On my old 1993 Mazda MX-6, I inherited a terrible tint job that was done on the rear and side windows. The tint on the windows had a purple tint to it and it was beginning to bubble all around the borders. This type of failure is characteristic of a poorly done tint job or regular exposure to glass cleaner that has ammonia. I could not stand the look of it any longer, so I went about removing the tint.

One of the things that needed some work on my old 1993 Mazda MX-6 were the leather seats. One of the issues was a destroyed bolster on the driver’s side, which I couldn’t do too much about. The other was that the leather material was quite dirty and stiff. I used Pine-sol to clean and condition the leather afterwards, but it turns out Pine-sol is just too strong of a solution to use for cleaning. My seats stayed pretty stiff, but it sure was clean.

The first generation of the Mazda Miata has been jokingly referred to as a hairdresser’s car. This was largely due to its puny size and cute demeanor. However, the first generation Miata’s reputation slowly evolved over time. People realized after a while that the car actually handled pretty well. Car enthusiasts started to take notice. These days, the car is praised as one of the best handling cars of all time.

Alex wanted to have a separate car apart from his daily driver to use on the weekends. He stumbled upon a 2004 Mazdaspeed Miata that had an incredibly low 23,000 miles on the clock. He couldn’t pass this amazing car up and purchased the vehicle. Alex has done few mods to his Miata because he knows how pristine the vehicle is. Because he believes it will be a future collectible, he plans to keep it that way.

Adding to my arsenal of newbie car mods on my first car, a ’94 Mazda Protege, I replaced my OEM shift knob several times. Nothing was wrong with my stock shifter, in fact looking back at it now, I think it looked the best out of all of the aftermarket ones I replaced it with. But, I finally got my very first car and I was ready to modify anything that I could get my hands on.

I had a commuter car, but really wanted a car that I would have fun working on. I found this 2nd generation Mazda MX-6 for $800 in non-running condition. After years of working on the car, it was on its 3rd engine and 3rd transmission. This car is how I got my start working on cars.

For some odd reason, I thought it would be a good idea to “tint” my headlights and rear reflectors and to do it myself.I remember my dad telling me that it was a bad idea because all it was doing was making my lights and reflectors harder to see. Basically it wasn’t safe. Being the young stubborn teen I was, I still did it anyway because I thought it looked cool; plus, I simply wanted to do something—anything to my car.

This is the story of the second car I owned–a car that ended up on its 3rd engine, 3rd transmission, and countless other replaced parts. This 2nd generation Mazda MX6 taught me a whole lot about working on cars.

The story about the very first car I owned, a 1994 Mazda Protege LX. It was not a pretty car, but it sure didn’t matter. I finally got to have my very own car finally!