Free car - anyone know this model?

[kms]

So, after having sold my old 1992 Audi in 2009 because my wife and figured we really don't need it anymore we've been given a car yesterday. Well, it was 50€ but that's practically free ;)

It's a 1993 Mazda 323 hatchback with 112,000km on the clock, 1.6l 65kw engine, automatic transmission and generally speaking in very good shape. I'm now trying to figure out whether or not to keep it. Tax & insurance will be around 600€ per year and mileage isn't supposed to be the greatest on this model, supposedly anywhere between 20 and 30 mpg - correct me if I'm wrong. Anyone know this particular model, is it any good and worth keeping?

[Exflyboy]

Surprised the milage would be that low. My Wife owns a 1994 1.8L DOHC Protege (basically a streatched 323) and gets just over 30mpg in the US. This is with a manual transmission though.

Your talking Euros so I am assuming your in the UK??

A UK gallon is 20% bigger than a US gallon.. so a 30mpg car in the US would actually be doing 36mpg in the UK. Of course they drive slower in the US so actual mpgs are likely to be a litle higher in the US than the equivilent in the UK.

Frank

[MaxSwift]

A family member gifted me a 1989 Mazda 323 in college.I Drove it up and down the east coast until it was totaled in a wreck (1998-2003). I made it to over 200k miles. I found it to be a decent small car that is inexpensive to service.

[dadof4]

My Family had a 1992 Mazda 323 (sport). Bought new. Was my dad's, then my mom's, then finally my sister's. It started giving transmition problem a couple of years ago (at 200k km), when she finally replaced it.

Depending on condition, those were some very sweet cars!

[kms]

Thanks for the feedback. To clear things up: I live in Germany, not the UK, and I'm talking about US MPG. In Germany, we have a different system of measuring fuel efficiency - we do liters per 100 kilometers instead of miles per gallon (which makes sense, given that we use neither miles nor gallons). The mileage is that low because the car belonged to an older woman who is now in her 90s and hasn't really driven it that much for the past 20 years, only short city trips to the supermarket or to visit friends and relatives. Due to her condition she can't drive anymore and her son in law wanted to get rid of the car and made me that irresistible 50€ offer.

The condition is pretty decent, at least from a technical point of view. In terms of aesthetics the car is a bit of a downer but I've seen worse on younger cars so it's not too bad. The engine sounds normal, no leakage or other (visible) mishaps.

[Forcus]

Sometimes the cheapest cars are the most expensive (maintenance, etc.) but that looks like a good deal. Don't really find those in the states anymore.

Oh and the Mazda 323 is a pretty solid model.

[kms]

I now have a first mileage estimate - the first tank went down with about 30 mpg (aka 8l/100km) which isn't too bad for a 20 years old automatic I guess. It needs new wiper blades and the rear windshield spray pump isn't working but that doesn't really bother me.

[parkette]

Why did you get rid of your Audi? Would the same reasons apply to this car, even though it's almost free?

For instance, if you both decided that it would be easy for both of you to walk/take public transport/bike, it would seem like this vehicle is contradictory to those thoughts. If, on the other hand, you got rid of it because it was too expensive, and you were planning to buy another less expensive one anyway... keep this one and see how long you can keep it going (within reason, the mpg might not be great).

[kms]

It would, but not until May next year ;)

I sold it because it didn't pass the technical inspection that we have to do every two years. I would've had to spend somewhere between 1.500 and 2.000€ to get it fixed and since I hadn't driven it in almost a year at that point it was a rather simple and quick decision. Since then we got along well without a car, and whenever we needed one (probably around five to ten times in the last four years) we rented one. The Mazda is due for its next inspection in May 2014 but I can drive it until then. My reasoning is that I'll drive it in winter whenever I need it, then see whether it'll pass the inspection. If it does I'll keep it if not I'll sell it again. Either way, no big loss.

In our daily routine we really don't need it. We do most of our chores on the bikes. We both bike to work in summer and winter, we have several supermarkets within walking distance and public transport (subway) less than 200m from our apartment (the usual advantages of inner-city living in an European city). Whenever something is too far to take the bike or too complicated for public transport I usually take the scooter or my motorcycle but during the winter season it'll be easier (and probably also safer) to take the car.