A fairly large undertaking, no time soon but still needs consideration

[Secret Chimp]

The dealer for the white car sent me more pictures. Its in good shape, except it has this fruity pinstriping on the nose and boot. Could I get that off with a rubbing compound?

[Secret Chimp]

I'm might check out this red Miata in town (you have to click on the link on the main directory page):

http://under6000.com/html/used_vehicles.html

It has a fart can and possibly a cheapie drop, but at the same time the camber looks correct so the owner wasn't a complete clod, the top looks new and the interior looks great. It's a bit high-mileage and yes there's a fart can, but I believe I have my ears and eyes tuned to any kind of rod knock or transmission bearing noises I should look out for. I'm going to see if the dealer would knock off a few hundred so I could buy a replacement muffler (Racing Beat single probably). I'd probably get a Flyin' Miata shock and spring combination pretty soon thereafter, I'd likely finance it in with the loan I'd take from the local credit union.
If white Indiana car doesn't sound good when I give them a call (it shouldn't take this long to replace an engine computer), think this one is a good fallback? Or then there's black Cleveland car again...

Blue Miata doesn't seem to exist, no email and the phone number is dead. Too bad

L'update - white Miata is still waiting for a new ECM, dealer says there's just a ding on the right rear passenger fender arch and a missing passenger mirror (don't know how I missed that) but otherwise clutch, brakes etc were good. I asked the guy to email me as soon as it was ready to go.

I'm going to ask for more details from that guy with the black 92. If the clutch is on its way out and the brakes are on their way out, but the brakes aren't metal-on-metal and the clutch holds acceptably for daily driving, maybe I should see if I can get him to take $2000 or so for it? Unless he brings up some little things that wipe it off the list, $200 for a clutch and $300 for a top (that isn't even necessary for awhile) and $300-500 for brakes equals a decent car with a hardtop vs. a car without and way the hell out of my way.

Less-work white car or more-work black car? Or fartcan newtop red car? I can't decide
This at least gives me some time to get the little bits fixed on the Accord if I can get much for a trade (I'd take anything around $1,800-2,200, I'd be at a loss but I'm also saving the hassle of dealing with craigslist e-tirekickers and real life tire-kickers alike)

[Cookie Monster]

I'd go for the more-work black car because it seems that you can do a lot of the work yourself and you can try to knock some money off of the price.
Plus the hardtop isn't cheap so it's nice that it has one.

BTW, the top on the red Miata looks ghastly.

[Secret Chimp]

I checked out the red one. Piece of crap! Burned oil, just turning the wheel sitting still or turning the headlights on and off made the idle go up 600 rpm, suspension so hard I couldn't make the car move at all, oil smelled like gas, etc. I emailed black car guy, hopefully he responds and doesn't think I'm jerking around.

[Secret Chimp]

THIS THREAD IS BUTTERNUTS LET'S ALL GO TO THE NEW ONE IN GENERAL AUTOMOTIVE K THX

[Cookie Monster]

THIS THREAD IS BUTTERNUTS LET'S ALL GO TO THE NEW ONE IN GENERAL AUTOMOTIVE K THX

Where?

[The Pirate]

I've decided to go ahead and get the black car. Here's his breakdown of the car's condition:
Even if he won't budge from $2500, it still sounds like a good deal. It's a lot more local than freaking Lafayette, it comes with a hardtop (worth at least $500-700 by itself) and the body sounds decent for an Ohio car. The clutch can be taken care of for $200, and I may want to go ahead and get a full Flyin' Miata brake package depending on how much more than $2000 I can get for the Accord (that's how much I owe on it). The top may only need a zipper and some patching.
Weee :)

Brake noise when it's wet out isn't much cause for concern by itself (especially with disc brakes).  The rotors will rust slightly, and the noise happens when the pads contact the rotors, and "scrub" the rust away.  My car makes very audible brake noise for the first few stops, especially when the weather is inclement.  And if you're in doubt, bring a jack and lug wrench when you go look at the car.  The guy should be more than willing to let you pull the wheels and get a closer look.  Besides, like you said, replacing the brakes isn't a big deal; it might even give you a bit of leverage to get some more money knocked off.