I have an '02 p5 at/s and just passed 70k miles. I have unfortunately had alot of repairs to do this year, mostly regular maintenance such as belts brakes and tires...prices add up fast. last weekend I had to have the rear oxygen sensor changed...anyone know if I should be ready for anything else to go wrong? I really love the car as and dont want to look for a new car, but if I'm gonna be dropping money as fast as I am on it, I may need to the worse part is that since I found this forum yesterday...all I want to do is fix up my car lol.
p.s. speak in small techie terms for me, the only work I know how to do on this is stereo...and changing tires.

Thanks guys

 

Welcome to the forum! But be careful, cruising the forum will unveil tons of new ways to voluntarily lighten your wallet!

Our cars are very reliable--as long as you do regular maintenance, which you do, you should be fine past 100K miles. The O2 sensor commonly goes bad and needs replacement, so you're not far from what's expected from these cars. Lots of them were sold as commuters, and as such tons have gone past 100K w/out issue. Of course there are always rare exceptions, but I think you're in a good position.

 

great thanks alot,

I am sure part of my problem is that I am a college student so regular maintenance is kinda tough...and when something goes wrong you wish you paid the money, when your in the middle of a supposed 5 hour drive and your belt breaks( the one that controls everything but the engine) it blows, so I have spent alot this year on catching back up on everything.
luckily for me I have an auto so all I can do is drool over most of the performance stuff. some of the cosmetic things dont seem terribly tough or expensive (thats what say now until I try it lol)
after the sensor I spent alot of time looking at new and used cars, but nothing grabs my attention like a bright yellow wagon...sadly mazda doesnt have yellow cars anymore, and my problem with the 3 is that the tach is on the left side, so driving it in sport shift my left arm is in the way and they made the engine quieter so I couldnt hear the engine revving, now I am back to only wanting my p5 and just hope nothing else goes wrong (crosses fingers)

 

Well, you're not at risk for catastrophic engine failure, since we have non-interference engines. If the timing belt breaks, no pistons will hit any valves--the car will just immediately stop running. New belt and you're good to go.

If something else goes wrong, it's unlikely to be anything worse than a bad thermostat, water pump, motor mount, or some other relatively cheap and easy repair.

Had I known about the forum when I was in school, I would have saved a lot of money repairing my car myself. Enjoy!

 

Yeah I'm in school full time too but I live off campus which is awesome because I have a garage to work on my car in.. relieves stress (kinda.. sometimes makes it), saves me money, etc. Problem is I'm always doing mods on top of maintenance so it's still costly (i.e oftentimes as costly as buying the stock parts AND having them install).

No worries about the timing belt! You'll probably be fine up through 100k miles, but when you get it changed make sure to get the water pump changed at the same time! I changed my timing belt at 60k miles and again at 76k miles (I had it all apart so might as well right?) and both times forgot about the water pump until the car was all buttoned up again.

If your rear oxygen sensor goes again and you want to hold on to your money for a little longer, just unplug the sensor. You'll get a check engine light but the car will work fine (as long as that's the only thing you have a check engine light for). The second sensor is just there to monitor emissions compliance (i.e. if your state does emissions testing or safety inspection you won't pass just due to the check engine light, even if the car's true emissions levels are nice and clean)

p.s. Welcome to the site!

 

thanks for the tips,
I had them change the timing belt already, they didnt mention anything else should be changed with it : / I am taking it to the shop this weekend to flush the trans fluid, maybe I will have them quote me a price for that being done. I am living off campus but no garage...god that would be nice to have. Ya Texas does inspections, which I dont mind them getting rid of some of those people that never fix up their cars and they burn oil like mad. I am planning on changing my spark plugs soon, and maybe my alternator since I actually know some people that will help me do that for a case of beer or something haha. the shop told me the alternator had a low voltage, but it wasnt enough to set off the check engine light( just came up when they plugged in the computer for my sensor) I think it is due to the electronics I have put in, but does anyone else know of this happening? I dont think its a big deal, course thats everyones response until it goes lol, but just seeing as its full aftermarket sound system and all, I think that it is related.