by "Jetstreamer" (jetstreamer)
Published 06/04/2017 at 07:19
by "Jetstreamer" (jetstreamer)
Published 06/04/2017 at 07:19
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STARS: 0
I’ve been looking for cars on and off for quite some time. I don’t really need one but it would be useful. I kind of want something interesting though. I don’t get excited about Fiestas, Golfs, Jettas and such. So usually I just kind of give up after a while of looking, thinking I can spend the money better.
Went looking today again and now I’m tempted to spend the money...
I found a Mazda 6 MPS (Mazdaspeed 6). It looks fairly clean from the sparse amount of pictures and it has less than a 100k on the odometer (metric, so less than 60k miles).
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It has my interest because;
Practicality of a 4 door sedan
Plenty of power
AWD for winters here (Estonia, winters can get bad)
Apparently fairly easy to upgrade/mod should I wish so
Cheaper than stuff like Imprezas and Lancer Evo/Ralliarts that offer all those same things
Seem to be well regarded
It’s rare, so something different
Kind of sleepery
Anyone here has any experience or opinions about these cars? I am seriously considering contacting the seller. The thing I am most worried about is reliability. I don’t think the current owner trashed it since it has done 80.000 km over something like 12 years. But it is also a 12 year old car and I have never done any mechanical work on cars. How normal is it to take a used car to a pre-purchase inspection at these kind of budgets? :P
I also found this Impreza WRX Prodrive that is actually a contradiction of me saying the Mazda is cheaper:
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"RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars" (rallydarkstrike)
06/04/2017 at 08:14, STARS: 1
This may help from prior Oppos’ experience!
http://oppositelock.kinja.com/who-has-experience-with-the-mazdaspeed-6-1489432489
That being said, as much as I like the Mazdaspeed 6, Mazdas of that era are known for rust issues especially the bodywork - I seem to recall some Mazdas of that era actually had RECALLS on the bodywork rusting because they rusted that quickly/badly.
I would go Subaru, if it were me - just find out if the head gaskets were done recently as that is the biggest issue with them. If they were done with the newer style head gasket, you’re fine as the newer gaskets are more reliable. I also seem to recall the 2.0L engines had head gaskets fail less often than the 2,5L engines.
Otherwise, the usual basic checks and rust checks. Another issue to check with the Subie is the front and rear subframes and control arms - they are known to sometimes rust as well (there was a recall here in North America on the control arms, if memory serves). The bodies are FAIRLY solid, but check around the rear wheel wells and where the rear bumper cover meets the body/wheel wells where it wraps around the back, rust tends to start there first. Also, if you can, have the rear strut towers looked at as sometimes those can rust as well.
I used to have a non-WRX North American-spec 2002 Impreza wagon which I really miss dearly - different engine/transmission than the one you’re looking at (2.5L N/A 5-spd vs. the WRX’s 2.0L Turbo 6-spd [at least I think WRXs of that era had a 6-spd])? That thing could plow through ANYTHING in the winter, handled fairly well, and was peppy enough. If you went the Subie route and it was in decent shape, I think you’d like it! My old Impreza had 170,000km on it when I sold it, so far more than the one you’re looking at. If that red one you linked is solid, I’d say go for it!
"Jetstreamer" (jetstreamer)
06/04/2017 at 08:46, STARS: 1
Thanks for the tips and link! I always forget Kinja has a search, because it’s generally not that useful in my experience :P.
The Subaru would be kind of a second choice, it looks really clean in the pics but those are old. You can actually see the 6 from 2016 under the 7 from 2017 in the watermarks that the site adds... I would probably remove the STI fog light covers and the exhaust seems to be a bit of a fartcan while there should be a Prodrive exhaust end on it according to the ad title.
The Mazda somehow appeals a bit more to me but I would definitely have it checked out before purchase and bring a list of the things I saw now on some Mazda forums as well.
"Maxima Speed" (maximaspeed)
06/04/2017 at 08:54, STARS: 2
I don’t have much experience in the matter. I will say that the Mazda 6 V6 Sport (FWD, Automatic) that I owned for 11 days, before somebody hit me and totaled it, was the funnest car I’ve ever driven.
"LongbowMkII" (longbowmkii)
06/04/2017 at 09:44, STARS: 2
I’ve read issues about the rear and center diff. so be sure to do tight low speed parking lot maneuvers to see if there is any binding in the drivetrain.
"Jetstreamer" (jetstreamer)
06/04/2017 at 15:38, STARS: 0
I’m not quite sure if I will have enough feeling for the car to sense that to be honest. I love cars, but have never owned one before or worked on one. I trust my hearing to tell me something sounds wrong and I know sloppy handling when I feel it, but I’m not sure if I would detect those kind of differential issues.
I’m thinking to hand it over to a Mazda dealer in the city it’s located for a checkup at my own cost if the seller agrees, perhaps they can suss out those things as well.