Another "I want to buy a MS3"

So hey there ladies and gentlemen.
I am 22 year male, graduating college in a couple months and I'm looking to buy a new car. I came across a MS3 a couple years ago owned by a mutual friend and I have liked them ever since. I currently drive a manual 2001 Acura Integra, which of course is NA. I have only ever owned NA Honda cars so looking to buy a turbocharged car is something of a daunting task . My Integra, while fun, is slowly taking a sh*t on me, it has 290k miles so its about time. So of course, with the fact that I'm about to graduate and hopefully start my first big boy job soon, I need a decent car.

The reason I am here is to get an honest and hopefully unbiased opinion on the MS3 from you guys. I live in Georgia, where traffic is kinda terrible and things are spaced out so I anticipate a lot of driving (as you can see with the Integra's mileage). I know nothing about driving a turbocharged car, I have small understanding of how it works. I am not a mechanic at all but I do know how to perform basic maintenance on my car, everything I feel like someone should know how to do. Oil change, tune ups, changing a tire. I do want to learn more and be able to swap motors (hopefully with the Integra soon).

I was wondering should I even be looking to buy a turbo charged car like the MS3? I have come across a couple for sale and was wondering what I should be looking for in buying a used one. Ive spotted them from 5-8K for a gen1 MS3, which is affordable for me. What are the main and popular problems do owners run into with these cars? Turbo fails? Transmission issues?

I know this was a lot but I am trying to make an at least decent financial decision here. The car would be a daily driver. The most I'd do in terms of modification is new wheels, tires, coil overs maybe, exhaust and of course a Cobb Tuning access port (maybe just the stage 1)

I would appreciate any help.

 

I have seen many, many Mazdaspeeds. They are rock solid cars with engines that should last well beyond 200k miles. In my experience, the majority of all problems are “idiot owner” related, so the real risk in buying one is crossing your fingers and hoping its previous owner didn’t mod it with garbage parts, go WOT below 3,000 RPM regularly and drive it like a moron, etc. The #1 issue with these cars is lack of maintenance such as oil changes. Aside from owner abuse or neglect, or obvious signs of “bad” mods, the things to look out for are the suspension wear, rust, exhaust smoke from a worn out turbo. Get a cheap endoscope camera on Amazon and look inside the valve cover via the oil cap. It’s incredibly prone to turning dark brown in there if the owner didn’t change the oil frequently enough. This is also the #1 cause of premature turbo failure. It’s also not a bad idea to scope inside the cylinders via the spark plug wells to check for gunk or “wet” pistons. They should be bone dry and as smooth as possible. It’s normal for them to be discolored. As long as they’re not pitted, gunky, or wet you’re fine. Good luck!


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This was written by our engineer at CorkSport. Check it out man! 5 things you need to check before buying a Speed.

https://corksport.com/blog/the-top-five-things-you-need-to-know-before-you-buy-a-mazdaspeed/

 

Toss a K24/K20 frank in the teg and call it a day.

 

Thanks for the great advice. I have a friend that's a mechanic and he's been telling me not to get one, fearing they haven't been treated properly. Also he's a Honda Purist so I don't expect him to tell me to get anything besides a Honda. There have been a couple I wanted to go see at the dealership, two with 80k miles and less. Plus going from NA to a turbocharged car seems a bit daunting at the moment but I think it would be fun.

Funny enough I came across this as soon as I posted this. Thank you!

Lol that was the plan honestly. The b18b is on its last legs and I was just gonna put a b20 in it and call it a day. Then I thought K Series. If I end up keeping the Integra, that's a long term goal of mine.