My new toy

[Hi Ho]

Since I'm pretty much satisfied with my home theater system for the time being, I had to spend my money on something else. That something is a Mazda 3 I Touring sedan.

I fell in love with this car the first time I drove it. This car definetely lives up to Mazdas "Zoom Zoom" slogan. This thing is quick! The steering is just about perfect. This car can take corners almost twice as fast as my old car (not that I plan on driving like that on a regular basis ). It holds the road like nothing I've driven. The stick shift is buttery smooth. The engine revs up so smooth that it's nearly inaudible until around 3500 RPM and from then up it unleashes a torrent of power and sweet rev-ness sounds. Now I see why the 3 has blown away all the other cars in the Edmunds.com comparison tests every year since its inception.

Their is nothing about this car that looks or feels cheap. It's built like a $35,000 car. The interior is constructed of high quality materials and every part fits perfectly. I actually look forward to getting up for work just so I can get in and drive. The sound system is surprisingly decent for a base system. It has six speakers including the two a-pilar tweeters. Highs are very good, never grating. Bass is decent, not boomy or distorted. The midrange is a bit lacking but I'm not going to complain. It's a much better sounding system than I've heard in many other cars, even some costing much more.

The best part of it all is that I somehow qualified for Mazdas 4.9% / 60 month financing without the need for a co-signer even at my young age (20) and very short credit history (though good score). I'll be paying ahead to lessen the amount of interest I pay.

HERE are a few pics.

 

[Davemcc]

Nice ride. I haven't driven one, but I've heard good things about them. My boss has a turbo Mazda and loves it.

 

[Sheep]

Mazda is suing the Toyota Dealership that I work at because we have a bigger lot and pull in more business. They are right next door, and we have 2 lots (old and new).

I guess they never figured out capitalism...

Nice car, I seriously think you need to drive some more cars before you start saying its the fasted thing on 4 wheels though

SheepStar

 

[mazersteven]

Mazda is suing the Toyota Dealership that I work at because we have a bigger lot and pull in more business. They are right next door, and we have 2 lots (old and new).

I've been in the car business for 16 years, and have never heard something as stupid as that. Why would one dealer sue another because of more business?

 

[Hi Ho]

Nice car, I seriously think you need to drive some more cars before you start saying its the fasted thing on 4 wheels though

It's definetely not the fastest thing on four wheels but it's much faster than my old car and the gas milage is almost as good.

I drove the 2.3L model and it had more power and torque but I wasn't willing to give up over 10 MPG and pay significantly more for the car.

 

[jlcct]

Resale value on Mazda's from the late 90's to early 2k's is just about as bad as it's possible to get. Hopefully Ford has overseen better craftsmanship on the new line such as the 3 because Mazda realy needs that car to continue to succeed like it has. You should evaluate it's rate of depreciation in two or three years. I do like how Ford has given Mazda a clear direction as to where they are going with the styling though. They used to always copy other models like with the RX-7 and Boxer. The RX-7 was a cool little car though. I wish the RX-8 had a little nut.

 

[Hi Ho]

The Mazda 3 is all Mazda. Ford had little to do with it and frankly I like that. The Mazda 6 was developed in conjunction with Ford and the difference in built/materials quality is obvious. The 3, built in Japan, has much better build quality.

Consumer Reports rates depreciation on the 3 as good as possible. Resale value most likely isn't much of an issue for me. I keep things for a long time. My old car is a 1990 Civic with 358,000 miles on it. It has pretty much bottomed out as far as value goes.

 

[mtrycrafts]

Since I'm pretty much satisfied with my home theater system for the time being, I had to spend my money on something else. That something is a Mazda 3 I Touring sedan.

You HAD to? Who forced you? Perhaps there is a tomorrow

I fell in love with this car the first time I drove it.

Yep, love can screw up a mans brain.
Well, be careful so we hear from you in the years to come and enjoy it.

 

[jlcct]

The Mazda 3 is all Mazda. Ford had little to do with it and frankly I like that. The Mazda 6 was developed in conjunction with Ford and the difference in built/materials quality is obvious. The 3, built in Japan, has much better build quality.

Consumer Reports rates depreciation on the 3 as good as possible. Resale value most likely isn't much of an issue for me. I keep things for a long time. My old car is a 1990 Civic with 358,000 miles on it. It has pretty much bottomed out as far as value goes.

I just read up on the "3". I found a bunch of articles, apparently the press loves your car. It sounds like the integrity of the interior is that of a car at double the value. It sounds like a good car for an agressive driver.
Congratulations by the way.

 

[Sheep]

I've driven one, and cleaned one (watch out for brake dust). The interior is very nice (Toyota interiors SUCK). However, I would keep up on maintenance because Mazda doesn't quite have the best track record. Also watch your headlights, I've seen SO many Mazda 3's with burn out low beans.

To give you some perspective, my friends family purchased a Mazda 3 (2.3 liter) and they're previous car was a 320 BMW (2000's, don't remeber the exact year).

From what I've heard, the BMW had more go, and the controls and feel was better, but it was very expensive to maintain (duh) and it was costly just to buy.

SheepStar

 

[jlcct]

I've driven one, and cleaned one (watch out for brake dust). The interior is very nice (Toyota interiors SUCK). However, I would keep up on maintenance because Mazda doesn't quite have the best track record. Also watch your headlights, I've seen SO many Mazda 3's with burn out low beans.

To give you some perspective, my friends family purchased a Mazda 3 (2.3 liter) and they're previous car was a 320 BMW (2000's, don't remeber the exact year).

From what I've heard, the BMW had more go, and the controls and feel was better, but it was very expensive to maintain (duh) and it was costly just to buy.

SheepStar

That's sort of a silly comparison don't you think.

 

[masak_aer]

For me, civic all the way.

 

[Sheep]

That's sort of a silly comparison don't you think.

Not really. They picked up that BMW for $32000ish. How much does a loaded 3 go for?

SheepStar

 

[MDS]

So I take it the Mazda 3 is pure Mazda and not a hybrid Ford/Mazda product like my '94 Probe GT?

I think the 3 is a nice looking car and no way it approaches $32K like a BMW. I'd consider it the same class as my Probe albeit more advanced tech being a new model.

 

[Sheep]

So I take it the Mazda 3 is pure Mazda and not a hybrid Ford/Mazda product like my '94 Probe GT?

I think the 3 is a nice looking car and no way it approaches $32K like a BMW. I'd consider it the same class as my Probe albeit more advanced tech being a new model.

For me, it's still too new to trust any company that doesn't have a proven track record.

SheepStar

 

[johndoe]

I own a 3s (2.3) and I love it. It is not the fastest thing on four wheels, but I tested several cars in its price range and I can say it is quite fast and by far the most fun to drive. The tiptronic is such a nice feature. It really feels like a much more expensive ride. My co-worker drives a Volvo S40, which shares the same platform, and while the interior is indeed more luxurious, it is about $10K more expensive! in this case it is a little over 50%!! It drives very similarly. Since this is an audio site, I must say that even though the sound system has room for improvement, it sounds nice enough, I'm not tweaking it. Depreciation seems to be quite good, this is a ver sought-after car. In any case, I too like driving cars for a long time.
Congratulations on your purchase Hi Ho!

 

[avaserfi]

The tiptronic is such a nice feature. It really feels like a much more expensive ride.

As someone who learned to drive a car on a stick and still does drive a manual everyday I must express my disgust for tiptronic transmissions. The main reasons to drive manual cars are not transfered when using tiptronic and it makes everyone feel like a race car drive when all you are doing is pushing buttons BOO I say .

HiHo congrats on the car. I have a friend with one and they are nice and really fun to drive enjoy the thing as it should last a while, especially if Ford didn't play a part in it .

 

[johndoe]

As someone who learned to drive a car on a stick and still does drive a manual everyday I must express my disgust for tiptronic transmissions. The main reasons to drive manual cars are not transfered when using tiptronic and it makes everyone feel like a race car drive when all you are doing is pushing buttons BOO I say .

I disagree! I learned to drive on a 4 speed renault 5 (le car, as it was called in the U.S.), I actually like driving a stick. But I also drive through heavy traffic often and that's when the fun ends. Tiptronic brings SOME of the fun of the stick shift, but only when you want it. Formula 1 race cars actually have paddles at the wheel to shift up and down, no cluth and stick; so tiptronic is more like an F1 than a traditional stick.

 

[avaserfi]

I disagree! I learned to drive on a 4 speed renault 5 (le car, as it was called in the U.S.), I actually like driving a stick. But I also drive through heavy traffic often and that's when the fun ends. Tiptronic brings SOME of the fun of the stick shift, but only when you want it. Formula 1 race cars actually have paddles at the wheel to shift up and down, no cluth and stick; so tiptronic is more like an F1 than a traditional stick.

I know I know, the newer F1 cars have the paddle systems but the paddle systems are responsive like a manual tranny and unlike every tiptronic I have driven (from lexus to mazda). Every tiptronic I have driven always has a small delay between hitting the button and the actual shift which is slower than I like where as the only paddle I have seen well I wasn't allowed to drive stupid exotic sports cars worth more than my college tuition.

I do understand the aspect of traffic and might even be able to forgive it although I never thought I would until I was stuck in crawling traffic for two hours in my car.

 

[j_garcia]

I'm actually more interested in the Mazdaspeed 3.... I've been thinking about plopping the cash down for one, but not sure if I want to have a car payment again.