Except for the fact he wants a track car. Seems kinda stupid to buy a brand new car, with warranty and a hard depreciation, only to use it as your track car.

 

OP also said its not a dedicated track car, and he wants to be able to drive it on the street. There always "cheaper" options out there, but the 2016 Miata is a bargain for a track day capable car. Plus, Mazda is much better about warranty work than Mitsubishi. Just go to "drivers education" events and not "competitions" and don't roll into the dealer with worn track day tires on the car.

 

HPDE isn't considered a "timed event" as long as you don't rent a transponder

 

I still think it's silly to buy a brand new car as your track toy. A lightly used NC Miata makes far more sense, given that it also has wider aftermarket support at the moment.

 

2005 Honda S2000 - $12500 (Tacoma), 81K miles, says its a rebuilt title due to theft recovery. Should be easy enough to have it checked to verify there was no structural damage. https://seattle.craigslist.org/tac/cto/5446841943.html

 

brand new car has a humongous advantige over the used platform.

Only if your budget limits it, build a track/race car from used car.

Which many people does, but only because the budget limit. in fact if you have a budget to reach your goal with a new car, then really silly to buy a used one instead.

 

If you buy new, you're taking a huge depreciation hit the moment you drive it away from the dealership. That money could be used for mods.

You're paying for a warranty that is void if you have an issue on track or that is linked to your racing.

You're paying for insurance on a new car that will be higher than a used.

The only advantage I can see for new is you get a new car with new features, and one with no mileage.

 

You would be surprised how many components on a used car should be replaced when track prepping a car. Vorshlag preps a lot of BMWs and the cost to replace all the worn components often approaches the cost of the used car.

 

I had a track car.

You can't have it both ways. If this is a daily meant for light track duty, there won't be anywhere near the same level of wear and tear necessitating replacing parts on a lightly used car. That's the only situation where new might make sense; the car is going to be used for light, non-competitive track duty with a lot of street use.

If the car is being heavily tracked, like every weekend, new makes no sense as parts will break, and they will be more expensive and less readily available. There's a reason why people track old *** Miatas.

 

Likely because they are on a shoestring budget. Plenty of people also track Porsches.

 

Not really. Of the people I know who track Miatas, all have had other, more expensive track cars, including Porsches, Evos, GTRs, Mustangs, RX7s, etc.

 

the only reason the NC caught my attention is cause of how cheap it is... there's no way I'm paying 25k for a stock miata of any generation, doesn't matter if its new and has 0 miles.

going by stictly "stuff that needs to be replaced on a used car" logic, I can buy an NC, get some Ohlins, replace all the bushings, upgrade radiator, new clutch, and still be well under half the cost of a new ND (assuming the dealer auction price I got was correct).

buying an ND for a track car just doesn't makes sense to me. I'd be in over 30k before I got it to where I want it, for that price I'd rather buy an Evo and have a decent round of mods on it. But I don't wanna spend that much

edit:
I plan on track it roughly 1-2 times a month, +/- depending on schedule
and not competitively, just regular lapping days

 

plenty of people keep building they cars as long as they race, but some smart ones build it once, and build it closely right, so they have to only maintenance and do minor updates.

Many doesnt even build it just buy a used one etc.

this possibilitys are endless.
the fact is still staying a fact the new car is always a better platform then a used one to build a race car.
Only your budget should prevent you not to do that.
its not about a question of which is better. the questions is, which one you can afford.

also there tons of bad builds and plans builders as they call the selves out there lol. so lets not go there.

 

DOIT. maybe. LOL

i think i read that the Miata is the most popular (by numbers) track vehicle.

 

this car has been on CL longer than my Mustang... and thats saying something... given the price and how longs its been up there, I'm not even gonna bother looking at it. if it was in any sort of decent condition it would have been sold a long time ago