Potential future MPS owner - Common faults?

[chef]

The car is to be used as a daily so I don't want to spend more than around $24k which would put the newer model out of budget.

Seems its mostly about how well they have been serviced and a bit of luck, overall though it seems like there will be a large risk of at least one of these things occurring which isn't appealing.

If you don't plan on modding you will get if bought from a dealer 3 month warranty or you can buy extended warranty ,if you plan on modding its not a big issue if turbo goes as most will upgrade to Big Turbo anyway

[chef]

If you can stretch your budget to say $27000 you will be able to pick up a gen2 in Good condition,

[Jmac]

The car is to be used as a daily so I don't want to spend more than around $24k which would put the newer model out of budget.

Seems its mostly about how well they have been serviced and a bit of luck, overall though it seems like there will be a large risk of at least one of these things occurring which isn't appealing.

Negative, if you go onto ANY car forum and ask what the common issues are you will find each make and model has its own ins and outs.. People dont come onto a forum and compulsively brag in every thread about what is working properly on their car - food for thought

[tims]

A member here has a nice looking one for sale in NSW @gurusev FYI.

As far as they go as a car ( I have a 6 ), I love Japanese, and I'd buy another Mazda or Honda any day...

I've owned BMW - spent a stack because I thought I was buying reliability and bigger gaps between service because I was doing 40,000km/year. Fail BMW reliability, Fail BMW service quality, Fail BMW Australia. Never again.

With any car you buy there will be common issues. As you know if you buy an MPS ( or any car ) and dump the clutch off the line at every red light, one day it'll go bang. On the other hand, treat it well, join a great club like this for advice and knowledge sharing and you can't go too wrong.

Good luck.

[son of eevil]

Every car has its common faults. Just some of my previous cars and the common faults.

Prelude: timing belt tensioner failure, crank bolt breaking off and harmonic balancer falling off taking out the timing belt with it
Cressida: headgasket and auto clutchpack failure
Pintara: engine blowback pipe forcing oil into afm and ruining it

[gurusev]

Every car has its common faults. Just some of my previous cars and the common faults.

Prelude: timing belt tensioner failure, crank bolt breaking off and harmonic balancer falling off taking out the timing belt with it
Cressida: headgasket and auto clutchpack failure
Pintara: engine blowback pipe forcing oil into afm and ruining it

THIS..

Mate, the key is buy a car which has cheap aftermarket parts. Sooner or later, several parts need to be replaced however I am not implying that you buy a lemon.

Do your research and try to get the best deal out there. Don't be afraid to negotiate if you like the car. I did the same and got a pretty good deal.

Unfortunately, I need to sell my car quickly due to personal reasons..


Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2

[AzzA SP20]

If you can stretch your budget to say $27000 you will be able to pick up a gen2 in Good condition,

or you can wait and hang out for the right car/ bargain to pop up.

Don't think the Gen2's are out of budget.
I just picked mine up with 33000km's for 24k!

you just have to wait for the right seller!

I would say in the near future all MPS's are in for a bit of a price drop!

[daoutlawz]

I just bought an 06 mps from a dealer, of the 6 months I've had it, it's spent 3 of them there trying to figure out what's wrong with it.

Firstly check for rattling from the engine mainly when warm or from a cold start. They finally replaced mine with a new chain, tensioner and rails, so yes mine was rattling but I didn't notice when I test drove it.

Suspension knocks are well known as well and I'm still in the process of trying to eliminate one last knock fml...

And yes, when the car is even remotely cold, forget about just a straight shift from 1st - 2nd, you need to baby it in otherwise you'll get a crunch...hopefully with an upgraded rmm and new oil it'll fix itself.

I downgraded from an 11 MPS and it was night and day difference...although I must admit I prefer the 06 as it feels more raw

Sent from my HTC_PN071 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

[chef]

I hope it was all covered under warrenty,new fluids and REM should help.
How many KM she have?

[daoutlawz]

I hope it was all covered under warrenty,new fluids and REM should help.
How many KM she have?

Yeah, but not after heated arguments over whether it was an actual fault or not with the car yard (big name car yard too), it took 5 months of arguments to agree to fix it with warranty I paid for. The main issue was I had to get proof from my mechanic that there was issues, so I spent almost $500 in constant mechanic checkups to notice faults, bushes were stuffed, mounts broken, etc etc. Everytime I dropped it off to the car yard, they wouldn't fix everything.

The upside is most of my front end is completely changed including new struts...

It had 96k when I bought it. Now I still have a knock, pedders reckon its some transmission mount underneath just before the firewall, the mount is apparently knocking on the chassis cause the bush is too soft...

Oh, and all my wheels are in lots of negative camber which will need a camber kit to fix...hopefully...

[Doug_MPS6]

I've not heard of specific examples but it's pretty easy to imagine it is due to people jamming the shift from 1st to 2nd through as hard and as fast as possible (on track or street light drags most likely) with no regard to the heavy synchro deliberately put there to (if you'll pardon the pun) baulk that sort of mechanical bastardry. Mazda have already installed a torque limiter in the lower gears for similar reasons wrt transmission, traction and CV joints, as there will always be some wally who wants to apply full power on full lock. You have to deal with all machines with a feel for the mechanisms involved. If you don't, expect to pay for the outcomes in chewed-out CV joints, short tyre life, failed synchro rings, crook clutches and more. Unfortunately, it makes it a bit of a gamble for the following owner(s).

[Speed3]

The LSD is noisy at lock at low speeds.

Good fluid can shut it up a bit.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Speed3]

The LSD is noisy at lock at low speeds.

Good fluid can shut it up a bit.

They're pretty reliable as far as performance cars I've owned go.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[zippymps3]

Never heard of gearbox problems myself.
Personally mines nearly 7 years old since new, 82,000 km always daily driven, performance tuned and serviced regularly: gearbox is good, turbo is good and on 3rd REM with usual suspension noises and on 3rd pair of rear end links also.
Just drive it, you'll want it regardless of it's alleged faults.

[stevan]

Cheers for the input guys much appreciated. I actually just pulled the trigger on an 09 Focus XR5 with 20,000km and a great list of mods.

Fantastic little cars with unbelievable power, plus that 5 cylinder sound

[chef]

Ok be seeing u in my rear view mirror then,bye

[Robmps]

Cheers for the input guys much appreciated. I actually just pulled the trigger on an 09 Focus XR5 with 20,000km and a great list of mods.

Fantastic little cars with unbelievable power, plus that 5 cylinder sound

Congrats mate, hope its a little rocket!

[SarcasticOne]

enjoy
the 5-cylinder noise beats ours... just hoping you dont do too many hwy km's else lack of cruise control will hurt in long run

Congrats mate, hope its a little rocket!

same size turbo as us, larger engine