hey guys very new to the 4x4 thing, looking to make a purchase on a vehicle but need some advice from owners and anyone who has experience on the mazda b2500
wat is a gd price to pay for a vehicle under 80000km, in great condition ( mechanically and structurally sound), fully loaded (power windows, fogs, side step) in addition what sort of problems do these vehicles have and on average how much km per tank and the cost to fill up as well.
thanks!

check the mazda and ford ranger thread in here...you will get some good information.

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Mudaholics Crew

ok first thing dont bother checkin milage on the odo cause u may tink u gettin a below 80k van and is really a 180xxx u gettin ..men real tampering with odos these days.. when u go to check it carry a mech with u go in the morning and start the van without heatin in just put on de ignition one time and start it...if it start one time then compression is good once this happens its a good sign... next after starting let the van idle for bout a 15mins and then rev it...if u get bluish smoke then valve seals will have to be changed...this wont really cost u much so doh take dat on too much... however if the smoking continues while driving u may have a problem dey...

mazdas are famous for eatin gearboxes so when u drive the van listen for any funny noises or hummin in de box...
a good van well mantained (an older better maintained van will be a better buy than a newer bad treated one...) with fogs maybe a bull bar and tray cover with abs....should not be more dan 105g.. for some reason usually the grey tbw x y z are the ones that have the abs and stuff...
for a fully loaded witout fogs and tray cover etc no abs no more dan 90g i would say..

these vans once treated properly will prove very enjoyable to drive and of all the vans of that era they were hands down the fastest...and it rides wayyyy better than d frontiers...
off road their 4x4 capabilities are very good...with their front diff locks and lsd rear..
with good tyres u could reach real far/....

good buy once u take care of dem they will take care of u.

kool man. thanks alot for the info

very nice write-up audiomagicians! i agree 100%! i love and take care of my b2500 and she has never let me down. great trucks phaze. consider everything that was said above and you good to go!

great guys, making that purchase in the next day or 2, kinda excited, would really like one of you guys to check it out and tell me wat you think.

one correction - the front diff doesn't have a diff-locker. it's an open diff in the front, and LSD in the rear.

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In your 1st service, make sure and do a full coolant change! Empty and refill the radiator at least twice.. Those vans have a known problem with blowing the head gaskets, but I strongly suspect that is due to poor maintenance. Our B2500 is still running strong and it gets proper maintenance..

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It's not leaking oil, it's sweating power!

what about a/c problems?

actually, he's not the first person i heard say they had a front diff lock.....even came on some of the rangers.

..i not sayin they may be right, but it's something worth investigating.

a lot of people confuse the RFW for a diff lock. many people have asked/ told me about my front diff lock, referring to the RFW switch. this misconception is more common than you would think.

that was my comment when i was told, but the informer, being in the 4x4 bizness said otherwise. stranger things have happened.