2006 Mazda3 5spd sedan $2000

sold

2006 Mazda3i 2.0 Sedan, 5 spd manual.  199k miles.  Current 09/2020 PA inspection, can get inspected again before sale if you want.

I had this for sale a year ago and ended up keeping it since my truck sold first.  Drove it another winter, 9,000 miles, and now have my eye on a replacement. 

Base model.  Manual windows, manual locks, manual mirrors, no sunroof.

A/C, PS, Cruise, steering wheel controls, higher trim OEM seats w/ height and lumbar adjust.  MazdaSpeed3 Front Brake conversion.  Lowering springs installed, stock springs included.  16" wheels (the 6-spoke ones shown in one pic) w/ decent tread Michelin X-ice snow tires.  FYI you'll need 17" wheels or careful selection of 16" wheels to clear the front brakes.

There's rust on the body around the rear wheel wells and under the driver door sill.  Mazda sheet metal sucks.  The bottom of the car is pretty clean and working on it has been easy, including rear wheel bearings and front control arms and engine mounts done recently with no rusty or stuck bolts.

New in the last few months: T-stat housing gasket and coolant.  All 3 engine/transmission mounts.  Catback exhaust.  Battery.  

New at various times in the last 4 years/40k miles:  Both front lower control arms and bushings.  Koni STR.T shocks.  Both rear wheel bearings.  Rear rotors.  Rear pads.  Front pads.  A/C belt.  Accessory belt.  MAF.  Air Filter.

Other included parts: most of the stuff to go through the front end - wheel bearings, tie rods, endlinks, rotors, etc.  Will have to look and see what all is there.  It made some potential front wheel bearing noise at the last track day so i bought most of the wear parts for the front, and then it never made a peep on the street so 9,000 miles later i haven't installed any of the stuff.  Way to go, me.

$2,000.   With the pile of new front end parts receipts can legitimately be adjusted for challenge purposes if needed.

Location is eastern PA, between Kutztown and Allentown.

I've owned this for over 4 years and 40k miles as my daily and track car.  It's got Koni STR.T shocks, lowering springs, and - best part - Mazdaspeed3 brake conversion.  And it's the lightest possible configuration of the chassis.  To say it brakes well is an understatement.  It brakes....beautifully.  By data and video it out-brakes a well prepped, well driven Z06 and is incredibly easy to modulate.  No fade.  So much fun.  I've done 8 or 9 TrackNightInAmerica (3x 20-minute sessions)  with this car.  Pads are Mazda OEM, and only 2 events on them.  The last set lasted something like 80k street miles and 7 track events.  They work incredibly well.  RX8 guys often run these OEM pads for track use too.

What it needs before the next track day:  Left front wheel bearing seemed like it got noisy after 2.5 sessions at Pocono (many heavily loaded right turns) last time out.  Since it was the original 191k mile wheel bearing, I bought both front bearings and a bunch of other front end stuff to take care of everything under there at once.  Then I went and bought a Camaro to track and that turned out to be the last event for this car.  There's no play in the hub and no noise on the street so it's done 9,000 street miles since with no noises or vibrations.   So....I didn't install any of the new parts yet.  Other projects keep having priority over the daily, since it drives fine as-is.

How is the clutch?

No idea how old it is but it grabs solid.  Could be original, the car was always a highway cruiser, and even the track stuff I did is easy on the clutch compared to autocross launches or city commuting.

Curious, what's the black line/mark on the left fender?  At least have to kick it around some.  My 16 year old already has a great daily driver, a '97 LS400.  However, he's gotten a taste of driving stick shift with my Mustang and is now dying to have a reliable daily driver that is a stick shift that he can autox and HPDE with.  Considering selling his Lexus and buying a stick shift.  The a/c and heat works as it should?

-Some kind of asphalt/tar or seam sealer that got flung up off the road.  I didn't try any harder to remove it than a normal wash and some of products i use on bugs and cone marks... but you should just assume that blemish is there forever.

-Heat's normal.

-A/C, I suspect it might need a quick charge, but let's put it this way - I'm dailying it right now specifically for the air conditioning since my Miata has none.  I'm also in no hurry to sell this until i pick up its replacement early July.  So it's definitely 'good enough' A/C.

-An LS400 sounds way cooler than this.  I guess it doesn't autox/track too well though.

So what's the replacement you're getting?

Yeah, the LS400 is quite a nice car, we really like it.  But once I taught him to drive stick, he wants nothing to do with autotragic transmissions...LOL.  All he wants is stick shift.  Not sure I want to sell the Lexus, it's too nice of a car.  We may just talk him out of it and convince him how good of a car he already has.  The Lexus is in really good condition for being 23 years old.  Everything works, it looks good, drives really well.  It does have coilovers, so the ride is bumpy as crap, but otherwise it's super clean for its' age. 

I do like Mazda3s and your car is well prepared for the things he wants to do (then again so is my '94 'stang GT).  Reason I ask about A/C is that I live in Atlanta, so working a/c is a big deal. 

If I was really interested, would you feel comfortable with the car making the drive all the way down?  Obviously, no guarantees, but would you have reasonable confidence in it?

Atlanta? Yeah, sure.  I was planning to drive it another winter.

Replacement is a friend's Fiesta with half the mileage that became available recently and, eh, it's time for a change, 4 years is an eternity for me to keep a non-miata.

So it comes with the 16" rims that clear the front brakes mounted with a set of snow tires only, correct?  I'd need to buy all season/summer tires for it?  Do you know what 17" OEM rims would fit it if I were to search junk yards...Mazda 6? 

Yes, it comes with the 16" wheels and good snows.  they're not super soft either, they make decent all-seasons.

NC Miata rims are what I ran most of the time on track, they fit great and are light, and $100-$200 a set.  17" alloys were OEM on most Mazda3's and are all over junkyards, they're just heavier.  Mazda6 wheels in both 17" and 18" as you mentioned.  RX8 wheels fit.  Certain S2k ones do too.  And there are also plenty of aftermarket options since NC MX5 17" fitment is pretty popular.  I owned like 21 wheels for this car at one point but have slowly sold/given them away.

I'm handing off my last set of NC wheels to a friend who is tracking his 3.  They were originally in the ad but not any more, if that's what you're wondering.  Price can be adjusted accordingly.