Need advice, please. MSP for under 10k?

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MSP on auto trader
The milege looks a little high for the year, I believe the industry avg. is 15k miles a year more or less. Looks clean in the pics for the most part, the rotors are a bit rusted, suggesting it hasn't been driven for a bit. Most asking prices I've seen here and elsewhere are around $13,000 or more. I'm just looking for a nice clean, STOCK, not badly abused MSP, wasn't looking to buy one RIGHT now, but this could be a really good deal. And I'm not sure I should let it go...

Seem like they're asking a little low. I know you could get an MSP for that price with hardwork, but I find it A little hard to believe that the asking price is this low....:bs: ? or(cool). Something wrong with the car? Or normal price for the milege?

 

[Captain KRM P5]

wow thats cheap - i'd have to see it and i would ask them to allow you to have a dealer look it over.

 

[Huascar82]

not like I know anything about it, but at least it looks clean from the few pics shown. The rotors, that happens to mine ALWAYS after heavy rain, so that really doesnt mean anything. other then that I'd say go see it in person if you close enough.

 

[Blade4804]

that mileage is normal... I have approx 140K miles on my car and it's an '02

 

[Rotary_Powered]

Thanks guys, Has anyone done any kind of MSP buyers guide? I was searching around but didn't see anything. I saw the "Owners Guide" but don't know if I could notice those things on just a test drive. Any things I should look out for in particular? Do the usual carfax and ask for the service records right?

that mileage is normal... I have approx 140K miles on my car and it's an '02

Oh lol, well like I said I guess it's the avg. cause our 02 626 has "only" about 34k miles. I'm mainly afraid of having to rebuild the turbo, LSD or something right away. (yes I've read LSD horror stories(shocked) )

 

[Blade4804]

Turbo should be fine. LSD might have been repaired or not, that one is a crab shoot...

 

[Rotary_Powered]

Good to know the turbo should still be good. It's not too far away so I'll see if I can have a looks sometime this week. Just Looking for everyone's advice I am by no means an expert when it comes to this car.

 

[RedKarnage]

Maybe they are just stupid and think its a regular non turbo protege.

 

[Rotary_Powered]

Maybe, but it says MazdaSpeed Protege in the rest of the ad, didn't the "free" carfax and it said there were 12 records... I'm tempted to buy the unlimited reports...and see what those records are...

 

[Turtle of Time]

for that price? you'd be a fool not to be all over that

 

[MrDiggler]

Don't even think about NOT running the Carfax. Make sure you know what you're getting into. Also, see if your insurance agent will run a CLUE report on it for you. The Carfax on mine was clean...only because someone kept a previous accident from showing up on it. After I bought a supposedly "pristine" 7k mile Spicy MSP in another state, my agent turned up a claim made on it in their CLUE report. And they were right. If I'd known I wouldn't have paid top dollar for it.

I wouldn't care how good the price, I'd want to know exactly what you're getting. Only then do you know if it's a good value or not. Good luck with it though.

*edit* Looks good in the pics. May be a hell of deal, just make sure that it really is.

 

[CHICO2003]

Look like it's in good shape... That mileage seems somewhat excessive considering it's an 03.5 but then again... if it was taken care of properly, it should be fine for another 58k+

One thing that I find troubling is... the color!!

Seriously, is yellow not the worst msp color or what? Maybe it's the fact that there are soooo many poseur yellow cars on the road (prev gen GTI comes to mind). Don't get me wrong.... on the right car (think exotic) it looks awesome... In my oppinion, it's easily the best Lamborghini color choice.... obviously they agree since they always showcase it in that color. However, for anything less than say... a corvette, it just looks cheesy.

The reason orange doesn't fall into that category is because there are just so few (if any) cars in that particular shade on the road. I think the Lotus Exige is the only one... and we all know how badass that car is.

If you have your heart set on yellow, this seems like a decent price. You'll definitely want to replace those fugly rotors though. The wheels on the msp are arguably its best asset. People's admiration will quickly turn to disgust once they see those. I recently replaced my rotors with.. s***, the brand escapes me... nevertheless, they look awesome and are guaranteed never to rust. Only set me back about $150.... if you end up gettting this car and are interested, let me know and I'll hook you up with the brand.

 

[Mutmatt]

peek-a-boo exhaust

Hi... i'm a exhaust pipe before the rear tires (i want to be a truck)

 

[CHICO2003]

Oh... one last thing. Knowing what I know about these cars, if I was in the market I'd have to think twice about one that didn't have a turbo timer. Hopefully, like me, they had it professionally installed and could show you the date (so you can match it up with when they got the car) of the install. Otherwise, you're just taking their word for it.... I know so many guys who jus turn their cars off after a long drive.... not realizing how bad that is. A new turbo will set you back at least a grand, probably more... so be careful.

 

[Rotary_Powered]

Thanks everyone I appreciate the info. Mutmatt where'd you get that picture? I didn't see that one before is that the same car? It can't be the other pics show a stock exhaust...

MrDiggler I'll look into getting both reports, CHICO2003 I have to agree with you yellow has never been my choice color for a car, except on the RX7 FD3S, but if the deal is good enough I might jump on it, I'm going to try to take a peek at it tomorrow hopefully test drive... but I'm going to be very cautious/skeptical looking it over.

 

[CHICO2003]

the car in your avatar looks cool... but obviously that's far from stock. personally, it would have to be one hell of a good deal for me to consider a color I wasn't too fond of. 9k for an msp with close to 60k miles on it really isn't, hate to say it guys, that good of a deal. it's priced aggressively but, if I was in the market, I'd rather pay maybe a grand or two more (at the most) for the color I wanted.

unless you plan on making it into the car in your avatar.... in that case, more power to you..

 

[msp35]

For some reason the price is 12,790 now.

 

[CHICO2003]

LOL maybe they saw this thread! Seriously though... that's BS.

 

[Rotary_Powered]

(pissed) Oh well easy come easy go Not a good deal anymore for the milege IMO.

 

[Mutmatt]

no that picture is from a different car on autotrader or whatever that site was

Thanks everyone I appreciate the info. Mutmatt where'd you get that picture? I didn't see that one before is that the same car? It can't be the other pics show a stock exhaust...

MrDiggler I'll look into getting both reports, CHICO2003 I have to agree with you yellow has never been my choice color for a car, except on the RX7 FD3S, but if the deal is good enough I might jump on it, I'm going to try to take a peek at it tomorrow hopefully test drive... but I'm going to be very cautious/skeptical looking it over.