Buying a 2003 P5

[XK49]

I just purchased a P5 on ebay, and will be picking it up this upcoming Tuesday (3/25). It has only 36k miles and looks very well taken care of, though pictures and salesman can be deceiving. It's coming from a high end auto dealership on a trade in. I think I'm getting a smoking/reasonable deal(red flag?) on the car. It has factory 16" (was that an option?) wheels, leather, 5speed, and love it or hate it, vivid yellow.

Other then the rust issue noted in this forum, what else would be the number one thing to look for specific to the P5, other than the obvious ABC's of buying a used car?

Oh, my original reason for purchasing a car was to replace my commuter car(Ford Expedition). Little did I know I would be purchasing a replacement vehicle that sips gas and is as cool as beans too.

 

[clicknext]

Congrats! It's a great car. And a great color, I might add.

16" alloys were standard, but the polished wheels on that car were an option from some dealers I believe.

Biggest issues I can think of are broken motor mounts, the engine will rock back and forth when you go on and off the gas pedal in first gear. This happens to nearly all P5's, mine were broken before 36k miles.

And clutch chatter, there's a pretty recent thread on this.

Oh yeah, and for some reason the headlights burn out easily.

 

[Flash5]

yea the 16s are stock. is it mt or auto? but if it is completely stock I would not worry about it to much, looks like it was babied with only 36k miles on it. the car is very reliable and should do you well.

 

[Flash5]

Congrats! It's a great car. And a great color, I might add.

16" alloys were standard, but the polished wheels on that car were an option from some dealers I believe.

Biggest issues I can think of are broken motor mounts, the engine will rock back and forth when you go on and off the gas pedal in first gear. This happens to nearly all P5's, mine were broken before 36k miles.

And clutch chatter, there's a pretty recent thread on this.

Oh yeah, and for some reason the headlights burn out easily.

thats easily fixed...HIDS!

 

[CTt3P5]

An 03 you say...check the VIN to see if the VTCS (I think that is the right one) recall was done. Apparently the screws would come loose and fubar your engine.

 

[NCZ13]

i thought that was fixed on the 02.5s and the 03?

 

[Redcoat]

Welcome to the world of Mazda. You wait, you'll be checking this forum every day...It's a sickness.

Anyway, be sure to check out the NEPOC section of the forums and find out about local meets and events. Seems to be a lot of decent people who can help you with advice etc on your new P5.

 

[ZOOMit]

Nice! - First mod: A good radar dector. Cops love to throw down some pwnage on us yellow guys, its not because we're yellow but because yellow is the fastest color Paint looks awesome on it. Def throw alot of wax on it. I think yellow only has a single stage paint and is prone to fading, as is mine. Happy modding, and welcome to the fourms

 

[Action Jackson]

Don't forget about seized brake calipers particularly the rears.

 

[XK49]

Thanks for all the advise. Forums like this rule because there's nothing like personal, long term experience to cut through marketing hype.

My son and I will have a lot of fun with this car both in performance upgrades and of course adding a personal touch to the all yellow canvas. That's the other thing I really like about these forums, there's great advise on the how-to's, and more importantly the "do-not's".

 

[mcstark]

i thought that was fixed on the 02.5s and the 03?

Should have been...I've had my `03 since it had 66 miles on the odometer, and never received a recall notice. Car has been to the dealer twice. First time was to let them get the $^&$ oil filter off, the second was a leak I had in the sunroof.

Just cracked 50k miles this week - I know, I'm nursing it - and it's been the most trouble-free car I've owned.

You know what they say: Once you go Japanese, you never go back.