Hey guys, Just to let you know that i've been reading for months on this forum. It's been great, the website is very informational. I do have a question before i purchase an 8. How many miles was on your car before you bought it?
I'm looking at a 04 6spd gt with 172 miles. I guess my concern is people that test drove it, prolly red line it every time. Should i just be safe and spend little more money on a 05 with 10 miles, or save money and buy it with 172 miles. I know there is a break in period, but how many of you really avoid redlining it the first 500 miles.? Maybe I'm just being a paranoid. Thanks

Merry christmas, and hopefullly I'll be getting myself a nice present soon!

 

Redline in the first 500 miles?? only been there once and have 1500 on her. Mine had 7 miles on it when bought (04). Most test drives are done with a sales guy in car so severe abuse would be doubtfull but a bit of a concern. With a 4 year warrenty though I think your safe, think of the price you could get on the 04.

 

I would go with the 04. It will be cheaper, and there isn't that much different between the 04 and the 05. I bought an 04 at the end of October and got a good deal on it b/c it was the end of the month and they were trying to get the 04's off of the lot. It had about 80 miles on it.

I wouldn't worry about the test drivers pushing the red line. Scottmhr1 has a good point. Most test drives are done with a salesman in the car.

Good luck with your purchase. I hope you don't run across a bad experience with a salesman or run into any other problems.

 

Well scott, I agree with you about the warranty, so i shouldnt worry.
In regards with test driving the car at the dealership, I went there with another friend and they couldnt get the car(the model i wanted) to start since the battery was dead. So they let me test drive a brand new 05 by myself. The car had only 10 miles on it. Sadly, to get the full feel of the car i red line it to 8500 a couple of times. In fact, on the open roads i drove it hard. I wanted to test the acceleration and brake response. I dont think i would actually do it, if i own the car. But coming from myself, i can see every person that test drove it, would have the same mindset as mine. I guess 172 isnt bad though, another dealership had a 04 model with 710 miles!

 

It may or may not be all test drive miles. Maybe someone at the dealership loaned it for a while and used it as a day-to-day car. Not sure, just try to find out the situation for that specific car.

There are some members here that got there car with 10 miles or less and didn't adhere to the break-in period whatsoever(constant red lines) and their cars are still perfect. The renesis is capable to rev 11s. You should be alright. Try to work out a deal with an extended warranty to ease your mind.

 

I had about 40km (divide by 1.6 to get miles) upon delivery. I still haven't redlined the car (came close) and I have about 1200km. I wouldn't be terribly worried about the 172 miles on the car. Mazda specifies that there isn't a break-in period (just vary the speed from time to time) but most of us do it anyways to be on the safe side.

Again, I don't think much damage would have been done to the car if it met the red line a couple of times ... as long as it wasn't cruising at redline the whole time (I don't know who does that). Go for it!

 

I got an 05 that had about 35 miles on it. Like others said, I doubt the one you speak of has been redlined during test drives. I just redlined mine for the first time at 1100 miles.

You should be able to get a good deal on the 04. Check for factory rebates and dealer incentives. Best of luck!

 

Not paranoia, just common sense and logic. It's impossible to drive this car without at least occasionally redlining it. IMHO, anyone who takes a test drive in one of these cars is going to run it up to see what it is capable of. I would look for one with much fewer miles on it.

BTW, I was fortunate that the one I selected on-line, sight-unseen had only 4 miles on it when delivered, and it still had all the shipping stuff on it like plastic all over the interior, gunk on the paint, etc. And the salesperson gleefully pointed out the low mileage to me after I had agreed to purchase the car as if saying, this one hasn't been abused like the other ones with higher mileage. Of course, that was my interpretation of his comment and the manner in which he delivered the comment.

Good luck with your purchase.

 

Lol, cruising at redline!