So, talk to me about the Mazda 3

I found an amazing deal for one on Craigslist. seriously, amazing. I'm not getting my hopes up that I will get it, just because she said she has had so many emails about it. But anyways...

Its an 04 sedan. It's got side curtain airbags, and a whole slew of other (safety) stuff. I think she took the posting off of CL because she got so many emails about it lol (because of the price. she moved to Great britain and can't drive it there!)

Southpaw, I know you have one. How do you like it? Give me everything you know. I need to make a decision about this asap. I'm tempted to just say give me the car. If I decide I don't want it I could make a lot money off of it and then I could get my Saturn Vue I've been lusting over LOL.

what are they asking and what is the mileage? hatchback or sedan?

since the north american version was never tested with the side impact airbags or side curtains, it got a "poor" rating from IIHS. however, when it was tested in europe with them, it got a near perfect score! it also stops in a shorter distance than any other car in its class (thanks to oversized brakes and tires). stability control was not an option on that year, but tire pressure monitoring (TPMS) was. check to see if this one has it. (it was probably packaged with something else like xenon headlights or leather seats).

the 04 was the first year for the 3, so there were some typical first year quirks that were taken care of in subsequent years. make sure the person selling it has the maintenance/repair history, hopefully with receipts to back it up. if it has less than 48,000 miles, it may still be under the factory warranty.

we love ours. it rides kind of stiff and some people may not like that if they drive on really rough roads, but after owning it for a year, my wife and i both agree that it would be difficult to go back to a "mushy" car. it just holds the road so nicely .

what we like:

acceleration
braking
handling
stereo (awesome for a factory stereo)
interior layout/design/ergonomics
exterior styling
fuel efficiency (we hit 33 on the highway)
predicted reliability
high resale value
can use borrowed anchors for center LATCH install

what we dislike:

smaller trunk than some other cars in class (we can fit a maclaren double and single at the same time in the trunk with room for other stuff, but one full size stroller will eat up most of the space)

weak A/C for people who live in very hot/humid climate (adequate until high 90s and humid, then struggles to keep up)

slightly more road noise than other cars in class


aidensmom also has an 07 3, but it's the speed3 version with turbocharged motor and race-tuned suspension, so it's a different beast. but she may chime in on things she likes/dislikes.

16,464 miles

Its the sedan. I like the look of the hatchback better, but for the price I could care LESS!

She's asking $3,000 for it. Yes, I thought it was a typo so I emailed her just to make sure (considering most on my CL are going for at least $10,000). It kind of led me to think something was wrong with it, but IDK. She has it at a warehouse (since she is not living in the states), and will ship it to me. If I decide its a dud and I don't want it I can send it back (her words )

The title is clear (she gave me all the #'s off the car).

I'll ask her for the maintnence history. Didn't even think about that.

ETA: Weak AC huh? well that could be an issue. I live in Phoenix. As long as I can put dd in the middle and just have the air blowing on her, it shouldn't be a huge deal though. We try and stay inside during the summer anyways

Thanks!

I don't mean to rain on your parade, but that sounds almost too good to be true in a very fishy kind of way, with the asking price at a fraction of the sales price for similar used models, and the need to ship the car to you. Is there any way you can verify the car truly exists in person, and ideally have a mechanic inspect it, before closing the deal? Maybe I'm just too cautious by nature and I'm barking up the wrong tree, but there are scammers out there on craigslist and elsewhere who would gladly take the money and run, and leave you high and dry without anything to show for it. The deal you're describing sets off those type of alarms bells for me, and I'd hate to see that happen. :twocents:

Iluvbabies57 said:

16,464 miles

Its the sedan. I like the look of the hatchback better, but for the price I could care LESS!

She's asking $3,000 for it. Yes, I thought it was a typo so I emailed her just to make sure (considering most on my CL are going for at least $10,000). It kind of led me to think something was wrong with it, but IDK. She has it at a warehouse (since she is not living in the states), and will ship it to me. If I decide its a dud and I don't want it I can send it back (her words )

The title is clear (she gave me all the #'s off the car).

I'll ask her for the maintnence history. Didn't even think about that.

ETA: Weak AC huh? well that could be an issue. I live in Phoenix. As long as I can put dd in the middle and just have the air blowing on her, it shouldn't be a huge deal though. We try and stay inside during the summer anyways

Thanks!

Click to expand...

well, for $3000, if she still has the car for sale, then i would suspect that something is seriously wrong... or worse, the car was a wreck salvage. sometimes the title can stay clear if the car wasn't actually totalled, but close...

check the wear on the tires. if the tires aren't worn evenly, that's a sign the car's frame is bent. also if the tires are brand new... 16k is low mileage to replace tires, maybe the new ones are hiding signs of being in a wreck.

OR, the car has much higher mileage and the odomoter was replaced with one from a wreck with low mileage (you can buy them on ebay!!!).

i'm just trying to think of all the possibilities... but if it's legitimate, $3000 for a car worth over $12000 is a pretty good deal, it just seems too good to be true.

will she let you take it to a mechanic? try finding a good mechanic who will give it a thorough go-over for $75.

another thing that i thought of, is that if she is leaving the country and needs to "unload" this car ASAP, she could just drive it into the nearest dealership and ask them to give her low blue-book on it (roughly equivalent to auction price)... maybe $8k??? i know someone who did this with a 2 year old honda CRV. he was moving to switzerland and needed to sell it in one week. he didn't want to bother with showing the car to people so he just drove it onto the dealer lot and asked the dealer to buy it... he left an hour later with a bank check (he only got $14k and the car was worth $19k but his company was giving him a HUGE relocation package so he didn't care).

Yes, I know it sounds too good to be true. I'm sorta worried about that!!

I can't check it out in person. She has it in a warehouse through worldpay (its a scottish banking company. but they do all kinds of stuff). All the money woudl be going through them first. I gave my phone #, and they (world pay) are supposed to be calling me about it (then I get thinking... How do I know she doesn't work there and is the one calling me? ykwim?)

Oh, and it was just listed on craigslist last night. She answered my emails this morning and said she had a bunch. Then when I said I was seriously intrested she said that I was the first one who sent a "seriously intrested" email back so I've got first dibs.

I don't know...Now that I've actually had time to sit and think today (Imagine that! I get to think! lol) I'm not so sure. I don't want to end up screwed and out $3,000.

Iluvbabies57 said:

Yes, I know it sounds too good to be true. I'm sorta worried about that!!

I can't check it out in person. She has it in a warehouse through worldpay (its a scottish banking company. but they do all kinds of stuff). All the money woudl be going through them first. I gave my phone #, and they (world pay) are supposed to be calling me about it (then I get thinking... How do I know she doesn't work there and is the one calling me? ykwim?)

Oh, and it was just listed on craigslist last night. She answered my emails this morning and said she had a bunch. Then when I said I was seriously intrested she said that I was the first one who sent a "seriously intrested" email back so I've got first dibs.

I don't know...Now that I've actually had time to sit and think today (Imagine that! I get to think! lol) I'm not so sure. I don't want to end up screwed and out $3,000.

Click to expand...

uh-oh. warehouse, can't be seen in person, and third-person money holdings... BIG RED FLAG. sounds like a scam.

Yes, I just asked where the warehouse was (she just told me US. well THAT really narrows it down! and I keep becoming more suspicious because I've been asking for a CITY the whole time. city, NOT country! ) cause I wanted it checked out by a mechanic. we'll see....

Ditto, major red flags. Those additional details are very sketchy and not reassuring at all about it being a legitimate deal.

Ok, I think this person has figured out that I've caught on. No email back telling where the exact location is cause I want to get it checked out. The longest I've had to wait for any other email from her was about 2 hours.