Thinking about buying a P5 this weekend. Convince me!

[pnwprotoge5]

I found a P5 with 185K miles on it for 2 grand. Minimal rust, all of the electronics work except for the power locks which make a terrible grinding noise. Body is clean except for some white scratches on the corner of the front fender. Interior looks great, clean cloth all around. Automatic, seemed to shift smoothly when I took it for a test drive. The owner has no mechanical records of what's been done, but he said the last owner told him the catalytic converter needs to be replaced. What do you guys think, would it be worthwhile?

I'm looking for a reliable car, first and foremost. Looking as good as it does is a plus (wink). 185 is a lot of miles, but I've read that these will last you a while with regular maintenance.
I've been reading up on the forum all day, so I have a few questions for you guys.
1. Does this seem like a reasonable price, or should I try to talk him down a bit? It books for 2,500 - 3,000 with this mileage, but the previous owners didn't keep mechanical records so I don't know how well it's been serviced.
2. I live in the northwest, but I'll never drive through California so I don't have to worry about emissions checks. Would a broken catalytic converter cause other problems, or can I leave it as it is?
3. He has no idea how old the timing belt is. I've read that these are not built as interference engines, but over time the pistons move farther and can still ruin the valves if the timing belt breaks. Is there a way I can check if it needs to be replaced without taking things apart? I am not a mechanic. It smelled like it burns a little oil, but the oil was at a normal level and color on the dipstick.

(My air filter intake) dried out and developed cracks at around 160K miles, engine light came on and went in and replaced it. good to check into that as then you won't have a period where unfiltered air is making its way into the engine.

Also, did the 2002 suffer the same butterfly valve screw defect as the 03? If so make sure it has had that service bulletin / recall work performed on it. Screws came out of my intake valve and into the engine at 30,000 miles and destroyed the engine. Mazda gave me a brand new engine for free under warranty. This was before they officially recalled it. Cost them at a lot of money until they figured it out. But a huge prop to Mazda for doing it no questions asked; I had much worse experiences with defects on my Subaru.

The door locks are the only other problem I've had. They fail easily in the desert heat here. There is a plastic worm gear that just sheers off when it gets too warm. I've regrettably become an expert at removing the interior door panels to replace the lock actuators. Same thing on my ford truck, they all seem to use the same actuators.

Other than that it's been the most reliable car I've ever owned, since they replaced the engine I've done nothing but change the oil, except for changing the timing belt once.

-M

4. What's this about a recall? I looked it up but all I could find was about a recall on the headlights.

5. What work should I do on it if I buy it? I just want to make it run well for as long as possible. So far I have down replacing the air filter intake, replacing/ cleaning the air filter, replacing gears on the drivers side locks, and changing the oil.

 

[Justin2129]

go for it. replace timing belt..if the air hose cracks, it's an easy $30 DIY fix.

I dont know about the butterfly valve defect (i think there's a thread on it here), but id be willing to bet that at 185K, it's either been fixed or wont be an issue.

I just crossed 229k miles on mine. there are several here with over 200k miles. There was just a post on the TEam Pro5 facebook page from someone with over 300k miles.

 

[P-Funk!]

^yep!
Go for it!

The 'unknown' maintenance items are still less than the $2 or 3k price cut

 

[rit14623]

The Protege5 has two catalytic converters. How does he know it needs to be replaced and which one? A clogged cat needs to be replaced but would affect current engine performance. Have you test drove it?
If he's owned it since the last owner told him the cat needed to be replaced, maybe it didn't.

 

[hotcracker69]

if you buy it I would do all the regular maint items

spark plugs, coils, timing belt, water pump, all belts, brake fluid, PS fluid. air filter, Trans fluid. engine.
clean the EGR,

anytime you buy a car over 100k, all fluid should be done , always add the price of all the above when buying any used car.

 

[katapaltes]

If any of your door locks make a grinding noise and don't work, then the door lock actuator on that door is broken. Some on this site have had luck, I believe, in replacing just the gear inside the actuator with one from eBay. I tried that, and it was a waste of time and money as the eBay replacement gear was not a good fit. I ended up buying a replacement actuator with a lifetime warranty for $70. You can also just unplug the actuator and the noise will go away for $0. There's a thread on this forum with a door lock actuator tutorial. Read it and all the comments.

 

[Inside]

You'll probably need to do your engine mounts..