ok I'll keep is sweet and simple.

93
35K orginal miles
UN-modified
one owner
red
touring model (I'm assuming. no wing, strut bar, has leather. but I think it has R1 wheels)
AMAZING CONDITION, I can't really find any scratches or dents in the car, underbody is very clean
I drove it and the engine purrs, turbos seems to engage correctly, no hesitation when you give it gas etc. suspension/bushings feel tight and don't make noise, other than the struts being worn.
interior is awesome

it's on a friend's lot, he wants $19,988 for it, is it worth it, ohh yeah I'm in california.


for me, I like the car because it's in amazing condition, it will not be driven everyday. And I've wanted a FD for a long time but wanted a good condition one and have had a hard time finding one unmodified.


Give me your opinions!!!!!

 

Yes, buy it. Just the fact that it wasn't poorly modified and you won't have to unfuck someone else's poor taste/problems/shortcuts etc makes it worth it. Buy it, then perform full maintenance on the car, to include fuel filter and all fluids.

 

i'd be all over it and it sounds like a great find! post pic's if you got them

 

BUY IT NOW!!!!!

Had a similiar expereince 6 years ago - 93 red touring model, 12,847 original miles. Bought it for $25,000. Just sold it earlier this month. Six great, and sometimes frustrating, years - lots of maintenance, but it is the nature of the beast.

Listen to Goodfellas - get full maintenance done and check the threads for any/all reliability mods.

Good luck and posts some pics after you buy it .

 

Get a compression test before buying. In fact, it would be great if you could have someone familiar with FDs check it over.

Offer $18.5k.

 

I don't know the what these go for in CA but 20K seems a bit high considering its from a "friend".

 

yea make sure you get a compression check on it... and ask him if he had any of those recalls on it as well.... feel how the transmission feels especially the 5th gear.... and dis1 is right... 20k is alot for a FD... i got mine for 9k unmodified... but its your money... good luck!!

 

1. Cali prices are higher.
2. Dealer prices are much higher than private sale.
3. It is stock with only 35k on it.
4. As Rich pointed out, no having to undo idiotic maintenance/modifications.

 

Exactly, I think its a pretty good price. I have a 93 vr r1 with 30k on it and im going to put it up for 19 maybe 20 in a month or 2. But it has a brand new streetported motor.

 

I think that's a good deal. I'd buy it.

 

well 9K if less the than ha;f of blue book, so you got a DAMN good deal. Like I said the car is very very clean.

unfortunatly there is nobody in my area that is willing to test the mazda, I went through this about a year ago with a friend, have to drive down to Santa Barbara for a test, which is about 2 1/2 hours from here and they want A LOT of money to do it. I'll find out what the records are on it.


AS far as the "friend" I actually don't know what I'm going to get the car for, book is 21, his lot is selling it for 19,888 I would assume I would get a little of it but it all depends on how much they got it for I guess.


It's a LOT of money, considering you could probably pick upa decent one for 15K thats five thousand less, so I'm not sure how worth it really is. I will modify the car, but one I'm not an idiot when it comes to this, two I've owned a FC before, I have friends who know the car, and three I'm a modified from stock guy. I'm not about to put a huge wing on it, or paint it another color, hell it will be a LONG time before I change the rims out. I will track the car, but only after replacing a few safety parts (ie radiator, fuel pump, coolant. etc.)


I'm going from an 03 Toyota MR2, and that makes the FD 10 years older and almost 3K more than I paid for the mr2, I want to make sure its worth it.

 

1. Don't buy it CA
2. Don't buy it from a dealer
3. Good but not worth 20K
4. I have to take issue with needing to undo "idiotic maintenance/modifications." Unless the car is totally F'ed up, which is rare, it is better to start with a car that has a few mods on it to save you money. I mean would you rather have a stock car for 20K or one that has a cat-back, a DP, a boost gauge and something crappy like a big wing for 12K? All else being equal I'd save the 8K, spend 500 on a new wing and save 1000 on not buying the other parts. And if you don't like the gauge or cat-back then sell them and use that money to get what you want. My point is that it is just as easy to undo bad mods as it is to undo the stock equipment.

The 35K miles is nice but I just saw a simular car in this area with 81K on the clock for $11.5K. Ship it to CA, put a new engine in it and you would still save thousands.

 

Yeah but all the rest of the car will have 81,000 mile on it. The suspention and bushings will all needs to be changed. The tranny will be grinding in 5th. The paint will be in worse shape. The carpet and seat will be badly worn. Low mile cars are so much nicer to start with. They ride like a new car, they look like a new car, because they are a new car.

My first Fd had 110k on it and I had to change out every thing. I wish I had started with a low milage car. I would have saved a ton of money.

 

I agree with the both of you, and thats my problem. but the past has taught me a lot, I've owned a LOT of cars, and have a club where I see a LOT of cars, and I have modified A LOT of cars. Not to mention the countless people I have met with Fd's and Fc's that you can see the wear on "mazda" parts. Mostly the interior, and exterior, bushing and suspension isn't as big of a deal.

After owning a almost brand new car, I know the difference now. and buying a bad FD scares me, my FC was nothing but trouble. And after driving the FD I realize how much more I like it than my MR2. And driving the FD it didn't show it's age, it really did ride very nice. as a matter of fact my mr2 makes more noise

 

if you like short road trips.... check out these cars from Norcal...

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/car/210934199.html

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/nby/car/212649927.html

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/car/210670547.html

the first and second link have original miles and the third has a brand new engine... all chaeper than 20k and from actual owners.... Buying a car from Cali isnt that bad, you just have to look and depends how much trouble you are willing to go to get one for a good price and condition...

i had to drive 4 hours to get my 7... but it was all worth it.... Good luck..

Sean

 

actually the car isn't from california

 

well it's going to depend on the price, like I said I'm not sure yet on the final price.

 

Yes, to a certain extent this is true. My car now has 145 on it but the paint still looks great, the interior is fair and I have replaced the bushings at a cost of less than a grand. I never had a 5th gear problem. That depends on the driver and how eager they are to throw it in to 3rd.

Buying a used car is a gamble no matter what but I say put a few less $$$ on the table. The links provided by RotaryDreamz are PERFECT examples of what I am talking about. 16K is reasonable and I'm sure the cars aren't that much worse.

dis1

 

just take a look and see what else is out there... you might stress a bit, but you can find something better... good luck!!

oh yea!!! Welcome to the 7 club!!

 

dis1,

I think you must have been lucky with your findings about used FDs. Just judging by some of the crap I see on this forum, a LOT of these cars have just been ghetto-rigged to beat the band. Or poorly maintained. I've seen so many cars with messed up wiring or ghetto fixes, it's depressing. I do agree with you re: reliability mods, I was happy to buy mine with a downpipe and aluminum AST. Otherwise, completely stock and NOT ghetto-rigged or messed with.

I paid $19k for my 95 with 54k on it. That was from a dealer 4-1/2 years ago. So yes, I think nearly $20k for a 93 is overpriced, even with the low miles. But finding an unmolested car IS getting more difficult.

I do agree with some of your points, I guess it depends on how much you are willing to pay for a low mileage mint car.

 

My FD is for sale!!

 

lol the chuck Liddell thing is funny, he lives in SLO where I do, he did the same thing on an interview with a local radio station.


WEll as I look around it does seem like a under 80K car should be about 16K-17K for a good one. So when eventually my friend calls me back about it, I will see what I can do about the price.

 

Hey rynberg,

Its for sure a gray area. And yea, some older cars are beat to death. I have seen everything from home deopt spray paint specials to cars covered in yard trimmings. :-) Low miles is worth paying extra for. Question is, how much extra?

Or maybe I just feel like my car is worth more than this one even though I have about 4X as many miles. ;-)

 

dis1,

Maybe I just want to encourage the high resale of these cars, in case I ever sell mine.
I could actually cry if I took the time to think how much money is sitting in my driveway....

 

If it were me I would go look at the first one on RotaryDreamz list. It is blue and even though it's not an OEM color, if it's a great paint job, it's well worth the price. It even has a couple of mods, Kenwood monitor with navigation, and a set of Tein coilovers that you could always sell to get some money and pay on the car. It is at least worth checking out. Don't just buy it because your friend works there. I looked for more than a couple of months and I still look and have only found one car equal to mine and they sold it for $4000.00 more than mine cost. R