I have been offered a 1993 'K' registered eunos (mazda) mx-3.

looks like this, pic from google, so not the actual one, it is the came colour tho. http://www.meinekarre.de/cars/Mazda_MX-3_bretzn.jpg

It has the 1.8l V6 engine and is in fairly good condition, although it has been off the road for a while (about a year) as the current owner became unemployed after he had it on the road for about 2 years and never got round to tax and mot it again as he couldnt afford to.

It has a few minor scuffs and scratches in places, but nothing major. It also needs 4 new tyres, but my alloys on my current car will go on it anyway if i do buy it so that doesnt matter.

The main reason i am especially interested in it is because it is a japanese imported one that was brought over here in '99 and it has electric windows, power steering, and air conditioning.

He is sick of it being sat there on his drive and only wants £250 for it, and im thinking, bargain!

My mate has an mx-5 import that is only 1.6 and is very quick, so im thinking that a v6 1.8 in a similar sized car is gonna be very rapid indeed!

Does anyone know much about the mx-3 specifically. Any problems they are prone to suffer with in general, etc..

Thanks in advance!

Can you really lose with £250?

Uh... I believe it's a good car, but there's no way you should buy that, it's a girl's car! Over here it's called the Precidia, and trust me, I've never ever seen a bloke in one of those.

its like an opel tigra...


plenty of poke for the stupid yoke they put in it...


id Still put her up on a lift and give her a once over...


boy racers/joy riders LOVE these...

Go for it, at £250 I'm sure you could make a profit selling it to non-contact oval racers, I would have snapped a tatty one up for that when I was looking for cars, but even relatively tatty ones weren't going for under £400 on ebay.

You can get some really nice headlights/taillights for it on ebay though, and other aftermarket parts too of course.

Quote from shiny_red_cobra :

You can get some really nice headlights/taillights for it on ebay though, and other aftermarket parts too of course.

They look awful and cost as much as the car...

One thing you have to consider...

Quote :

it is a japanese imported one that was brought over here in '99

Insurance will cost you a FORTUNE!!!!!

Seriously...they sting you bigtime on imports..mate of mine is paying £230 per MONTH on his import...(admittedly it IS a GT-R34)...but still heavy!

Also, make sures it setup to run on the typical 95 and 98 RON fuel that we get here, as pretty much all of japan use's 100 RON fuel.

Quote from Nathan_French_14 :

Also, make sures it setup to run on the typical 95 and 98 RON fuel that we get here, as pretty much all of japan use's 100 RON fuel.

Or just use Tesco Ultimate which is 99 RON.

Sounds like a tidy car - but make sure you get an insurance quote FIRST!

Agree about the insurance.

The car itself is a blast, the engine is awesome. I really like how they look too, but that is a matter of opinion anyway. Take a good look at it, but at that price it should be a steal no matter what.

doesn't the MX-3 have that rear wheel steering system too? I would take it for that price, and afaik its quite rare in europe

that was the MX-6 IIRC
the v6 from the MX-3 sounds pretty nice tho

Quote from ACCAkut :

doesn't the MX-3 have that rear wheel steering system too? I would take it for that price, and afaik its quite rare in europe

It was the Mazda 626, MX-6 and RX-7 (optional). At least that's what i found on Wiki.

I had a Mazda 323 with a 2.0 V6 engine... was running great!

The MX-3 has the rear-wheel steering (TTL - Twin Trapezoidal Link) as well. And one of the smallest V6's ever

The MX-3 is a weird one. It's one of the few cars where I think the shape is enhanced by a large aftermarket spoiler.

Quote from Dajmin :

The MX-3 is a weird one. It's one of the few cars where I think the shape is enhanced by a large aftermarket spoiler.

You seem to be getting more and more fond of ricing up cars.

Scary, isn't it?

I just don't like the way the hatch on the MX-3 ends with the glass all the way to the edge, and think the spoiler disguises it a little.

Neons and spinners are optional

at least you've already got the wanker lights for the doorhandles:hide:

From everything i have read on wikipedia it sounds like a nice little car....

They're pretty solid cars as far as I've heard. You can't go wrong for £250 that's for sure.

If they're the same 1.6 and 1.8 engines they used in the MX-5 (and 323) then there's not much between them really as the 1.8 is heavier; negating the extra power.

Don't worry too much about it being an import. I've had an imported MX-5 for five years and insurance has never been a problem - you sometimes just have to shop around a bit more. Do a bit of research on the MX-3 as they're rarer.

The main advantages with imports are that they're often high spec, low mileage and have a headstart on rust since the Japs don't salt their roads like we do.

Quote from Nathan_French_14 :

Also, make sures it setup to run on the typical 95 and 98 RON fuel that we get here, as pretty much all of japan use's 100 RON fuel.

Err no, the fuel is the same.

Quote from durbster :

If they're the same 1.6 and 1.8 engines they used in the MX-5 (and 323) then there's not much between them really as the 1.8 is heavier; negating the extra power.

The 1.8 litre is a 4 valve per cylinder V6 engine, I think the 1.6 is the same engine used in the MX5 and I don't think there was a 1.8 4 pot option on the MX3.

Quote from ajp71 :

The 1.8 litre is a 4 valve per cylinder V6 engine, I think the 1.6 is the same engine used in the MX5 and I don't think there was a 1.8 4 pot option on the MX3.

OK, thanks.

I just got an insurance quote, and bearing in mind my 1600cc rover 200 costs just over 300 to insure, they only want £408 to cover me on this. Excellent!

Quote from durbster :

The main advantages with imports are that they're often high spec, low mileage and have a headstart on rust since the Japs don't salt their roads like we do.

You sure about that? I was always under the impression they did salt their roads.

Quote from sil3ntwar :

You sure about that? I was always under the impression they did salt their roads.

Not entirely sure but it's what I assumed since there's never any rust on imported cars.