New to the Speed 3 family!

[88323GT]

For those who dont know me, Im Kyle, an Avid 1988 Mazda 323 Turbo owner. Ive drooled over the First gen Speed 3's ever since they first came out. I am a Technician for a Mazda dealer here in Portland OR and Ile tell you it has some great perks. For instance, an $18k Speed for oh say.....$9800?

It was a trade in for a newer speed 3, and the previous owner really didnt take very good care of this car. Its a 2007 Sunlight Silver GT with a few fixable problems such as the VVT Actuator replacement, front brakes and it needs a new windshield. The Body is rather dinged up but again, fixable. It first came in, I went up to my General Manager and asked if he would sell it as is, and we got to talking and agreed on $9800 after a UVI and safety inspection, Plus 4 new GoodYear Eagle GT's and a full car detail. The rest I can fix up myself. I have the technology!

So, what do you guys think? Good Deal? Oh, and it does have a clear Title. Does NOT have any frame rack marks anywhere.

 

[Jdm_Mica]

Sweet deal!!! Welcome to the family

 

[aaron561]

good job

 

[not yellow]

looks like a fun project!
what are the two strips on the roof? did it have a roof rack or something?

 

[88323GT]

Yeah, last guy had a Yakima roof rack installed. Which sucks for me since they drilled 7 holes on each side into the roof!(nervous) But, if I get a wild hair up my ass, Ile take it to a good body shop, pull the rails off and have the holes filled and the roof resprayed.

 

[Jon MS3]

great deal!

 

[88323GT]

Thank you!

Future plans are TBE, Springs, CS Front Mount, All motor mounts, Access Port, and hopefully some new wheels. The stock wheels have some bad curb rash on em.

Course, first things first, will do the VVT and replace the timing chain within the next week or two. After that will be doing some pretty quick oil changes so as to flush the engine out a bit. Then back to Full Synthetic.

 

[Saskatchewan17]

Sounds like you know what you're doing! Congrats on the purchase, you got it for an absolute steal!

 

[oaklandopen]

any pics of the old ride?

 

[BillTheCat]

You should be arrested for grand larceny, dude. Congrats!!! Now go punch a hooker, and it'll be just like the video game. LOL

 

[paylew]

You should be arrested for grand larceny, dude. Congrats!!! Now go punch a hooker, and it'll be just like the video game. LOL

LOL. agreed. I wish I could have gotten a steal even close to that.

 

[not yellow]

oh, curious about the mileage. just noticed you didn't post it...?

 

[88323GT]

THAT my friend, was the kicker. Keep in mind, they are mostly freeway, but it has 92K on the clock. I was fortunate to talk my GM into selling it to me as is instead of putting all the work and money into it that it would need to be sellable. It DOES need some work, but nothing I cant handle. Thats where it shines in my Favor.

 

[bigdaddy]

wow, you stole that. congrats

 

[88323GT]

any pics of the old ride?

I actually didnt trade anything in for it. Im Financing it completely. Besides, they couldnt give me anywhere near what my other cars worth for it to be worth it. This is what I still have.

 

[Saskatchewan17]

Wow man. Nice 323!

And that is quite a bit of miles on your speed. I'd recommend doing a compression test and maybe ripping off the intake manifold and valve cover to take a peek and see if it has a lot of carbon build up. Just to see where the motor is at.

 

[88323GT]

Had the car detailed today and im not very happy with it. They had the car all day long, and sat on their asses. I was supposed to get the car back atleast by the time im off work, and they didnt get it to me till 6. Finally I see it pull into the parking lot, actually more like rammed into the parking lot (That seriously urked me to see my car being abused by some lot attendant) but let it go after seeing everything was decent. I get in and start it, and noticed my center console read out has been ruined by that oil based shine they used to clean the dash up. That set me off the handle seeing that. So now I get to replace that too! I will let me Service righter whom suggested them look at it and get it right. AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Saskatchewan17]

That is just plain annoying. That's why I try to do as much as possible on my own: detailing, installing parts, oil changes and the like.

 

[not yellow]

seriously... i don't trust ANYONE with my car.

 

[88323GT]

Im comming to that conclusion. Ive never owned a newer car. Hell, the newest car ive owned was an 89. Since im a tech, I can thankfully do all the mechanical to my car as needed, but for body and interior, ive never seen an issue till now to let someone more professional handle it.

Let me clarify on this. I had someone else detail my car because the last owner left behind alot of crap. There was a ton of dirt inside, wrappers, there was soda spilled everywhere, and nasty food smeared into the Mazdaspeed seats. I really wanted that done professionally. Plus, the engine bay hadnt been cleaned since the car was new. Sad eh? But now that I have a clean base to start with, Im doing it all from now on.