1991 Mazda MX-5 Miata Convertible

A great car with one

by rbarrwest on Apr 4, 2014
Vehicle: 1990 Mazda MX-5 Miata

A great car!!!! I have had mine since December of 1989 and have 115,000 miles on it. But as my wife points out, it's hell when your mid-life crisis car is 24 years old! There is one problem to watch out for if you buy a '90. Some of them have the infamous crankshaft problem. It usually appears after the timing belt has been replaced and additional miles put on the car. Mine appeared at about 95000 miles. The problem has to do with the design of the crankshaft nose, keyway, cam drive sprocket and pulley bolt. The key was designed too short. For a good discussion of this problem see www.miata.net/garage/crankshaft.html. I had to replace the engine with one from a '92.

Easily the most fun on

by ashb0891 on Oct 10, 2013
Vehicle: 1990 Mazda MX-5 Miata

Having gone through the difficult choice of selling my 2011 Camaro V6 to pay for school, the time came to choose something that was equally fun to drive, cheap to insure for a 22yo guy, and easy for me to work on. I had always loved the Miata, and I found my little gem; an early build 1990 model with only 78,000mi. I couldn't be happier, I have yet to tire of driving it, and living in Texas, I can have the top down almost every day, which is a great thing for me. Aside from replacing a few worn out parts, it has been faultlessly reliable, and easily the most grin inducing car out of the many I have owned or fixed up. A highly recommended purchase for those who can accommodate such a car!

5 of 5 people found this review helpful

Miata is the best damn

by my90miata on Apr 14, 2011
Vehicle: 1990 Mazda MX-5 Miata

Bought this car with 182,000 on it and I have never looked back. What a great car. Not real fast but has plenty of giddyup and the handling is awesome. Very inexpensive to fix because there are so many still on the road. I live in Florida and the top is down on a daily basis. Got some wear on the top, but still not a lot out of the wallet to replace. It's like a go-cart on the highway. Fantabulous! :-)