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Thanks, Neil. A shame that the car will sit, but sortof good that it's on display and preserved. At least lots of people will behold its period correct glory.
The FD was purchased by a Mazda dealer in Houston with the intention of displaying it on the showroom floor when they open one of the largest dealerships in the country. In my opinion this is probably the worst place it could go and I did not believe it initially so the deal almost fell through. I had no idea the bidder was a dealer and not a person!
I did some digging and confirmed the story about the new dealership was true and really did not want to restart this whole process again so I decided to move forward with the sale. BaT was no help to either side through this process as we both had questions and just worked it out ourselves. BaT customer service is non existent but I knew that going in and just wanted to see if they would actually reply to our e-mails.
I figure they will sit on the car for a few years then maybe try and sell it. It may never run again if it sits too long as we all know about Mazda's technical abilities in maintaining these cars...
At the end of the day I got close to what I wanted I just don't like where the FD is going. I guess I am too attached to it as I put so much time into it...
PM me if you have any specific questions about the whole BaT experience.
That car was on eBay, bid up to mid 20s but didn’t meet the reserve. I considered looking at this one since it is semi-local, but I’m no longer in the market for a 2nd FD. I do think it needs compression number and better pictures to show paint condition in order to reach higher amount.
I would have said a number closer to $30k, but the economy is sketchy and the presentation of that vehicle is not perfect.
I have a FD listed for $20k with 84k miles that runs flawlessly with $7-10k in maintenance and while it has drawn a decent bit of attention it hasnt sold yet. 6 months ago I believe it would have sold within hours. The economy is sketchy, and trade wars aren't as easy to win as our Commander in Chief so confidently spouted. As a business owner I hate to see this great run slow down or come to an end but I believe we have some rocky times ahead. Maybe this is just a slight dip but we know we are on borrowed time.
Either way I predict this car to go in the 22-25k range, it appears all original and pretty clean underneath which seems to go a long way on BAT.
Yeah, it's a nice car. If they get a good compression test, it'll help. I wish they had put more thought in the pictures. The hood insulator is on-and-off, and the muffler is repaired or not in some of them. It's good they addressed those things, but buyers would rather see the after without the before, for best sale I think.
I have a FD listed for $20k with 84k miles that runs flawlessly with $7-10k in maintenance and while it has drawn a decent bit of attention it hasnt sold yet. 6 months ago I believe it would have sold within hours. The economy is sketchy, and trade wars aren't as easy to win as our Commander in Chief so confidently spouted. As a business owner I hate to see this great run slow down or come to an end but I believe we have some rocky times ahead. Maybe this is just a slight dip but we know we are on borrowed time.
Either way I predict this car to go in the 22-25k range, it appears all original and pretty clean underneath which seems to go a long way on BAT.
Agree the market/economy is cooling.
It's a 94, it's black (never gets old), tan interior hurts, all stock helps, higher mileage hurts..... Tough call. I'll say 24125
Whoever buys it made a mistake. Should have bought DJs car lol
Well, now that the deal has been finalized, I have her home. 1993 VR, Previous owner believes her to be a touring. I need to call MNAO to verify with the vin, but I believe it correlates. I've seen my fair share of FD's over fifteen years, but I haven't seen one with black leather interior, it's always been black cloth. How rare would you guys say this interior is? (pictured below.) Also, if memory serves, the glass sunroof wasn't available until 94, however this one does have a glass sunroof, and it is a Webasto, which I believe is the factory provider. Then again, it could have been swapped out. 75,000~ on it. I paid 15,000. Fritz was accurate on his price prediction, what say now?
Last edited by SwappedNA; Aug 18, 2019 at 07:54 PM.
Reason: Clarified parts
That does look like an aftermarket sunroof, need a little better picture. There was a 93 Base with black leather seats on the market couple months ago, the seller said they bought it that way new from the dealer, so maybe some did come with optional leather seats? IIRC touring only come in tan interior, so someone swapped the interior if that’s a touring.
Also, if memory serves, the glass sunroof wasn't available until 94, however this one does have a glass sunroof, and it is a Webasto, which I believe is the factory provider.
my glass sunroof says, "Nippon." cool to see another owner with both a 7 and 8
That does look like an aftermarket sunroof, need a little better picture. There was a 93 Base with black leather seats on the market couple months ago, the seller said they bought it that way new from the dealer, so maybe some did come with optional leather seats? IIRC touring only come in tan interior, so someone swapped the interior if that’s a touring.
Not the best, but I do have a picture of the logo of it, to my knowledge Webasto made the OEM ones for the FD. The car has all the factory equipment for the sunroof, probably came with a metal one, and was swapped with this one?
Well, now that the deal has been finalized, I have her home. 1993 VR, Previous owner believes her to be a touring. I need to call MNAO to verify with the vin, but I believe it correlates. I've seen my fair share of FD's over fifteen years, but I haven't seen one with black leather interior, it's always been black cloth. How rare would you guys say this interior is? (pictured below.) Also, if memory serves, the glass sunroof wasn't available until 94, however this one does have a glass sunroof, and it is a Webasto, which I believe is the factory provider. Then again, it could have been swapped out. 75,000~ on it. I paid 15,000. Fritz was accurate on his price prediction, what say now?
I'm pretty sure you could get a base in black leather. You could definitely get a base with tan interior and of course tan leather seats.
Tons of black leather touring 93s.
If it doesn't have the rear wiper I'd be leaning toward aftermarket sunroof added which IMO lowers the value quite a bit. Based on the wrinkled look of the passenger seat I'd say the seats were recovered.
