I'm flying to Orlando to pick of my 05 Shinka from a dealership (non-mazda) on Friday. The delaership has only had this car for about 3 weeks.

I had the VIN ran at my local Mazda delaer service center to see what the service/repair history is--it has had its cat replaced once under warranty, and reading here makes me think that it could have been due to a prior flooding issue that damaged the cat.

All this said, I doubt that the dealership that I'm buying the car from is aware of the "no cold shutdown" concept, and has been moving the car around the lot quite a bit without abiding by the "warm up" and/or de-choke methods.

SO, is it plausible that repeated on--off cycling can f*** things up without actually causing a full-on flood situation, or is it an all or nothing problem.

If so, what should I look for to determine if the plugs may be fouled or problems may exist.

Thanks everyone, and my apologies if this should be in a different forum. I'm still getting familiar with the site.

 

In three weeks they probably didn't move it much, so I wouldn't worry about that.
I would have them start it.....and if they can't........and if you think it's flooded at that time, then I wouldn't take it unless they at least change the plugs. Also make sure it has the latest flash!!!! MSP-16

All of this assumes you've done all the other reserach and it sounds like you have.

 

So to answers my original question, is it possible that cold stops can cause excess carbon buildup and/or other issues wtihut actually causing the full-on flooding and no sart problems??

 

Yes, It is possible. But I would still say that would be over X amount of times. Who really knows what X would be???????
Since it has a new CAT, I still think it would be okay. Any way to contact the previous owner?