Advise on checking out a vert, please!
 

I usually hang out on 1st gen site (got an 84 GSL) but a pretty 88 white vert caught my eye at a car lot. Looks clean inside & out except for a couple of small holes in the bottom portion of the top. Question, what else should I be looking for when I check it out further? Got 146K on it, they're asking $4995.00
Thanks for the guidance!

way too much... I paid $2600 for my '88 'vert with only 113k on it and a brand new rear top.

For that many miles and that much money the one you are looking at better have a new motor and be in perfect condition, or they are willing to deal big time.

I paid $10,000 for my 89 mint 54K vert....well that was a long time ago....but someone paid $24,000 for it new.

I noticed KBB and edmunds list it for $3100.00.
Got no leather, I think it's overpriced. I'll go by & see how firm they are on price.
Anything mechanical-wise I should look out for?

Its way too much money. There's a seasonal fluctuation in the prices, too (cheaper in winter, more in spring). In my opinion, keep looking, you can find a nice pampered car from a private buyer for that price (S5s are going for that much now). I wouldn't buy a car from a car dealer unless it was a spotless, fresh trade-in at a reputable brand-name dealer (like Nissan or Ford, or something)....

Check the top - small tears in the corners are pretty standard, means the top is on its way out, eventually. New one is about $900 installed. Check the wiper ($$$), window, and light switches. Look underneath for rust, check behind the seats, under the spare (which hides under the cover behind the seats) and in the trunk for water or rust.

Check for broken interior trim, most of it is unique to the verts. I've never seen a vert with cloth seats, didn't know they offered that (did they?), thought they were all leather.

Other than that, check same as any other 2nd gen. 5 lug brakes are expensive, the engine should start quick and not smoke, check the temp while driving it (take it for a good long ride!). AC should blow ice cold for that price.

Also check and make sure its got an aluminum hood on it, if not, that might indicate front-end wreck damage, they are often replaced with the cheap metal hood after wrecks.

$3200 for my 89 converitble with new top and 98K miles.

The transmission needed work, so probably $5000-$6000 if it was in near perfect shape.

I am also looking to buy one
 

I am looking at an 88 vert. I drove it around for a few minutes 5-10 and it ran OK, the clutch slave is bad so I could not be sure of power shift, etc. Anyway, the car did not seem tio smoke and it did start right up, BUT it seemed a little weak, Is there a way to check out the motor before I buy it? I heard that pouring some tranny fluid in a rotory will get the apex seal to swell and seal long enough to dump a car on someone and I want to make sure that this (or some other trick) is not being pulled on me. PLEASE REPLY FAST AS THIS CAR IS ONLY AVAILABLE FOR A FEW DAYS due to the owner moving out of state.

Thanks, I hope to spend a lot of time here,
John P.

Have your local mazda dealership run the rotary engine specific compression test.

146K miles on an 88 could be low miles or high miles on the engine. Some 88's go 300K miles while others go around 175-200K miles. Depends on the previous owner's maintenance and if they actually DROVE the car a bit hard like your suppose to.

If you deterimine the motor & car are in tip top shape, go for it. Otherwise keep looking :)

Got my '90 for $2300....w/ a bad block and no mods.

way too much money bro. my 89 vert i bought close to a year ago came with a 15,000mile pettit racing motor(5,000 dollar receipt for it and its streeport) engine was about a year old. i paid 4500 for the entire car. and many people think i paid too much so your price is way too high!! i was over excited about buying a good product!!

anyways wait for a s5 vert cuz theres more hp!!

plus if you own a white vert for that money and drive down the road...and stumble across someone with a s5 white vert.....and you go look closer and see the black interior, ahhh man you will kick yourelf in the head for buying a car with that ugly outdated blue interior!!

in my opinion and many other vert owners opinions, the very best color combo vert is the white on black, followed very closely by the triple black and the s5 red/black. that color of blue interior...nobody in the world produces ANY product that color..except maybe wheelchair cushions!! keep your head up...hold out for a better car unless hell sell it for half the price or less. cuz you can find a black interior at a junhkyard for pretty cheap.

just so you know when i first started vert hunting they were so hard to come by that i considered buying a white on blue 90. dealer said the engine was new out of a junkyard car.

exterior was beautiful. interior, well i figured i could handle the blue....but the car took like 2 minutes to start( its been sitting awhile,dealers reason) then once it started it smoked like a california wildfire, and when you step on the gas..it stumbled like jerries kids!! the dealer said"hey i dont know nuttin bout ro'tries..but my jamaican mechanic says its a vac leak"

the jamaican mech didnt speak english..and the dealer didnt speak jamaican..you get my drift?

anyways he wanted 3600 cash or about 6000 after finance....what a fuckning joke!!

dont get over excited and buy the first thing!!

There's two verts for sale in our Columbus Ohio Sunday paper...Both around 4000 K....PM me if you want to know about the whole ad...

Denny:D