Hi Scotty, I live in St. Louis MO, and my son wants a Mazda Miata as his first car. He says he want either an NA or ND Miata. I'm not sure if it's a good first car for my son. The only concern I have about the car is insurance rate and safety. What are your thoughts about the Mazda Miata Scotty?
It’s a tiny, light and quick coupe - I don’t think it’s a good choice for a teen driver.
Safety is questionable, the ND scored only 4 stars on the Euroncap safety test, and the old generation scored lower then the Fiat 500.
It was never teetered in important crash test categories like small overlap and roof strength.
I think it’s insurance rates are probably very high, they’re already high enough for teen drivers so you should definitely check the rates first before you buy one, if you choose to do so.
Personally, I advise you to for a Mazda3 SkyActive instead, they have the same engine and transmission as the ND, and safety is much better (- death rates are 1/2 of the NA Miata)
make sure you get one with low mileage, and service it much more regularly then suggested by the manufacturer - young drivers don’t drive as smoothly as adults and tend to cause much more wear typically to the transmission so keep its fluid clean.
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in general when choosing a car for a teen driver, get something reliable, with good safety ratings (by EuroNcap and the IIHS) and most importantly get something relatively heavy (At least 1.5-2 tons) without too much power so he/she won’t be encouraged to go anything irresponsible or dangerous.
I wouldn’t get anything with other 120hp/ton for a young driver.
I like the advice about the Mazda3
Who is going to be paying for the car - insurance - gas - maintenance?
That would be me.
Good luck, Dad.
They are tiny and not the safest cars if a new driver gets into an accident
I wouldn't do it
I don't have children but it seems to me that from a 16 yr's perspective, a small fast, sports car is ideal.
From a father's point a view. a big slow land barge is safer.
So here's your choice
A Miata or a 1959 Cadillac! {pear}:laughingoutloud:
'72 Bonneville
- Well I have had many cars,mostly sporty ones. Right now as we speak, I drive a nb mazda miata about 100-150 miles a Day delivering food. I find the car handles Exceptionally good so if your son "Need it" the car will most likely pull him out of a could be bad accident. Let me give you a true saying I learned after driving many cars that is So true.... " It IS MORE FUN to drive a Slow car Fast ...Than a FAST CAR SLOW .... and I'll tell you what....my last car was a tuned bmw m4 ..that thing Screamed !! But I got tickets and couldnt ever really Use the all the power as much as i would want to... barely give it gas and it creaps up to 60 in a neighborhood.. theirs the cops...Ticket ....then i was getting on the hwy so i punched it for a little fun....i turn to see if it is clear and BAM a cop in the passing lane.... as I am coming on the hwy at 140mph !!!! Car did that way to easy... ..oh god I'm going down now I thought .. he caught up to me ...I just let off the gas and when we slowed down to 80 mph in a 65 . He pulled up next to me ...shook a finger at me and took off.. wow that was close...and that wasn't even pushing the car but about 60-70%... so you Really can't Enjoy all the car.. well a flood killed the bmw m4 .... So I saw that saying i said above a few times in then next couple of weeks while looking for a new car, and so I now bought a 2001 ex race car ...street class ..and the previous owner put shocks with coil overs ,exhaust, and sway bars...and some light weight rims and summer tires.. plus for extra protection a Roll bar...so I dive this car Every day 100 miles at least... a little low to the grown hate going over speed bumps ....good thing for my skid plate protection.... I can drive this little car like I Stole it .. i feel likeni am Flying down the street !!!! But really I am just going as fast as the rest of the cars..lol ...but... I am just having more fun nthan most ofnthe other drivers ...so thr miata using about 95% of the car instead of a Way faster Bmw m4 ..only 60 % of cars potential and was still way speeding..plus tickets...no tickets in the mazda miata..and Everyone loves little Buckie.... looks like he has buck teeth with front plate...this little buckie is my funnest car i have ever owned and it was cheap ....only 8,000...i smile everyday driving it....he is so little at the bank you don't see my car in the camera screen lil Buckie is to short for the camera....so my advice ....from owning and driving many sport cars in the last 40 years.....sure i would let him get the Mazda miata.. better him having a car with under 200 horse power than a car with over 400.... I be he will name it ,wash it and take better care of it than other cars... like its a pet dog or something instead of a car.. them miatas have personality ....my bmw was fun but was extremely loud with crackling pops in exhaust... turn some heads now...be glad your boy dont want a bmw m4, or camaro,charger,mustang....because for a first car , they are to much for your boy....but he will Absolutely love the miata...so he probably won't be speeding to much....a miata isn't About speed...it is about Maintaining speed in curves.. my car came in first place out of 98 street cars in autocross when the last owner had it... I love Love LOVE lil Buckie. I would never sell him....
- the nc and nd have a more sturdy build and just better modern stuff in them from the factory. Ine i wish i had is push button start instead of a key...so I would say ....COME ON SON ...LETS GO GET YOU A NEW "ND" MIATA...and of course Definitely the standard !!! AND NEVER LOOK BACK....Oh yeah one more thing ...leave the power alone ..it was engineered to be slow and that is what makes miatas fun ..drive it like you stole it and still no tickets. 45 mph lol. Ok I'm done blabbing ...right now I am just sitting here ... in my Miata waiting on a good food order to deliver. Love my little buckie . And so will your son
This was posted 5 months ago. I'd be surprised if they were still looking.
It will be good for him to learn stick, but for now I would only consider an automatic. A manual transmission requires twice as much attention:
Automatic: gas, brake
Manual: gas, brake, clutch, shifter
Once he feels comfortable and safe driving an automatic and has a little experience avoiding accidents, you could trade over to a manual.
Of coure, your son would ask for a Miata. It's a small fast car. I guess he's also secretly into Japanese street racing car culture as well. I wouldn't buy it for him. I was a teen once and so were you. We both know it was hard to control our urges. Even harder for the teens nowadays to control theirs.
Think about this. If someone in a bigger vehicle, even a Toyota Corolla bigger than a Miata, let alone those F150, hit your son, he won't end up healthy after the collision. If your son hits someone else, same result. Lighter vehicles have less friction. The weather isn't always sunny with 100% visibility. The tiny Miata isnt a good choice to be in while its pouring rain.
Get him a bigger vehicle if you value his life.
As everyone else said this car isn't a good first car for a 16 year old. A new driver at that age is more likely to speed or do dangerous stuff and the Miata is just not a good choice. Get something bigger but also not too big (such as a big suv or big truck) where he can cause a lot of damage with. I learned and started driving with a 1981 Mercedes 280E and the good things about it were that it has a very solid frame but also it I couldn't speed up with it which now looking back I realize why they made me start driving with that car. Or if you don't want something that old then I think an older Camry or Accord wouldn't be a bad option either.
not enough airbags for a first car
