Searching for that illusive gem…

[Richard48Y]

Had a Miata, it was given to me as I am in NV and it could not be sold in CA for "SMOG" reasons.
Swapped in a lower mileage engine and soon learned the dirty secret of Miata's!
Mazda cheaped out on the valve stem seals, at around 140K they fail and the engines smoke like a steam train.
Not cheap to get the head rebuilt and Miata are NOT easy to work on.
They still run well, but that oil has to be bad for the CAT, and they are not cheap either.
So stick to Lotus for happier days!