I suggest finding a Dodge Shadow instead. We used to have a Shadow coupe, good little car and surprisingly roomy. They’re not made anymore (replaced by the Neon) but parts are easy to find. You should be able to find one in good condition for ~$2500.
Odds are he’s not going to find one for under three grand. 
There is one match that comes up for $3200. I bet you could talk em down by a few hundred dollars…
As for the Capri, you might want to take a look at the Consumer Reports annual car issue. The Capri’s rated a lot lower than the Miata for reliabilty and quality.
While a $3000 limit does eliminate an awful lot, there are Miatas out there in your price range. It just depends on how how hard you look and if you need to get a car right away or can get by until the right one turns up.
As a former Miata owner (like AZCowboy), the Miata is a great car, fun and reliable. However, if you’re a fix-it kind of guy, I’d venture there’d be a fair selection of British or Italian cars out there in your price range. This option requires that you be a fix-it-yourself type (just thought i’d say that twice, for emphasis).
Good luck, and I’m envious. It’s been 4 years since my son was born and, not at all coincidentally, 3 years and 10 1/2 months since we sold the Miata. I love my son, but I still really miss that car. It was a lot of fun. I will have one again, sometime.
The only warnings I’ll give you on the Miata are these:
*Little trunk space. But, if this is a second car, that won’t be an issue. (I can get enough groceries for me in the trunk, though. Bigger items? That’s what the convertable top is for! Just don’t have a passenger. 
)
*If you’re big in any dimesion, you’ll need a shoe horn to get in and out of the car.
*Good ones go quickly, or at least they do in my area. (I ended up having someone buy the car for me out-of-state, then buy if off them when I was able to drive it back.)
Beyond that, they’re fun and relatively easy to take care of. If you aren’t used to driving stick, they’re very forgiving of learners and you don’t need bodybuilder strength to use the clutch or shifter.
<< I keep hitting the escape key, but I’m still here. >>
Please forgive my car-related ignorance, but is the Mazda Miata the same as the Mazda MX-5? (I googled it and it looked the same, but I’m no car expert).
How come they’re so cheap over there? My boyfriend found a cheap secondhand one for $19,000 AUD and ended up buying a 2001 model for $38,000 - can you seriously get them for around $3000 USD in America? And for the record, if Miata = MX5, he would like to put in his hearty recommendation as well. He adores the car, and even his dad who drives a much nicer car was impressed by the zippiness of the convertible. But I agree that there isn’t much trunk space, although I think you can remove the spare tyre if you desperately need the extra space.
Same car. 2001 models here run $20,000; the price can drop by half with just a couple more years on the clock. Ten years and it’s down to around $3000.
$19,000AUD for a used Miata :eek: ??? Unless I’m grossly overestimating exchange rates, that’s exorbitant!
IIRC, when the Miata’s were new (1996ish) they were around $10,000US.
Used cars are cheap and abundant in the US. Here in my city (about 100,000 people) there are at least, oh, I’d say 500-600 cars on used car lots that cost less than the $3,000 I can spend. Unfortunately, none of them are Mazda Miata’s, but there you have it.
It looks like I’m going to have to pay about $4,000 - $5,000 for that Miata.
British and Italian cars definitely have a coolness factor way above a Miata; but as DaddyTimesTwo says, they’re not extremely reliable. I’ve never owned an Italian car, so I’ll comment on MGBs.
When I was looking for a '66 MGB in 2002, running examples in the L.A. area were about $3,500. Later models (1977-1980) were going for about $2,500. All of the ones I saw were in need of some restoration.
1960s MGBs are very simple. Yes, they might get an oil leak or an electrical problem; but they’re easy to fix. The best horsepower is from 1965-1967 (98hp). Horsepower dropped to 92 in '68-'71, 78.5 in '72-'74, and finally reached its nadir at 62.5 in '75-'80. EPA regulations kept evolving, but the MGB’s engine didn’t. It just grew more and more bolt-on emsissions controls that sapped its power.
Still, I had two '77s. Both were fairly reliable, and one of them had an overdrive. Overdrives are a must for modern driving. If an MGB isn’t equipped with one, the '68-on o/ds are fairly cheap and plentiful on eBay. Pre-'68 o/ds are not as common and more expensive.
The Miata came about a decade after the last MGB rolled off the lines at Abbington. They benefitted from the improvements in engine technology (and automobile computers). If all I wanted was a roadster and I didn’t care about having a cool classic car, I’d go for a Miata. They are more reliable and more efficient than an MG. There are about twice as many of them as the MGB (which, at one time, was the second-highest production sports car at half a million examples), so parts will be plentiful and cheap. The high production numbers should also tend to keep purchase prices low for earlier models.
Yes.
Omigod, not a Capri! Those things got terrible reviews when they were introduced to the States; I remember one review where bits were falling off the interior as they drove it.
The Miata is really your best bet out of all the cars mentioned in this thread.
Despite what some people will tell you, Fiat makes a damn fine automobile. Parts are reasonable and easy to find, but people willing/able to work on them are not. You most likely will have to take care of any rare problems you encounter yourself. Rust may be an issue depending where you live. I wouldn’t know about that. Mine has spent it’s whole life in a “dry-as-a-popcorn-fart” climate.
Spiders between around 1975-82 are selling for $2000-4000. I have a 1980 with the 2 liter engine and FI. Goes like hell and gets about 30 mpg even the way I drive it (fast, always). I’m not a big fan of the X1-9, but I hear they handle pretty well. Too hard to get into the mid-engine if there was a problem.
Roomier and more “exotic” than a Miata, but not for everyone. Anyway, there you have it.
Delta-32 Skee-do!
F.I.A.T Stands for Fix it Again Tony. I guess you must be lucky, because I once owned a Fiat, and except for the three blown head gaskets, bad timing belt tensioners and monumental use of oil, it was a perfect car. The car finally immolated itself and burned down to the ground. This was a car which only had around fifty thousand miles on it when I bought it by the way.
My mom got a Miata the first year they were available in the US. That was either 1990 or 1991, and the base, no-options MSRP price was around $13,800 if I recall correctly. The extreme demand and small supply at the time meant that the average street price was actually about… $4,000 above that.
A bit over $14,000 USD according to xe.com. I think it was fairly new - very late 90s to early 2000s if that makes a difference. There’s actually a satisfying story to how he bought his car - he was originally looking at the $19,000 car but the dealership sold it without letting him know, hoping that he would show up for his appointment and buy another car I guess. When he called to confirm his appointment they admitted that the car wasn’t there anymore. So my boyfriend and his dad went to another Mazda dealership and ended up spending twice the amount for a much nicer model. Actually, I don’t know whether that’s a happy ending - the nicer car and extra money probably cancel each other out. But then the original Mazda people called asking him to view another car and he happily told them that because of their shitty business practices he took his business elsewhere.
And thanks for the car education guys!
As a 1995 VW Cabrio owner, I have had a great experience with this car. It has room enouh inside to fit 4 large adults with reasonable comfort for a short trip (hour or so). It has more leg room in the back than the small bmw convertable (which one of my bosses drives).
Two friends at work have Mazda Miata’s and they are also very good, there is also a car called the Honda Civic del Sol which an exboss of mine has which is worth looking into.