Help needed. May be purchasing MX-3 soon.

[lookin4car]

Hello all.<p>I'm going to look at a 1993 MX-3 GS tonight at a used car dealer. The odometer reads a little over 38,000 miles and the dealer has a sticker of $3975 on the car.<p>Is there anything special that I should pay attention too? Any notoriously problematic areas mechanically or structurally with this particular year or model?<p>This is my first look at an MX-3 up close, so any advice you may provide is always helpful. Thanks for the space.

[Sonicxtacy02]

make sure the valve cover gaskets have been changed. you can tell they havent if the spark plug wells have oil in them

[lookin4car]

Was this something that was part of a recall, or just a regular problematic area that the owner would have to have taken care of?

[jpwmx3]

That odometer reading is very low. Or did you miss a 1 in front of it.? If it is 38,000 then I would be a little leary about someone tampering with it. Otherwise if the car looks like it is taken care of and checked by a mechanic of your choice, it should be a great car for you. (for picking an MX-3 I mean). :p

[sep42]

That's very low mileage indeed! #1. Check for rust! Get a mechanic come with you, or take it into a shop, you will be glad (if you're serious about the car). If you can't then you check yourself for :
recepits-everything that might have been done to the car. timing belt, valve cover gaskets, water pump, power steering pump, A/C servicing, muffler and pipes. Check the service record of the car, any dents, discolouring of the paint, chips - they are giveaways of any accidents. Check for wheel and steering wheel alignment during test drive - more giveaways.
Check tires and rims, any uneven wear are giveaways of some suspension problem. Make sure they are decent tires, not bald or crap. Check tire pressure before the test drive!
Before you warm up the car, check spark plugs wells if they are soaked in oil. Check for dripping oils under the car. With a flashlight you can see pretty far in the car, check for any spraying fluids: around PS pump, brake master cylinder, you can see both steering arms too. Pump the brakes and see if they harden. Check how much the brake pedal has to travel. Check levels of brake/coolant/PS fluid. Check the accessory belts - excessively worn belts are signs of bad care. Once you warm up the car, turn it off, and with a paperclip jumper the diagnostics cable - make note of all the codes! (It's in the V6 FAQ)
During the test drive, look for temperature gauge
erratic behavious, idle speed too high or erratic. At this point you'll be able to hear all creaks and squeaks (mostly from trunk). Find a parking lot and do full circles ot the left, then right. Listen for any noises coming from wheel bearings. Slam the brakes once or twice, brake calipers could be seizing up. Check the lights, parking brake! Turn everything on in the car: lights (long), hazard lights, air con/vents, lower and raise both windows. look for any power dissruptions in the car (dimming lights, engine stuttering, etc). Rev the car at 4-5k rpm for at least 30sec, see if it does anything weird. Listen for any rattling noise from the engine, there could be bad bearings (the very least).
Make sure the clutch grips well. On a flat surface you can get the car moving from 0 in 3rd gear (1.8L GS) and this is stock clutch. Make sure the hatch struts open it, that it closes well. Check that the hood "pops" when you pull the lever. Check that gas tank lid opens. Check carefully that the doors don't "drop" when you open them. Check all locks!
Check the exhaust fumes, the colour, and smell!
There could be a coolant or oil leak going into the engine (bad stuff). Check for this when you crank the engine, as well as after the car is warmed up. Check the wipers, front/rear, see if it sprays the windshield properly, check rear window defroster.<p>Tools you'll need: flashlight, tire gauge, paperclip, paper towels, a CHECKLIST!
Don't wear fancy suit, you wont be impressing the dealer and dirty pants are already dirty when you go check the underside of the car.
Takes about 5-10min before the drive to run it through all and then there's the test drive.
Don't turn the radio on during the test drive.
Use all the things you've found about the car during negotiating. Do NOT talk to the dealer when you find something, just note it in the book. You can see for yourself if the car is still worth it after the whole check. There could be minor things, there could be major problems - it depends on how much you want to spend now or later. COME PREPARED! The dealer is prepared for you and they're not there to lose money!<p>Don't forget to check for rust also sometimes a giveaway if the miles have been rolled back is the digits are not aligned. You can also judge for yourself after you see the shape of the car from the checklist!<p>And also, mx-3 is a great car to own, the usual problems are leaky cover gaskets, weak brakes, trunk noises, road noise, etc. Not really big problems, as long as the engine is OK. Check the recalls on the main page, the mazda dealership should fix them for you no charge (if they were not done already)<p>[ January 29, 2003: Message edited by: S.N. ]</p>

[marksoden]

Great checklist by S.N....something to save. Mileage can't be right.

[lookin4car]

Bad news. They sold the car during a snowstorm here in Chicago of all things. It had been advertised for 1 day, oh well. I wasn't about to test drive it in a crappy snowstorm. <p>I'll agree, the mileage seemed incredibly low to me too, so I had made an appoitment with a local Mazda dealer to do a $90 diagnostics test with the computer. I was thinking they possibly just swapped out instrument clusters with a junker. Easy way to "turn back" the odometer and make it harder to catch. In case anyone was interested, here's a link to the actual dealership and car with some closeups including odometer:
http://wwwheels.com/cfapps/car.cfm?ID=1837844&cfreferrer<p>Props to SN for the great list though. I may still be in the market for an MX-3, though I'm leaning towards a high mileage or crapped out engine one so I can do the KL-ZE engine swap cheaply. I'm thinking ~$1500 for car, $1500 for engine shipped to me. Any other large expenses to be aware of? I'm looking to get a car that I can build up over time, but I need a solid foundation.
I have to see what other cars are out there that I can play with, but the MX-3 seems like a good choice.