I'm Indecisive

DKB2005

DKB2005

Greenie N00B Member
Greenie Member
Good Afternoon Mazdaspeed friends!

I'm currently in a state of indecision and was hoping some of you might have some input. Here's the rundown:

  • In June of 2021, we sold my wife's 2013 Explorer. We have (4) kids, but the oldest (2) graduated from high school and each have their own car (mostly). Over the 12-months before selling the Explorer, we used the third row maybe 3 times.
  • My wife had hip surgery shortly after selling the Explorer, so we were able to share my 2013 Edge until we bought a 2021 CX-5 in December of 2021. The vehicle was to be primarily hers, so we went with a non-turbo Carbon Edition.
  • In October of 2022, I sold the Edge as I was tired of having two car payments and was hoping to get into a manual sedan (ideally was looking for a Speed6).
  • My wife had some other medical issues this fall, so we've been sharing the CX-5 since I sold the Edge as she's been working only part-time.
  • She's now preparing to go back to work full-time (February 6th). I have some ability to work remotely, but I'm not fully remote so we will be hiring a sitter, and I will need a car to get to / from the office a couple of days a week.
  • As I noted above, my goal was to find a Speed6 when I sold the Edge. I've been looking, but haven't been able to find anything local(ish, I live in North Idaho but could pretty easily make a trip to Seattle, Portland or Boise).
  • In the past couple of weeks my wife has suggested that we could try to find a Forester (or possibly an Outback, Ford Escape, possibly CR-V or even an MDX) under $10k. She would drive that - so that she and our younger daughters and dogs could go on hikes and "get dirty" in the car - and I could drive the CX-5.

I've been reluctant to "accept" this fate. I'm still holding out hope for a Speed6, but I wanted to get some outside input.

If we found the right Forester (one with documentation that the head gaskets / timing belt / water pump were replaced), that could be a sound, logical buy. It would preserve the "nice-ness" of the CX-5 and suffice to get my wife to / from work and the lakes / mountains nearby. We're not crazy outdoors-y, but we do like to get out when the weather is nice. It could also, potentially, be a car we "hand down" to our (almost) 9-year old once she can drive.

The other option would be for me to stick to my guns, find a Speed6 and then we could buy protective / dog covers for the CX-5. We've already got all-weather mats (though I might upgrade to full liners).

Am I being too stubborn / hopeful? I feel like she and I could both justify going our preferred way. What's the "best" route here?
 
Why not split the difference and get a Speed 3? Probably more for sale in general and you still have a good powerful car. The hatchback is good since you'd have room for the dogs and back seat for the kids.

Or if you're just using it as a commuter car then consider a Miata. Preferably an NC chassis as they are newish and you could swap a 2.5 into it for less than a 1k if you wanted some more power.
 
L337TurboZ said:
Why not split the difference and get a Speed 3? Probably more for sale in general and you still have a good powerful car. The hatchback is good since you'd have room for the dogs and back seat for the kids.

Or if you're just using it as a commuter car then consider a Miata. Preferably an NC chassis as they are newish and you could swap a 2.5 into it for less than a 1k if you wanted some more power.
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I've kind of been considering a Speed3 as well. My preference for the Speed6 was two-fold in that: 1) I used to own a Speed6 prior to the birth of our 8-year old and 2) the AWD is nice for our snowy winters.

With that said, there are WAY more Speed3s available and I could maybe pitch the wagon as more versatile / dog friendly - though I'm not sure my wife will want to learn how to drive a manual . . .
 
So my history with speed 6's in our neck of the woods. I live @ i5 half way between Portland and Seattle...My story on a long term investment in a speed 6. Finding one in far North West USA will be a long process. Luck of course could be different but from my personal perspective bought one in Port Angeles and it was a piece of crap. I've been looking for broken motor but good condition ones. Mine after motor rebuild was installed and was so dissatisfied bought a LA CA speed 6 broken motor too (a trend here) but body / running gear was in excellent condition. Pulled motor and combined both to get one running good enough for my time and efforts to keep. Speed 6 only model OEM parts out of stock is a factor if you go down this road for long term ownership. I have no regrets with keeping a 6 with my other two speed 3's. If a speed is what you need personally I would go with a 3, if you can only have one.
 
Cfoldone said:
So my history with speed 6's in our neck of the woods. I live @ i5 half way between Portland and Seattle...My story on a long term investment in a speed 6. Finding one in far North West USA will be a long process. Luck of course could be different but from my personal perspective bought one in Port Angeles and it was a piece of crap. I've been looking for broken motor but good condition ones. Mine after motor rebuild was installed and was so dissatisfied bought a LA CA speed 6 broken motor too (a trend here) but body / running gear was in excellent condition. Pulled motor and combined both to get one running good enough for my time and efforts to keep. Speed 6 only model OEM parts out of stock is a factor if you go down this road for long term ownership. I have no regrets with keeping a 6 with my other two speed 3's. If a speed is what you need personally I would go with a 3, if you can only have one.
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Yeah - my lack of mechanical savvy has me worried a Speed6 isn't right for me. I've got about $9k for a purchase and intend to put away $2k or so from my bonus in February, plus make a small "car payment" to myself going forward. So I could cover most moderate repairs, but anything major - or requiring OEM parts as you noted - could be an issue.

In your experience, how much smaller is the MS3? I've got 5 and 8 year old daughters who would be in the back occasionally - probably almost never for drives exceeding an hour though.
 
i have a 9 and 7 year old daughters and there is plenty of room in the backseat for them. assuming they dont grow into D1 volleyball players i dont see them not fitting.
 
Depends, since your coming from the CX5, you had better go to a speed 3 for sale and drag the family along. My early days with 2 children was a Volvo 740 wagon and when I went to a Dodge Caravan was no going back.
It will be a tight fit for 2 + 2 + dogs.
If the vehicle is likely yours and one with backup vehicle duties for all > yes.
Really though if more than 2+ are a daily routine, not enough space. Especially with growth in kids... I'm 6'4" and kids are both tall.
Speed 6 are nice fast, sleeper looks. If you are dependent on paid mechanic to maintain, especially large budget items, motors especially. Look out $$
Budget a lot more money.
 
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Reviving this thread with some more information . . .

Ended up buying a 2010 Outback 3.6R Limited. It was marketed as a 1-owner vehicle, had 164k miles and had most of the service done at Subaru of Spokane (where we bought it). They even told us they'd done ~$2,600 worth of work (which included a drive belt, ball joints and rear brakes).

  • Went to register it and they couldn't process the title - there was a pending registration. Turns out the dealer sold the car then that person "traded it in two weeks later." This was my first red flag and I should have returned the car at this point.
  • Oil light came on after 2 weeks (before we even put gas in it) so I had my mechanic check it out. Noted multiple oil leaks and a transmission leak. Contacted the dealer about those issues and a weird / random transmission stutter and invoked the implied warranty that we discovered in Washington law. They provided a loaner and did a diagnostic.
  • They called to follow up and quoted us $7k in repairs (for a car we paid $9k for). We asserted we would pay no more than $1k and they (eventually) agreed. I picked up the car last Thursday and the transmission stutter is still there - probably worse.
  • Finally talked to service yesterday and they want me to bring it back for another diagnosis and implied that there may be more costs associated with any repairs.
All of that is a long way of saying I'm back in the market for a Speed. I'm hoping between their false marketing (not 1 owner, haven't provided documentation for the stated repairs after multiple requests) and all these issues that I can either return the car and get my money back or they'll fully repair it and I can sell it for what we're into it.

I did drive a Speed6 that's for sale locally but it wasn't as polished as I remember . . . I'm having trouble finding a Speed3 within the budget but would like to test drive one of those as well for comparison's sake. Any leads would be appreciated!
 
Finding a good one is tough work. But MSO Metal Members get Carfax, and there is my how-to on buying a used one which will help a lot.

Sucks you got screwed on the Subaru.
 
I have a new kid and am thinking of parting out and or selling. You wanna fly to FL for a test drive?
 
How many kids jsmith? I have three and still use it as a dd
 
Just the one is looking to be expensive enough. My commute is literally 5 minutes, so I could bike it even, so no "need" for a car. Plus with the machine tools I inherited recently I am having to get inventive with fitting everything in the garage, that's just storage too. Not actual usage.
 
Raider said:
Finding a good one is tough work. But MSO Metal Members get Carfax, and there is my how-to on buying a used one which will help a lot.

Sucks you got screwed on the Subaru.
Click to expand...

Yeah - I've had you run a few Carfaxes for me mostly with no luck. The most recent one is kind of promising. But I think it would need $2k+ worth of work, so I'd have to talk the guy down a bit. And for some reason I had trouble finding that how-to when I looked last (probably because I was trying to find it on my phone instead of a computer . . . )

jsmith said:
I have a new kid and am thinking of parting out and or selling. You wanna fly to FL for a test drive?
Click to expand...
I mean . . . if the price is right . . .

Haha. I saw a post on facebook last week and someone had found a Speed6 with 50k miles for like $5k in New Jersey. My wife DID say she would have let me fly over and drive that one back.
 
My (single owner) speed 3 is a 2012 with ~120k , with some door dings, the top needs new paint, and I think the central exhaust channel thing needs new insulation. Its been CA and FL its whole life, so no salt to worry about.

I'm looking more for ease and convenience, not top dollar, so let's move to PMs and I can give you more specifics about what's up mod wise.

Of course anything official is posted publicly
 
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