to buy or not to buy ................

[cheesypeas]

hey yall ..............

just joined the forum and have been reading a load of old posts , and this site is great .

as a long time member of the nissan owners club , and forums etc , and the mazda 323f forums ,i now find myself here

in the past ive owned 7 mazdas (mostly the early 323f) , and recently sold my Nissan 300zx (3L V6 Twin Turbo)


and im in the process of selling my Nissan 100NX (1.6i twin cam 16v) ! .


ive decided to go for an mx-3 and i have a few questions :

having owned 7 323fs in the past they all had a few very common probs
drivers door handles went on all 7 , cv joints always go , drivers side electric windows . etc etc ..........

my questions about the mx3 are :

should i go for the 1.6 or the 2l v6 ?( ive heard fuel ecconomy is bad , although prob nothing compared to 35 miles to a £10 of petrol in the nissan 3l v6 !

what year is better ? ( i was thinking 96 / 97 ?
ive saw a few special editions with leather interior , they look good

i think silver or black if i can get it .

what should i look out for when buying / test driving ?

what common probs do they have ?

and any other comments / suggestions would be great !

thanks a lot

[cheesypeas]

wow , 16 views and not even 1 reply !! ........ not very welcoming to new members i take it !!

[Reborn]

Dude,

Don't worry about the lack of response, people are maybe tired of answering some of these questions.

so the question is 1.6 or 1.8 - there is no 2.0 version of the Mx-3

Well it depends what you want to do, if you only plan on doing lite mods, i'd get the 1.8 V6, you'll get more fun out of it than a 1.6.

However, if you plan on doing serious stuff, i'd get the 1.6, they are easier to mod in the UK, modding a V6 in the UK is a right pain.

I'm actually gonna be selling up my wheels fairly soon, due to company car and my recent conversion to daddy hood...

But i'd keep my V6 forever if i could.

My V6 has been okay on MPG averages about 230miles a tank - I do drive enthusiastically....on a boring motorway journey keeping to the limit, i've gotten 280/300miles from a tank.

CV's etc have been changed once on my car and i've had it for 5years now....but its a 97, so doing okay.

My doorhandles are fine, a bit sticky in winter, but i do live in Aberdeen so it does get pretty cold here.

Listen out for tappets on start, hesitation when accelerating cold, and an engine that runs to rich or to lean can be a bi**h to sort.

Aside from that the cars (or mines at least has been pretty bullet proof)

Oh yeah one more point....steering tracking, i'm not sure if its just my car with its modified suspension, but the potholes around here tend to knock it out quite easily, watch out for uneven tire wear.

God only meant to write a short section and its turned into bloody War & Peace

[Fountainz]

Must be something wrong with mine then because since i've had it (2 years now) i've only ever got 180 miles out of a full tank.

[Reborn]

You've had it for 2 years, and you are 19...so you got it when you were 17.......

How the hell did you afford to insure that? I couldn't touch one until i was 21

[cheesypeas]

well ....................... ive gone and done it ! .

bought my MX today

here she is



shes a 1997 with 100,000 miles , and full mot .

drove her about 100 miles home and was very responsive , grips the road well and sounds amazing !

i am now offically hooked

[Reborn]

Nice one, can i buy the alloys off you.....lol....i want an original set again.

[cheesypeas]

i was thinking about changin the wheels to a set of black alloys , but i think i will try and keep her standard as possible , maybe a few subtle mods . air induction kit maynbe

[Fountainz]

You've had it for 2 years, and you are 19...so you got it when you were 17.......

How the hell did you afford to insure that? I couldn't touch one until i was 21

I have a Mini Fleet insurance as i have my own buisness and have 5 veichles. So i'm covered Fully comp on that and my other cars/vans.

Anyway. Car looks nice mate. :D