Buick vs. Mazda?

[zazoo22]

For a car below $4,000, I am trying to choose between a Buick and Mazda

The Buick 95 Park Avenue Altra with 110K and good condition. Price is kind of good. It is $2,500

The Mazda 97 626 with 85K and good condition. Price is $4,200.

Do you think that the Mazda worth the higher price?

Also, what do you think about the reliability of the Buick? This issue is of particular concern to me.

[mojodojo2k]

I'd go with the '97 Mazda myself. 85k is pretty low for that type of car and i'd imagine it would outlive the Park Avenue. Not to mention probably have less mechanical problems and a higher resale value (in case you do sell it in the near future) at that. Most people would say the Park Avenue because technically this IS a PA forum, not to mention a choosing of a "rice burner" or "american car" where most of the biased people will already tell you to buy the PA. But having worked in the car business for the past couple of years, i'd have to go with buying the Mazda. Plus it's the 626 version and not the 323 version....so it has more juice and cool little trinkets to play with!

...as for the "reliability" of the Buick i'd have to say that the engine is it's strongest suit (those 3800 are like rocks) but just about everything else falls apart...haha. I have a '94 Ultra with 67k miles on it (bought it at 44k) and the engine has run flawlessly so far, it's just other things that have gone wrong....especially the electrical. In my case the power windows, electric radio antenna, and windshield wiper motor had to be fixed so far and just last week my ABS and traction control light come on and stay on occasionally while driving meaning i probably have a bad speed sensor somewhere. I'm afraid of someday hearing the dreaded "grinding" noise from under my hood which is a sign that the supercharger is taking a shit. After reading many posts on here about the superchargers going bad on the Park Avenues i came to a raw conclusion that most of them go out around 80-100k and are quite pricey to replace. That's really about the only problem that most people have experienced on their PAs from what i read on these posts. Others will probably tell you different, but that's just my

..... Good luck Zazoo on whatever you do!

[volkerc]

what is a mazda?

[tman]

Park Avenue Definately.

What, you expected me to say the Mazda? Fat Chance!

Nothing against the Mazda, having driven one once, its a very nice little car. Stress on little.

I'd check to see if the supercharger, or the couplers in the supercharger have been replaced. If it's been recently done, buy that car in a heartbeat.

When SC's fail, its 98% of the time the easily replaceble coupler. It can be bought here: http://www.zzperformance.com/products1.php?id=155

Also, change the SC oil as soon as you get it to prolong the life of the SC.

As far as the electricals go, it's a toss up. About 30% of the PA's I've seen have all sorts of electrical problems (mojodojo's included) The rest are just fine, like mine for example.

Check for any trouble lights when the car is running. Also check the lamp monitors in the center overhead console. Although these may be incorrect, the car may still be free of electrical problems.

If the car checks out okay, I'd say get the PA. It'll whoop the mazda in acceleration. I can't speak for the longevity of the Mazda's engine, but the 3800 will last forever, as long as you change that oil every 3000(I like to do it every 2000, but I'm obsessive compulsive about my car!) and don't floor it or drive hard before the engine hits operating temp.

Good luck, and I'm sure you'll be happy no matter what you choose!

[vinceleto]

Moderator:

How do you change the couplers?

[scott778]

http://www3.sympatico.ca/aepa/blowerinstall.html

I think this is it

[wrightz28]

Originally Posted by volkerc

what is a mazda?

mazda (mahz duh) noun - 1.flashy little number, when in the hands of juvenile inexperience, destroys the rear of your trusty Buick. 2.in conjunction with defintion 1, reason to see chiropractor.