2008 Mazda Miata Mx5 Only 38k Actual Miles 5-speed Manual Clean Title No Reserve on 2040-cars

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Miata is always the answer, but not always the best one

The Mazda MX-5 Miata is a surprisingly versatile car. Not only is it hilariously fun on back roads and closed courses, it can also be a decent daily driver thanks to its solid gas mileage and usable trunk. But, it doesn't excel in every driving situation. Specifically long trips at high speeds, and those involving canine companions. This weekend, I did a roughly 500-mile round trip to my parents' home in Indiana to pick up my recently adopted dog. The trip was 90-percent highways, and I heard every single mile. Our MX-5 Miata Club has the minimally insulated top also found on the base level trim, and at highway speeds the wind and road noise fills the cabin with a loud, steady roar. This likely won't be a problem for fans of white noise, and it can be overcome by the stereo. However, over a few hundred miles, it starts to get old. The suspension, while superb for carving corners, also gets tiresome. On rough Rust Belt highways, it would become a bit overwhelmed, and the whole car would shiver and shake. On the plus side, nothing squeaked, rattled, or fell off in these instances. There are a few other quirks that show up on long trips. The small pedal box and floor-mounted throttle means that there isn't a particularly comfortable place to rest your right foot when the cruise control is set. Neither the door nor the center console have much padding either, so leaning your knees against them for long periods of time isn't advisable. The good news is that the seat itself was surprisingly comfortable, and never once was I feeling any back pain. Plus, when not using the cruise control, the seating position is great, allowing me to stretch out and relax. When I picked up my four-legged compatriot (a 7-year-old mix of unknown breeds named Ruby, pictured above), things became a tad tight. Standing up, she thoroughly filled the passenger compartment. For reference, she's a little over 50 pounds and stands a little more than 2 feet tall. Much bigger dogs, like my family's coonhound and German shepherd mix, won't really fit. This also made her prone to nearly face-planting on the dashboard anytime the car slowed down. She eventually figured out that simply curling up on the seat bottom was the best choice, and then slept for most of the trip. So it worked out, but I think I may have found the limit of a Miata's dog capacity. Would any of this make me want a Miata less? Certainly not. That is if I had a second car.

Mixed sales results, but automaker stocks rise on need for cars in Houston

DETROIT — The Big Three Detroit automakers on Friday reported better-than-expected August sales and issued optimistic outlooks for demand as residents of the Houston area replace flood-damaged cars and trucks after Hurricane Harvey, sending their stocks higher. General Motors, Ford and Fiat Chrysler posted mixed August U.S. sales, with GM up 7.5 percent and Ford and Fiat Chrysler down. Japanese automaker Toyota improved sales by nearly 7 percent, while Honda fell 2.4 percent. Still, analysts focused on the potential for Detroit automakers to cut inventories and stabilize used vehicle prices as residents of Houston, the fourth largest city in the United States, are forced to replace tens of thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands, of vehicles after the devastation from Hurricane Harvey. Mark LaNeve, Ford's U.S. sales chief, told analysts on Friday that following Hurricane Katrina in 2005 "we saw a very dramatic snapback" in demand. That said, Ford sales fell 2.1 percent in August. It sold 209,897 vehicles in the United States, compared with 214,482 a year earlier. Sales were down 1.9 percent in the Ford division and off 5.8 percent at Lincoln. Demand was down for cars, crossovers and SUVs. It was not clear how many vehicles in the Houston area will be scrapped, LaNeve said, saying he had seen estimates ranging from 200,000 to 400,000 to 1 million. Ford's Houston dealers may have lost fewer than 5,000 vehicles in inventory, he said. Ford is the No. 1 automaker in the Houston market, with 18 percent share, according to IHS Markit. The company plans to ship used vehicles to Houston dealers and has "every indication we would have to add some production" of new vehicles to meet demand, LaNeve said. Investor concerns about inventories of unsold vehicles and falling used car prices have weighed on Detroit automakers' shares most of this year. Now, automakers can anticipate a jolt of demand from a big market that is a stronghold for Detroit brand trucks and SUVs. "It's got to be a positive for the industry," LaNeve said. Investors appeared to agree. GM shares rose as much as 3.3 percent to their highest since early March. Ford increased 2.8 percent at $11.34, and Fiat Chrysler's U.S.-traded shares were up 5.2 percent $15.91, hitting their highest in more than five years. GM reported a 7.5 percent increase in U.S. auto sales in August, helped by robust sales of crossovers across its four brands.

Consumer Reports declares most and least loved cars [w/video]

Consumer Reports is crunching the numbers from its annual owner-satisfaction survey, and part of that process is finding out how attached drivers are to their cars. CR simply asks readers of models up to three years old if they would buy the same vehicle again in light of their entire ownership experience, and tallies the results. After looking at the responses for about 350,000 vehicles, it turns out that people really love a certain California-built, electrically powered luxury sedan. That's right, this year's the overall winner was the Tesla Model S with a whopping 98 percent of owners saying they would purchase another one (the Model S also won this award last year, with 99 percent satisfaction). The Chevrolet Corvette Stingray came in a close second with 95 percent of drivers hoping to park another one in their garage. A few models weren't quite so favored, though. The Nissan Versa Sedan was the least loved model among its owners; a mere 42 percent said that they would purchase another. The aging Jeep Compass didn't do much better, with just 43 percent of drivers willing to buy the softroader again. On average, about 70 percent of owners say they would buy their car again, and only four cars ranked below 50 percent in CR's findings. Check out the video above to see some of the winners and losers in a few of CR's categories. If you're a subscriber, you can check out the full list on its website. Related Gallery Consumer Reports Most Loved Cars 2014 Related Gallery Consumer Reports Least Loved Cars 2014 News Source: Consumer Reports - sub. req., Consumer Reports via YouTube Chevrolet Ford Mazda Mercedes-Benz Porsche Subaru Tesla Ownership Videos car ownership