Greetings from Vancouver Island, Canada.

I'm looking to help my 17yr old daughter out in buying an older Mazda 3 as her first car (at my insistence we're actually looking at several cars including Toyota and Honda, but there seems to be a surplus of Mazda 3s here on the island.)
We're looking to spend a max of about $4000 CAD ($3k USD)

In an attempt to learn about this car and what ownership would be like in terms of repairs, problems etc. I did a search here but didn't find any specific FAQ entries for this model. One thread seemed to indicate certain engines in the old 3s had definite problems (2.3 I think?)

What can we expect and what should we look out for with these cars? As a point of reference, there is a Mazda 3 with with 160,000km (96,000 miles) up for sale for $3k.

Many thanks in advance for the advice.

 

A few comments:

• I gave my (then) 18 year old son a first-gen Mazda3 as his first car; it served him very well.
• Yes, the 2.3 liter engine has a very spotty reputation for reliability.
• I looked at the ad you linked above; I'm not sure about Canada, but here in the U.S. there was no such a thing as a 2003 Mazda3; they didn't make their debut until 2004.
• If I was looking for a Gen 1 today, I'd either look for a nicely optioned 2.0 liter with the 5-Speed manual transmission, or, if I was inclined to do an engine change, a fully optioned out 2.3 liter car (I'd yank the motor and replace it with a 2.5 liter Ford Duratec), also with a 5-Speed manual.