mazda 3 mps

zx|muppet

zx|muppet

zx|muppet

Associate
Joined
10 Jan 2003
Posts
889
Location
staines
so going to look at one of these on monday and want peoples thoughts on it?

anyone own one and can give me some pointers on anything to look for?
 
Looks like i need to start the car and leave it running for a bit to see if it has any problems before taking it for a test drive. Meh. I need a nice 5 door that has some get up and go.. For when i don t have my daughter in the car that is.
 
Good cars. Got a MK2 and had it for a year.

Timing chain rattle and blue smoke from the turbo if it's left idling can be a problem.

MK1 has a fairly strange tyre size - can make for expensive tyres.

MK1 is expensive for road tax - £460 a year rings a bell.

They were popular with people who liked visiting banks outside of opening hours a while ago. Not sure if they still are. Some insurance companies will refuse cover / only cover if a tracker is fitted.
 
i know its expencive on road tax. if i was to get a MK2 the price of that compared to a years road tax i would have the have the car over 7 years before it works out cheaper in the long run.

got a quote on insurence

680 fully comp with 4 years ncb 12000 milage and im 30

will be sure to check all this out when i go see the car :D
 
I only kept my MPS for a year before selling it. I loved it though. Nice and quick, good levels of kit, practical and pretty unassuming to the regular road user. Downsides are the obvious £400 tax and highish insurance group (I was paying £1200 FC @ 23 years old with a £600 excess). It's pretty thirsty as well. I used to get around 230miles to a tank of high octane stuff. That was normally sat in the M6 morning traffic.

129eb2b7.jpg


I did regret selling it at the time i have to say!
 
can only find one for sale at the moment... so thats a no and i dont want a big car like that either.. the 3 is about right for me.
 
As mentioned above, listen carefully for excessive rattling/ticking from the engine. The engines are quite noisy anyway but if anything doesn't sound right then walk away. Another issue can be the VVT actuator, listen particularly carefully for the first second or so when starting the engine for a rattle.

Other than that they are reliable and you get a lot of car for the money.

I'm not sure whether or not the 3 MPS shares the same tyre size as my 6 MPS (215/45/18). If it does, they can be changed to 225/40/18 tyre size which is what most people do which will give far more choice and they're cheaper, too.

I'm very happy with my 6 MPS. :)
 
one thing to note on Mazda 3 Aeros - which may or may not be important to you (but was for me as I park on the road quite often ...)

the wing mirrors do not fold :( and are expensive if get broken
 
well deposit down. saw it and its sooooo nice! :D

test drive on wednesday and if i like i will pay in full. happy happy happy

still have my clio sport for track days and get rid of my fiesta zetec-s bargin buy :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom