I hear you, and don't disagree. I did replace alot of stuff w/ the motor and turbos, but not everything. I tried to selectively replace the things that could threaten the motor if they failed, but it's just not practical cost-wise to replace everything. The big thing in my favor is that my car is almost stock (dp and 99-spec turbos only) and I don't beat on it. My old motor was still making pretty good compression when it was removed - I think I could have gotten to 130K or so, but you never know. Only time will tell on the new one.

 

Does anyone know if there are even "new" motors being sold my Mazda anymore?

 

Well, Ray had a few this past Spring. I don't believe they are normally available. Ray said this was the first time in about 2 years Mazda offered any, and he bought all that they had. He had 3 left when I bought mine. I think he said they offered some new motors to help feed cores to the reman program.

FYI - the part number is N3A1-02-200. If you look it up @ www.worldpartsexpress.com you'll see it's listed, but I'm not sure if you can actually order one.