Remedial student

H

Hal9000

Greenie N00B Member
Hi all,
This is really me doing my due diligence before buying. I've recently narrowed my search for a new toy down to either an ms6 or an ms6... (I can convince my wife it's a commuter/family hauler, the AWD is year round practical, and I have an affinity for lesser known cars).

Anyway, if anyone has suggestions on evaluating these cars I'd appreciate it. There are precious few anywhere near me, but that doesn't mean I'm interested in buying a lemon. If I know the right questions to ask it could save me a days drive with a flatbed or the cost of a plane ticket... especially since I don't have as much time as I used to to build my nerd knowledge before I buy....

About the only red flag I've found so far is to be wary of engine damage from lean conditions when people have tried to tune without doing adequate fuel system upgrades....

Thanks all, hopefully this is just the first of a lot of posts.

Thanks guys.
 
Thanks for the link!
Def not knocking the 3's, but I'm just not as at home with front drive cars. That being said I actually started my research with the speed3's since there so much more common and I was on the lookout for a hot hatch. I might still end up with one if I get totally stymied in my search for a 6, but at least for now I don't expect that will be the case.
 
A speed 3 with snow tires will be fine in when winter up until the snow is over the bumper
 
Hal I never thought you were knocking them, That's fair I'd rather drive my 3 on shit weather days unless snow is so high I don't have ground clearance that the MDX we have, I'm not nearly as comfortable with AWD so I get it The 3s diff is surprisingly good in snow.

There are 6s on the market but it's becoming hard to find a good one which makes sense they're older now.
 
Hal9000 said:
Thanks for the link!
Def not knocking the 3's, but I'm just not as at home with front drive cars. That being said I actually started my research with the speed3's since there so much more common and I was on the lookout for a hot hatch. I might still end up with one if I get totally stymied in my search for a 6, but at least for now I don't expect that will be the case.
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Hey man glad you joined and glad some people are not giving in to the 3s just since they're easier to find lol I love my speed 6 so you will too! My thoughts of checking one out are a few things. First obviously check fluids to see how fresh they look. I would look underneath to see if there is any signs of leaks from engine, trans, transfer case, and rear diff. I have been lucky to not have a terrible time with it but some seem to also have lots of issues with power steering leaks.

If you're serious about the car then buy a compression tester and check each cylinder for good compression.

Here is a link if you need to know how to do it.

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Each compression tester won't have the exact same readings so just look for similar numbers!

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Thanks guys,
Good to know about the diff on the 3, I knew they had lsd but hadn't heard much about cold weather performance. Honestly snow is less of a problem around here than glare ice and heavy snow over powder, which can be hard to negotiate even with AWD.

Currently looking at a 110k mile example that's had a ton of recent scheduled maintenance and a 75k example that I'm still waiting for more info on. The closest one is still 500ish miles away though. Makes test drives difficult ... (Grumble). I'm used to being on the sellers end when it comes to uncommon cars. The rest have all fallen in my lap. This is the first time I'm actually searching one out.
 
Hal9000 said:
Thanks guys,
Good to know about the diff on the 3, I knew they had lsd but hadn't heard much about cold weather performance. Honestly snow is less of a problem around here than glare ice and heavy snow over powder, which can be hard to negotiate even with AWD.

Currently looking at a 110k mile example that's had a ton of recent scheduled maintenance and a 75k example that I'm still waiting for more info on. The closest one is still 500ish miles away though. Makes test drives difficult ... (Grumble). I'm used to being on the sellers end when it comes to uncommon cars. The rest have all fallen in my lap. This is the first time I'm actually searching one out.
Click to expand...
Not sure on the thread so maybe @Awafrican would know or someone else but if you're a member I think @Raider can look up all the goods and info on the cars if you provide VIN :D
 
StreetSpeed6 said:
Not sure on the thread so maybe @Awafrican would know or someone else but if you're a member I think @Raider can look up all the goods and info on the cars if you provide VIN :D
Click to expand...
Yup Raider runs car fax for Free for our metal members, can be accessed once you've donated to the forum ( first tier is 10usd/yr). Thread in the metal member section along with the work shop manuals also gives you access to the forsale section and monthly raffles ( no fee to enter those)
 
Oh that's cool. Thanks once again guys.

Gotta say I'm enjoying the friendliness around these parts. Better than a few other enthusiast forums I've been part of in years past!

I've got a little communicating and research to do on both cars, but assuming one of them (or another deal) works out I know where I'll be posting!
 
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