Looking at buying a "new" car

[Redlinez]

Well, after 3 months, I finally sold my 99 Trans Am. Finally got tired of the spending money trying to go faster thing only to cause other things to break. It's inevitable when you fool with performance parts past bolt ons. So, I'm a car enthusiast freak who has "owned" over 50 cars since 93. I have just under 10k to spend and here's what I've found that interests me most: 2006 Mazda3S 5 speed sedan "no option" car with 16" wheels. It's that volcanic deep red or whatever it's called with gray/black cloth and 58,000 miles. Lucky for me, I've found a few nearby as I'm done with driving out of my way only to be let down by inaccurate and dishonest descriptions of cars. This one has no paint, very clean , and new Bridgestone G019 tires. I'll find out tomorrow how much. #2 is a "rare" 04 Mazda3 S sedan 5 speed in metallic yellow with black leather, ground effects, spoiler, and the 17" wheels. It has 48,000 miles and same great condition. It does have some cheap Falken tires on it, but they'll work for a while. It's $9500, which is a fair deal. Then I found #3- a 04 Mazda3 S hatch automatic with sunroof and 50,000 miles for $8000!! That's a smoking deal, I've just always owned manual transmissions for the love I have of driving.
The only other car I've found is a 2002 Civic Si in white with 61,000 miles for $7750, which is a deal, but I'm really wanting a 4 door as my boys are 10 and 7, and it's painful watching them extract themselves from a two door. Any other ideas? I love 98-01 Sentra SE's and 95-up Contour SE V6 5 speeds, but they're pretty much high mileage heaps now.
Sorry for the rant, but I'm kind of excited to get a sensible, good gas mileage vehicle that's great fun to drive and look at. Not too many choices.

 

[Redlinez]

Well, the seller just accepted my offer on his 2004 Mazda3S sedan 5M in solar yellow! It has black leather interior, the ground effects and 17" wheel package with a spoiler. New but crappy Falken tires. No paint work anywhere and exceptionally clean as most of the S models seem to be. Hopefully it will all work out here shortly! It already has some kind of CAI on it, but that's it.

 

[thejeans]

congrats on the buy... i was about to say get a manual, much more fun with this car...

if you want to mod the car, focus on suspension work first... lol

 

[Redlinez]

Sold! Just drove it home! I must say, it's abnormal that someone represents their car accurately, but he did. I found no paint work on it and it's extra clean with only 47,900 miles on it. Just snapped off a few pics without washing or doing anything to it, so excuse me on that.....