Looking a at 02 Millenia S

[rjaywhit]

Looking at a 02 Millenia with 112k miles. Looks and drives excellent. I'm a little concerned about the reliabilty of the 2.3 engine. Seems like there are a lot of problems with the supercharger.

What can I expect as far as dependability and cost of ownership for this car?

I don't have a lot of time to spend working on cars. I've got 6 to keep running now. I need a reliable vehicle.

If it wasn't such a great driving and looking car I would pass on the potential problems.

Thanks.

[wilfredom]

rjaywhit;
Here, we are millenia lovers that help eachother in our fixation of keeping our 'relics" on the road..I think u don't belong here if u are not in a "fixing car" mood..bear in mind that u are cosidering a 100k plus car..mine is a 2.5 & its reliability lays in the fact that it doesn't have extra components to fix like that blower in your way..

[lefty]

I have a 2.5 but I have heard a lot of the talk on the 2.3 here. What is fairly clear is that it is hard to find mechanics who know this rather unique motor, even at the dealership, or especially at the dealership , so it will be frustrating and expensive unless you are willing to do some of the work yourself. It is also the out years for the Millenia, so some parts are becoming hard to find, and the 2.3 has quite a bit of unique stuff in it.

If you had found a 2.5, which has the same styling and build quality but is mechanically a pretty standard car, the story would be different.

[rjaywhit]

I usually do my own maint and repairs. Just trying to understand if this will be a vehicle that I will be spending very weekend working on or if it is more reliable than that.

[Saint_]

How much are you gonna pay for it? If you can afford to spend time on it, Millenia is a great car compared to what you can get with the same money. If you plan to take it to mechanics its a headache.

If the s/c is good now and if you take care of it (just change oil) I dont think it will be a problem.

I bought mine in 2006 at 102k miles. Now it has almost 160k miles. I probably spend $2-3k on maint/repairs. If it depreciated $3-4k in more than 5 years, the total is around $6-7k for 5 years/60k miles. But I spent a lot of time fixing it!

[rjaywhit]

The're asking 4350. Probably get it for 3500 - 3700. I've got 6 drivers in my family and need another dependable daily driver in the stable. I guess that I will pass on it for now. If I had the time I would love to have it for a hobby car. Very interesting engine.

[bigb]

There is nothing unusual about the 2.3.

What makes it difficult is the cramped engine bay and the cost of the parts since this is not a mass production car. also, because of it's rarity, people often mis-diagnose the problems and replace parts that don't need replacing.

the perks is that the car is much nicer than the $3000 civic / accord you will get in the same price range

you may need to give it some TLC in the beginning, but then it will drive for years with no problems.

just be sure to replace all the vacuum lines when you buy it. even if the car drives fine when you buy it do this job anyways. you will thank us later.

then it should just be routine stuff like maybe a bad axle here and there, brakes, possibly a suspension link or two. you know. normal wear and tear.

[parasocks]

Originally Posted by bigb

then it should just be routine stuff like maybe a bad axle here and there, brakes, possibly a suspension link or two. you know. normal wear and tear.

Agreed most of my repair bills have been for 02 sensors and suspension.. Axles, bearings, tie rods, etc.

[OldMazzies]

I bought one with overheated engine at 116K and had it rebuilt. It cost way more than the estimate (somehow I think I miscommunicated the engine size - probably assumed the bigger engine was for the S). This model is one of the least expensive ways to get the side airbags safety feature - that's one thing that attracted us to it as we have some new drivers and wanted a safer as well as a more reliable vehicle. Its crash test ratings weren't that great, however. I think the 2.5 engine gets you the same as far as safely though, and maybe is easier to maintain.

Overall we really like the car, but it has cost a lot - just an alternator since the rebuild but some diagnostic codes taken at face value indicate very expensive parts might need replacing. Parts are available and I've found online sources to have pretty good availability and mazda dealer parts departments good to work with as far as providing information and parts I've not been able to find elsewhere (I have a Mazda truck also which this experience is based on). The engine is hard to work on since there is very little room in the engine compartment, as is common of many newer cars. Finding this website and the resources it links have helped a great deal servicing it. There are some tricky things one should know when doing some relatively minor maintenance like putting coolant in after having flushed it.

I'm not sure we'd buy it again if we knew then what we know now but we're enjoying owning it and hoping it lasts many years before becoming too costly or difficult to maintain.

[keninn]

first off, resale sucks, so if you do buy a millenia, dont expect to get a good return on your money. if you keep the car, then it is a good buy. then there is repair problems that are caused by owners who cannot do any repairs, and have to depend on a shop. and owners tend to take the car to a shop that is either convienient(close to the house) or cheap. many of these shops have little to no diagnostic expertise, and limited mechanical ability, so it ends up costing the owner a lot of money. then some think that the dealer is the best answer, because they sold the car, right? most of the techs at the dealer have never even SEEN a millenia, so now they are in the same class as the wannabe shops. then there is the history of the car. if it was owned by a mechanically adept owner who liked to fix the car him/herself, and kept a very good maintenance program on the car, it would be a good buy.

bottom line, if you cannot do the work on the car yourself, dont get it