Well, I got a crazy good deal on a Mazda yesterday!

Rolling by car lots in the bad part of town yesterday I saw a Celica and went to go look at it and noticed a Mazda3 next door advertised at $950! We went over to check it out and it's clearly been hit twice in the front and had a hard cosmetic life. 2008, 2.3L/MT5, 134K miles, moonroof, everything works including the a/c. Literally 4 completely different tires and a nasty clunk from a bad endlink, but the motor ran amazingly well, clutch was great, trans was great, and no pulling or funky business in the suspension. So I talked to the sales guy and $850 out the door I had myself my second 08 Mazda!

So yeah, if you need a cheap ride from an honest hole in the wall lot, those guys were awesome!

That is an amazing deal on solid fun transportation!

Dang Jav, that's a screamin' deal!

Wow, 850$? You done good!

In reply to Javelin :

Driving it down to the Challenge this year?

Usually dealers are pretty good at not selling for things for way less than they're worth. This situation is a mystery to me but congrats! 

You probably got it cheap because so few people can drive a stick, let alone work on cars these days.  At the price, you could put a grand or two in it and still not be upside down.  Of course, above the rust belt, that crease by the door would be a softball sized hole in about 4 months!  

134k miles, should give you about another 15k before rod knock.  or go ahead and kill it so you can do a 2.5l and 6-speed swap. 

Strizzo said:

134k miles, should give you about another 15k before rod knock.  or go ahead and kill it so you can do a 2.5l and 6-speed swap. 

Or it can have the 100K 2.3 from my 5 and I can put the 2.5/MT6 in the 5!!

Javelin said:

Strizzo said:

134k miles, should give you about another 15k before rod knock.  or go ahead and kill it so you can do a 2.5l and 6-speed swap. 

Or it can have the 100K 2.3 from my 5 and I can put the 2.5/MT6 in the 5!!

Thats using yer noggin!

Sweet deal. Congratulations. 

Be sure to check the engine mounts. 

Javelin said:

Rolling by car lots in the bad part of town yesterday I saw a Celica and went to go look at it and noticed a Mazda3 next door advertised at $950! We went over to check it out and it's clearly been hit twice in the front and had a hard cosmetic life. 2008, 2.3L/MT5,

Stopped reading there.  SCORE!

Strizzo said:

134k miles, should give you about another 15k before rod knock. 

Or you can check the dipstick every now and then and add oil as necessary instead of training the engine to run three quarts low, and drive it for another 134k.

Knurled. said:

Strizzo said:

134k miles, should give you about another 15k before rod knock. 

 

Or you can check the dipstick every now and then and add oil as necessary instead of training the engine to run three quarts low, and drive it for another 134k.

 

 

This is my 4th 2.3 Mazda, and I've never had an issue with any of them. 0W20 full syn every 5K miles with a Wix XP filter, and always checking to make sure they aren't burning/running low. 

I looked at that exact same car with an automatic for 6K a three years ago, even with a stick that's a 3K+ car easy in these parts.  You got the deal of the year at $850.00, my hat's off to you sir!

06HHR said:

I looked at that exact same car with an automatic for 6K a three years ago, even with a stick that's a 3K+ car easy in these parts.  You got the deal of the year at $850.00, my hat's off to you sir!

Thanks! Going to change the oil, filters, and plugs plus throw a set of front endlinks on it tomorrow. I'm trying to rustle up a matching set of tires for cheap, too. 

Car is here and up in the air. The underside is perfect! New LF strut, endlinks, CV boots, and front rotors and pads. Needs a RF ball joint and that's about it... The tires are all pretty good and the same size, but they are 4 different brands/styles/treadwears. The car is a 2.0 though, it's a funky I model with the S 17" wheels, moonroof, foglights, and the nicer stereo/MP3/CD.

Thats ok, the 2L vvt motor is plenty of fun on its own.  gears are a bit long but still plenty of torque and it wants to rev.  want a hotchkiss rear sway for it?  i'm about to take mine off before it gets sold.  

In reply to Strizzo :

Will the sway fit the 5 too?

Javelin said:

In reply to Strizzo :

Will the sway fit the 5 too?

Not sure, I know it will work on both sedan and hatch 3, so if your 5 can use the hatch rear sway, it should fit.  uses mazdaspeed3 endlinks.

edit:  according to this page, some years 3 and 5 rear bars interchange http://www.amazdaonline.com/eshop/bk-2003-2009/1571-autoexe-rear-sway-bar-anti-roll-bar-mbk7650.html

How much? Shipping to WA 98626

Javelin said:

How much? Shipping to WA 98626

Sent you an email through the board. 

Today was a success! I did the RF lower control arm, plugs, air filter, cabin filter, oil filter & oil, some SeaFoam in the gas, cleaned the grounds and terminals, and gave it an Italian tune-up. She's a peppy little car now! It had the *original* freaking spark plugs in it!! All 4 were seized and one had broken ceramic on it. The HVAC system was literally full of leaves and after taking a shop vac to it from both ends and replacing the filters it works perfectly. Ice cold A/C and super warm heat and the full volume of air movement when dialed! It still has a rattle in the LF that I suspect is something steering related, and it needs the LR quarter pulled out, then tires and alignment. Otherwise it's all good to go!

Why the berkeley can't I find something like that.  It's precisely what I'm looking for...  and I live in Atlanta for cryin' out loud.

This thread has been so polite, so I will break from that...  

I really like the new model.    The Mazda is nice too!!!!