Buying a speed 3: What to look for.

[GriggSpeed]

Hey fellas,
I'm brand new to the mazda scene. I've been driving toyota MR2's for about 7 years and am looking to get a hold of a newer more practical yet still sexy car. Enter the Speed 3. I'm planning on going all out here in getting the performance 3 but I dont want to jump into a money pit or a time bomb. That said, What are some of the big things I need to look for. Potential red flags? Ideally I'm looking for an 07-09 Mazdaspeed3 sport. I figure beyond that the features are excessive. This will be my biggest investment to date. I appreciate you're advice.

 

[oaklandopen]

be wary of the 07's...that was the first production year. and like ANY other vehicle in their first year there were some issues, mainly the motor mounts

that being said, i think by now any problems with the 07's should have been taken care of by the previous owner(s) either by way of tsb, warranty, or personally. that could have been before or after the "problem" arose

i would say do your research on the specific car you're looking at and not so much the model overall. there could be 1000 good ms3's out there, but you pick the 1 super bad lemon of whatever lot you find it at because you bought it from a fly-by-night place and it was a salvaged car.

look around this forum and you will find ppl that have blown 2 or 3 engines, and then you'll find someone else (like me) who has had none of the major issues and is now past all factory warranty because of mileage

 

[GriggSpeed]

Thats good to know. I've already checked a couple other mazda forums but neither are really accessible. I did however find a useful buyer checklist thread. Many people I've talked to about the MS3's with have generally told me that the high strung motors blow easily. I'm hoping for the best and I plan to have a powertrain "warranty" in place. I'll be realistically looking in spring. Wish me luck.

 

[oaklandopen]

Dont fall into the blown motor hype. most of those ppl did their own backyard tuning or really beat the s*** out of their cars. its such a case-by-case basis, and its because of that fact that i never buy used

I will say that generally turbo cars (gas, not diesel) dont last as long as NA cars. its the nature of the beast

 

[kewlguy210]

Make sure you buy one that's stock and never been modified. I bought my 08 grand touring stock few months ago and so far so good. Ask dealer for maintenance record if they have one.

 

[ScarMS3]

Most won't be stock or never modified, just put back to stock for sale...check for vibrating clutch pedal...bad, run it hard in the test drive and let it idle afterwards for about 10 min with the ac on check for smoking turbo, check engine bay for visible signs of putting back to stock ie mismatched bolts, rounded bolt heads. Put it on a lift check rear motor mount check second cat for spring bolts. Check shocks...rears blow out relatively easily, look for fluid. When car is warm, remove oil filler cap and pull up on timing chain, should not have any slack.

 

[ScarMS3]

Most won't be stock or never modified, just put back to stock for sale...check for vibrating clutch pedal...bad, run it hard in the test drive and let it idle afterwards for about 10 min with the ac on check for smoking turbo, check engine bay for visible signs of putting back to stock ie mismatched bolts, rounded bolt heads. Put it on a lift check rear motor mount check second cat for spring bolts. Check shocks...rears blow out relatively easily, look for fluid. When car is warm, remove oil filler cap and pull up on timing chain, should not have any slack.

And btw all year stock motor mounts suck, and by suck I mean they let the engine rock all over the place, rmm let's the engine slam into the firewall on hard acceleration. The point of the mounts is best seen after a crash, car ejects the motor so it doesn't amputate you legs....finally check the obd port for marks, from removing and replacing cables from monitoring and tuning devices.

 

[cozar]

I bought my 07 about a year ago the previous owner took care of all the recalls, the only problem I had was the smokey turbo but a Cobb ap took care of that. Other than that it's been great.

 

[P2K]

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I know this is premature, but I'm looking to sell my 2008 Sunlight Silver GT around September. I have to wait until then because I'm currently serving a 2 year tour in South Korea. It's been sitting in a secured storage unit for the last 18 months and the only mods done are SU rear motor mount, BC coilovers, and wheels. The engine hasn't been touched, not even an intake. Exhaust is stock as well. Oil change was routine but I don't keep any documentation of it, sorry. Every time I deploy overseas, it goes directly into storage. I bought it on 14 November 2007 brand new. It roughly has 40K miles give or take. I don't recall the exact number of miles because it's been 18 months since the last time I drove it. The stock wheels will definately be going back on. I'm debating selling the Advans separate for $2K firm. If you want the Advans with the car we can negotiate a deal.

Again, 8 months is a long time away but if you're serious about the purchase we can exchange information and keep in touch. Atleast by then you can have all your finances in order and everything will go smoothly. I'll even deliver the car to you personally. The reason I want to sell it is I'm in the market for a B7 RS4 which I will purchase as soon as I sell the MS3. Pics of the car can be found if you click on the link in my sig. It's definately one of the cleanest MS3s on the site. PM me and I'll answer any questions you have of me. I understand the rules of the forum but I thought I would put this information out there to see if anyone would be interested.

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[livelyjay]

I might be in the same boat as GriggSpeed. I was debating the 2013 Genesis Coupe or the FT86/FRS/BRZ, but I think the MS3 offers up the same amount of fun with the advantage of being able to haul stuff.

What kind of gas mileage are you guys seeing?
How can you determine GT versus Sport model if it's not indicated?
What's the smoking turbo?
What are the biggest quips on the MS3?

Be patient, I've owned my MSP for over 6 years (80k miles ) now so it's been a while since I've researched other cars for shopping purposes.

 

[kewlguy210]

You can still find stock and unmodified ones and my was one. I check over the whole car completely stock and no sign of ever modified before. I was looking for a 08-09 Grand Touring ones few months back when I was in the market for one.

 

[Big Eldorado]

I've had my MS3 2007 for about 6 months now. Its been all good, i went and looked at a few and finally found one with 38'000 kms on it. Bone stock driven by one of those "does every thing the dealer tell him to" guys, and he had a baby seat in the back so hard shifts weren't too often i dont think. Its been mint, the rear motor mount was taken care of by Mazda Canada for free under the recall and that was that. I love that you yanks get a choice, the car only comes GT in Canada. although i guess thats not a bad thing...
Who else loves surprising ignorant fools as you turbo blast some dick in a 3.23i who thinks his BMW is the fastest car ever?? I love this car, love it

Every time i hear about blown motors its almost always some guy with a COBB A/P tuner. If you dont know what your doing then dont do it, those things can be dangerous if you're tuning it like a Frenchman in your backyard.

That being said, corksport downpipe coming soon....and so it begins....