So this won't be as much of a build log as it will be just a general maintenance and possible small modifications along the way log but it's better late than never I guess. A little background first though. I had acquired my drivers license on December 1st 2017 at 31 years old. Long story short a lot of things had happened in my life where it was not possible for me to even consider either having my license or be able to drive. But thanks to a little ole hippy (who happens to be a really good friend of mine,) in a big ole 2007 Volkswagen Touareg V10 TDI that dream became a reality. So the hunt for a set of wheels of my own was on. I had searched high and low for something that would both fit me and my budget. After having a few bad experiences with dealerships trying to rip me off with extremely high interest rates, I decided to hell with that and started searching for something cheap that would get me started out while I build credit so down the road I can get something better in the future. I had found a few vehicles that I thought would be decent, but alas those never came to fruition. Then a couple of weeks before my birthday, which happens to be July 4th, I came across Mazzy on Facebook Marketplace. The folks that were selling it were looking for something bigger to haul their kids around in as Mazzy was too small for everyone to be comfortable in. The asking price was $3,000. The thing that had me a bit worried was she had high miles, currently a little over 198k at the time of this writing. I spoke with the previous owner about her and he explained to me that even though the miles were high, they were all freeway miles as the first owner used it for business travel. So that put my mind at ease. It's also a South Carolina car, which again had me a tad worried, but I did check the Carfax and there was no total out because of flooding so that also put my mind at ease. I looked the car over and it's completely solid. On July 3rd she was in my possession. It was one hell of a birthday present, that's for sure haha! Now I should also mention, I live in Northeast Ohio so rust is a concern but I have a few ideas to keep that at bay. With all of that being said, Mazzy does need a few things to be A1. She needs an alignment as the front end was rebuilt recently, an oil change and rear shocks. She also has a minor exhaust leak and a slow leak in the passenger rear tire. Otherwise for a $3k car she's what I like to call the proverbial "diamond in the rough." Now on to the pictures....
If anyone wants to pass along any advice, thoughts, or concerns, on this adventure of mine I will gladly take anything you can give.
Thank you for letting me be a part of this wonderful community here at GRM and hopefully I remember to keep this updated as I go along. My sincere apologies ahead of time for the long winded first post.
So today I ended up putting on the stickers that I had from Mazdeuce when he made them and sent them out to me, on to the car and I took a picture but for some odd reason my phone didn't save it. I have been having some really strange issues with it lately and I don't know why. I'll have to charge up my LG Volt 4G LTE and use that to take photos from now on. I'm also probably going to pick up a Bluetooth OBD2 adapter as I do have access to Torque Pro as well as a car charger because the battery in the Volt is pretty well berked.. Or I could use my RCA Viking Pro 10.1 inch tablet..... hmmmm... nah, the Volt is more portable than the tablet haha. While the Volt has a smaller screen, I think it would be the better option as I can probably find an easier mounting solution for it than I could the Viking Pro. The one thing that I do like about Google and Android is that if you ever end up buying a new phone, all of the apps that you've either downloaded or bought stay as they are and you can re-download them without having to re-purchase them. I don't know if Apple is the same way. I have been an avid Android user for quite some time and wouldn't plan on switching to iOS any time soon. Am I a brand or OS fanboy as such? Not really. But am I a Android power user? Oh you betcha! Lol.
Until next time....
In reply to OHSCrifle :
Oh she is. I'm really happy with it so far and I've only had the damned thing since Tuesday haha!
So a small update on Mazzy. Today I bought my first pair of wiper blades for the car. The old ones were completely berked. The passenger side was pretty much falling apart and the drivers side wasn't too far behind. I went to Wally World and picked up the cheapest ones I could get. I know that may sound dumb, but I am working on a limited budget here. I changed them out in the parking lot haha. They seem like good quality blades. But we shall see how long these $7.76 pair will last as I also know cheap doesn't necessarily mean good. I will report back after the first rainstorm and let you know how they held up.
Til the next one...
Good Friday the 13th everyone...
Took the car to the carwash as it had birdE36 M3 all over it. Looks a lot better now. Probably going to have to repaint the rims at some point but getting the other things done is higher priority. Check engine light came on again yesterday, so I checked to see if the engine was still there.... Yup it sure was.... Kidding haha. I know that it came on because of the small exhaust leak that I have, so I have to look into replacing the exhaust or at least getting it patched up until I can afford a new one. Still have to get the oil changed. Maybe I can get that done this coming Tuesday... Tires and brakes are also on the list. I have to see what kind of discount I can get on tires through my shop so hopefully it won't be too expensive. Other than that Mazzy keeps trucking along without any complaints.
Until the next one....
Nothing new to really report other than I changed the oil in Mazzy today as she's getting close to clicking over 200k miles. Otherwise she's still been a solid runabout. I had a epiphany the other day though... I'm basically driving a Ford Focus with a Ford Fusion engine haha. My co worker at the shop explained to me that most of the parts that are on my 3 all have FoMoCo stamping on them, the only thing that's really different is the emblem and the body and the 2.5 is the Duratec 2.5 out of the Fusion. So yes, I am driving a Ford and I love it! Haha!
Til next time friends...
Finally, someone with a 2nd Gen Mazda 3 with more miles on it than mine! I didn't think that was possible. 
I have a 2012 3. Mine is a 5-door hatch with the 2.5L and a 6-speed manual transmission. I've had mine since new, and it now has close to 166K on it. It's been a great car. I've kept a log of all the maintenance I've done to mine in this thread:
https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/build-projects-and-project-cars/2012-mazda-3-25s-maintenancebuild-thread/116456/page1/
I will say this: this car is one of the easiest cars I've ever wrenched on. General maintenance is very simple. I've only had a few small issues with mine, which are detailed in the thread.
Good luck!
In reply to Tony Sestito :
Thank you sir!
Update time.....
So last Tuesday when I was at the shop, I decided maybe it was time to see where that damned leak was on the passenger rear tire as it's starting to get annoying as hell having to fill it with air every few days. Took the tire off and sprayed it with soapy water.... and son of a..... it's the bloody valve stem.... which honestly is a bit of a relief because I thought I either had 1. a nail or a piece of glass in the tire, 2. a busted bead seal or 3 and possibly the worst out of the other 2 possibilities, a bent rim. So thankfully it's a fairly easy fix. I'll get the tire broken down and get that replaced this coming Tuesday. Next on the agenda is rear shocks. My boss and I are also going to talk tires as well, because Mazzy desperately needs them.
Til next time friends....
Update!
Got the tire broken down and the valve stem replaced today. Now that's one less thing I have to worry about and now I don't have to fill that damned tire every few days. Also I will be hitting the 200k mile mark soon which is kind of cool. As you can recall I had purchased the car with 198k miles. And I've only had the car for a little over a month now. Still a solid car, still running excellent.
Until the next one....
Bill
Time for another update!
It's been a flurry of craziness this week with Mazzy. Monday I had the title transferred into my name so she's officially mine, Tuesday I got her E-Checked at the shop and she passed with flying colors, this afternoon she clicked over her 200,000th mile under my ownership as I am her third owner and tomorrow I am getting the tags.... Like I said it's been a crazy week! Oh and here's a photo of the odometer showing off our milestone hehehehe.... I am aware that the check engine light is on, fortunately for me it turned on after my E-Check while I was on my way home Tuesday so I kind of dodged a bullet there. I had it checked and it has something to do with the exhaust, but it can be repaired at a later date as I have more pressing repairs to deal with, namely the rear suspension. Otherwise she continues to be a excellent running and very fuel efficient car 
More updates coming soon so stay tuned!
Until next time friends!
Small update.
I got the plates for Mazzy today so now that's one less thing to worry about. Now I can focus on the other things to get her in top shape. Shocks are first on the agenda. Next will be tires, which are getting put on in October. I picked out a set of 4 Cooper CS5 Ultra Touring All Seasons which were recommended by my guys at my shop. Thankfully I can get them at cost which helps a bit. All told with the tire protection plan and tax, it'll set me back $572.88. Not bad considering they're a 70,000 mile tire. So hopefully after I get the shocks and get it aligned it'll drive much better. Surprisingly even with the bad shocks it still rides pretty good, just a bit bouncy over railroad tracks and the like.
More to come, so until next time my friends.
Ahhhh.....
Today was shock and mount day.... and to also diagnose that pesky damned check engine light... Car rides soooo much better now as before with the blown rear shocks, it felt like every time I went over a bump or even railroad tracks, I thought that the shocks were going to somehow manage to ping themselves right through the trunk. But now I don't have to worry about that anymore. The check engine light was for the bank one O2 sensor so as it stands right now, I'm getting my tires first and then getting both O2's taken care of. Now that might not fix the issue as I do believe that my catalytic converter is going straight to hell, but we will see.
Til next time..
Bill
On this episode of adventures with Mazzy; SON OF A...... BERKLEYER!
So yes as you could probably tell, I am NOT happy with her right now. Everything was going good until Friday. I took my buddy Bruce, same gentleman who owns the 2007 Volkswagen Touareg V10 TDI, who I had mentioned not by name, but as the little ole hippy that helped me acquire my license, at the beginning of this thread, for a little rip. He was honored to have a ride in my car, which made me happy. So later on that day I was getting ready to head out to work and lo and behold, my ABS and Traction control lights are illuminated on the dash.... BERK! I can't get to the shop until Tuesday but it also had another effect... it disabled my goddamned cruise control! That really pisses me off... I'm hoping it's just a dirty sensor or a fuse but if I have to get them replaced because of wiring issues then so be it. Oh and somehow Wednesday night I managed to curb my passenger side rear wheel heading home from work that evening so maybe that has something to do with it? Trust me if I had my own tools I would have checked it myself but I don't have any available to me at the moment...
So I will report back on Tuesday to let you all know what the hell is going on so stay tuned!
On this episode of adventures with Mazzy; SON OF A...... BERKLEYER! Pt. 2
So I got things diagnosed today and turns out that it's the drivers side wheel speed sensor. At least it wasn't too major just a pain in the ass. Getting it fixed next week hopefully.
Until next time...
Well, at least you know the problem now, and "they" say that's half the battle.
In reply to Indy-Guy :
Agreed. I was thinking it over this evening while at work. If one of the wheel speed sensors goes bad, not only does it disable the ABS and TC it will also disable the cruise control as all of those systems need an operational WSS to function properly. If none of those systems see a signal from any of the sensors, then they will be disabled until the issue is repaired. Yes it's a pain in the ass but I'm learning things as I go along. I'm a bit of a "rookie" when it comes to car repairs but my guys are willing to help me learn so that's a plus.
On this episode of adventures with Mazzy; SON OF A...... BERKLEYER! Pt. Triple....
Got the wheel speed sensor fixed today so I finally have my cruise control, ABS and Traction Control back... YAY!
BUT.... I found out I have another problem... I need two new front tires ASAP.... BOO!
Gonna have to get that taken care of hopefully next week along with the alignment. Oh well. Tis what it tis. My boss was genuinely surprised that with how many miles are on her that most of the things that have gone wrong so far have been relatively minor. I'm actually pretty surprised myself as she's 8 years old and has 201,500 miles as of today. Another oil change is going to be coming up soon which I will be replacing the cabin and engine air filters as well as a new set of wiper blades. Still though, Mazzy keeps trucking along without complaining.
Until the next update!
On this episode of "Adventures in Mazda Ownership featuring Mazzy the Mazda 3,"
TIRES!
As mentioned in my last update which was (looks at date of last post... Holy berk! It's been two weeks? Jaysus Christ on a cracker! I gotta get better aboot updating eh?) I had to get some tires...
Well I got a pair of Cooper CS5 Ultra Touring's as I desperately needed them on the front. The ones that were on the car were balder than Mr Clean's head and the belts were starting to show. After mounting, balancing and disposal it was $350 and some change, (I think.) Although there was some more issues that were found.. I now need lower control arms, a passenger rear stabilizer link and possibly a wheel bearing. Just normal wear and tear really. Couldn't get it aligned because of the LCA's so that was a bit disappointing. The car has well north of 202k miles so that is to be expected though. Thankfully now she doesn't feel like she's about to fall apart at highway speeds so that's comforting. I also got her oil changed and her engine and cabin air filters replaced so that's all taken care of. I do need to swap out the fog lights for LED's as now my passenger side has failed and it won't be long before the drivers side fails again so I rather just replace them both. I'm going to also be replacing the keyless remote this coming Christmas so hopefully I can program it myself. Otherwise not much else to report.
Until the next update!
Well it's been almost a month since I last updated this thread but life has been kicking my ass as of late so I've kinda neglected to post.
Last Wednesday I had an appointment. I had turned on my headlights because it was quite cloudy. So I pull in and park the car and shut it off. Open my door and the car tells me the lights were on so I shut them off. Went to go start the car and the battery was deader than a doornail. Got a jump and then headed over to Auto Bone to get the battery tested.... Yup! Totally berked... From what the girl told me that tested the battery, it was fully charged but wouldn't take a load, (like me being a dumbass and leaving the headlights on,) so at least the charging system is functioning properly. Got an Everstart from Wal-Fart and everything is better now. She lights off at the twist of the key and her headlights are even brighter, whereas before, she would lug a bit to start and her headlights were fairly dim. On the repair front she's getting new lower control arms and an alignment on the 20th of this month so that's a plus. Also I experienced my first winter drive this past Saturday. First winter since I got my license that I ever drove in snow and she was a little tank. (singing) Iiiiiiiiiiiits beginning to look a lot like berk this!
Until the next one...
Well hello everyone. Sorry I have been absent on here as of late but I have been really busy with a little thing called life lol. So here's a bit of a catch-up on the ol girl.
Went home for the holidays and my parents got to see her for the first time. They were really happy for me. She's still been a great driver. Currently has 207k miles on her. Replaced the spark plugs last month. I had the tires rotated and the oil changed a couple of weeks ago and I found out that I need a few more repairs. The exhaust looks like Swiss cheese so it needs replaced from the manifold back, my drivers side rear wheel bearing is completely shot, I need a new t-belt and I need a power steering flush. Otherwise she's still going without complaint.
On a more personal/health note, this past Monday I had a seizure due to low blood sugar which scared the hell out of me because I have no family history of seizures... What happened was I left work, stopped at the office to get some money, went and got some gas and smokes then went to Circle K to get a snack and some thing to drink as I was feeling a bit peckish. That's the last thing I remember as the next thing I knew, I woke up in the ER. I went to the Neurologist on Tuesday and they hooked me up to a monitor to keep an eye on my brain activity. I returned all of the equipment Wednesday so I don't have any results as of yet. Thankfully I was cleared to drive and return to work Tuesday. I am going in for an MRI this coming Monday evening so we'll see what's going on.. I'm a little scared if I'm honest so if you guys can keep me in your thoughts it would be greatly appreciated..
Until next time friends..
Bill
Hey guys, I know it's been a while since I posted.
Quick update on things.
The ol Mazda has been doing quite well. 208k on her as of this writing. Been doing a lot of driving. Health wise, no more seizures although that can change. The MRI went ok. I had to put my four legged furball Ranger down a month or so ago which killed me. Then there was a house fire across the street from my apartment. Total loss. It's been a month from hell. I haven't had a chance to get the repairs done as things have been busy. This coming Sunday I will be driving a 15 foot Ford E-Series U-Haul moving truck because I am helping a good friend of mine move. So it's going to be a busy weekend for me. Otherwise I'm holding up fairly decent..... and I hope April will be a better month for me.
Until next time...
Bill
Has it really been almost 4 months since I last posted here? Holy crap!
I guess I should update everyone eh?
So, I've already had the ol girl for a year. July 3rd was the one year anniversary of when I bought her. I can't believe it's been that long! And as of last Wednesday she turned over 212k miles. She's been a really great car and I am really happy. Apologies for the blurry photo but I felt that it was worth taking.
Otherwise everything is going well personally.
I hope you all can forgive me for my extremely long absence and I really hope that I will be more active here in the future as it looks like I've missed out on a bunch of stuff
Till next time
Bill
Hello again Grassroots Motorsports Family. Long time no see.
Things have been going well for me. The ol Mazda is still trucking along with no major issues. Currently at 216k miles on the odometer. Took her on a 300 mile round trip to Pittsburgh PA for an event at the children's museum there. My father and I are part of a foundation called the Alive Inside Foundation which helps people with dementia and Alzheimer's disease. If anyone would like anymore information please don't hesitate to ask. The car did great and I only used a half a tank of fuel going there and half a tank coming back, so I was quite impressed with the fuel economy of the big 2.5 liter I4. I also just recently shod her with a set of new General Exclaim HPX all season tires. So far they have performed admirably. Also did a good deed the other day. There was a 3 vehicle accident involving two cars and a bus. No kids were on the bus thank the lord. I had came up on it after it happened so I had stopped. I decided right then and there to help and make sure no one else got injured. My guess is one of the cars ran the light which then caused a chain reaction and the other car then hit the drivers side of the school bus. I pulled my car up to block traffic and to protect the one car because it got spun out and was sitting sideways in the intersection. At that point I didn't give a berkley if my car got taken out because if someone wasn't paying attention, the one lady would've gotten the worst of it. So after a bit the fire department arrived to check everyone over and the fire chief, (at least I think that's who he was,) thanked me for helping out, which felt really good. I got cleared from the scene and went about my day. Oh I almost forgot! I have a kitten now! His name is Bailey and I want to say he's a Maine Coon mix. He's 4 months old now and he's been a god send. And I also participated in a Gambler 500 race a couple of months ago and I had an absolute blast. It was rainy and crappy the whole weekend but I still had fun haha. I accidently backed into a tree and now my new nickname is George of the Jungle lol.
So there you have it folks. I hope not to be away for so long as this time around it's been five months since I last updated anything on this post. If I don't post again in the near future, Happy Holidays and Happy New Years to you all!
Until next time
Bill Mesker
