Info 2012's?

[ta240]

we are looking at getting my wife a 2012 Mazda3 Hatchback to replace her 2002 P5 (i'd get it) and I've run into a few questions.

#1 the dealer said they are getting special deal on the first batch of 2012's because they don't have all the 'technology' that the 2012's were supposed to have. Anyone else heard that or are they just blowing smoke? Wondering what will be different with the later 2012s

#2 anyone have the Mazda Ipod interface? Does it work well. I can't believe they don't have a simple usb connector on these. I much prefer to use cheap thumb drives for the music in the car. I guess I could buy an ipod if I had to.

#3 Is there an indicator on the dash that shows when the passenger airbag is off? We test drove a Cruze and it kept turning off the airbag on my wife when she was in the passenger seat. But I didn't see any indicator on the Mazda dash.

 

[asherstan]

I own a 2012
Question # 1 that is false, most all is carryover from 11 except for a few tech options but have been available since you could get a 2012

#2 the interface is fair, not the best, not the worst. controls through radio

#3 yes

the front bumper is a little different
colors choice is different
few interior tweeks
wheels are different

skyactiv is new for 2012

 

[ta240]

thanks for the reply.

on the ipod interface, all I'm looking for is to be able to have it do random on all the songs on the ipod and skip forward on songs with the song names shown on the radio.

shocking that a salesman would be incorrect on #1 huh

I drove both the 2.5 and the skyactiv setup on Sunday and both felt good. I'm a bit nervous about jumping in on new technology on the skyactive (and the 2.5 sounded a bit better).

 

[puredrive07]

If you don't want to get an ipod and the ipod connector, you can always stream from your smartphone (iphone, Android, or WindowsPhone7) using the Bluetooth Audio function. I use this method with my WindowsPhone7 Zune player and it works great; kind of stinks that they don't just have a USB port like most other companies use; i.e. Volvo, Hyundai/Kia, Jeep, etc. Bluetooth Audio allows you to change songs only and doesn't display song titles on the info screen; I guess that is the only real drawback, but also the cheapest solution, lol!

 

[ta240]

at least there are ways around it for the music but Mazda has so often been on the cutting edge so it seems odd that they don't have it.
A Buick Lucerne we had as a rental had the USB connector when that car is built for 90+ year olds

 

[ta240]

it looks like from Mazda's site that the S touring was a limited production as they are only showing "i touring", "i grand touring" or "s grand touring" Which may be why they had special discounts on the s touring. Which may have been the reason for the salesman saying it had 'old technology' referring to the skyactive as the new technology (although the s grand touring has the same 'old' technology). $2000 off on a 2012 S Touring is a bit tempting.

I guess Mazda originally planned to offer the Hatchback in an i touring, i grand touring, s touring and s grand touring. Then at the last second dropped the s touring after they had made a few.

And the salesman chose to tell me the car we were driving had some of last years technology rather than bothering to find out the truth and telling us that if we liked that trim level with that engine we had better grab that car.

 

[SterlingZoom]

The dealership was probably talking about the 2012's that were produced in July, they are called "R" models(sedan and hatch). They look exactly like a 2012, but they are packaged different. An "R" model is not Skyactiv. The incentives are stronger on 2012 "R" models, vs the Skyactiv 2012's.

 

[bass462]

Getting my hands on one of those "R" models. It's basically a limited run of 2.5's without the sky-active. There are only 2 in Montreal where I live. I really wasn't impressed with the sky-active performance, although very economical, it didn't have the zoom-zoom feeling. Other than that both are identical 2012's in terms of styling, i think the shift knob is the only diff.