MX-3.com

Okay, guys, I've actually been coming to this site for years, but I misplaced my password and I have no idea what email address I was using way back then. But I've got this situation and I've asked my friends and family about it, but... I think that only someone that actually owns an mx-3 would really be able to give me advice on this.

I've got a 93 GS with the special edition merlot paint job. I mention that only because here in the Seattle area you rarely see mx-3's at all and you never see one like mine (I've seen two in the past 10 years.) It's not all tricked out, but it is lowered with low profile tires and tinted windows. It actually needs a new paint job (the clear coat is peeling off the hood!) but it still gets tons of attention and people always ask me what kind of car it is or what year it is. So, yeah, she's not perfect but she gets attention without even trying, and that's one of the reasons I love this car. Not to mention that V6 engine still says "who wants some?" even after 210,000 miles...

I'm thinking of all this now because I just got my car back after a three day nightmare. Somebody stole my car from right in front of my apartment. I mean, my bed is literally 15 feet away from where I park my car at night. At some point Wed night, somebody crammed a screw driver in to that circular plate that holds the door handle, stuck it in there like some friggin caveman, and broke the door handle off completely. After that, they jumped in, used some kind of shaved key to start it up and went for some crazy teen-freak joy ride. On Saturday night, me and some friends piled into a rented Mazda 6 and went looking for my car. 5 hours later, I was told that my car was at an impound lot about 40 miles away.

Once I got there, I was stunned to see that the outside of the car was basically untouched... a little dirty of course, but no dents or anything except for the door handle. But the inside was trashed. They took my stereo, my amps, my speakers, and the few CD's that were in the car. The center console drink holder thingy was broken off, and there was garbage all over the place. But all in all, the tow truck driver dude was telling me that this car was in remarkably good shape compared to what he's seen. He told me some really bad horror stories about cars getting stripped completely, torched, or just thrashed for the hell of it. After a day of vacuuming and cleaning, my car will basically be back to what it was before I put all the stereo stuff in. Compared to what COULD have happen, I'm pretty damn lucky.

BUT here's the thing. As I'm writing this, right outside my apartment somebody could be trying to steal my car again. When I walk to the mailbox in the morning, that greasy faced kid over there COULD be the bastard that stole my car. When I drive down to Best Buy, those kids that are staring at my car COULD be friends with the guy that was driving my car the last time they saw him. That pimply faced chick at Dairy Queen could have been giving some dude a handjob in the back of my mx-3 while I was driving a rental car all over town on a rainy Saturday night.

In short, my history with this car has been stained.

One part of me wants to just say the hell with it and trade it in for something newer. I mean, that Mazda 6 that I rented is nice and it comes with all this cool security stuff standard. Not to mention friggin airbags and other stuff that my 16 year old mx-3 will never have. And I could have it lowered, tint the windows and all that... I could MAKE it special...

But my mx-3 is already special. There's something about this car that just connects with you once you drive it. I showed a friend of mine all of the youtube videos of mx-3s just to show him how passionate WE are about these cars. Hell, people are making videos of their friggin tailpipe as they start their mx-3s. If you did that with just about any 16 year old car (excluding muscle cars and exotic imports), that would just make you the biggest tool on the internet.

So, here's the billion dollar question-- if you were in this situation, what would you do? Keep your little headturner import that becomes increasingly rare every year, knowing that it could be stolen again one day by any crackhead with a screwdriver or a slim jim or a friggin coathanger... Or decide that it's time to move on to bigger (and maybe) better things, trading up for something with more security, features, technology and 2009 style? Not to mention-- no history of skanky car thieves behind the wheel.

Sorry it took a while to tell that story. I think I had to vent a lil bit about this whole thing. That image of Burger King wrappers and dirty q tips in the seats still haunts me...

Thanks in advance for your opinions...

-PurpleReign2

for me, my mx-3 is my very first car, nothing will ever take that memory away from me, the feeling of freedom, not to mention the handling these things give you on the road =P
even if all that happened to me, i'm fortunate enough to have a junk yard that almost always has one in stock for me to take parts from, so i would replace any part that was damaged and do a really really really good cleaning on the interior (shampoo and everything).
because it's a 16 year old car, it may be difficult to justify putting money into it, but for me, it's worth it, if it's not worth doing the work, it's probably because i used that repair money to buy another mx-3 =P (which may happen because my wheel bearings are starting to go and the quote i got is not cheap)

i love my mx-3 ^_^

How much are you getting back from insurance? You need to get your door fixed, maybe your ignition, your stereo, etc etc. Try to get as much back as you can. (Unless you really don't think its worth your deductible - my audio equip is worth more than 2x as much so it would be)

Rebuild!

Bigger!

Faster!

Stronger!

Put in an alarm and/or an engine kill switch if you're really worried. Just a little switch that goes to your ignition ground should work. An alarm will scare most people away, especially if they can see the alarm light blinking inside.

Do you have a hatch cover covering your subs/amps? If not, get one!

Never mount an amp to the back of your sub box unless your box is secured to the car in a ridiculous manner. It just makes it easier for people to steal everything all at once.

If a friend got beaten or (worse), would you trade them in? NO! You'd make sure they were alright, maybe get some self defense classes. You will never forget the past, but you can take steps to prevent it from ever happening again!

If you want a 2009 car that bad, put a KLZE in the car, fix up your interior (leather seats in good condition? No? Get some new ones or rewrap them) and fix your paint! You won't believe what a KLZE will do to the car.

Heck, even just disconnecting the battery will prevent most people from stealing it!

Man, I remember seeing your add on craigslist about your car getting stolen. When I saw the date of it, I was quite saddened. I say keep it and fix it. If you do decide to trade it in....don't trade it in to a dealership. Sell it to an mx-3 enthusiast.

Glad you got the car back though!

Not V6 technical info or a question, moved to off-topic

I say if anything, re-do the interior. A friend of mine had the same thing happen to his 95 BMW M3. They stole it in Albany and he picked it up in New Jersey. (40 miles isn't too bad). They also stripped off his front and rear bumpers, headlights, and stereo equip. Needless to say, the M3 is now turbo'd running 500HP, new interior with corbeau racing seats, 5 point hranesses, & roll cage. He is really happy that he kept it bc now he turns more heads than ever before!

Hope this story helps you.

onlytrueromeo wrote:If a friend got beaten or (worse), would you trade them in? NO! You'd make sure they were alright, maybe get some self defense classes. You will never forget the past, but you can take steps to prevent it from ever happening again!

I have had my house broken into once and also one of my mx-3's once... it's a feeling that will never go away - being violated like that especially with something that means alot to you... there is good advice on what you could do in this thread already but more than likely it was a one time event...

I will never get rid of my mx-3's!

i will never get rid of my mx3 , ive put so much time , money , blood, sweat, and tears into it, i will be buried in it. dont get rid of it , its a beautiful car , its not the cars fault it got stolen! :-p

I plan to be buried in my Raspberry Metallic MX-3.

lol morbid

lol-- yeah being buried in the car might be a bit much, but I understand the devotion.

As for the insurance, nope. I knocked it down to liability about two years ago, so they didn't cover anything. Looks like I need to call Geico and upgrade! So... so far I've paid $330 to get it out of the impound lot, $80 for the rental car (I got a sweet deal on that) and looking at the lock, I'll have to replace the whole door. I opened up the panel from the inside and several metal pieces of the door are broken off.

That reference to six million dollar man ("better faster stronger!") is EXACTLY what I thought about yesterday. I could spend tons of money and time and make it even more of a headturner. But if I do that, the first step is to put in a low jack system!

So far, it sounds like everybody thinks I should keep it. Hmmm...

I don't understand how you can get your car stolen, then have to pay to get it back...

Laws are REALLY dumb sometimes...

I don't think any real MX-3 lover is going to tell you to sell your car. Because once you do, you'll end up buying another one shortly after, so why go through the hassel ?

I wonder if there would someone dumb enough to steal an MX-3 and then join these forums to get parts that they damaged stealing it.... But, I guess you can't overlook human ignorance.

Fix it allll back up and then get Lojack!!!

I would fix it back up, but keep the door handle as-is for a while. Put in a silent alarm with a key fob that tells you when someone's breaking into it, so that you can do to their face what they did to your car. I forgot to lock my door one night, and someone broke into my car. They just took change, and my good knife, but I keep a bat by the front door, and my alarm on.