Lavawinder

Howdy all,

Thanks to my impending mid-life crisis, I've been crawling through the site for the last couple of weeks digging up information on my next toy. As I've got a bum left knee, I've been looking for an automatic but haven't decided if I want a Series1 or Series2. The majority of the Series1's in this town, I've found, are '04s and '05s with motors that don't start when they're hot.

Today I found a 2006 Sport (AT) with 60k on it.

Here's the red-lights:

-Got a no-start and misfire on the first start attempts. (It may have been sitting as long as 4 days.) Popped codes 0301 and 0336 for the Rotor 1 misfire and ESS, with accompanying flashing CEL.
-Coils, plug wires, and starter had dust/grime matching the rest of the engine and didn't look to have been changed.
-Battery had a Mazda logo on it with a sticker that said "2013". I don't know if that was a warranty expiration or installation date.
-There's no maintenance records and the oil was a little on the dark side.

Here's the good:

-The body and interior were in great shape.
-It's a one-owner and had the campaign sticker for MSP 16.
-After the test drive, I shut it down and it started right back up.
-I talked to Mazda and the car wasn't purchased until Jan 07, so it's still got another 9-10 months on the engine warranty.

I offered them about $1700 below what they're asking and said I'd take it "as is." I think they're taking a loss on it no matter what as they had it priced at KBB for a GT, but I think they're even more scared with the misfire and CEL. After a long sob story about how they're not making anything at that price, the manager said he'd take another look at what he's got in it and call me tomorrow.

Based on what I've learned here, this is a pretty solid ride that would benefit from cleaning the ESS, new plugs, wires, coils and batteries. Did I put that together right or did I bite off more than I should have?

Thanks, and standing by for input!

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

Good self education and a good inspection it sounds like. You still should get a compression test if you are taking it "as is"

Lavawinder

Thanks for the quick reply. I think I follow what you're saying, in that I don't want to end up with a motor that holds just above the "replace" compression level for 11 months with a 10 month warranty.

Has anyone put together enough data points to put together an age/miles/compression graph so you can predict degradation or does it vary enough with driving & maintenance practices that there's no good correlation?

niteshade247

Lots of variation to meany factors as to why joe's engine failed at 37k and mike's is still running with 85% compression at 150k. has a lot to do with keeping up with maintenance and all the little do's and don'ts. If not for this site I more than likely would have killed my engine out of ignorance along time ago.

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

No, you can't predict it. There are plenty of engine failures that occur due to simple old age, however most occur because of either negligence or ignorance. A thermostat failure can kill one in a few seconds, a cat failure can damage one that will take 40,000 miles to die (like mine), or you can do everything right and a faulty build takes it out, or you can do nothing right and the engine manages to live anyway.