2006 Mazda 2 - Scrapyard Save

[WillCarter]

So, here's a car that I never thought about owning, but here we are. A few weeks ago I came to the conclusion that continuing to fix my Nissan Cube was becoming unfeasible and in turn the unpleasant prospect of having to deal with the general public to both buy and sell reared its ugly head. Not something I enjoy at the best of times, let alone after 18 months of avoiding the great unwashed, but needs must. However, in an unprecedented turn of events this was quickly taken out of my hands when I was told that one friend would be scrapping his perfectly usable car imminently and another friend's missus had taken a shine to the Cube and he would be willing to take it on as a project for her. Two deals were struck and last weekend I found myself on a driveway in my native Northamptonshire looking at a very forlorn looking Mazda 2 that hadn't been washed in two or three years and that before I stepped in had been mere hours away from the scrapheap due to a knackered window regulator (no, really). 

I transferred £250 and drove away trying not to think of the things that were growing in the centre console or what the stains on the seats were from. The next morning I took it to my Mums house and my Step Father soon had the doorcard whipped off and the old mangled mechanism pulled out. 25 minutes later, a new window mechanism was fitted and the only fault I could find in the whole car fixed, things were looking up. I then proceeded to spend the afternoon cleaning everything inside and out, there was grime upon grime and every surface was sticky and/or mouldy. I'm not a massive stickler for a spotless car, but I've no idea how anyone can live with a car like that for years at a time. However, underneath the dirt I was happy to find that everything was in pretty good condition, everything worked and it scrubbed up alright. Winner. 

Still got plenty more cleaning up to do, the paint is covered in little scratches which look as though they'll mostly polish out, the windscreen has a couple of small cracks and the wheels definitely let it down aesthetically but all in all, I'm pleasantly surprised by the Japanese Fiesta. It's fairly spritely, seems to handle well (despite the ditchfinder tyres) and is a lot more economical than the Cube. Might end up being the best £250 I've spent in a while.

[tooSavvy]

@theshadow...... Missed it!

Good save, m8

[sutty2006]

I went up buxtonia a few days ago to do some green lanes and found this dead at the foot of one lane. I wonder if it’s the same model? I couldn’t tell, it had been sent through a wall and landed on the gate. 🤔

[1duck]

1 hour ago, sutty2006 said:

I went up buxtonia a few days ago to do some green lanes and found this dead at the foot of one lane. I wonder if it’s the same model? I couldn’t tell, it had been sent through a wall and landed on the gate. 🤔

what im reading is that if he's quick there's a set of alloys lying around in buxton-shires

[WillCarter]

43 minutes ago, 1duck said:

what im reading is that if he's quick there's a set of alloys lying around in buxton-shires

Unfortunately it's the later shape which went back to the far more convenient 4x100 PCD. A whole world of MX5 wheels would be available to me if that was the case.

[Supernaut]

2 hours ago, sutty2006 said:

I went up buxtonia a few days ago to do some green lanes and found this dead at the foot of one lane. I wonder if it’s the same model? I couldn’t tell, it had been sent through a wall and landed on the gate. 🤔

It's not even a Mazda, it's a Smart Forfour.

[Dan302]

I absolutely love seeing  "an cars" like this getting some love and attention

[Alusilber]

SWMBO used to have a diseasel one of these. The wheels looked the same after a while - the paint on them seems to have been just dusted on. One of the rear light clusters filled up with water and it did have one or two engine issues but not a bad little wagon on the whole. The main place it seemed to be getting slightly crispy in its old age was at the ends of the sills.

[Eyersey1234]

22 hours ago, Dan302 said:

I absolutely love seeing  "an cars" like this getting some love and attention

So do I 

[WillCarter]

Thanks for the comments everyone. Had it in my mind to do some more cleaning up on it today but it's decided to piss it down so that's been put on hold. It's been quite therapeutic getting it looking acceptable again though.

[Floatylight]

1 hour ago, WillCarter said:

Thanks for the comments everyone. Had it in my mind to do some more cleaning up on it today but it's decided to piss it down so that's been put on hold. It's been quite therapeutic getting it looking acceptable again though.

I found that with the Fiesta I had, great to be able to have a go and not be that concerned if the result wasn't great, allowed me to learn.