Haven't been on the forums in a long time..

[skullsroad]

It's been months since I visited these forums. My focus on photography has kept me a little uninterested in cars lately. However, my girlfriend is thinking about buying a 2 this weekend so I thought I'd pop in to see what's new.

First of all, looks like Phone has been banned (cabpatch)
Second, the after market STILL sucks! I thought I'd see some cool stuff but it's exactly the same as when I left. Lame.
Third, what's with the all the people trading in their 2s for cars with more "features"?? Didn't you notice it didn't have any when you bought it? And why do you need more buttons to push? That's just personal opinion I guess. When I got into the 2 I knew it was the one. Seats, steering wheel, shifter, radio. Looked under the hood and could easily recognize everything in sight. Easy to work on. Less to go wrong. When I bought the 2 I was offered a used 3 Touring with 20K on it, for the same price. A previous lease. It was faster, similar gas mileage and had more stuff equipped but it was soooo boring.

I have to admit though, all this talk about low resale values, people trading up, weak aftermarket etc etc, makes me want to steer my girlfriend in a different direction. Not gonna lie, haha.

 

[Ryno666]

We live in a world of green grass, but weeds will always be out there. There are many cars to choose from now with great features but unless you custom build you will be left wanting what everyone else has. There are no other pastures greener than this just weeds in different spots.

 

[Rx8Speed6Mazda2]

I absolutely love my 2. However, the reasons why I love it I feel are very unique to certain people. I love my 2 because it is the lightest/simplest vehicle I could find. Its easy to work on (I dont have to jack it up to do oil changes) and it is one of the purest driving machines I have ever experienced in a cheap 4 door car. The gas mileage is also very good with the 5 speed manual. I daily drove a 1991 Mr2 for over 3 years so I am used to raw basic cars and all I really need is a CD player, heat and AC. Anything else is just a bonus to me.

That being said I hated the 2 when I first drove it.

When I first took one out it was fresh off the boat and needed gas so I drove the wife, kid, salesman and myself to the gas station and it was a little doggish. Luckily, I took the car out for a spin by myself immediately after and flogged the hell out of it. Traded in my Mazdaspeed 6 for it that day and I do not regret it 4 months later.

 

[Font Motorsports]

First of all, looks like Phone has been banned (cabpatch)

Not so fast. I think he's still around.

Second, the after market STILL sucks! I thought I'd see some cool stuff but it's exactly the same as when I left. Lame.

Not exactly correct. The aftermarket scene isn't the best but there are items available for the 2. As seen here - Secret Mazda 2 Photo Stash / Font Motorsports Mazda 2 Build / ECU Flash / Matsu Strut Bar and plenty of other items. Exhausts, intakes, header to name a few.

Third, what's with the all the people trading in their 2s for cars with more "features"?? Didn't you notice it didn't have any when you bought it? And why do you need more buttons to push? That's just personal opinion I guess. When I got into the 2 I knew it was the one. Seats, steering wheel, shifter, radio. Looked under the hood and could easily recognize everything in sight. Easy to work on. Less to go wrong. When I bought the 2 I was offered a used 3 Touring with 20K on it, for the same price. A previous lease. It was faster, similar gas mileage and had more stuff equipped but it was soooo boring.

I have to admit though, all this talk about low resale values, people trading up, weak aftermarket etc etc, makes me want to steer my girlfriend in a different direction. Not gonna lie, haha.

The Mazda 2 is a great car for the money and gets even better if you hook it up correctly and tastefully.

 

[CRG Racer24]

Second, the after market STILL sucks! I thought I'd see some cool stuff but it's exactly the same as when I left. Lame.

Speaking purely from this point.. My car, among a lot of other owner's here, have some great looking 2's with the "little" aftermarket that is out there. If you wanna compare this car to a Civic/Mustang/240/Miata aftermarket, obviously it's no where close. Not much else comes close to that even, in terms of other model's.

Although, I'm not gonna lie either, I've tried a couple times to trade my car in.. just never worked out. I'm glad in a sense, because now I like my car waayy more than I did.. let's say 3 months ago. I see Mz2's often enough here, but you won't see one modded, let alone one that's slammed to the floor :$.

 

[eyeballs]

If your girlfriend enjoys driving, doesn't need crazy gadgets and fancy lights, and holds on to cars for a long time then I think the 2 would be a good fit assuming she likes it on the test drive. Otherwise you might want to steer her elsewhere. Keep in mind, if resale will be an issue and she's not planning on keeping her new vehicle very long, you probably can look at just about anything since short term reliability should not be an issue since she'll have a warranty.

 

[CorkSport]

Second, the after market STILL sucks! I thought I'd see some cool stuff but it's exactly the same as when I left. Lame.

What are you expecting to be available for the 2?

 

[Mazdamatic]

What are you expecting to be available for the 2?

seems like we have everything you need for the 2.

>intake +accessories
>exhaust + accessories
>transmission parts + accessories (for you manual kids...)
>bodykits +parts
>suspension bars
>coilovers + springs
>headers
> cute sex appeal that women love

i dont know what else id like other than a turbo setup. maybe less sex appeal cuz i cant keep having all these women want my car. its not a freaking miata.

 

[Ryno666]

^^^^^unlike other cars most aftermarket for the 2 is quality^^^^^^

 

[Gravity]

+1 here...

Yea, ok so our cars don't have a lot of crap plastic intakes with cheap thin garbage all over them, but my experience has been what we do have available is top quality (that isn't a universal fit part)

I like options as much as the next guy, but at the end of the day, I'd rather have two quality options than have to search through 100 cheap options to find the 3 good ones.

^^^^^unlike other cars most aftermarket for the 2 is quality^^^^^^

 

[Font Motorsports]

> cute sex appeal that women love.

My wife complimented me on how my 2 looks now after all the mods I've done. So I'd have to agree with your statement.

i dont know what else id like other than a turbo setup.

A turbo and super charger are available from Japan. You just have to spend the money.

maybe less sex appeal cuz i cant keep having all these women want my car. its not a freaking miata.

You can never have enough sex appeal. haha