Student asking for advice on a MX3

Newtothis · Post by **Newtothis** » September 4th, 2007, 6:31 pm

I am a senior and looking to buy a car. I found a 1993 MX3 on Craigslist. The car has 150,000 miles. I've contacted the seller and found out the following information:

150k on the odometer
Clutch replaced at 80k
Sunroof doesn't latch all the way(doesn't leak in rain though)
AC doesn't blow cold(not a big concern, it's going to be winter soon)

The asking price is $1100.

Could any of you tell me what I should look for when I check out the car? And how is the price? Also.. it seems to me that I'll have to replace the clutch soon, am i right?

Comments welcome.

hgallegos915 · Post by **hgallegos915** » September 4th, 2007, 8:15 pm

Well that sounds like a very good price! Ask if they have had problems with shafts, wheel bearings, cv joints. Run a carfax on it. Possiboly a compression test. If you go see it make sure it doesnt smoke blue when you rev it. Look for any oil leaks. That mileage isnt that high compared to most ive seen. Usually the ones ive seen have around 200 thousand miles and are in great shape. Mine gave me problems @ around 210 thousand miles but where I live.. well its ugly.

Oh and check for rust.

PATDIESEL · Post by **PATDIESEL** » September 4th, 2007, 9:20 pm

You don't say where you are from or where the car is, so we cannot give any area specific information (such as rust in colder areas, etc).
If this is your first car purchase I would recommend taking the car to a good mechanic and let them do the inspection. With the miles it has I would expect to see several hundred in needed repairs. 150,000 miles is a good point for cars to start needing many wear and tear parts to be replaced. Bushings, EGR, muffler, cat converter, bearings and more are probably pretty worn by now. This is not MX-3 specific, it is any car with that many miles.
As for the MX-3, I would make sure the seat belts work (especially if it has the auto belts), the headlights are ok (since the lenses usually yellow and cause poor lighting- you can however clean them to new, but with some elbow grease). I would also ask about the AC. You say it is not important, but fixing it might be more than you are willing to spend. It is difficult for a mechanic to tell you what is wrong with an AC without charging it (150-200 just to charge it). If you think you might want AC later you will need to know what the seller knows about what is wrong with it. A leak is a simple answer, but ask if he/she knows where the leak is, how long ago did it stop working.
I would suggest making a list of things you want to ask and a list of things you want to look at. It can be intimidating buying a car and having a list to guide you should be a big help.
Good luck, I hope the MX-3 is a good car and that you buy it. I've owned mine since it had 30,000 miles- at 130,000 and about 11 years later I still own it and drive it every day. It is the only car I've ever owned and has been wonderful.

Newtothis · Post by **Newtothis** » September 5th, 2007, 12:21 am

Oh sorry, I registered in a hurry. I'm in Wentzville, Missouri; we're about 40 minutes away from downtown. The car is downtown, that was another thing i liked about it is I only have to drive 40 minutes to get it. It snows about 3 days a year( a little more last year, but not significant) so I'm not too worried about rust.

I'll take some notes, thank you for your advice. More replys are welcome.

Edit: Does anyone have anything to say about the clutch, transmission?

Juans_93_MX3 · Post by **Juans_93_MX3** » September 6th, 2007, 6:03 pm

Do you have any mechanical expirence? Cause you dont want to end up spending $500 (parts/labor) on a water pump.

You should have mechanical expirence if your going to buy a Mazda, Ford, ect or any other car for around $500-$1200 IMO.

Otherwise, go with a Honda or Toyota

Tunes67 · Post by **Tunes67** » September 6th, 2007, 7:18 pm

You should have mechanical expirence if your going to buy a Mazda, Ford, ect or any other car for around $500-$1200 IMO.

Otherwise, go with a Honda or Toyota

This is simply not true. Most honda's and toyota's of similar age are found to have interference engines. Meaning if the timing belt breaks.. you get $1500 worth of repair bills. Mazda's are non interference and dont suffer from such idiocy as that. If the timing belt breaks.. just put on a new one and go.

A used cars reliability will be completely determined by the amount of maintenance its had in its lifetime. If you buy a beater.. its not likely going to be reliable. If you buy a car that looks decent, it has a fair chance of having been maintained well. A beat to crap Honda will have more repair bills than a well maintained Mazda. And vice versa.

The clutches and 5spd transmissions of these cars have a excellent reliability reputation as long as the car is stock and hasnt been modified. The Automatic Transmissions.. eh.. not so good. But like any thing else.. if well maintained.. they will last quite a while. As for having to replace the clutch.. maybe. Depends on how the car was driven. If the previous owner just commuted with the car.. the clutch could go for quite a while. If the car was used to teach 5 girlfriends in a row how to drive a stick.. eh.. its probably gonna need one immediately. Test drive it and you will be able to tell if its slipping or not.

You dont mention if the car is a V6 or 4Cyl version. The 4cyl engines seem to have a bit better longevity than the V6's.. but it still comes back to how often the oil got changed and tune ups were done. This site contains lots of information and there are lots of knowledgeable folks here. If your not afraid of getting your hands dirty on occasion, most common issues have already been answered 100 times over. Spend some time reading the FAQ section and goto the http://www.mx-3.com home page and do some reading there as well. You will also find a link to a online shop manual which contains LOTS of info about these cars.

Best of luck and hopefully we will be welcoming a new MX-3 owner to the site. Cheers

Tunes67

novaks · Post by **novaks** » December 17th, 2007, 5:59 am

Thanks for the info Tunes67 regarding timing belt being non interfering. That makes me feel better since my car is sitting in the drive way not running and a coworker mentioned it might be timing belt. He continued to crank his engine and messed up his valves for $1400 in repair and said I was probably in a similar situation. You cleared that up though so hopefully I won't get dinged hard at the mechanics shop next month.

As for the OP topic, it's pretty much you get what you pay for. The other posters are correct on with high miles, you'll probably expect more repairs. It will be easy if you have mechanic skill (which i don't have).

I purchased my mx3 gs with 115k miles on it, and A/C never worked. Recalls actually mentioned some A/C parts, but I never pursued that. At 140k miles the problems started, with need of a new radiator. 150k miles the tranny dumped and needed rebuilt, along with timing belt and alternator short afterwards. Now at 170k miles it will crank but not start, so maybe hoses or fuel pump..we'll see next month. At least after graduating you'll be able to finance something newer with a warranty which I ended up doing. Good luck

NorCalMX3 · Post by **NorCalMX3** » December 19th, 2007, 12:10 am

i know the RS has a non interference, but does the GS as well? i didn't know that

tehbrookzorz · Post by **tehbrookzorz** » December 20th, 2007, 2:49 am

Indeed.