This one-owner $9995 2016 Miata w/BBS is the real deal

Is the ND-generation Miata the greatest sports car of the 21st century? If it isn’t, it’s certainly on the podium. Resale values have been exceptionally strong so far, and that’s particularly true for the most desirable “ND1” of all: the six-speed manual transmission Club spec with the BBS/Brembo upgrade.

Imagine my surprise when our old friend Mason from Austin, Texas, hit my inbox with an example of just such a car … for $9995. That’s about half of retail. What’s the catch? Mason had the answer: “Looks like it has 163,000 miles.” Well, that’s a lot of miles—but there are quite a few Miatas picking up SCCA and NASA podiums with that kind of mileage or more.

So I called Amiri at Tucson Used Auto Sales to get the scoop. We had a moment of confusion because I called it an “MX-5,” leading him to check his BMW inventory. Once I clarified that we were talking about a “Miata,” though, his memory returned.

“One-owner car, clean title, clean CarFax, no accidents,” he told me. And he invited me to look at the pictures, which tell a very good story about how an ND Miata will look after 163,000 miles in relatively careful hands. You can see wear on every touch point, with significant bright spots on the steering wheel, shift lever, armrests, seats, and secondary controls. The body looks undamaged, but the paint won’t be winning concours events any time soon.

Under the hood, there’s plenty of visible heat wear and staining—but, to be fair, I’ve seen BMWs and GM products with 30,000 miles on them that didn’t look this good. If you rented an Elantra with 40K on the clock, this is the kind of wear you’d expect to see. I’m also impressed by the fact that the BBS wheels look undamaged and are sporting proper Bridgestone tires. This owner wasn’t a penny-pincher.

If Amiri and his shop are on the level about this Miata, it would make a great deal for both the new owner and the original owner. Imagine getting 163,000 miles out of a car this good for a total depreciation cost of about twenty grand. That’s what the average mid-size luxury car costs you during the first thirty days of ownership. And the ND Miata can be very cheap to run if you aren’t burning through a set of tires and brake pads several times a year on track. Even the mileage is pretty good; although as an ND owner myself I’ll say that you would do better in a CVT-equipped Accord or Camry.

The next owner will have a few great options, as we used to say in the new-car leasing business. Keep maintaining it and go for another 163K? Pull the engine and try the Flyin’ Miata “Habu” V-8 kit? Or—and this is the really tempting one—sell the expensive parts, then build it into a NASA or SCCA club-race car for a total cost of perhaps $17,000 against the current Global MX-5 Cup Car MSRP of $60K or more?

If you decide to check this car out in person, we’d love to hear your thoughts. And if you buy it, we’d love to share your journey with our readers. In the meantime, you could always spend that ten grand on something else … a 2002 F-150? A carbon-fiber mountain bike? A hundred rolls of toilet paper?