The search is slowly killing me - mild rant warning.
Discussion
This is personal therapy if nothing else...
If its not rusty chassis rails, its dodgy history. If its not scored disks, its a shifty looking gentleman who keeps calling me "mate" and is clearly hiding something.
Ive seen snapped coil springs (declined test drive on this one) and near non existent brake pads that "still have plenty of mile in 'um."
Full dealer service history these days apparently means 2 stamps on an 80k car, but because they are both from Mazda, thats a FDSH. Ive seen torn roofs and rusty sills, a smashed rear light cluster and a massive scratch down one side (neither pictured funnily enough).
All of the above are advertised as FSH, lovely condition insdie and out and of course, drive perfectly. So frustrating. I wish people would have the decency to answer truthfully when I ring. No wonder people hate buying and selling cars.
I was trying to buy an 01-02 sport in black, but they are like hens teeth. Having broadened my horizons and driven some of the afore mentioned cars just to get a feeling of how they differ from the Sport, it turns out there isn't really much I'd be missing.
The 5 speed is rather nice (I actually prefer it to the 6 speed) and I was planning to upgrade the suspension anyway, making the Bleisteins obsolete. The only thing drastically different is a lack of the Torsen LSD, but they can be retro fitted and I won't miss it until a track day anyway.
So, if anybody knows of a 2001 and onwards car in Black or Dark Blue that isn't about to rust away to nothing, explode or otherwise try and kill me, with suitable service history for around £3000, please do let me know.
Willing to travel within an hour of Reading, or slightly further for the perfect car.
And breathe....
If its not rusty chassis rails, its dodgy history. If its not scored disks, its a shifty looking gentleman who keeps calling me "mate" and is clearly hiding something.
Ive seen snapped coil springs (declined test drive on this one) and near non existent brake pads that "still have plenty of mile in 'um."
Full dealer service history these days apparently means 2 stamps on an 80k car, but because they are both from Mazda, thats a FDSH. Ive seen torn roofs and rusty sills, a smashed rear light cluster and a massive scratch down one side (neither pictured funnily enough).
All of the above are advertised as FSH, lovely condition insdie and out and of course, drive perfectly. So frustrating. I wish people would have the decency to answer truthfully when I ring. No wonder people hate buying and selling cars.
I was trying to buy an 01-02 sport in black, but they are like hens teeth. Having broadened my horizons and driven some of the afore mentioned cars just to get a feeling of how they differ from the Sport, it turns out there isn't really much I'd be missing.
The 5 speed is rather nice (I actually prefer it to the 6 speed) and I was planning to upgrade the suspension anyway, making the Bleisteins obsolete. The only thing drastically different is a lack of the Torsen LSD, but they can be retro fitted and I won't miss it until a track day anyway.
So, if anybody knows of a 2001 and onwards car in Black or Dark Blue that isn't about to rust away to nothing, explode or otherwise try and kill me, with suitable service history for around £3000, please do let me know.
Willing to travel within an hour of Reading, or slightly further for the perfect car.
And breathe....
I know what you mean. It's nearly impossible to find a mint car without spending a lot. I decided that as long as the car is rust free, I'd be a little lenient on other parts and use it as a bargaining tool. Parts can come cheap so haggle the prices down enough so that you won't lose money on replacement parts, that's the balance you're looking for.
The only car Ive seen with acceptable amounts of rust had so many other issues (it was the one with the snapped coil spring, among other things) that even if I got 1k off, I'd have still felt cheated.
Sound advice though. I may have to start sacrificing a few little niggles here and there in exchange for a solid chassis.
Sound advice though. I may have to start sacrificing a few little niggles here and there in exchange for a solid chassis.
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