Is this car worth it? 2001 Blue MP3

[Shady Mike]

Hey so this is my first post on this website, and I just want to get some info on this car, I guess I'll give some backstory.

tl;dr version:
-I have the car
-It's rusted
-Needs new sound system
-its slow
-needs to be repainted
-has 135,000 miles
-Is this car worth putting thousands of dollars into to keep it?


I'm 21 and 3 years ago for my graduation I got a blue 2001 Mazdaspeed Protege MP3 the deal was that I would drive the car for a few years until I'm more mature and for my 21st birthday (which is in two weeks) my dad was supposed to give me his 97 BMW 5 series that has a 2000 dollar sound system a body kit, and is in perfect condition (He has a newer BMW so he was supposed to just drive that). That said, my dad changed his mind a week before my birthday and quite literally said F*** you which I'm not going to lie really hurt me and we aren't talking anymore because of this. I mean he has been promising me this car since I was a little kid and for him to change his mind a week before my b-day was pretty hurtful, but in his words "I reserve the right to change my mind about my car whenever I feel like it." (We're not rich we work really hard for the things we have and I'm not spoiled I just for the past 10 years have been lead to believe I was going to get the car). So now I'm in a predicament...I have a very beat up protege and I (making $10 an hour at Best Buy) don't necessarily have the funds to restore it. Thinking about getting a second job this summer just to get this guy up and running.

So now I have this car that according to a friend of mine is extremely valuable and I should "never sell because it will be worth a lot of money some day." But it has a ton of issues and I'm going to list them.

So the guy we got the car from was on his way to jail (for speeding tickets ironically lol) so we got the car at a crazy cheap price from his dad lol. That said the dude had anger problems so apparently every time he got mad he punched the car so there are small fist sized dents all over the car...and it turns out the car is rusting on the bottom, and the front bumper / fender already has a hole in it from the rust. My rims (the originals) are extremely chipped and Also the rear bumper is extremely chipped from a fender bender so I'm going to have to have that painted (and I would rather put a new body kit on it anyway) and on the topic of paint apparently the paint on the roof (?) is turning white? lol I should really post pictures. Also, the whole entire sound system is busted, (both front speakers are blown and the one of the rear 6x9s is out as well. Not to mention all of the interior is in horrible shape, the guy who had it before me apparently spilled paint in the back so all of the carpet is stained on the topic of interior the dashboard is also nicked up.

The unfortunate thing is, all of that stuff is cosmetic there is also stuff wrong with the way the car drives the car shifts funny so I think there is something wrong with the clutch It's just extra hard to shift. Another random issue is if it's below 30 degrees the car won't start.

What do you guys think? Do you think this is something that can take me into my mid 30s? Is it something that I should put thousands of dollars into body kits, car audio, and rust removal? I hear I could get something north of 5,000 for the car if I sell it, and I could put that towards a new Mazdaspeed 3 which is something I have been considering...Let me know what you think, and thanks for listening to me vent lol.

 

[tweety2300]

Not sure who told you 5k but they were full of it. I'd say right now at most I'd pay 1500-2000 for it. Mine was in semi decent shape and couldn't get 3,000 for it plus it was yellow ( 320 yellow 1180 blue)

At the end if the day no one wants an mp3 everyone wants the speeds because they were turbo and not so slow

They will be worth money one day as in 20 years from now.

 

[peeenl]

I agree that you're not getting 5,000 for it. That said, if a clutch is the worst of your mechanical woes; that is going to be routine maintenance on any car in the long run. Cosmetics can be fixed slowly by waiting for parts and saving that lump some for paint and body work one day. Rust is always a problem; but does it amount to a new MS3's price tag? Doubtful if you start moving in the right direction.

I've got an MP3 that I bought while it had 190,000 miles. Today it is over 220k. I trust it as much as a 2011 Escape that my family bought new. I've been fixing the little things that were wrong with it cosmetically as parts come available in this forum. It has earned those little things for its excellent service.

...and will this car be worth something some day? I don't know for sure; but everything rare isn't always going to be valuable. I can still buy a Bricklin for pretty cheap compared to other classic cars. But then again, Jay Leno thinks the Pontiac Aztec will be a collector car some day, and my MP3 is way cooler than that. If you let yours rust out, and everyone else totals theirs; mine will certainly be valuable to me as the last on standing.

My goal is to get Mazda to give me something new for taking mine to 1,000,000 miles. That's probably more likely than the car being worth 30k in 20 years.