Hi All, after selling my mk2.5 I have my eyes on this 2007 mk3 1.8i option pack (electric hardtop). It is quite high mileage (164k miles) but does have a good service history and only had 2 owners before it made its way to a dealer (a local dealer that runs their dealership from home).
I was told that the previous lady that owned it has somehow misplaced the service book but should be able to trace the service history via the local mazda dealership as it was serviced there.
They have had some money spent on weld repair already which by what it looks like it was the sills.
I will be heading over to see the car tonight so will have more detail later, but would like to see what members with high mileage NC think? Any particular areas to look at? I have only had NA and NB so it’ll be my first time looking at a NC but guessing problem areas are similar.
Thanks in advance!
There’s another thread recently on buying an NC and what to look for. In that I posted a video on the rust problems to look for, you could take a look there as a guide on underbody rust.
Engines can go before they reach 100k miles if not well lubed and serviced properly, this one at well over that mark is doing well.
Why can’t the seller gather the service history for you, I had this supplied to me (digital history) when I bought my first NC?
Me thinking like I do, with caution, has the last owner had any servicing done by a Mazda garage/dealer, is it just sales patter?
Always buyer beware, it’s got a long MOT but how much stuff will require work come the next MOT. I take it it’s the blue PRHT just under £1800 we are after? It’ll give you almost a years driving in an NC, you can look at that way, hopefully longer but I guess it won’t be a keeper for long due to age/mileage combination.
The other thread…
Ah yes thank you! Having a watch of that video you’ve posted as well, there seems to be many more places that rust quite badly on the NC!
I will be asking the question on the service history as I feel like that should be the dealer’s responsibility to gather them? It was the blue PRHT indeed, will probably try to get the price down a little more if possible.
I am only looking for a daily for a year ish time (hopefully a bit longer) so at that price point it does work out for me.
I plan to keep the NA I own currently away from wetness and salt, however I’m currently dailying the NA with no second car 
which isn’t ideal.
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It’s quite easy to retrieve the digital history so dealer should do it. Once cars get a certain age/ mileage only the most careful owner will continue with dealer service. They may go Indy and that would show in the book you don’t have. Typical is it ends up in self service and there you need a lot of reciets to prove a good history.
With a car of high miles and little recent service history at this sort of price I would buy privately.
I bought a very similar car( except for having a third of the mileage) and I took as much notice of the owner and the condition of their house and garden as I did of the car. Both were immaculate.
Despite missing eight years service I took a punt on them not being fickle or impulsive.
With a dealer selling stuff sub 2k they will move heaven and earth to wash their hands of what they sell. You can remove their margin in a jiffy.
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You will be covered by the Customer Rights Act 2015. It might be worthwhile perusing it before you commit. The Motoring Ombudsman is a good source of information about this.
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Yea totally agree with you.
Have just finished the test drive of the car. Car did drive smooth and did feel like it was serviced regularly. Dealer will be in touch with the previous owner tomorrow to get service history (turns out he bought the car from someone from the same village, so relatively easy)
The dealer is a home based dealer trading from home, he seems nice enough and put together. I think I’m leaning toward getting the car if service history is as expected!
I’ll sleep on this one and have another think tonight and tomorrow!
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Yep will have a look into this, definitely needed this resource! Thanks heaps
What really surprised me was the rust condition of the car. It was much less rust than I expected. Subframes look ok from underneath. The usual rust spot at rear arch didn’t seem to be there.
There is a bit of surface rust on driver side rear arch, but I’m fairly confident it’s purely surface from dealing with all the NA and NB rust in the past lol.
Arms seemed non crusty as well, overall much better condition than my NB. It was super surprising since it was only 2 years apart and clearly also a daily for someone before being sold!
Bearing from one of the pulley seems to be gone so a bit squeaky. Not a deal breaker, easy fix.
The hardtop really does it for me I think, just need some time to go over insurance and stuffs as well since I’m a young owner!
Hopefully will be joining the NC/Mk3 fam soon
I bought my 2010 PRHT at 115,636 miles, rust free, engine is smooth, gearbox is fine, interior near mint. So called high mileage cars, in my case normal 8-9K PA mileage useage, are not to be overlooked. The underneath is just superficial component surface rust, a quick wire brush would have it looking better.
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As a serial buyer of NCs, five so far, I would not even bother to look at the car. High mileage and rust repairs will not make the car a good resale candidate. The car is worth no more than £800.
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Hi.
If you need any help with insurance at all then please feel free to drop me a line.
Regards,
Dan.