Miata as a daily driver/commuter, thoughts?

[goofygrin]

00+ for the trunk lock (unless you're really careful with a dremel). I'd actually say 01+ for the better stock exhaust and cupholders.

[CarCar]

They make excellent daily drivers. Best part about them is if you had a bad day at work, just drop the top and take the long curvy way home and the bad day just washes off you before you make it home.

[Jiggerachi]

^ Yes.

Daily driver for almost 5 years, lowered on stiff suspension, no problem. I'm 6'2" BTW. My wife drives our Element for when we need to haul big things from IKEA. Now we have a baby, I have to go pick him up in the miata 2 days a week, that makes life interesting haha. Miata's weren't designed for child seats, and their trunks definitely weren't designed to haul child swings.

Airbags are removed by the way for safety reasons.

[goofygrin]

I have my kiddo's carseat in the car right now. He likes it :)

[Zig]

have an 00, bought 4 years ago with 35000 miles and now at 112000, use it most days and have been to NE at least 3 times...

my DD and love it. and i'm not small...

good luck, but i would go with a 99-00, just my bias.

[trickyrix]

They make excellent daily drivers. Best part about them is if you had a bad day at work, just drop the top and take the long curvy way home and the bad day just washes off you before you make it home.

...and this guy loves Miatas!

[Tom95YJ]

I'm 6' and 195lbs my Miata is my DD I fit in it comfortably . Its just as if not more fun to drive than my wrangler, An on top of that it gets nearly 3x the gas mileage !
2 thing I am going to change are the pedals I want a new set with a heel to kicker on the gas pedal, and a slightly smaller or wheel with a squared off bottom so the wheel doesn't feel like its resting on my lap

[Walsted]

I commute from south Fort Worth to Addison every work day in my Miata. I have no issues with dependability, and the odometer shows 259,XXX miles at the moment. I have had to do quick maintenance to make it to work the next day on a couple of occasions, but over a few years, it is still more dependable than many of my coworkers' cars.

[cArAzzIE]

One of the more reliable motors made, imho. Definitely able to rack up more miles than even a lot of honda and toyota motors. It seems I see more 200K+ miatas than is common for most cars. I had over 190k on my NA.
I DD my NC and love it, but be prepared for some things not fitting. Date a girl with an suv or p/u and you'll be golden.

Isn't that the truth - you can't fit anything in a Miata! I once went to the grocery store and I had to put groceries in every spot in the trunk and inside the car! I forgot what I was driving...it amazes me what will not fit in a Miata.

Mine is a daily driver - been rearended 2 times, and hit in a parking lot once. I recommend air horns for those SUV's and trucks and even cars that just don't seem to see you.

As for gas mileage - I only get around 23 mpg.

[TurboDuane]

been rearended 2 times, and hit in a parking lot once. I recommend air horns for those SUV's and trucks and even cars that just don't seem to see you.

As for gas mileage - I only get around 23 mpg.

I've got you beat, I've been rear-ended twice in my NC, and once in my first NA, as was my wife when driving my NA. So 4 family rear-ender's in MX-5's! LOL BTW, you must be a really aggressive driver to only get 23mph !!!

[cArAzzIE]

I've got you beat, I've been rear-ended twice in my NC, and once in my first NA, as was my wife when driving my NA. So 4 family rear-ender's in MX-5's! LOL BTW, you must be a really aggressive driver to only get 23mph !!!

But really I'm not...((*grin*)) I even tried NOT to be just to see if my mpg changed...even "hypermiling it"...which really just wasn't for me. :)

[goofygrin]

I get 23-24 and I'm not driving super aggressively or anything. 16 miles up and down the tollway every day. Top up or down or ac on or off it seems consistent.

[altiain]

I averaged around 23mpg in my old '99 Sport as well. The NA/NB 1.8L engine isn't the most fuel efficient in the world, and the short gearing hurts potential fuel economy on the freeway.

[jeepinbanditrider]

I get around 23-25 on average according to my vehicle maint. fuel tracker app. I'm in a 91 supercharged with TDR intercooler.

I rotate between my bike my Saturn and my Miata so I drive the Miata on a semi-regular basis and if I needed to I could do DD duty with that car with no problem. Only thing is right now AC is down gotta get a new compressor in it. And middle of summer in the Miata is not a comftrable proposition during the day and rush hour.

[brandonmpace]

I get 25.3 to 28mpg in my 01 LS depending on how I'm driving. If I use premium I end up with about 25mpg no matter what. Mostly highway and some city.

[Titus]

'92 supercharged, owned for 9 years and about 95k miles... It was my daily driver for several years but now I work from home. For the longest time I thought I was getting 23 mpg with the supercharger. Recently It occured to me that since my speedo is way off (due to change in tire diameter and rear-end ratio), the odometer was also inacurate. After coming up with a conversion ratio by comparing speedo reported speed to a GPS, I now am happy to report that I get around 26 mpg.

The wife also daily drives a '93, but we also have a Tahoe as a backup for when more space is needed.

[MadMonkey]

Hey guys, I am thinking of selling my Protege5 so that I can pay off some debt and pay for school. I was thinking of getting a Miata. I've been wanting one for a long time so this might be a good time to get one. Basically I just want to know if these cars can be reliable enough as a daily driver and commuter car back and forth to school and work. I appreciate your inputs.

-Matt

Trade ya...

[TurboDuane]

OK, you guys are right. I forgot my NA's didn't do as well as the NC's do. I consistently get between 28-30 in it. But if memory serve's the NA's tended to deliver me around 25.

[Radio-Active]

Geez.

I get about 27mpg in my '05 Mazdaspeed version and I have a lead foot.

[Matt V]

I think I'm gonna be looking at this 96 here once I sell the P5.

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.js...standard=false

Is there anyway to tell from the VIN if it has LSD or not?