Just bought a 2003 P5 for daughter #1 to take to college. It's a very clean, southern PA car with 136K one owner miles. Notable options are sunroof, ABS, side airbags, the 6-CD radio, and (sadly) an automatic transmission. We'll pick it up sometime here in the next week. Although I'm not the primary driver, I will be the primary maintainer.
Here's a quick picture:
It needs a little attention on a few things:
1) The radiator has a small leak in front of the cap. Just a slight seepage.
2) The right-rear door lock actuator doesn't work.
3) Timing belt? Not listed as being done according to Carfax. Plenty of other maintenance items (brakes, tires, oil changes, alternator, etc) listed in the Carfax. I'll have to pull the valve cover to see if it's OEM or not.
4) The HVAC blower has a faint "propeller" noise. Not sure if it's the motor or something stuck down inside it.
5) Lower door seam rust. Starting to bubble up in a few places. Need to sand/grind down and treat. The underside and wheel wells are rust free. But, I'll need to take preventative measures there. The car will spend most of it's winters in southern PA. So, any NY salt exposure should be minimal.
6) Some light pinging under hard acceleration or lugging the engine. Might be normal, might be a bad knock sensor, might be old plugs.
7) The headlights are a bit yellowed. I'll have to pop them out and hit them with the polisher to clean them up.
I'm not new to Mazdas. I had an 1988 323GT for many years. Fun car. Still miss it. My parent's had an 85 (maybe 86) 626 LX. They put over 200K on it. Underpowered (but what wasn't in the mid-80s), but still comfortable and fun to drive.
The P5 is a great handling car. I got to drift it through a couple of corners on the test drive. Very communicative. Haven't felt that in many years. Could use 20-30 more HP, though. Maybe old Dad could "borrow" it sometime to go autocrossing!
So, looking to learn lots of things and what pre-emptive maintenance things I should do here in the next couple of weeks before she takes off with it.
Here's a quick picture:
It needs a little attention on a few things:
1) The radiator has a small leak in front of the cap. Just a slight seepage.
2) The right-rear door lock actuator doesn't work.
3) Timing belt? Not listed as being done according to Carfax. Plenty of other maintenance items (brakes, tires, oil changes, alternator, etc) listed in the Carfax. I'll have to pull the valve cover to see if it's OEM or not.
4) The HVAC blower has a faint "propeller" noise. Not sure if it's the motor or something stuck down inside it.
5) Lower door seam rust. Starting to bubble up in a few places. Need to sand/grind down and treat. The underside and wheel wells are rust free. But, I'll need to take preventative measures there. The car will spend most of it's winters in southern PA. So, any NY salt exposure should be minimal.
6) Some light pinging under hard acceleration or lugging the engine. Might be normal, might be a bad knock sensor, might be old plugs.
7) The headlights are a bit yellowed. I'll have to pop them out and hit them with the polisher to clean them up.
I'm not new to Mazdas. I had an 1988 323GT for many years. Fun car. Still miss it. My parent's had an 85 (maybe 86) 626 LX. They put over 200K on it. Underpowered (but what wasn't in the mid-80s), but still comfortable and fun to drive.
The P5 is a great handling car. I got to drift it through a couple of corners on the test drive. Very communicative. Haven't felt that in many years. Could use 20-30 more HP, though. Maybe old Dad could "borrow" it sometime to go autocrossing!
So, looking to learn lots of things and what pre-emptive maintenance things I should do here in the next couple of weeks before she takes off with it.
Last edited: