Hi all
I have already posted some of this on FB although not sure how much overlap there is so here is the story again!
I've just last week bought a Mazda 3 MPS, never having heard of them only a few weeks ago. I was (and still am) pretty bored with my elderly Focus 1.6 Zetec and wanted a bit of a challenge / project car to play around with. So after a quick look around I very impulsively (perhaps foolishly... perhaps not) bought a non-runner '09 Mk2 off ebay. The story from the seller (which I don't really believe) was that it had been fine, then ran out of petrol, then misfired and then wouldn't start. He said 'a few people' had had a look since but no dice. It was parked up in his yard, looked a bit sorry for itself, water in the boot and a bit mouldy inside, completely dead and wouldn't do anything. However otherwise looked tidy and had a nice reg (Y23 MPS). I gave him £1900 for it and immediately kicked myself for not getting it for less (but then I always feel like that). He had previously wanted £2500 and then dropped it to £2k and then again to 1900. See the picture for what I got.
It did have a decent history with it - it has 85k on the clock, Mazda had serviced it until 63k and since then it has been done by local garages, it had the rear coils and shocks done about 15k miles ago and a few other odds and ends. The wheels and tyres both look OK.
I had it towed to my local garage who messed about with for a couple of days, initially said they didn't know what was wrong with and I needed to take it to a dealer (!!), then after poking around a bit more told me that someone had sloshed so much oil in it that the plugs were completely soaked and there was oil everywhere. After draining it down and replacing the plugs and air filter it sprung into life, albeit with a fair amount of smoke. They have had a look over it and said that it basically looks OK otherwise and they expect that the excess oil will burn off in due course but it might be a bit smoky until it does so. The CEL is also coming on with a P0300 code which they think is likely due to the same thing, and possibly the plugs getting dirty again. The engine isn't audibly misfiring, and it seems exactly the same whether the light is on or off. It seems to happening less often now which is encouraging.
There is another issue to do with the paperwork, basically the seller appears to have given me the last but one V5C, albeit complete (nothing torn off) and it looked legit, only found a problem when I tried to tax it. DVLA have told me to send everything off to them to sort out but could take weeks... So unfortunately it is now sitting on the drive and I can't do anything with it other start the engine and annoy the neighbours by revving it occasionally. I had HPI checked it and it's not stolen / financed etc but it not easy to see exactly what has happened with the documents. I did get a proper invoice off the seller though.
The current situation is that it starts up fine, idles fine, sounds good, there is still a bit of smoke when I rev it although it is getting less, and when I have taken one or two sneaky drives up the road and back it seems fine but obviously can't give it a proper run as yet. There is a knocking noise which seems to be coming from the rear which I'll need to get to the bottom of.
There are a few other niggles which need fixing up, there's a bit of broken trim near the gearstick, the SD card for the sat-nav has gone missing and water is getting into the boot (had to remove and dry out the subwoofer and everything else in there). The interior also needs a bit of TLC but I think will scrub up quite well.
The former owner claimed he had a spare key (or rather, claimed he knew the person who had the spare key) and promised me he would get it but no sign as yet, and he clearly wanted to get rid of me the last time I tried to speak to him. So I'm not holding out much hope for it, and may need some advice on getting a replacement key.
So it's exciting... but a bit nerve wracking. I don't feel I've overpaid, and if nothing else for the moment it looks great on the drive! However I am hoping I will be able to get it on the road soon and shake down any remaining issues. Maybe I've been a bit too hasty... but then what's life without a little bit of risk here and there.
I'm looking forward to getting advice and wisdom from folks on here as things go on. Does anyone recognise the car or know anything about it? I have found reference to it being offered for sale in September last year on the Internet but nothing more.
James
