From "Wild Child" to "Mild Child"

[kwsmithphoto]

Here in the big city, I can only have one vehicle. No place to park anything else, not to mention cost of insurance and registration.

And in my careers, there is no "sorry, I'm gonna be late because my car broke down." Being 1-2 hours late can cost my clients thousands of dollars since they can't do anything until I get there. So a breakdown can literally cause the loss of a job and worse, a client.

Granted, I took a bit of risk buying a turbocharged Mazda - what I really needed was something like a Toyota RAV-4, but life is short and I wanted to go fast. Fortunately, the MS3 has been good to me so far. But if it starts throwing parts I might have to grow up and re-think my vehicle of choice.

 

[kwsmithphoto]

About 10 years ago, I was driving a Neon ACR. Fun car, low cost, but it wasn't reliable. Cost me lots of money in cab fare (and one lost client) just to be late for work every time it broke. So I decided to buy something new, and checked out the GTI VR6.

It only had about 40 miles on the clock but the sunroof creaked, the dash rattled, and there were mysterious noises coming from the undercarriage. Meanwhile, my unreliable but surprisingly durable Neon didn't have a single rattle from it's Rubbermaid interior or anywhere else. It also handled better by far, better driving position, better steering and brakes, so I'm thinking "German engineering is kind of over rated, how much does this cost again?" The salesman kept going on about what a POS my Neon was, and I finally snapped back and said "It drives a hell of a lot better than this over priced rattle trap does!" Kinda pissed him off. VW salesman can be a bit smug.

 

[squidmotion]

my buddy and his tweaked ZO6 will show you just how over-rated german performance is. granted, die hard porsche guys are a hardcore lot, and the racing history they have is pretty impressive. and that audi R8 is a wicked machine. but i've always thought of german cars as great drivers, but shop and tune queens.

yeah, i know... we all hate corvettes. (not me )

 

[Donas64]

I love corvettes!

 

[ottawaP5]

Here in the big city, I can only have one vehicle. No place to park anything else, not to mention cost of insurance and registration.

And in my careers, there is no "sorry, I'm gonna be late because my car broke down." Being 1-2 hours late can cost my clients thousands of dollars since they can't do anything until I get there. So a breakdown can literally cause the loss of a job and worse, a client.

Granted, I took a bit of risk buying a turbocharged Mazda - what I really needed was something like a Toyota RAV-4, but life is short and I wanted to go fast. Fortunately, the MS3 has been good to me so far. But if it starts throwing parts I might have to grow up and re-think my vehicle of choice.

I think you should be OK with the MS3...the reliability is pretty good.

 

[ottawaP5]

About 10 years ago, I was driving a Neon ACR. Fun car, low cost, but it wasn't reliable. Cost me lots of money in cab fare (and one lost client) just to be late for work every time it broke. So I decided to buy something new, and checked out the GTI VR6.

It only had about 40 miles on the clock but the sunroof creaked, the dash rattled, and there were mysterious noises coming from the undercarriage. Meanwhile, my unreliable but surprisingly durable Neon didn't have a single rattle from it's Rubbermaid interior or anywhere else. It also handled better by far, better driving position, better steering and brakes, so I'm thinking "German engineering is kind of over rated, how much does this cost again?" The salesman kept going on about what a POS my Neon was, and I finally snapped back and said "It drives a hell of a lot better than this over priced rattle trap does!" Kinda pissed him off. VW salesman can be a bit smug.

My MS3 is full of rattles and the undercarriage makes full of noises as well....I actually call my MS3 a rattle trap.

The new VW's have much better reliability. The MkIV VW's were pretty bad though.

 

[MAZDA_SPEED]

My MS3 is full of rattles and the undercarriage makes full of noises as well....I actually call my MS3 a rattle trap.

The new VW's have much better reliability. The MkIV VW's were pretty bad though.

uhm, I own a MKIV, and I know it drives better then my MSP..and less problems.
What was wrong with the MK4 BTW?

 

[ottawaP5]

uhm, I own a MKIV, and I know it drives better then my MSP..and less problems.
What was wrong with the MK4 BTW?

I know the MSP has it's fair share of problems.

The MKIV had a lot of electrical problems like window regulators, coils, etc. You should read the horror stories on myvwlemon.com.

 

[MAZDA_SPEED]

I know the mk3 had a FEW electrical problems, but the mkiv are pretty solid IMO.

lol...i took this picture at the dealership

 

[kwsmithphoto]

Thanks, ya, I'm not expecting any job killers just yet. Flawless so far at 10K, and it's a late-build 2009. I've already improved the suspension quite a bit but am well within the warranty, and the only engine upgrade I plan to do is their CAI and possibly a quality catch can kit, to keep the motor running cleaner, since their own PCV system apparently has issues.

This car just has to work reliably for at least the next 5 years, so I'm being very careful with it. I don't drive it like grandma though, my (non track) mpg is around 15-16, but I'm just keeping up with local traffic. On hot runs though, the gas gauge almost drops fast enough to see in realtime. 7-8 laps on a fast, thirsty course burn 1/3 of a tank!

But that's what the car was built and marketed as, a high performance little scoot, so nothing I do fits in the abuse category. I'm just driving it to work 99.9% of the time, and stay ahead of the maintenance schedule specified in the manual. But I can only hope and pray that it holds up well enough, I don't really know, and haven't had the best of luck with previous cars.

I already knew to avoid VWAG cars, as mentioned above, but this is my first Mazda. Finger's crossed, maintain it well, is about all I can do. The rest is up to the actual build quality of my particular car. Same with VWAG cars I guess, some are trouble free for many years. And so are most Mazdas, from what I've read from people who haven't modded them very much, or beat the crap out of them in other ways.

 

[noobinacan]

2010 MS3 looks ugly.
comes in ugly colors.
cop magnet due to scoop.
added weight due to dual exhaust.
ugly front grill.

ugly wheels..btw.

just bad..