New Car: Mazda 1.6TS

~Divine~Wind~

~Divine~Wind~

~Divine~Wind~

Can't type for toffee
Don
Joined
14 Jun 2004
Posts
17,536
Location
Newcastle U/T
Hey guys,

Just wanting to know if theres anything I shoudl be on the lookout for.

It's a Dark grey 04 plate Mazda 3Ts 1.6
A Basic Text HPI check came back as:

2 Owners
No Colour Changes
No Stolen records
Not Scrapped
no total loss claims

Already noticed iy needs one new front tyre, theres a stoen chip on one of the arches that has bubbled, the other arch has some horizontal scratches brothers say a quick respray and blend should cost ~£200

The Car is from a dealer @3k, theyve offered 1650 trade in on my 1.8 53plate TDCI Focus that Im getting pretty sick of, I paid around 2k for the focus approx 1 year ago.

Test drive on the mazda is tomorrow but had the engine running and sat inside its eerily Quiet. I think it looks far better than the focus on the outside and the inside looks and feels far nicer.

So any pointers of what to look for are appreciated :)
 
Check for rust in the rear arches, check for rust in the top of the tailgate near the hinges, check for alloy wheel corrosion (my 54 plate sport had rusty arches and horribly corroded alloys that dealer fixed for me before I bought it). Other than that just check everything works I guess I assume the TS doesn't have the DSC which can go expensively wrong (although it's fine on mine)
 
One thing you'll notice instantly is that the fuel consumption on the 1.6 Mazda3 is pretty poor, we're talking mid-30s at best. Around the city you might not even see 30.

I'd be tempted to try and get the replacement of the tyre into the bargain. If it's so bad that it's below the legal limit I'd push pretty hard for it.

They are pretty decent looking though, I guess.
 
Thanks for the pointers guys.

Yeah Im gonna push for a new tyre and £100 off towards the paintwork.
Either that or push for a bit more tradein on my focus.
 
I cant see what this car is going to offer for almost twice the price of your Focus. You might be sick of the Focus and I can understand why but you'll soon be sick of the Mazda as well, it has an absolutely gutless engine.
 
Enjoyed the Test drive, seemed fairly nippy compared to my diesel.
Stopped at the lights I had to check if the engine had stalled, VERY quiet inside even with the Windows open.

Really like the inside compared to the focus, whats with all the little hidey compartments tho I dont know lol. Offered 1700 trade in for my Focus which would leave 1300 to pay.

Some quick equations going on published data means that the running of the car fuel wise will see me a couple of more hundred a year, tax will be an extra 30 a year but my insurance won't change.

Everything is saying go for it tbh, it seems fairly keenly priced going by others I can see within a reasonable travel time the next engines up including the sports version and such I can see adding a fair amount to my insurance :( From what I've rezd the engine seems to be 103bhp the focus was only 113/115 (depending where I looked) so not really much of a power difference, that on top of I dont really scream around the place :p
 
~Divine~Wind~ said:
Enjoyed the Test drive, seemed fairly nippy compared to my diesel.
Stopped at the lights I had to check if the engine had stalled, VERY quiet inside even with the Windows open.

Really like the inside compared to the focus, whats with all the little hidey compartments tho I dont know lol. Offered 1700 trade in for my Focus which would leave 1300 to pay.

Some quick equations going on published data means that the running of the car fuel wise will see me a couple of more hundred a year, tax will be an extra 30 a year but my insurance won't change.

Everything is saying go for it tbh, it seems fairly keenly priced going by others I can see within a reasonable travel time the next engines up including the sports version and such I can see adding a fair amount to my insurance :( From what I've rezd the engine seems to be 103bhp the focus was only 113/115 (depending where I looked) so not really much of a power difference, that on top of I dont really scream around the place :p
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FWIW my 2.0 Sport cost me ~£465 to insure this year at 24 with 2 years ncb and a declared fault accident (50:50 2 years ago...) but on the other hand it does get absolutely shocking fuel economy (high 20s on a good tank)
 
Fully appreciate that you're probably sick of the 'claggedy claggedy' Focus diesel, but unless all you do is pootle about, isn't a 1.6TS going to be a bit slow? You might want to consider the 2.0, or alternatively find another £1.5k or so, and get the wedge shaped version of the Honda Civic, which is going to be a lot more fun to drive that the 1.6 3.
 
mnet674 said:
FWIW my 2.0 Sport cost me ~£465 to insure this year at 24 with 2 years ncb and a declared fault accident (50:50 2 years ago...) but on the other hand it does get absolutely shocking fuel economy (high 20s on a good tank)
Click to expand...

Is this normal for a sport? I've got a late 07 3 MPS (110PS more than) and on the trip comp its lifetime average is 28.7mpg with a heavy right foot.
 
All I do is pretty much work and back mate, Longest drive I've done was upto Berwick for the day lol. Stretching funds as it is I just want rid of this POS and tradein seems the best way

EDIT: Ins is £617ish, which is what it was on the focus for Fully Comp with enhanced courtesy car thru admiral.

28,1yr ncb NE16, only been driving a year
 
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mosfet said:
Is this normal for a sport? I've got a late 07 3 MPS (110PS more than) and on the trip comp its lifetime average is 28.7mpg with a heavy right foot.
Click to expand...

My driving is all short trips on dual carriageways around Peterborough and the early 5 speed box is pointlessly short geared, I'm sure a later 6 speed would be better. I have managed around 33-34mpg on a long round trip on motorways...
 
Well they appear to be messing me around with paperwork and "waiting" on book n service history appearing, hmm.

[TW]Fox;19558480 said:
I don't really get how a 53 plate Focus is a pos yet an 04 Mazda 3 base model is not. It's what, 6 months newer?
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What would you advise for around this (relatively low) price of around 3k
 
Trade in is off...

Was meant to pick it up last monday but hey were messing me around about paperwork n stuff. Few days later, had a bit of a slide, insurance got back to me today.... Sounds like its being written off :(

Waitin on seeing what they say value wise ><

Was a dead give away when they were expecting all the stuff in the mail and only the V5 came, I reckon they were trying to get another book stamped up tbh and dragging it out as long as they could manage
 
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