MX-3.com

96 GS, 150,000KM's, leather interior, heated seats etc...
its on sale for $1000...

Only bad thing...


if i could get it for cheaper, would this be worth fixing?
im going to have a look at it tonight, but by the looks of this picture, the frame might be a little bent...buddy said its not a write off.

My question to all you boys...would this be worth fixing if i got it for a good price?

any input would be greatly appreciated!

That car is toast.. the frame is tweaked bad and would likely never hold an alignment properly again.. would cost LOTS of cash to fix, IF it can be fixed. Even if you got that car for free.. it would cost close to $3000 to fix & repaint minimum. Just a guesstimate.. but thats big time bad damage. Not to mention being a 96 means its OBDII so any future upgrades and diagnosis of issues would be a lot more difficult in general.

Tunes67

Thanks so much Tunes,
I thought so!
Im going to check it out tonight as he might be parting it out if it doesnt sell, and by the looks of it, its not gonna, so i might call dibs on some parts!

Thanks again for your help!

Tunes67 wrote:That car is toast.. the frame is tweaked bad and would likely never hold an alignment properly again.. would cost LOTS of cash to fix, IF it can be fixed. Even if you got that car for free.. it would cost close to $3000 to fix & repaint minimum. Just a guesstimate.. but thats big time bad damage. Not to mention being a 96 means its OBDII so any future upgrades and diagnosis of issues would be a lot more difficult in general.

Tunes67

how is OBDII harder to diagnose than OBDI? I thought you can always plug in code reader into OBDII car, not so easy with OBDI's
Btw, if the car runs and is clean inside Id offer guy $400. If you can get it on frame rack at the body shop and pull out the frame go for it. Everything else you can pretty much do yourself. At least thats how I'd do it. I can do bodywork and it would be worth fixing it for me if its mechanically sound car. It helps if you have a friend who works on a frame. If car is pulled out profesionally you couldn't even notice it was damaged if fixed properly.
Regular shop will charge you anywhere from $45 to $60 hr to work on unibody, to straighten it. But if you do everything else yourself you can have a decent driver. Now if you would have shop do everything for you that's $5,000-$7,000 job right there. Of course it's a write off on a blue book car worth around $2,000-$2,500.
I've seen much worse being fixed and it can be fixed, so don't listen to guys that say oh, that can't be ever fixed.
It's up to you if you want to invest the money in the car or move onto something better.

how is OBDII harder to diagnose than OBDI?

Overall.. OBDII is easier to diagnose.. once you go out and by the code reader and look up what all the different codes are for. OBDI however, specifically for our MX-3's, is all available right here on MX-3.com. And its free. And there are plenty of people on MX-3.com that have the OBDI code reading down pretty good.. I mean.. it takes a paper clip to operate

As for the frame damage to the car...

Now if you would have shop do everything for you that's $5,000-$7,000 job right there. Of course it's a write off on a blue book car worth around $2,000-$2,500.
I've seen much worse being fixed and it can be fixed, so don't listen to guys that say oh, that can't be ever fixed.

To me.. a car that costs $5000 - $7000 to fix that has a blue book of under $2500.. thats toast. I also didnt say it couldnt be fixed. I said that it would likely never hold a proper alignment again. It may be close enough.. depends on how good a job the shop does. But serious.. that car is going to have a rebuild title and a blue book value of squat.. so why bother?

Tunes67

no way! i found an MX-3 today for 1000 dollars that was in mint shape compared to that (hehe my step bro is thinkin about buying it: http://sacramento.craigslist.org/car/522286344.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ). you can find a better project out there. kind've a shoddy deal if ya ask me. and you did, so there ya have it!

Sure if it was 68 Charger R/T you'd want it restored but since its one of 10's of thousands of mx-3's out there its more of a parts car.

I went and checked it out, the frame is pushed in way to far.
Personally, I love the Mx3 just like everyone else here, but there is no way i would wanna spend $5000+ on a car with a lower value, only to find out that i cant sell it for anymore than its worth after all that work.

I think ill stick with my RS for now and hope something better comes along.

Thanks to everyone for their help

Grab the lower tie bar from that for me

was leather heated seats an option in 96?

guess so, cuz this ones got em.
i hope they fit in my car

I bought a parts car that was hit harder than that one. And believe it or not... I drove it a couple of blocks to a friends body shop, Had it it on the rack... The alignment was unbelievably still good and safe to drive... So I did. It was the GS I bought to convert my 92 RS over to the V6. And darn if I didn't enjoy the power of the 1.8V6. Gave me a new love for the MX. The conversion is under way and the remains of the car are gone now.

I started to tear her down in this shot but you see the hit. Surprisingly she drove very well.

BTW if the car is getting parted out, I am interested in the seats.

The MX-3 in the first post actually looks pretty cool the way it is. It almost looks like it's got flaresides, or it's a concept car. Just drive it like that.

And not to sway this thread in the wrong direction, but I'd like to see the progression of that 4 cylinder to V6 swap. A worklog would be cool. I've always kinda been considering it, but have been scared away from it.

I will start a new thread entirely, and I have started a website dedicated to it. I am going to try something cool as well... I am going to do a time laps recording of the build in progress. As I am just finishing the RE-Arrangement of the garage to accept the month long build. I will tape it for prosperity's sake. Make no mistake, It will require the change out of everything from the radiator to the harness and part of the dash assembly. Not to mention the engine, trans, and suspension. I am also going to do the GS rear disk swap. Who knows.. I will probably even complete the KLD 400Hp Twin Turbo custom Build at the same time. It will all depend on time and Money, God willing.

Should i decide to do the V6 swap on my 4 cyl i will keep everyone posted and most definatly start a work log!

EDIT: my first pic, if you look at the fender, it almost reminds me of an RX-8