MX-5 Miata Forum - Southeastern VA - - Drives, Events, Clubs, Parts, Service, Dealers (2024)

On the spur of moment yesterday the wife and I decided to go drive the Colonial Parkway http://www.nps.gov/colo/index.htm . It is not a road for spirited driving, no Miata curves, and because the road is part of the National Park Service I would suspect a ticket would be more hassle and expense than usual. It is a beautiful drive through the woods on a wide well maintained concrete road. It was a very calming, peaceful stretch of road. It’s kind of ironic how peaceful it felt as one end is where the early Colonist clashed with the Native Americans and the other end is where the later Colonist (and the French) had the final battle with the British for the independence of the United States.

We couldn’t drive the whole Parkway. They are detouring traffic around a big chunk of the road between Williamsburg and Jamestown because of a boating accident that damaged a support piling on the Powhatan Creek bridge. I will do the drive again once the bridge gets re-opened. We got the annual membership passes to the visitors center for Yorktown and Jamestown ($35 ea), so we plan on returning several times and exploring the areas at both ends of the road. Unfortunately the passes are no good at the ½ way point (Williamsburg).

We were very surprised how nice the beach area at the Yorktown end is. The biggest disappointment of the day was dinner at Jamestown Pie Company. I love finding Hole-in-the-Wall type places with good food. The sign fooled us into thinking it was a sit-down restaurant, it was take-out only, but they had picnic tables and it was a nice day. The desert pies might be good; but, I tried the pizza and the wife tried chicken-pot-pie and it was almost inedible. Desert maybe, for dinner don’t go there.

If you a have a free afternoon and feel like going for a peaceful drive this is a good trip.

Just got my second pair of shoes after 25K miles. Stuck with Bridgstone Potenza, but went with 215/45/17 instead of 205's that were not readily available.

I delayed getting an alignment after installing the Mazdaspeed PRHT sport springs and prematurely wore the inside edge of original tires.

Many places were not willing or did not feel comfortable with doing a custom alignment.

Found the best place - Burts Alignment, 305 Rose Marie Ave right off Virginia Beach Blvd between Witchduck and Independence. 757 499 2828

They test drove prior to check, allowed me in the shop to witness the whole proceedure to ensure I was fully satisfied with the tolerances.

Test drive after the real wheels completed and then anoter drive after the front with a follow on tweek.

Mike, the mechanic was very knowlwdgable on the NC Miata. This is the only place I'll every take a car for alignment. They only take appointments, closed on weekends, $140 for 4 wheels. They use vintage John Bean alignment machines ( non computerized).

I know where that road is. I can’t drive by “Rose Marie” without thinking “and Morey Amsterdam”. I watched way too many reruns of The Dick Van Dyke Show as a child.

Good to know there is still an old school mechanic around that understands cars well enough he doesn’t have to depend on a computer to tell him what to do. Technology can be a good thing though; I’m going to post this question in “Suspension, Handling & Brakes” just out of curiosity: “Who would you trust for an alignment, an experienced mechanic with vintage John Bean alignment machines or a dealer or chain store with the latest tech but mechanics you never talk with?” I really don’t know, this could be interesting.

Thanks for posting, see you on the road.

Sounds Goods – Pick a date, time, and meeting place and maybe a few more folks would like to join us. I’d think 10am or so would be a good start time. Work is slow for me now, I’m getting weekends and holidays off, this weekend I’m planning on the M.O.O.D. event, Sat the 10th a company pig picking, otherwise my weekends are open. Columbus Day may be a good pick but it seems like a lot of people don’t get that day anymore.

If this sounds like more trouble than you wanted; I will PM you next time the wife and I are coming up to explore the Yorktown/Jamestown parks and maybe we can run the roads after. That will likely be spur of the moment and not really something I can plan.

JZN

Are you friends w/ Slava? I saw "DeLorean" and thought, "ah, that must be Slava's friend who got the SC for his Miata!"

-Ed who works w/ Burmaka

You got it Ed, its me. How do you put up with Slava at work, haha. He is a good guy and a great friend! I actually just got the delorean back from restoration yesterday.

My wife and I went on the inaugural M.O.O.D. Bay-to-the-Beach drive Saturday. If there is a 2nd annual M.O.O.D. Bay-to-the-Beach drive next year I highly recommend it. It was a 340 mile day for us; right on the edge of being too much for one day; next time we may stay the night in Ocean City, MD.

Miata owners of Delmarva (M.O.O.D) are a nice group of folks and collectively have a great collection of Miata’s spanning all three generations. This event was a fund raiser for a good cause, “Home of the Brave”, a homeless veteran’s charity

We left Virginia Beach about 7:30 and drove straight though to the meeting place, the Crisfield, MD ferry dock, arriving right at the 10AM meeting time. After meeting the group and admiring the cars a bit we headed out. We took a meandering scenic route on rural two lane reads, a nice drive with a couple of nice curves along the way but mostly pretty sedate. We stopped in Berlin MD for lunch, not really sure what time it was. Berlin is a relaxing little town with a few Antique Shops, B&B’s, Small restaurants and assorted other stores. After a nice lunch and stretching our legs we met back up for the run to Ocean City. There was some back road driving but then we hit a four lane. I don’t know if our time was getting short or if it’s the only way in to OC. We met up with a police escort who led our parade of Miata’s down the Ocean City Boardwalk. I felt like a bit of a ham and a show-off, but it was fun. The reaction of some of the children still has me grinning. The group split up after that and we had the long run back home, got back a little before 8PM. It was a fun day!

Well I took the plunge and bought a Silver '09 PRHT GT with appearance and premium packages today. Out the door from Cavalier was 29100.00

Hello to all -- where are the Miata Club Meetings now?

Rob

Welcome :wave: Sounds like you got a good deal on a great car.

Maybe I should have given Caviler Mazda a shot; but, I was still holding a grudge over a situation at Caviler Ford years ago and refused to set foot on their lot. They are so close to my house, I decided my grudge was only hurting me and gave Caviler’s service department a shot. Not really happy with them; I’m undecided if I’ll go back or drive past them to Hall next time my car see’s a service bay. I’m not happy with Hall’s sales department but I haven’t tried service with them. I bought my car from Pearson Mazda in Richmond. I’m very happy with Pearson; just wish they were 100 miles closer.

The local club is Miata Nuts of Greater Hampton Roads they do not have a web site as far as I know . A contact email address is posted on the forum club page http://www.miata.net/clubs/midlantic.html . I haven’t contacted them. I don’t know why. When I was trying to make a deal with Hall, the salesman mentioned the club has meetings at the dealership but I don’t know when. If you join up please post about it here. I my follow your lead and join too.

Hall Auto, all flavors is on my Do-Not-Buy list. Shady sales, and the body shop managers are condescending jerks.

I got mistreated (Screwed?) back in the '80s at Hall Honda. I gave them a second shot in 2005 at Stateline Honda and they tried to deliver a Civic I had not agreed to purchase -- so with check written, and paperwork ready, car sitting outside cleaned and ready for delivery, I walked. Bought the same Civic for $500 less at Checkered Flag the next week. FWIW, I grew up on a used car lot -- one thing I truly enjoy is watching sales staff squirm in response to my offers, and I always make sure I get the little extras -- touch-up paint and floormats for sure.

I bought a '04 F150 FX4 back in Sep 2003 -- right after they came out. Got a good deal, and really liked the sales team. The Service manager is a jerk, plain and simple. I won't do business with their Ford Service.

The Mazda sales team was *great*. I took delivery late, so parts/service was closed. We'll reserve judgement on that part later.

Thanks for the email -- I'll be a frequent visitor here.

I’m working on my spoiler install. It’s time to get it painted.

I checked out Squidly’s in Chesapeake and I may wish I had went with him before its over. The shop looked rough and dirty but the spray booth looked good. I was impressed by the owner/manager (I’m assuming he is the owner) he really seemed to know his stuff. He said he does not do mid level work, too many shops are in that business. He does cheap, quick, high-volume work for used car lots and other customers that just want a coat of paint on a cheap car. He also does high end custom work for folks that want it right and are willing to pay for it. I wasn’t willing to pay for it; $80 for flat black or $220 for yellow on the spoiler.

The left the spoiler at the Macco in Chesapeake yesterday. They wanted $100 for flat black, $150 for yellow, I picked yellow. I’ll update when I get it back.

That looks great!

How hard was the wiring part?