might be exempt because it's more than 10 years old. Just a wild ass guess. Car looks pretty clean. A call to Gary @ Track Dog might answer some questions. Maybe.

[davidg]

I just looked it up apparently the state of Oklahoma slaps any vehicle that is over 10 years old with a mileage exemption

[effse7en]

Can confirm on the mileage exemption. Texas does it too. I didn't have to put mileage when I got my title.

[POS Racing]

Back in the olden day didn't Tim the Teacher have a similar setup (a 2003 I believe) and no matter how much money he threw at it it wouldn't pass a state inspection??

[bullittman68]

Back in the olden day didn't Tim the Teacher have a similar setup (a 2003 I believe) and no matter how much money he threw at it it wouldn't pass a state inspection??

That'd be my car now... running perfect! ... but it now has the superior form of forced induction

[bullittman68]

Shameless plug... and it's for sale because I don't want to daily it anymore and can't afford 3 cars.

[SNYPO]

sweeeet!

[davidg]

THREAD UPDATE

Well, maybe it was fate, or maybe I'm a glutton for punishment...but I bought the car. Negotiated a lower price, and closed the deal. Here's the kicker: I will be pulling off and selling the S/C set-up. I will be pulling the whole kit-and-kaboodle (does anybody even say that anymore?) and getting the engine compartment back to stock...or reasonably close to it. I figured since I haven't had a ticket in years, and don't go around racing anymore, why tempt myself with added go-fast goodies. ...Plus I could use the cash, LOL. Anyway, between the headers, a free flow exhaust, and lightened flywheel, it should be fun enough for me.

[whoswatchingme]

Congratulations, I'm envious as far as the forced induction goes. I've been looking awhile at forced induction and leaning towards supercharging, rotted(TDR) or a Fast Forward Supercharger setup.

[effse7en]

I'll give you ten bucks and some gum for the supercharger setup. Deal?

[davidg]

I'll give you ten bucks and some gum for the supercharger setup. Deal?

LOL....that better some awesome gum!