I'm young and stupid, so I figure I can live with something smaller and dumber than a Maxima. Thus, I'm in the market for an NA Miata or an SW20 MR2.

I am putting out the ol' nerve endings to see who wants my '97 SE 5spd (~143k mi). The car is in good to excellent shape: I've spent the last year and a half ironing out the rough edges and there's pretty much nothing that I want to change about it at this point. I guess I might have gone for some 16" BBSes for the right price, but they never came along.

Condition:
There's no leaking oil, no smoke from the pipes on startup/driving, and no vibrations/dead spots in the steering. The clutch feels fine and the car shifts well.

Best part: the car is rust-free in Chicago. See most Maximae in this neighborhood, and the rockers and fenders are often burnt through. Not so with this beige beast. There is no accident damage that I can see and there aren't any incidents listed in the carfax (can provide vin if you like).

There's a dent in the rear right door. It's not big - hardly noticeable with the beige paint - but it doesn't just push out from inside. There's also a loose but stuck bolt in the rear right trailing arm; a shop could probably get it out without trouble, but it makes an occasional clunk.

It comes with a stack of receipts dating back to the '90s and my gas receipts (with MPG calculations) from more recently.

Features list:
-'97 SE
-5-speed manual
-Pebble Beige
-Bose
-Moonroof
-Factory SE spoiler
-Silver SE 16s - one spot of pretty bad curb rash on one
Pretty much the works except for leather, TC, and ABS. I've still got the window sticker around somewhere, if you want it.

Things I have fixed/changed:
-Fresh Kumho Ecsta ASX tires ~10k ago. ~$500 worth of tire+install, and the tread is good. I don't know if Discount Tire's lifetime balancing follows the car through a sale, but I can get it done for you if you want
-Replaced rear left wheel bearing/hub assembly
-Replaced both rear calipers
-Replaced clutch line (from master to slave) with the GD stainless braided line
-Replaced clutch slave cylinder boot
-Brand new battery - <1500mi
-Replaced knock sensor, downstream O2..have to get emissions tested tomorrow but there are no codes afaik
-Bose aux input mod + cell phone mic in dashboard (didn't hack up the dashboard, though)
-Various cosmetic fixes.

I'm not much for speed, so there are no mods besides an FSTB from a previous owner. This would be a great platform if you wanted to start modding, or a solid daily driver, as I used it (~15k miles).

Asking $2900. I'd rather sell it to someone on the .org.

Pictures coming.

 

Dang, that was an essay right there. Pictures:

when i first bought..rear is debadged. also, trunklid alignment has been corrected..the latch was loose










aww yeah lookin mad hot

Let me know if you need any more photos. I start work June 1 so I can show it pretty much any time until then.

 

A good essay =). My bro had a Miata a few years ago and paid 6k for it. Too bad its gone except the rims and tires would have considered trading but oh well.

Glws!

 

Thanks mang. I'm mostly looking at '90-'91 Miatas with the 1.6...there was a ton of them on C-list a week ago when I was at school, and now they've all disappeared. I drove a couple of MR2s and they're fun, but I drove a Miata today and I think it put the MR2 out of the running. I may have to jump on one of them if a good Miata isn't forthcoming, though, because the guy offered me a good price on it and it seemed in decent shape.

Anyway, more pictures of the rockers and fenders to make the point about this car being rust-free. I drive a 325i the other day that the seller insisted was rust-free and it clearly was not. "Surface rust," he pleaded. Pish-posh. This Maxima is rust-free.



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i think that's a spot of bird **** in the third one, not rust

Also, it sounds like you'll need a new rotor up front, but the car stops fine.

 

listing this on craigslist tomorrow.

I've also decided on a car and will be calling the seller tomorrow morning, so I'll want this out the door asap.

 

haha i like your writing style man.
I had a turbo sw20, modded. FUN and sick looking.
i say go with that if you can find a nice one!

 

http://chicago.craigslist.org/wcl/cto/2406774073.html

I bought that MR2...it's fabulous and shiny and loud. Now I have too many cars, so I'd like to see the Max drive off into the sunset.

 

Price lowered.

 

im interested number is 917-544-8614 if still available

 

justin is the name

 

Hey Justin, wish I'd seen your post earlier. I finna text you tomorrow.

 

Sorry guys i'm a huge douchebag, disregard this post. Buyer lined up for tomorrow evening.

 

This is still for sale, btw. I've gotten a few paychecks and paid for insurance/registration, so I'm not in a hurry to sell it anymore, but it's just taking up space now. I'm getting too lazy to keep listing it; Craigslist buyers never seem to follow through on phone calls. I've spoken to/texted with at least ten to fifteen people on the phone about the car and shown it to just two, one of whom was from the .org.

Since I've last posted it, the stereo has been occasionally displaying the TAPE ERR message you sometimes get with the Bose aux-in mod. The aux input still works fine, so unless you still listen to tapes or insist on using a tape deck adapter instead of the nicer aux input, it shouldn't be a huge deal. I thought potential buyers might like to know.

Price is OBO, by the way. I know $2900 is a lot for an old car and I'd be happy to have money instead of 1.5 tons of unused steel and glass. I'm just tryna keep pace with prices for similar cars on C-list.

Considering that I've replaced it with a car that's down sixty horsepower, three seats, two doors, and two cylinders, you'd think I'd be spending zero on gas, but the MR2 only gets 29mpg. Plus it's another $50/6mo for insurance.

 

Im interested, it might be 2 weeks though if i get some extra money to make a trip like that. Ill contact you though to talk price

 

Aaight.

 

bump

 

JUST pm'd you j-dawg.