Mazda MX-3 1.8V6
 

Hello

Anybody had any experience with these?

My girlfriend is wanting an early model (1991-1994) as a first car, good or bad idea?

Thanks

Ian

When i was a little Oik i used to wash my dads neighbours and i went in it once.

nippy rather than quick but a nice smooth V6 engine but quite nice inside although very cramped in the back

I had one about 6 years ago.
It was a 92 on a J. I never had one problem in the 2 years I had it. I was doing decent milage in it and it served me very well.
It performed well enough, sounded good and was OK for insurance too.
I sold it to one of the guys I had as a lodger so it continued to sit outside the house and it continued to run as well as it did with me.
He still has it yet and afaik the main prob he has atm is the fact there is a hole in the fuel tank about 3/4 of the way up.
It would be a car that I would highly recommend and they are nice and cheap for what you are getting.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/09...99/mx_crop.jpg

Sounds good so far :)

PG, dont suppose your old one is for sale is it?

Ian

wouldnt have thought so.
If I see him I will ask and see what he says.

Paul

hey :)
sounds like a reliable car then...what's fuel consumption like though?
I'm the girlfriend btw :D

It was a good while back I had it and cant remember exactly but I would imagine it was mid 30's to the gallon but as with any V6 the more you rev it (and it never feels like it is working too hard) the more it drinks :D

Anymore views from present or past owners?

This could be my first car...so...btt :)

Hi there,

I had a 1.6 litre MX3 identical looking to the green one above (as I had it upgraded with the additional chin and side spoilers that come on the V6)

I had the car for over 5 years and it never missed a beat. Flogged it 2 years back. Got a faulty manifold replaced after 3 months under warranty but otherwise just regular servicing. Problem being they really mean REGULAR servicing - 6,000 miles/6 month intervals and fairly expensive Mazda servicing at that. Apart from the manifold nothing other than servicing and consumables was needed.

The car was really really nice. It was difficult to bring myself to get rid of it and I hung on for ages. It was great fun to drive fast, and you sit quite low to the ground. Handling was fairly decent too once I replaced the stock tyres with P6000's (fairly cheap as it was on trick 15 alloys). It would not win any traffic light Grand Prixs with anything better than a warm hatch (about 9.8 to 60 for the 1.6L, 7.8 for the 1.8 V6 IIRC) so there are many quicker cars out there, however it was great fun to blat around when there was noone else around.

Great looking car (my opinion of course) with a fantastic rear three-quarters view, and fairly rare on the roads. I still like the look of them now and the Mica Green is lovely paintwork (no stonechipping either). Wish I'd bought the V6, as the 1.6 was not quite nippy enough for that rush you sometime want. Went for the 1.6 because of cheaper insurance and servicing but that was a bad move and false economy so avoid.

Couple of downsides - Rear seats totally useless for anyone over 5ft over more than 5 minutes. Although the seats felt supportive and looked nice too, they got uncomfortable after longish drives (>1hr). My car didn't have aircon and black half-leather interior meant it cooked up somewhat in summer. Aircon is hard to find on UK cars, but if you went for an import it would have a higher spec. Bear in mind Jap MX3's have a silly name, just as MX5's are Eunos roadsters. Mazda Camidia or something silly. Stereo was good once I replaced it :D.

Anything else more specific you need, post it up, or PM me.

Ahhhh nostalgia rocks :D

Hope this helps
Joolz

MX-3
 

wife had the 1.6i great car no problems in 3 years.she actually misses it even though she has a civic type-r.only problem i can see is lack of secondhand spares so expensive trips to dealers if something is needed but it must be one of the most reliable cars on the road and can be picked up cheaply.no problems with adults in the back seats.nice little if slow coupe.