Miata Mailing List: May 1993, Message #10
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   From: (none)
Subject: Re: any good stories?
   Date: (none)

> From:    peng@hotsoup.att.com
> Subject: any good stories?
> 
> Are there any good stories on buying Miatas in the "early days"?
> There are some articles in the MCA magazine about people getting
> on the waiting list, etc.

in a way, it's a little unfortunate that Miatas are so plentiful now.
it's better for the buyers, but a little of the excitement has worn off.
on the other hand, i'm speaking as someone who already owns one.
maybe it's still exciting for those that don't? :-)

anyway, i live in Massachusetts but in the summer we spend a lot of
time on the Maine coast near Rockland, Maine.  so it happened that
on July 1, 1989 (Miata official introduction day) we were by the local
Mazda dealer and checked out the car.  (naturally, we knew this was
"the day" so had been waiting for it to happen for some time...)
of course, it and the next 30 or so to come were already sold, but
at least they let us _look_...  (no drooling allowed, though :-)

if i had had more money at the time, i might have been more tempted
to buy right away, but as it was, i couldn't afford one for a while
so i contented myself with dreaming and looking over whatever they
had in stock throughout the summer.  along about October, i put myself
on the waiting list (there were still a couple dozen ahead of me),
and by February, it was in (Red, Pkg. A, hardtop).  it was tough waiting
that long; i could have gotten the car earlier if i'd signed up earlier,
but for financial reasons, i preferred to wait.

this dealership was one of the better ones you could find, who understood
the concept of buyer loyalty and people coming back to buy again someday
so they didn't charge premiums above list price and they didn't ask for
any money down in advance.  i decided i'd rather go out of my way and
buy the car from them than deal with the big robber barons in eastern
Massachusetts who were smugly pointing at the $3000 "additional profit"
stickers...

i was a little nervous about buying a car i'd never even sat in
(i guess they'd have let me if i'd asked), much less test-driven,
but it was clear just from looking that the Miata would be exactly
the car i wanted.  and from the moment i did finally sit in mine,
i haven't changed my mind...