Buying 2006 Mazda3 2.3l sedan, what issues to look for ...

[NIKNEJM]

Hello frends.
My name is Vojo. I'm here on forum for a first time.
My wife an me are planing to buy a car, and 2006 Mazda 3 2.3l appeared. Since this should be our first car (we are new comers) I am asking you, people on the forum, to give us some advice when buying this car.
I have read on the Internet that this model of Mazda 3 have certain issues with oil consumption in their 2.3l engines. Is that true and on what Km amount we have to expect this issue and how to find out if this is already happening?
Are there any other issues, except rust problems, that I could expect with this model?
Note, I have some knowledge in mechanics so I believe that I will understand any technical term that you throw at me, even in English. ;)
Thank you in advance for answers.

[JonsMazda]

What is your budget?

[Sonic31]

Check the passenger motor mount, common failure problem. Look for for dark stains on the aluminum mount.

That, really has been the only real problem I have had with mine (2006 Mazda 3 2.3L, 5 pd Auto, 260K).

Everything else has been common wear stuff, brakes, one bearing, thermostat, exhaust leak, rust...

Knock on wood, mine has been pretty much bullet proof so far.

[NIKNEJM]

2 JonsMazda : We found one for 5200$ incl. tax. 150K, manual, really conserved one, no wear inside what so ever, seats are like new, etc. All in all, around 5000$ is the budget.
Only problem is that I am not in Canada yet, I am back in Europe for now. My wife is there, in Toronto, an she found this car. I was afraid to tell her to buy it because I haven't had any experience with Mazda what so ever, so I'm starting this thread. I had Ford Mondeo Caravan back in Europe, diesel, with some issues about this model about which I didn't know when I bought it, and which I met few months after. And there I learned to be careful.

2 Sonic31 : You didn't notice any oil consumption up to those Km? Those things that you posted are really common wear and tear. I'm glad about that.

Thank you so far.

Waiting for more answers, though.

[JonsMazda]

Check rear wheel well....usually rust starts there.

[Sonic31]

I'd have to say that it is consuming a bit more oil than it used to, I'd say prob half to three quarters of a quart low when I go for an oil change. I change it every 6-8K so, IMHO that's not horrible. I do have a small oil leak though, on the top of the cylinder head (under the cover) which is probably contributing a bit to the oil loss. Not a big deal, prob just needs a new gasket or seal, prob less than $100 to fix.

In regards to rust, check the rear wheel wells, around the rear brake light, under the plastic door sills, and for bubbling on the black pillars around and between the windows. Those seem to be the biggest problem areas. For the wheel wells, the rust (in my case) worked it's way up from inside the wheel well. So for the longest time it looked fine, until it finally worked it way out from the lip to the side of the car. So make sure when checking you don't just look at the side of the car, feel up and inside the rear wheel onto the lip and see how rusted that is. I probably had $3-500 of rust damage to my car before it ever really became visible.

Also, if it's from a dealer, try and get him to throw in a throttle body cleaning with your purchase. It can get kinda gummed up in our engines. Not a huge deal, just makes for a bit of an erratic idle, but might as well start off with nice clean one, and if it's never been done to the car, at 150K it's probably due.

[NIKNEJM]

Thank you Sonic31. It is very helpful for me.
Rust isn't my major concern, though it's good to know where to look an what to expect.

One thing more, does Canadian cars have service book or something similar to that? Maybe a strange question but one man from Toronto told me that cars in Canada don't have service book at all.
In Europe, every car is supplied with service book at purchase, where your dealer or service logs service history and other things related to the car maintenance. When you buy a car that does not have that book expect that something was wrong with that car, in most cases odometer was rolled back.
It's a little strange to me, if it is true what that guy said to me, how do you track service history otherwise?

[Sivart444]

We have a similiar idea called CarFax or CarProof - most dealerships are able to provide that record of any accidents or big issues in the history of the vehicle/changes of ownership/out of province registration etc.


2006 was one of the worse rust years if not maintained. I think they made a huge stride in the 2007 models for avoiding it - if you see a newer model in your price range.

ALSO: I would always have a third party mechanic take a thorough look and make sure that nothing really stands out before you commit to spending the money

Good luck!

[Tuscani01]

Im driving an 05 2.3l sedan with 170k on it. (Also bought it when it had 150k). So far the only work I needed done was replacing a thermostat, and replacing my strut mounts. The car runs flawlessly, and is not burning oil. Rust is starting to creep up around my driver side rear wheel well though, as well as on my B-Pillars. I don't plan on keeping the car for more than 2 years, so that is not an issue for me.