Enjoying my MS3 100%!!!

[Silver Ecstasy]

Man, i'm lovin the hell out of my MS3!! When it was coming down to payments, I had a certain $ amount that I was willing to pay and really didn't want to go over that price. But when it came down to the fact I was going to have to budge in order to get what I wanted, I said "Screw it, it's what I want, and i'm not compromising this time!!". My SS was cloth interior to keep costs down, but it made sense since it was only a lease. But since I was buying my MS3 and certainly plan on keeping her as long as I can, I wanted to have a little taste of luxury with the GT vs. Sport package.

OEM HID's - They're absolutely beautiful. It's like daylight infront of the car. I would have thought I wouldn't notice much difference in the rain (usually when your headlights are on against wet pavement, you can't really see too well), but I could see just fine even in heavy rain! I haven't had the need to adjust them, but besides that, i'm just glad it's all factory equipped. No need to deal with aftermarket bulls*** ballasts and bulbs constantly malfunctioning.

Alcantara/Leather Seats - Comfortable, supportive, sexy. Sometimes when i'm getting out of the car, I'll turn back around and just touch the suede hehe.

Bose - I'm a little forgiving since i'm used to changing out every factory radio with aftermarket. It doesn't sound bad and I can certainly live with it. I'm having more fun driving, and will eventually get to enjoy this part.

LED Tails - BRIGHT as hell! And I love how the center light shines over the back window. I appreciate these small things.

Auto Sensing Rain Wipers - So far, my least favorite feature. It's hard as hell to find a good speed. Seems like even on the least sensitive setting, it's got a mind of it's own. I'll drive faster and they'll start to wipe like crazy! I wish it just had a slow setting with adjustable time intervals, sorta like every other car has.

Went grocery shopping tonight and loved the fact I was getting so much practicality and vehicle for such a little price. I ******* love this car!!! And I can't forget the look on this guy's face today when he was pacing next to me on the freeway, blocking me in the slow lane. So I slowed down, dropped from 6th to 4th and dropped the hammer down, swinging from the slow lane to the fast lane behind him and flying past him. Subtle looks but great power! The guys at my dad's shop were makin fun of how small it was, saying it was a toy. But I was like "Yep, it's my baby!"

 

[Hyun]

I dont know about you but after almost 2 years of ownership, going through fear of engine falling out and now fearing engine blowing up not to mention fear of bad turbo.. cant really say. I had awesome short term impression on this car no doubt, long term...let me say this car is bye bye when the warranty ends.

Many people told me dont get mazda because of questionable reliability in the past, but i took the risk and dropped 20k+ on this car. After all this, cant say if i wanna take that risk again and im fully aware that mazda's reliability have improved over the past years.

I really dont mind small problems here and there, but engine blowing up and falling out on a new car i believe justifies why i feel this way about this car.

Sorry, i didnt mean to discourage you from enjoying this car because it is great car. I just needed to vent.

 

[mastadon]

^ i have to say i am so ******* sick of negative comments like these... Your engine will probably never fall out, and the turbo problem was a small batch of cars. As far as blowing up the engine...well people do dumb s*** to blow up an engine in any car, not just a mazdaspeed3. Forums are bredding grounds for negativity, thanks for contributing to the downward spiral of this community.

OP: congrats on the car, treat it right and it will treat you right. Its a wonderful machine.

 

[haberdashery]

im getting my 08.5 speed3 in a few daaays, i couldn't be more excited, its good to see you're happy with it!

and of course you've heard horror stories, hyun, you're sitting on a FORUM. these things are swimming with horror stories. don't even talk about reliability until you've owned a vw, or worse yet.. an american car. nothings perfect, things will break, recalls will be announced. especially in the first year of production, which is why you should have waited, seems to me that all of the issues are now cleared up in the 2008's and 2008.5's!

 

[mrlilguy157]

i want pictures in and out! i wanted a white GT with the alcantera so bad!

 

[Super X]

I dont know about you but after almost 2 years of ownership, going through fear of engine falling out and now fearing engine blowing up not to mention fear of bad turbo.. cant really say. I had awesome short term impression on this car no doubt, long term...let me say this car is bye bye when the warranty ends.

Many people told me dont get mazda because of questionable reliability in the past, but i took the risk and dropped 20k+ on this car. After all this, cant say if i wanna take that risk again and im fully aware that mazda's reliability have improved over the past years.

I really dont mind small problems here and there, but engine blowing up and falling out on a new car i believe justifies why i feel this way about this car.

Sorry, i didnt mean to discourage you from enjoying this car because it is great car. I just needed to vent.

That's a very general thing to say. How many cars actually had the engine mounts give away? If a production run of 5,000 cars and only 50 had problems that's considered a sucessful run of that model! You should go pull up some info on how many camarys, civics, altimas ect.. get major recalls per year. The MS3's problems are minor compared to those cars problems (and those are way larger volume production runs).

As for engine failure its subject to owners care or just plain stupidity. But thats just trial and error. You won't know whats an engines limits unless you push it to those points. After that then you'll know what areas you can improve on.

The fact still remains the MS3 is amazing car, problems or no problems. I'll enjoy mine, and I hope the rest of you on here continue to enjoy yours.

 

[Jesse MS3GT]

^ i have to say i am so ******* sick of negative comments like these... Your engine will probably never fall out, and the turbo problem was a small batch of cars. As far as blowing up the engine...well people do dumb s*** to blow up an engine in any car, not just a mazdaspeed3. Forums are bredding grounds for negativity, thanks for contributing to the downward spiral of this community.

OP: congrats on the car, treat it right and it will treat you right. Its a wonderful machine.

Some people blatantly sound like mazda fanbois(or do I dare say mazda reps?) sometimes?

Dont get me wrong I love my MS3 and I also agree almost any car thats abused will fail, its just a matter of how much time.

But when a car is marketed for its performance it should be able to perform. Now if you up the boost and the engine blows I agree Mazda shouldnt pay for your mistake, but you should be able to use the throttle at 100%(Or should I say 50% lol) without the mount failing. Yes its been a small amount of cars but I dont think I have ever heard of ANY car besides the MS3 having a mount fail, especially a "performance oriented zoom zoom" vehicle. And im not talking about modded ones that have failed, im speaking of stock cars that have failed.

Some failures are understandable, but some should never happen.

 

[Silver Ecstasy]

Okay, this is going to be a huge response so bear with me as I feel I do have some relevant things to say in these regards.

Hyun - For what the car is, I absolutely love it. If I have problems, that's where the warranty is for. And even past the warranty, the motor mount failing should be a recall (if I understand correctly) so it will be covered past the warranty.

mastadon - I agree, you're in a group of enthusiasts and typically they pay close attention to everything, meaning you'll hear more about problems and issues rather than just enjoying the damn car!

haberdashary & mrlilguy - I'll have pictures of the interior soon. I took some but they didn't come out too good and I was too excited to not go out and drive. It's amazing though!

Super X - Agreed, it's a few here and there with problems while the 07's had typical first year bugs here and there.

Jesse - I don't think it has to be much about being a fanboy. People can have whatever type of opinion they want, but when you're referencing to a car that is going to break down and fail, it's not wrong to try and have an optimistic opinion on it.

Okay, here comes my response:

First car was a 94 Grand Am with 130k on the dial. We spent over $4k fixing it before I finally ended up selling it for $700. Biggest money pit, worst decision, but we learned.

Second car was a 03 Grand Am brand new, had similar engine issues with my 94 (intake manifold gaskets would leak coolant into the oil supply - a typical design flaw on GM's small car 3.1/3.4 engines). Window motors failed 3 times.

Third car was a 05 GTO. This was supposed to be the peak of quality in my innocent mind. Performance sports coupe, paying more than the Grand Am, should be higher value, and it's BUILT for speed and power so it's got some extra reinforcements right? HA! That car is no longer with us thanks to Michigan Lemon Law. 4 Rear differential replacements, 5 1st gear and 3rd gear + synchro set replacements, 1st gear would stick or get stuck completely, power steering rack failed 3 times, gas cap broke 2 times (Now officially a recall from GM..whoopty do..), and the alignment was NEVER fixed no matter how many times I took it in, the car wouldn't track straight. In the 10 months I owned the car, I had it in and out of the dealership atleast once a month. Out of the 4 Pontiac dealerships in the Metro area, NO one could help me. They didn't have a clue, and I've gotten into many heated discussions with many sales managers over time. The car hauled ass, but it was a complete nightmare to own. But that's not everyone's experience. Some have NEVER had an issue with theirs, where others are in the same boat as I.

The vehicle I just got rid of was a 2007 Trailblazer SS. Same situation where it was even MORE expensive, and built for power. However. I leased the 2WD version because everyone with the AWD's were having TONS of issues. Now, if the truck's built for power and speed, why all the powertrain issues? Other than the rear end failing on my SS once, I never had an issue. A day after I signed the paperwork over to the new lease-take over, the SS power steering pump failed and he was in the shop the next day with my truck. I never had a single issue with my Trailblazer other than the rear end.

So my whole point is, i've been to hell and back with car issues. I've worked enough with my dealership to where we have come to an agreement ahead of time that I will not be given any bulls*** on getting issues taken care of, and I will not go anywhere else but them since thats where I bought my car from.

With my MS3, I can carry 4 people comfortably, pack luggage or groceries, take a corner aggressively, race a majority of cars on the street with ease, luxury ammenities like HID and leather/suede, practicality, winter abilities with DSC/TSC, safety (side curtain bags are very important to me - my sister may have avoided a head injury if her friend's car had side curtain airbags).

If I have a problem, then it's gonna have a problem. It's a car, and it's meant to fail. But as it's been mentioned, treat it right, and you may get more life out of your car than others. But for that worst case scenario, there's a warranty and an extended warranty if necessary. But for $22k, you can't ask for much more, and that's my point. Because my $26k GTO and my $31k SS both weren't any better than my Mazdaspeed 3. Just bigger in size.

**edit**
Last example. My buddy bought an 05 Acura RSX Type S A-Spec from a dealership in early 06. It was the last of a few leftovers from 05 and it had the factory install A-Spec suspension and wheel parts. He bought the car cash, and bought the extended 5 year/100,000 mile warranty because he was driving 60 miles round trip to work every day. He beats the living hell out of the car because he works 5 days a week, then tracks his car on the weekends. In 50,000 miles the only thing that has failed: A god damn sunroof motor. Something that has NOTHING to do with the power train or engine. Envious? Sure, but all we can do is hope. He also takes great care of the car, but that's besides the point. Because you can never be too careful.

 

[Betelgeuse]

Some people blatantly sound like mazda fanbois(or do I dare say mazda reps?) sometimes?

Dont get me wrong I love my MS3 and I also agree almost any car thats abused will fail, its just a matter of how much time.

But when a car is marketed for its performance it should be able to perform. Now if you up the boost and the engine blows I agree Mazda shouldnt pay for your mistake, but you should be able to use the throttle at 100%(Or should I say 50% lol) without the mount failing. Yes its been a small amount of cars but I dont think I have ever heard of ANY car besides the MS3 having a mount fail, especially a "performance oriented zoom zoom" vehicle. And im not talking about modded ones that have failed, im speaking of stock cars that have failed.

Some failures are understandable, but some should never happen.

I get where you're coming from but we have tons of threads on all the issues already, this is supposed to be positive. I think that's what Mastadon was getting at. I quit the 'other' forum because I was sick if seeing people sh*t all over the car every chance they get every minute of the today complaining about the littlest things. It went from great and informative to just a bunch of whiners overnight. Yeah the mount is an issue and it sucks, but even though it's at the back of my mind, I still don't drive in fear of it failing or the engine blowing. If that was the case, I'd sell it.

Now back on topic: I agree with the OP even after almost a year and a half, it's a blast to drive everyday, every minute!!

 

[chacon101]

I have had mine for about 8 months and this is by far the best car I have ever owned. That's including it's reliability and all of the other fun stuff that goes with owning a car (ride, power, convenience, features).

My last car was a VW GTi which I bought new and after one day, I had it in the shop for one week because of a defective steering rack. I still loved the car but when I go for a spin in it now (I sold it to a friend of mine), there is NO comparison between the two. The MS3 destroys that car in every way.

On a side note about the fanboy thing...what's up with that? Just because somebody likes the car they drive and can quote/reference proven statistics such as the company's reliability, does that make them a fanboy or sales rep? I think I made a well researched and smart decision when purchasing this vehicle based off of facts and fun factor of what they did with this car. If that makes me a fanboy then so be it.

 

[happy and angry]

and the turbo problem was a small batch of cars.

They have VINs for the vehicles that got bad turbos?

 

[haberdashery]

First car was a 94 Grand Am with 130k on the dial. We spent over $4k fixing it before I finally ended up selling it for $700. Biggest money pit, worst decision, but we learned.

Second car was a 03 Grand Am brand new, had similar engine issues with my 94 (intake manifold gaskets would leak coolant into the oil supply - a typical design flaw on GM's small car 3.1/3.4 engines). Window motors failed 3 times.

hahahah my very first car i ever bought was a 98' saturn, it was for sale for like $3k, but i just had to have a car so i bought it, not doing any research whatsoever. lets just say after a new transmission, alternator, air conditioner compressor, 4 new window motors (which broke again) and too many other things to name, i was in the hole almost $8k. how depressing is that? i thought i could make it work, but things just kept breaking.


but lets just say that the lesson learned from that car in my young life, is much much more valuable than that $8k i threw away.

 

[mazpro]

Man, i'm lovin the hell out of my MS3!! When it was coming down to payments, I had a certain $ amount that I was willing to pay and really didn't want to go over that price. But when it came down to the fact I was going to have to budge in order to get what I wanted, I said "Screw it, it's what I want, and i'm not compromising this time!!". My SS was cloth interior to keep costs down, but it made sense since it was only a lease. But since I was buying my MS3 and certainly plan on keeping her as long as I can, I wanted to have a little taste of luxury with the GT vs. Sport package.

OEM HID's - They're absolutely beautiful. It's like daylight infront of the car. I would have thought I wouldn't notice much difference in the rain (usually when your headlights are on against wet pavement, you can't really see too well), but I could see just fine even in heavy rain! I haven't had the need to adjust them, but besides that, i'm just glad it's all factory equipped. No need to deal with aftermarket bulls*** ballasts and bulbs constantly malfunctioning.

Alcantara/Leather Seats - Comfortable, supportive, sexy. Sometimes when i'm getting out of the car, I'll turn back around and just touch the suede hehe.

Bose - I'm a little forgiving since i'm used to changing out every factory radio with aftermarket. It doesn't sound bad and I can certainly live with it. I'm having more fun driving, and will eventually get to enjoy this part.

LED Tails - BRIGHT as hell! And I love how the center light shines over the back window. I appreciate these small things.

Auto Sensing Rain Wipers - So far, my least favorite feature. It's hard as hell to find a good speed. Seems like even on the least sensitive setting, it's got a mind of it's own. I'll drive faster and they'll start to wipe like crazy! I wish it just had a slow setting with adjustable time intervals, sorta like every other car has.

Went grocery shopping tonight and loved the fact I was getting so much practicality and vehicle for such a little price. I ******* love this car!!! And I can't forget the look on this guy's face today when he was pacing next to me on the freeway, blocking me in the slow lane. So I slowed down, dropped from 6th to 4th and dropped the hammer down, swinging from the slow lane to the fast lane behind him and flying past him. Subtle looks but great power! The guys at my dad's shop were makin fun of how small it was, saying it was a toy. But I was like "Yep, it's my baby!"

I just have to say i agree 100% (usa)

 

[Conso]

i drive mine 80+ miles a day, i dont think i could function w/o the thrill of hoping into this car everyday, granted its not the fastest thing out there but overall im glad i dropped 25k for it, 25k miles and still going strong, i still hav life on my tires even after going to the track couple times, im def glad i got one of the fastest grocery getters on the market =P

 

[JCurry]

Ive only had mine for about a month now but i love it....i dnt care wat anybody says about mazda reliability. I daily drove a 88 Rx7 TII for 3 year with 0 and yes i said 0 problems, cold a/c, and it was modded to hell and back and i drove it like it was and ran it at the track several times running high 12's. And thats the so called dreaded rotary engine.haha...i would have bought an rx8 if i could afford it but i settled on the ms3 cause it had room and was quick..overall im impressed with this car for stock!!!

 

[Ferdball]

Congrats! Don't forget to get a radar detector. Any one will do, as long as you're happy.

 

[Silver Ecstasy]

I have one already. Just working on getting a radar mount made for the MS3/3 guys. I'm all about clean installs.

 

[Ghoust]

My car has been good so far, going on the 3rd month of ownership. I am loving it as my daily driver.

One thing I disagree with on other posters on this thread is the reliability of american cars. My weekend toy is an 03 Ford Mustang Cobra and I have tuned it to 512rwhp. With over 51k miles on that puppy, nothing has gone wrong that was not caused by me. It is by far the most reliable car I have ever owned and I take it to the track to run 11 second quarters. I would repurchase one in a heartbeat. Blows all the American car negativity away.

 

[Victoria]

I've only had my MS3 for about a week (technically a week at 7:00pm tomorrow) I'm right there with you SE. My husband laughs as I take the on and off ramps at ridiculous speeds with a big ol' cheesey grin on my face.

Yes - I secretly wish I had put this car on the dragstrip this weekend to see what it could have done.

Oh well, there's time for that.

Congrats and here's to enjoyin' your ride.

 

[Silver Ecstasy]

Yeah onramps are my favorite! I still haven't learned how to drive this thing fast from a stop. Meaning, using the full potential of 1st and 2nd gear. I always seem to shift crappy into 2nd and the car jerks. It's a real short gear, but either way I have a problem.

I have a few questions for some things i've started to notice.

-Do your HID's shake at night over hard bumps? I see a small wiggle in the lights over rough bumps.

-1st gear hard to get into from time to time. Seems like when i'm rolling to a stop, i'll try and shift into 1st and it just won't let me, but I don't want to try and force it. So i'll let out the clutch and press it back in and try again. If it still gives me a problem, i'll slide it into 2nd, then 1st is like butter.