Heheheheh......I can see the replies to this one in the crystal ball
lens of my popup headlight!  You'll find the Miata to be one of the
most reliable vehicles on the road, with many going well over 200K
with no probs.  Consumers Reports seems to thing along these lines,
and the Miata has remained on their "recommended used car buy" list
since its introduction.

I just had the first fairly major repair on my '91.  Had to replace
the rear at 162K, but the car had the stock, weak VSLD rear, had been
to the dragstrip, and has been running 5/6lbs of aftermarket turbo
boost for at least 90K.  I've kinda beat the poor thing to death.  Way
I figure, thing shoulda died about 50K ago!

When I was searching for older Miatas, I recall a substantial number
with over 200K that could be had for cheap, and, at least according to
the owners, were still daily drivers.

DonB
'91 white

In a word: don't. An extended warranty is just an insurance policy,
whereby you're betting your car will break and the insurer is betting it
won't (like life insurance, where you're betting you'll die young).
However, the companies that issue car warranty insurance tend to be more
like GEICO--they have a million ways to deny your claims, and it takes a
lawyer to get them to pay up, assuming they're still in gusiness when
you need them. The fact that car dealers lean so hard on their customers
to buy extended warranties should tell you something: the profits are
obscene. It doesn't quite qualify as a scam, but it should.

If you invest the same money, you'll be able to buy a nice gift for your
reliable, never-broken-down Miata in a few years. 80k miles is nothing
to worry about, if the car has been maintained properly and all service
bulletins have been applied, though the price should reflect the high
mileage.

Enjoy your new Miata!

---
Lanny Chambers
'94C, St. Louis
http://www.hummingbirds.net/alignment.html

I would be more afraid of a third party warranty than I would be afraid of
something going wrong with a Miata.  You should very carefully read the
warranty.  Some have pretty major exclusions.  I would just take the cash
I would spend on the warranty and put it in a savings account and use that
to fix any major car problems.
--------------
Alex