I bought my first Miata MX5 (2006) base model, a few weeks ago. After seeing so many Miata's at track days, and talking with the drivers about why I see so many Miata's, I decided to buy one for my daily driver ( I have a car that I use primarily for track days) so I could have some fun commuting to work, and maybe do an autocross or two. The car has 68,000 miles on it, and was not in in perfect shape, hence the reasonable price, a few paint chips here and there, and various imperfections in the interior. So, I bought the car from a guy that owns a shop, and has his dealers license, and sells a few cars on the side. After putting about 200 or so miles on the car, I decided to put H & R lowering springs on it. I had another shop do the work, because it was closer to where I live. He calls me on the phone and asks me to come to the shop because "we have a problem". I get there, and he still has the car on the lift, with the wheels off, to show me that 4 of the rear links were BENT! To say I was a little pissed, was an understatement. I had that mechanic put the wheels back on, and I would call the guy I bought the car from the next day. I called the dealer up, and he was very nice, and said to bring it to his shop so we could look at it. After looking at the rear suspension parts that were bent, he said he would replace them, no charge (the good part) and while he had it apart, would install the lowering springs, I would just pay the labor (still the good part) Well, he calls me in a few days, saying the car is done, aligned, and ready to go. He said he even drove it, and it felt better that it did before (I would hope so) I go to pick up the car and look at it, and it doesnt look any lower that it was before. He said, it would take a while for the suspension to settle, and it should be a little lower after a little driving. I got home and did some research on this site and a site "billswebspace" that had very detailed instructions on doing the suspension on his NC Miata, and read that the car should be on the ground before torquing the suspension bolts as to not bind the suspension. I called the guy that did my repairs and the lowering springs, and he said, he didnt think that they let the car settle, that they tightened the bolts while the car was still in the air (probably why the car didnt look lowered when I went to pick it up). So, I drove it that day, just to see if the suspension would settle a little on its own, it did not. Now, comes the bad stuff. My friend that drove me to pick up the car asked me how the car felt, my reply was, "I just didnt feel right, but it was hard to explain". Maybe I just needed to get used to it, I dunno. The next day, I drove the car to watch my first autocross, about a 40 minute drive. As I was ready to leave, walking to my car, I saw fluid under the car, on the inside of the drivers side front wheel. I looked under the car and there was fluid driipping from the front shock!! DAMMIT! What next??? I decided to drive it home carefully, knowing there wouldnt be any fluid in the front strut by the time I get home. I get home (yeah, it felt like I was driving a car with concrete tires)and jack the car up to see what might have cause this problem. I look at the strut, I decided to review the "billswebspace" article to see if I might see the problem. Well, the "monkeys" that installed the struts, put them on backwards" the collar for the spring stop was on the outside, not the inside!! Again, DAMMIT! I call the dealer back, and he said, its an honest mistake, bring it back to the shop we will fix it (by putting the new springs on the old struts) Oh, I'm not finished yet, I crawl under the rear to look at the shocks, and THEY were on backwards as well! WTF??? Ok, rant over, my question to you good people, is by having the shocks and struts mounted backwards, could that cause the ill handling, as well as the front strut to start leaking? After all this crap I have been with, I still like the car, I just want it to handle like its supposed to. Any input will be very helpful. and I do apologize for the long post, but I felt I needed to explain the brief history of "my first Miata"
