The five-speed manual transmission felt good too.

But the 1.6-liter engine pulled strong to redline, and didn’t burn any oil or coolant. The brake pedal was incredibly soft, and stopping power was lackluster. The steering wheel didn’t point straight, and the radio stopped working about halfway through. My drive home was uneventful, but confirmed the car definitely needed suspension work. This was a running, driving NA Miata for $1400. I've bought a lot of cheap cars, so none of this was out of the ordinary. It also felt like it needed a set of shocks.The radio worked intermittently, and the A/C didn’t really blow cold. The test drive made me think that the car needed an alignment, since it pulled left with the steering wheel straight. From what I saw, there was a bit of rust in the trunk and it needed a soft top-about what I expected for a car this cheap.

I bought the car in Pennsylvania after I did a short inspection and test drive. From a distance, it doesn’t look like much-just an NA-generation car with factory daisy wheels. Specifically the silver one pictured here, for just $1400. You can also find Miatas at great prices all day every day. They're fun, easy to modify, and are typically bulletproof. I need a backup car-something cheap, reliable, and fun to substitute for the M5 in case it breaks.

If you’re a Road & Track regular, you’ll know I’ve experienced some ups and downs with its reliability in the past year I’ve owned it.

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