Hello, all. I’ve only recently joined and decided I’m getting either a yellow Arizona or red Euphonic NB and so I’ve been scouring the pages for months now.
I was wondering if I could have some advice.
I came across this (I think it’s allowed to post links for questions…?):
Looks nice - JR wheels, coilovers etc. But the engine bay has spots of rust and you can tell that the right side of the car has rust poking through both arches. Seller says everything solid but the price seems a bit steep considering the arches and surface rust on the tops of the rails. They’ve removed some of the photos of said arches, but you could tell they were touched up with paint at some point. Seems a difficult price to justify also considering I’d need to get it transported across half the country and I can’t see it in person.
Sounds a typical car being sold by someone who is deluded. The delusion is from thinking all the extra parts add to the value of the car. They do not.
Rust on the front chassis rails is never surface rust. The rust is due to a telescoping chassis design implemented with the Mk2 to improve crash performance. Mazda put in some sort of expoxy between the layers, which evidently hardens and cracks, creating a moisture trap. The rust is always from the inside out.
Rustng arches and sills; £750 a side, chassis rails; £500-1000. Use that to work out your price. If the car was perfect, what would you pay, then take off for the structural repairs. The seller will hate it no doubt.
Thank you for your points. I’m trying to understand if something like this would be considered not worth it, looks quite suspect to me. They’re asking 4k for it, looks to have been treated with rust converter and some sort of oil based seal. That chassis rail on the left and bits coming through on the right-side arches is what’s concerning.
One way of thinking is" Do I want a 6 grand mk2" because that is probably a starting figure for buying this car and returning it to the kind of reliable, enjoyable and sustainable condition that most enthusiasts aspire to.
It may be better to wait for that pristine low mile garage queen to come along and pay more than 4k for ultimately a better car,
Or not
According to MOT history, this is a low miles car, less than 40k. I was surprised, the only advisories were pads wearing low. Offer £2k, subject to inspection of the chassis rails, and tell him he can keep the aftermarket wheels (given he’s supplying the originals as part of the sale, according to the ad). The arches and sills look shot. The seller is pleading student poverty. He’ll be better off returning the car to standard (he has all the parts), selling the aftermarket parts seperately. The parts do not add to the value of the car. That’s not how it works.
