What have you done to your Mazda3 today?

[Aryn]

Taking my new blue beauty back to the dealership to have them fix the scratch - and buff mark they left trying to get it out the day I picked it up. She'll be clean, shiny and back to her zooming self in no time! It's only been 1.5 weeks, but I'm in love! Great first car so far.

 

[bbrich57]

YOUR VERY FIRST CAR IS A NEW 2011 Mazda3 HB!!

I really don't mean to rain on your parade, but who's brilliant idea was that? And please tell me that you are not 16-20 yrs old... PLEASE???

 

[MazdaSwede]

And please tell me that you are not 16-20 yrs old... PLEASE???

LOLZ. agreed.

Started taking off all the emblems of my 08 2.3L. Blackened all the emblems and letting them dry out full overnight then giving them one last coat tomorrow before putting them on. Tues and Wed are dedicated to upgrading my sound system. 12" Self powered Kicker to be installed in the back for a little extra bump and replacing the stock front speakers with Infinity 6x8's. overall gonna be a productive few days

 

[bbrich57]

Y'know, my first car was a '57 Chevy 210 2-dr sedan, a car that I had REAAAALLLYY wanted since I was about 10 yrs old. They were still relatively cheap back then.
It had a bad 283 w/a Rochester 2-bbl in it when it came to me, but I worked on that car to the best of my ability. I made a friend (quite by accident) who worked in plating and had the valve covers and bumpers replated.
Another friend had a cousin that knew someone that had a rebuild 300hp 327 for sale cheap. I bought that and installed it myself w/the help of a few friends. Bought a chrome air filter to top off the Carter AFB I learned to rebuild and rebuilt it!!
6 months later I got t-boned at an intersection and that was that. I was crushed!!!

From then on I drove s***-boxes for years. Cars I bought for a few hundred dollars that needed work and made them work. Some had little or no paint at all. I learned and did the work myself as much as I could. Most of them I was afraid to drive more than a few hundred miles from home for fear that they might break down. I carried w/me basic tools and repair manuals EVERY WHERE!!

I was 47 yrs old when I bought this Mazda... MY first NEW CAR.

It absolutely boggles my mind that so many parents these days think it's a good idea, even necessary to buy, or help buy a new car for their kids.
What do they learn from that experience?

 

[MazdaSwede]

What do they learn from that experience?

That mommy and daddy wuv them?

 

[infamouszoltan]

That mommy and daddy wuv them?

+1 haha

 

[thejeans]

YOUR VERY FIRST CAR IS A NEW 2011 Mazda3 HB!!

I really don't mean to rain on your parade, but who's brilliant idea was that? And please tell me that you are not 16-20 yrs old... PLEASE???

whats wrong with that? i bought mine when i was 20....

 

[MazdaSwede]

YOU buying a brand new car when youre twenty is one thing. quite another if mommy and daddy pay for it. Although maybe she did pay for it herself. in which case kudos. otherwise bbrich is right. my first car was a beater and my second was only a slight upgrade. each one taught me more and more about how to take care of the car and more importantly HOW TO DRIVE! not many 16 year olds i know can drive. actually none of them can. so if your first car is a beater and you end up wrecking it who cares? you learn from it and upgrade.

 

[infamouszoltan]

my mazda is my 4th car and i bought it brand new when i was 18 with 13 miles on it(not mommy and daddy haha)
1st - 97 geo metro(given by brother) he took it back after like 8 months haha
2nd - 87 5.0 mustang(mine was only the 4cyl) it got towed because my friend thought it would be funny to take out the "for sale" sign and they wouldnt tell me who towed it or where it was towed to
3rd - 2001 ford windstar(bought it from my mom)then the transmission went out for the second time and i was done with it
4th - i bought my baby

 

[MazdaSwede]

Youve helped make my case infamous. Ive owned three cars in my 26 years of life.
1st 1987 VW Golf II barely ran broke down more often than i cared to count and ended up costing me more in the long run than it did when i first bought it.
2nd 1996 VW GOLF III ran like a dream i could really take it out and have fun with it and it could handle the german autobahn very well (incidentally I REALLY learned how to drive in germany the dont F*** around over there)
3rd the baby ive got now. I Love the fact that im comfortable enough with the car to be able to do MOST not all upgrades Visual,Audio, engine myself. plus knowing how to REALLY drive it makes for a much more enjoyeable drive.

 

[thejeans]

235-45-17's mounted up on the OZs + alignment = happy mazda, didnt do it today but did get it done over the weekend haha

 

[NTIMD8R]

235-45-17's mounted up on the OZs + alignment = happy mazda, didnt do it today but did get it done over the weekend haha

Any rubbing with the 235's, Levi? Also, what's the offset of your OZ's? 48? Looks nice!

 

[thejeans]

Slight rubbing on hard dips in the rear but a better roll on the fenders and issue is gone haha

and the offset is 40

 

[NTIMD8R]

After 'Batmantizing' my rear "Flying M" Mazda emblem, a SIX hour masking job on my MAZDA and Axela emblems, and adding a two-toned, black/chrome finish to all of them, my Mazda emblems are finally ready to be put on the rear hatch of the 3!

 

[A-sher]

She got a wash today

 

[MazdaSwede]

Got my sub installed. Phoenix gold Ti2 12" with 500Watt Phoenix Gold Amp. Sounds outstanding. Just need to replace my front speakers for crisper mids and highs

(nana)(nana)(nana)(nana)(nana)(nana)

 

[FrankenMazda3]

Alpine has some really good tweeters if that's what your looking for.

 

[MazdaSwede]

Will look into it. But im thinking of Infinitys three way with seperate tweeters. roguhly 200$ two way speakers and 2 seperate tweeters. would have them installed in about a day too i think.

 

[Chefsp0t]

I've had the bumper off twice. Re-mounted the splitter and front lip for better fitment and so the splitter is more secure. It's still off the car right now so I can modify it to accommodate my new grille. Gotta do some dremel work! Yay!

Tomorrow = finish front bumper and install grille, wash and wax, clean interior, pack s*** for OCC and drive to NY at 2pm. Gonna be a busy morning...

 

[MazdaSwede]

Filled her up with gas. Gave her a quick wash. and drove her on miami beach blasting country music. (doesn't work with all the salsa they play down here)