Mazda enthusiast needing help with Pickups!

Hello there guys, I'm a new member here. I've owned a few Mazdas over the years (Protege5, Miata) so I'm not new to Mazdas but new to the B-series Pickup. I am considering buying a local pickup and I wanted your guys' opinion on it.

















It is a '72 B-1600. Ad does not mention the mileage but according to the seller the truck runs and drives. States it as needing "TLC" but isn't specific on that. This Pickup has been listed on and off, I'm thinking the guy is having a hard time selling it. He is asking $1000. Does this seem like a fair offer? I also wanted to ask what I should look for when I go to inspect it.

As a 1983 b2200 owner who didn't know squat about working on cars with barely any money or tools, my advice would be to go for a newer model. Only reason I got an old truck was because it had a longbed and a small diesel engine. But the tradeoff has been blood sweat and confusion.. It's only 110K miles, but just about every single part of it needs to be gone through on the maintenance schedule. It takes time money and love. Otherwise you will hate your pos truck. Things like wipers, door locks, dash lights, speakers, cooling, heating, battery, harness, grounding, suspension, all don't work or have issues. And who knows about the valves lash, gaskets, etc. Ripped out all the interior cause it had mildew and was just nasty. Oh and my favorite problem, when the battery touched the hood here and there, burning up my ground wires till I figured it out. If you do get an old truck, do a compression test on it and go through each little function to make sure the price is fair and you are willing to take on the commitment. But if I were you I'd save 1.5K more for a newer car that is in good shape.

I've been around and owned quite a few cars, and I've always done my own work on everything I've owned so no worries there.

I'm just wondering if this would be a decent deal depending on what it needs. It seems like the interior needs to be redone which isn't a big deal, I can do that in a short amount of time.

$1000 is fair for a running truck with a good frame IMO.

Only 2 replies? I guess this forum doesn't get a lot of traffic.

it does but this site usually deals with the 80ish to 93 trucks. B1800-2000-2200-2600-2600i

I wouldnt pay more than $400 for that :what:

I'd definitely talk him down. I think $1000 is high.

I payed 750 for a 91 toy 4x4 with less problems then that truck. by visuals anyway.

So I talked to the owner today and got more details about the truck. Here's some more info:

Mileage: 89,000 (doesn't know if it's rolled over or not)

- New clutch/flywheel
- New water pump
- New radiator/heater hoses
- Weber carbs

It runs and drives but he says it runs a little rough. He mentioned that it smokes a little bit because of it's age? But it was his daily driver for awhile, I'm guessing until he got a new car. Stated that one of the taillight grounds is out somewhere and needs to be fixed (so it sounds like it has no tail lights ATM). Truck currently has expired tags as well. And there is an issue with the fuel gauge, as it only reads half full on a full tank and he's stated that he hasn't been able to find a new one (I'm guessing they're hard to find).

Seems like a $500 truck tops. I'd hate to only offer him 50% of what he's asking for though. I might have to look at it in person to see if I can remedy any of these issues without too much work. I'm looking for a car that is a tinker-er that I can drive a few days a week but this might be too much to handle.