- Feb 17, 2002
- 4,722
- 73
- 91
I've searched around the interwebs for a "buyer's guide" of sorts, to no avail. All I can find is the crappy, SEO-generated pages at Edmunds, AutoTrader, etc. All useless.
I signed up at Mazda3Forums.com and searched the threads. There's just a ton of unorganized junk with no real "buyer's guide" or consolidated list of common issues. When I went to go post a new thread, it turns out I was blocked from posting threads. When I tried to reply to a similar thread (albeit, old), I was also blocked. How stupid.
So now I turn to my favorite forum in the whole wide world, AnandTech forums!
So here's the scoop. I'm selling my 2002 Mazda Protege to a friend. I was about to get an older BMW 330i, but then I changed my mind and decided that I'd prefer to have two extremes: useless but fun car (Miata) and a highly utilitarian vehicle that still isn't an SUV, the Mazda 3 hatch. The only thing that can change my mind is if I happen to run into a 330i ZHP for the right price, which won't happen.
I know what I want, it's just a matter of finding it. Here's the list:
- Mazda 3 hatchback, any year
- Priced correctly (would pay a premium if it's a "needs nothing" car, expect to pay less otherwise)
- Leather seats
- Manual transmission
- Non-black color (I love OTHER PEOPLE's black cars, where THEY wash/wax every other day and not me!)
I seem to have found a worthy contender. It's a 2004 in that really cool Lava Orange (not actual car photo):
It has all of my requirements. Price is good, but not great. May be able to haggle a little. The only issue: 124xxx miles and no maintenance records. How concerned should I be? The big things I can think of are the clutch, serpentine/AC belt(s), and possibly the AC compressor. Thankfully, the engine has a timing chain and not a belt. Is this kind of mileage something to be worried about on these cars? Anything else I should know?
Thanks in advance
I signed up at Mazda3Forums.com and searched the threads. There's just a ton of unorganized junk with no real "buyer's guide" or consolidated list of common issues. When I went to go post a new thread, it turns out I was blocked from posting threads. When I tried to reply to a similar thread (albeit, old), I was also blocked. How stupid.
So now I turn to my favorite forum in the whole wide world, AnandTech forums!
So here's the scoop. I'm selling my 2002 Mazda Protege to a friend. I was about to get an older BMW 330i, but then I changed my mind and decided that I'd prefer to have two extremes: useless but fun car (Miata) and a highly utilitarian vehicle that still isn't an SUV, the Mazda 3 hatch. The only thing that can change my mind is if I happen to run into a 330i ZHP for the right price, which won't happen.
I know what I want, it's just a matter of finding it. Here's the list:
- Mazda 3 hatchback, any year
- Priced correctly (would pay a premium if it's a "needs nothing" car, expect to pay less otherwise)
- Leather seats
- Manual transmission
- Non-black color (I love OTHER PEOPLE's black cars, where THEY wash/wax every other day and not me!)
I seem to have found a worthy contender. It's a 2004 in that really cool Lava Orange (not actual car photo):
It has all of my requirements. Price is good, but not great. May be able to haggle a little. The only issue: 124xxx miles and no maintenance records. How concerned should I be? The big things I can think of are the clutch, serpentine/AC belt(s), and possibly the AC compressor. Thankfully, the engine has a timing chain and not a belt. Is this kind of mileage something to be worried about on these cars? Anything else I should know?
Thanks in advance