Hi all,
I got some mysterious information from my mechanic today, and thought maybe somebody here would be able to explain it. Sorry, it's a bit of a long story.
(My apologies if this would fit better in the Brakes section, or if it's already been answered.)
So today I went to pick up my 03 MSP (bought used from a private seller) from my favorite local mechanic after having my rear rotors and calipers replaced. When I got there the first thing my mechanic said was "That's not really a Mazdaspeed. It's a fake." Apparently, when they got the parts, the brackets (I assume this means the caliper brackets? I don't know brakes very well) didn't fit. They then got brakes for a standard non-Mazdaspeed, and they fit perfectly.
Anyway, while I was driving to work, I thought about it and it just didn't make sense. My car has the Mazdaspeed door sills, the gauges, the fake carbon fiber bits, the shift knob, the orange contrast stitching, the stereo, the owner's manual, everything. It seemed to me like swapping an entire interior would be ridiculous. Who would take a stock Protege and get all the parts to change the body, the seats, the interior, everything? It doesn't seem likely to me.
Anyway, so I called Mazda, and asked if they could confirm that my VIN was originally a Mazdaspeed. After a bit of back and forth, me trying to explain that I didn't want to buy parts, etc., they told me the VIN was definitely from a MSP. We talked a bit and our working hypothesis was that somebody wanted to save some money when they got a previous brake job so they used the standard parts instead of the improved ones.
So I called my mechanic back to tell him. He said that the MSP brackets they got didn't fit on the knuckles at all, so if I have a MSP it has standard knuckles. And that nobody would replace the Knuckles to save a buck because it'd be cheap to just get the MSP ones. Which leaves me confused again. We talked a bit and he suggested maybe I had an early model, and the brakes weren't upgraded until later in the model year.
So that's where I am. I'm confused whether:
1) I have an early car and don't have upgraded brakes because they didn't exist then
2) someone replaced MSP knuckles with Protege knuckles for some reason
3) the brakes were an option and the original owner didn't choose that one
4) my mechanic got the wrong parts from the supplier
5) Mazda was wrong about the VIN and its really a fake MSP
6) something else
I'm hoping someone here might have had a similar experience, or know something about the early models or options. Or maybe someone has a better idea. Just thought I'd ask the experts.
Thanks in advance, sorry for the long read,
Tom
I got some mysterious information from my mechanic today, and thought maybe somebody here would be able to explain it. Sorry, it's a bit of a long story.
(My apologies if this would fit better in the Brakes section, or if it's already been answered.)
So today I went to pick up my 03 MSP (bought used from a private seller) from my favorite local mechanic after having my rear rotors and calipers replaced. When I got there the first thing my mechanic said was "That's not really a Mazdaspeed. It's a fake." Apparently, when they got the parts, the brackets (I assume this means the caliper brackets? I don't know brakes very well) didn't fit. They then got brakes for a standard non-Mazdaspeed, and they fit perfectly.
Anyway, while I was driving to work, I thought about it and it just didn't make sense. My car has the Mazdaspeed door sills, the gauges, the fake carbon fiber bits, the shift knob, the orange contrast stitching, the stereo, the owner's manual, everything. It seemed to me like swapping an entire interior would be ridiculous. Who would take a stock Protege and get all the parts to change the body, the seats, the interior, everything? It doesn't seem likely to me.
Anyway, so I called Mazda, and asked if they could confirm that my VIN was originally a Mazdaspeed. After a bit of back and forth, me trying to explain that I didn't want to buy parts, etc., they told me the VIN was definitely from a MSP. We talked a bit and our working hypothesis was that somebody wanted to save some money when they got a previous brake job so they used the standard parts instead of the improved ones.
So I called my mechanic back to tell him. He said that the MSP brackets they got didn't fit on the knuckles at all, so if I have a MSP it has standard knuckles. And that nobody would replace the Knuckles to save a buck because it'd be cheap to just get the MSP ones. Which leaves me confused again. We talked a bit and he suggested maybe I had an early model, and the brakes weren't upgraded until later in the model year.
So that's where I am. I'm confused whether:
1) I have an early car and don't have upgraded brakes because they didn't exist then
2) someone replaced MSP knuckles with Protege knuckles for some reason
3) the brakes were an option and the original owner didn't choose that one
4) my mechanic got the wrong parts from the supplier
5) Mazda was wrong about the VIN and its really a fake MSP
6) something else
I'm hoping someone here might have had a similar experience, or know something about the early models or options. Or maybe someone has a better idea. Just thought I'd ask the experts.
Thanks in advance, sorry for the long read,
Tom