Hello everyone, I am new to this forum as you can see this being my first post. I am going to look at a 2004 mazda 323 tomorrow, and was wondering what I should look for. According to the sales agent, it has 30k miles, was never leased but rather a rental car, so I don't know how much abuse it has taken. I believe it is blue w/dark black grey interior and is auto. It has a 2.0? engine I am pretty sure about that. I have owned mustangs, jettas, and a jaguar but mazda is new to me, what type of motor is in this car? Is it a mazda, ford, toyota? and what about the tranny...what problems do they have?

I want this car as my daily driver/fuel saver for a couple of years at least and need to know what to look for. I am mechanically inclined and can do the routine repairs on my own, but do these cars have any weak links?

Thanks for all your responses and I will follow up with more info as it comes.

 

mazda 323? from where are you? in usa 323 isnt available as a 2004...so you must be referring to the mazda3 most likely? right?

 

sorry you're correct a mazda 3

 

I would NEVER buy a car that used to be a rental car. I would much rather have one person abusing the car then thousands. If you have ever rented a car, you know what I mean. People drive those rentals into the ground and run them very hard and dont care about speed bumps or construction bumps.

 

the mazda 3i uses the 2.0 liter inline-four cylinder MZR (mazda) engine. someone correct me if im wrong, but it pumps out 150hp with 140lb/ft of torque. the auto transmission makes the car feel a lot slower than it actually is (only four gears) and its designed for optimum fuel consumption. the mazda 3 is manufactured in Japan and shares a platform with the ford focus and the volvo s40.

 

In CA, MA, ME, NY and VT the 2.0 only has 145hp and the 2.3 has 153 in those states, why? cuz were in America and in america we refuse help when we need it