The reason for selling today’s Nice Price or No Dice Mazda B2000 is that it is a redundant member of the current owner’s stable. Let’s see if its condition and price makes it worth adding to a new owner’s collection.
A reputation is hard to shake. Just ask the boy who has to survive high school after wetting his pants and let everyone take a look at the skid marks on his tights. In the case of last Friday’s 2017 Alfa Romeo Giulia Ti, the reputation for unreliability — of both the model and the dealer network that supports it — led to serious concerns when buying it, even though it cost more than half its original MSRP at $22,900 . That low price failed to overcome the fear and revulsion associated with owning an Alfa, and as a result the car fell into a 59 percent no-dice loss.
So, there was this old guy who called himself Macdonald, and this guy, Macdonald, had a farm. And on that farm he had two trucks that turned out to be a problem because no matter what old Macdonald did, they just took up too much space. Here was truck-truck and there truck-truck, here a truck, there a truck, everywhere truck-truck. And don’t get me started on Macdonald’s multiple tuk-tuks.
A similar problem befell the seller of today’s 1984 Mazda B2000 pickup. It seems that after driving the little truck all the way across the country from Sacramento, California to New York’s postcard-perfect Hudson River Valley, the seller discovered he already owned a Toyota pickup that was a near-perfect Mazda’s clone. It happens all the time.
That realization got the Mazda in the game, and today we’re going to see how it performs at its set price point.
As most of us know, the B2000 was Mazda’s small truck best known for fathering the Ford Courier, an offshoot that proved far more popular due to Ford’s larger sales and service network and advertising budget. The B2000 is pretty much the same truck with just a slightly different grille and a change in the name embossed on the tailgate. An earlier iteration also spawned a rotary engine version that we know as the REPU (Rotary Engine Pickup). However, such an edition of this generation was not offered.
Instead, this truck is equipped with a 1970cc SOHC four-cylinder that produces 89 hp and 109 lb-ft of torque. This all-aluminum mill is aided by a five-speed stick, which in turn powers the barrow-sprung live rear axle. According to the seller, the truck recently drove all the way from California to New York without hiccups, claiming, “If that’s not confirmation, I don’t know what is.”
Now that it’s in its new home, it’s proving redundant and here we go. The ad claims that this is a three-owner truck that once spent time on an almond farm in California’s leafy Central Valley. That makes it a unique beast in the Northeast, as it’s rust-free and unlikely to suffer from its horn being worn down from overuse.
Aesthetically, the truck shows its age and 183,000 miles through worn paint and a seat that needs not just one, but two covers to hide its shame. There’s also something odd going on with the passenger’s side interior door handle, as it has some sort of patch around it. Another issue is the clever, if alarming, cutout in the dash that doubles as a cup holder, which we should also acknowledge.
Those oddities aside, it looks like you can’t go wrong with a truck like this. The seller claims it has passed both California and New York emissions tests (spoiler alert: pretty much the same there) and has recently refreshed its brake pads and all fluids. On the other hand, although the truck has air conditioning, the advert says it’s not working at the moment, but the seller assures us it “just needs to be plugged in.” Hm.
The snazzy Bronco bed cap comes with the truck and is not only color matched to the Mazda, but also comes with a working key lock. Finally the title is clean and the truck wears whitewall tires which are classy from AF.
What could you spend on such a neat and seemingly still kicking little pickup truck? Especially someone used to the rust buckets that are the norm in the Northeast? The seller is asking $8,750 for the right to the title, and it’s now up to you to decide if you want him to get it.
What do you think of this B2000 and the price of $8,750? Does that seem like a deal for what appears to be an extra truck? Or is this price a bit too expensive for your taste?
You decide!
Hudson Valley, New York, Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.
H/T to five-on-the-floor for the date!
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