Great suggestions! Thanks!
I own a 2007 Mazdaspeed3, and had a second gen Mazda3 hatch before that, and have done a bunch of mods by myself. I think the motormounts will be ok, I will let a real mech do the water pump and timing chain.
I will also replace the battery as it was looking tired...
I will pay about 3500 for it and I live in south florida. The body looks real clean. It has aftermarket tires on the car--unidirectional tread R rated.
It is an automatic, has a big stabilizer bar in the engine bay, but everything looks relatively clean for a car that has yet to go thru dealer...