Miata Mailing List: December 1995, Message #62
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   From: Serikaku@aol.com
Subject: Re: Repaired wrecked 95M-Buyer beware
   Date: Fri, 1 Dec 1995 16:18:26 -0500

>Try and get the VIN.  Sometimes dealers (body shops too) will "wholesale"
cars all >across the country.  And NEVER go by mileage.  By the time you got
back to the >other side of his shop, someone could have "rolled" the mileage
any number that was >convenient.  I've seen them rolled both forward and back
for various reasons.
>
>Al Corelli  91 silBer
>
>Team Miata
>Team Corvairs
>Team Been There and Been Burned


OK, I went back to the alignment shop and got the VIN number.  It is:
 JM1NA353650607952.  Apparently, the car was wrecked in Hawaii, and the body
shop owner saw it there.  He bought it and had it shipped back to Portland.
 However, the mangled front license plate holder said Long Beach Mazda.  The
car had a white driver's door added to it (last week there wasn't one).  I
also looked at the rear again, there was a dent in the left side of the trunk
lid edge, and the bumper cover was scratched.  The rear light assembly was
OK, but I don't know if it had been replaced.  I got the VIN number from the
passenger door car frame.  The door didn't close very easily, the frame was
probably sprung.  The engine looked intact.  Of course, the top was down, but
the window wasn't unzipped :-(  .

I'm not up on the 1995 Merlot package, but the car had silver BBS wheels,
gold emblems and trim, tan leather interior, and the radio/tape player with
CD.  The gear shift knob was missing.  

I hope this helps.

Ron Serikaku
white 91A w/BBR turbo
Beaverton, OR