Mazda enthusiasts, I was at a junkyard today waisting time and i stumbled on this very small, interesting and lovely looking car. Now I've been a Nissan boy my whole life and upon first glance I had thought it was an NX2000 but as I got closer i noticed it was a Mazda. A Mazda Mx-3, and the gs v6 model at that.
Instantly i became fascinated by this little car. Immediately, i ran out of the junkyard, jumped in my Hyundai Accent rental car, Fired up the engine and dashed back to the hotel room. Hopped on my laptop and looked on the good ole Wikipedia. Astonishingly i discover that the v6 is a 1.8 liter and that it revs to hell and back.
Infatuated by this little car, i search Craigslist and Ebay for a rough estimate on what these cars are going for. I find that some decent condition ones are going from 1800-2000 obo's and terrible/not running ones go for 500-1200. The v6's are anywhere from 2000 to 3000.
Basically what i started this thread for was, I want a Mazda Mx-3 v6, where should i start looking, how much should i pay for a decent condition car, should i not bother or is it a waist of time?
Thanks for any comments/feedback you can give me. Oh and as my name kind of hints, my daily driver is a '74 datsun Z that i've done loads of custom work on.
Cheers

 

TooQuick260:
There are more reports here:Mazda MX3 Reviews - Carsurvey.org

I can't tell you if you should get one because I don't have one. But I would love it.
They have OBDI, sometimes it is difficult to find parts or info (Just ask BengalBrad). But they must be a hoot to drive.

 

Hey Tanprotege,
Thanks for the quick reply. It looks absolutely exciting to drive, the sound of the v6 is a definate bonus. Ah obd1 even in the 90's? Well its not like I was planning on turboing or anything, maybe intake/exhaust and some lowering springs. If it really becomes a problem i bet i can get megasquirt or something to work on it.

 

Before i jump the gun and buy one on the spurr of excitement, what should i look out for? What mileage do these cars usually start to kick the bucket and how resiliant are these 5 speeds

 

Look, they are so old that you cannot just go by odometer. At that age anything rubber may fail. You have to inspect and test drive it like any other used vehicle. Your ears and the seat of the pants will give a bunch of feedback. Make sure you let it coast in neutral and engine idling to listen for suspension noises and dragging brakes.
Better yet, invest a few bucks and have it inspected by a mechanic.

I can imagine that most of these cars were driven hard. Isn't that what you would like to do?

 

My experience of the small v6 is multiple nightmares. Very cramped engine bay.
Usually neglected and in general POS!!

 

Looks like I found a very good condition gs that I'm going to take a look at sometime next week. I agree with you Tan, I definitely need to just see the car and check for a dying engine/dying trans for myself. And Grim, it seems you have some lingering resentment for the v6 hah, well I'm going to check this one out and then I'll come back to say whether I bought it or not. I can't really put too much into this car as I'm building an old Datsun but if I can lower the price to say 1600, it's mine

 

It's almost a month. What happened?

 

The car wasn't all it turned out to be, and long story short I drove home with a '92 sentra se-r instead.