Date: Wed, 16 Oct 2002 01:08:14 -0400
From: Joe Elliott <jee@domain.elided>
Subject: re: Miata, Spider, ELAN
At 4:17 AM +0000 10/16/02, alfa-digest wrote:
Mazda's are true to their Japanese heritage and that's the only thing
wrong
with them.
You mean they're overrated? ;-)
They won't break and they won't let you down.
Except all those early models with the failure-prone
crankshafts...Good thing the AC works, though...
Don't forget the troublesome gel-cell battery with which the early
Miatas shipped and which were failing right and left and Mazda had NO
spares in the country at the time. That got 'em off to a blazing start.
I know so many people who went and constructed new battery boxes and
put real auto battery connectors on their early Miatas so that they
could use a standard battery and actually drive their new cars (the
gel-cell had a 'special' connector IIRC).
I love how Toyota can ship bad head gaskets, Mazda can ship bad
cranks, Mitsubishis regularly self-destruct at ~130,000mi, and they
can all continue to ride Honda's reputation in this market for
building solid cars, just because they come from Japan. God bless
America.
Of course, I can't help but think of how my best friend's parents'
Honda Civic (clutch AND tranny at 115k, and two power window switch
failures in the first 100k) compares to his Milano (tranny at 130k,
one power window switch failure in the first 140k).
The real reason I'm writing this, however, is because after all this
discussion of the Spider vs. the Miata vs. the Elan, I have to ask
why (besides being FWD) didn't the '90s Elan sell well? (I have to
admit that I don't know what it cost.) Everyone I've talked to about
them says they handle better than any otehr front-driver and are
completely trouble-free, electronics included. What's the deal?
'Automobile' Magazine recently did a "Classic Car Profile" on the car
and even though I can't put my fingers on the copy right now, and I
don't remember the numbers, I do recall that the new-car price of the
thing was outrageous. The fact that it used an Isuzu engine didn't help
justify the price either. That's likely why it didn't sell well.