New to platform buying guide

[dommurino]

Hello everyone,



I have been a part of the community since 2020 with a 2011 Mazdaspeed 3. I got her with 130K and as of today she is at 208k. This platform has been great to me and since these cars are coming up of their 20th birthday soon and I am sure there will be new people to the platform, I want to start creating a comprehensive guide to these cars. So, I figured the best place to start is a buying guide on what to check.



I have taken a first pass at gathering all the things that need to be looked at when it comes to these cars, however I am sure something has been missed. Please feel free to play around with the spreadsheet that I have made and add some suggestions or criticism. As you go through it there are some items that will have more weight than others. For example, a timing chain that needs to be replaced is more detrimental to the overall engine score than a PCV that needs to be replaced due to the overall complexity and cost of the job. Let me know if things need to be adjusted and what needs to be added/removed.



Perhaps take your car and go through this and see what the score is. Keep in mind this list at the moment is targeted at speeds that are not heavily modified since I am assuming that someone that has heavily modified or is buying a heavily modified car will not need this guide.

 

[Raider]

We have a couple threads just for the new buyers.

Thread 'What to Look For When Buying a Used Mazdaspeed'

Mar 22, 2020

*** I made this thread elsewhere, saving here as it looks like the old forum shut down.***

Buying a used Mazdaspeed can be tricky. You may have some stancenation slammed car missing the suspension, a salvage rebuild, flood, rep, stolen, or just overly modified/abused car. All used cars are like this until proven otherwise.

This is for the possible issues that they may have, not too common, but can be $$$. These are in order of receipt, not as priority, and all are really good tips!

1) Get your own mechanic to inspect it, or get an independant to check it out. Why? Carfax/Autocheck is...

• Raider
• Replies: 1
• Forum: Forum News and Announcements

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then

Thread 'Congratulations! You bought your Mazdaspeed. Now what??'

May 5, 2024

Ok, so you have done research (or didn't) and now you have a Speed. Congratulations! Now you are looking at customization, adding power, tuning, etc. In this thread, we are going to discuss steps we recommend (or wish we had taken) in our path to power.

Good started reference is what to look for in buying a Mazdaspeed.
https://mazdaspeeds.org/index.php?threads/what-to-look-for-when-buying-a-used-mazdaspeed.10009/

Moving on, here is the advice we have to offer you. You may have a 100K mile pretty stock speed. However, before checking on on that parts order, you need to take a lot...

• Raider
• Replies: 23
• Forum: New Member Introduction Section

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