buying but..

bojacko19 · Post by **bojacko19** » February 28th, 2007, 5:22 pm

i have been researching and reading about mx3s for like 2 weeks, i am looking to buy a car and this is the car i want but, looking on these forums has discouraged me because all i read about is people having problems and the really hard to find pricy parts. so a couple questions, is it worth waiting to save up for v6 over the 4cyl, and should i even bother with this car now, i really wanted it but if it eats wallets then i dont know..

neutral · Post by **neutral** » February 28th, 2007, 5:36 pm

Well remember, none of us post as much about what is going right, more so when it's going wrong ya know?

Same as most auto BB's. Would recommend staying with a 5-spd, the ATX has known probs. I went with a '95 4cyl. Recommend staying 94/95 if ya go 4cyl cuz it's rated 105 HP vs 88 HP for the pre-94's. V6 is sweet but decided I liked the ample engine bay room to work on my 4 cyl. The V6 fills that bay up and I don't have a garage so... would need a friend with really long skinny arms to do any DIY stuff in there on a GS. + wanted a '94+ and GS V6 94's were/are tough to find in the states. As far as reliability, my 95 MX-3 has been pretty trouble free, at least as much as my 95 Toyota Camry, 92 Celica GTS, 96 626, 90 MX-6. Hmm... guess I do keep an extra car around cuz they're all fairly old and am always working on one or the other of em.

Boris · Post by **Boris** » February 28th, 2007, 5:41 pm

i got a 4 cyl. It was the cheapest car I've owned, and the easiest to work on too. If you get a 4cyl, get a manual, not automatic. I personally like the 4cyl's more cuz they're so easy to work on, and extremely easy to upgrade your engine and put a BP in.

Boris · Post by **Boris** » February 28th, 2007, 5:43 pm

Btw, regarding Neutrals post... the 94 and newer 4 cyl's do have more power than the 93 and earlier SOHC engines... but the SOHC engines are much better if you want to swap in a BP or BPT engine. They make upgrading much easier.

Nd4SpdSe · Post by **Nd4SpdSe** » February 28th, 2007, 5:51 pm

Boris wrote:Btw, regarding Neutrals post... the 94 and newer 4 cyl's do have more power than the 93 and earlier SOHC engines... but the SOHC engines are much better if you want to swap in a BP or BPT engine. They make upgrading much easier.

Exactly, same goes with the V6 as well, as long as their OBDI, the KLDE/KLZE swaps are much easier, although it's still possible on an OBDII Mx-3 (they started to trick into production in 94, but common in 95-96 models), you just get CEL codes and such, but to swap a BP/BPT into a DOHC 4cyl, requires to rewire the harness to get it to run.

As well with the GS V6, you do get better suspension, better brakes, better steering, more interior/power options, as well as the 130hp v6 motor

Tunes67 · Post by **Tunes67** » February 28th, 2007, 8:14 pm

These cars are like any other used car.. maintenance will tell the story. If the previous owner beat the car to death.. well its gonna have problems. If the previous owner babied the car.. did all the scheduled maintenance on time and washed it on occasion.. well you'll get a decent car. As Neutral pointed out.. the majority of the posts you see on this site are people troubleshooting.. thats because the cars are 10+ years old now and are requiring general maintenance. If you think your going to get into any car thats 10+ years old and just drive it with no problems.. got news for you.. it aint gonna happen

I bought my 94 RS with 120k miles on it two years ago January 2005. It needed a general tuneup.. needed tires.. and it had a burned valve. I knew of (or at least suspected) each of these problems before I bought the car. The car has had 2 issues outside of those since. 1) the Alternator 2) recent Distributor replacement. Both of these things are likely to happen to any other used car. But heck.. I've also put 26k miles on it in the past 2 years and have had a heck of a lot of fun driving it.

So here is the gist of the issue.. if you dont like to work on cars or cant work on cars.. dont buy a MX-3 or any other car thats 10+ years old. Buy a new car or one thats only a few years old. But good luck finding a site with as much good information and informative people as this site has

Tunes67

bojacko19 · Post by **bojacko19** » February 28th, 2007, 8:57 pm

alright alright, you all make great points, and yea i think im going to go for this car. i am looking at a 94 mx3 4cyl, 5 spd ofcourse

also I do like to work on my own car, not big jobs cuz i just dont have the confidence yet but general maint. so if i have troubles I will definitly come to this forum, you guys know your stuff. thanks a ton

peace

1992blazeredgs · Post by **1992blazeredgs** » February 28th, 2007, 11:32 pm

When i bought my frist mx3 when i was a senior in high school some 4 years ago. I could barely change the oil in a car. Now i have rebuilt two engines and have friends ask me to fix there cars for them. The mx3 is an easy car to learn to work on. I owe alot of my knowledge about my mx3 and cars in general to this board. If the car is a good price i would not bat an eye at buying it. It will be well worth the investment.

Nate