(MS3) It will be mine, oh yes it will be mine.

[chronus377]

Ok, I got bit REALLY bad by the Mazdaspeed3 bug, REALLY bad. I haven't been this obsessed with a car in a long while. So I decided it's been eating away at my soul for far too long, I am going to trade in my trusty P5 and get me a MS3.

Few things, any ideas when 2008's are coming? I am looking to buy around August 15th I think, since I'll be receiving some stock bonuses at work I can use for down payments (no time to invest in my future, I need a MS3). If I waited for the 08's, do you think I could get a better deal in general? I am thinking of putting as much as 7k down, and I hope to get 6-7k for my car (2002, 50k miles, great condition). How does that sound to you guys? I'm trying to keep my payments low ($200-300 range).

I hear the stereos kinda suck, so do you recommend the GT for the bose systems. Also, no MP3 functionality? Can you easily upgrade a sport stereo to be decent (I don't want anything crazy, just good clean audio).

I like the GT for the leather (but there's not a lot of it, its only trimmed really), and for the HID's. I could upgrade the lights myself to HID through this board for fairly cheap. So do any of the sport owners wish they got the GT? I don't want navigation, and I don't want to spend too much.

I am also curious about factory aftermarket parts. I recently heard there's many options available such as CIA's. Do you guys recommend these, and how much do they go for?

I've done quite a bit of research but any general advice is more than welcome. I can't quite decide on what color I want, but I'm leaning towards true red, or cosmic blue. I wish there were more color options as I like the current ones, but I also don't. Red seems like it might be a little too flashy, blue feels a bit too plain sometimes, black is pretty nice, and the silver seems too plain to me (but I haven't seen silver in person yet).


Ok, now I just need to wait as patiently as I can but like I say, I'm pretty deep in obsession right now. Damn you Mazda for making such a sweet car!

 

[Rotus]

I'm in teh same boat as you bruddah. The last car I was this obsessed about was MY Protege5. I drove it and had to have it. It was the only car I ever paid sticker for, but I think I'll probably end up doing the same for the MS3.

 

[ophten]

If I waited for the 08's, do you think I could get a better deal in general?

If you wait till the '08s are on the lot, I'd say you're much more likely to get a better deal on an '07. There are no significant changes between the models that I am aware of.

I am thinking of putting as much as 7k down, and I hope to get 6-7k for my car (2002, 50k miles, great condition). How does that sound to you guys? I'm trying to keep my payments low ($200-300 range).

I wish my payments were that low. /cry

I hear the stereos kinda suck, so do you recommend the GT for the bose systems.

I've been very happy with the quality of my Bose system, but I've never listened to the radio in a non GT.

Also, no MP3 functionality? Can you easily upgrade a sport stereo to be decent (I don't want anything crazy, just good clean audio).

You can upgrade the CD changer (IIRC ~$500) to a 6 CD changer which plays MP3s. I imagine between that and an audio shop, your sound will be pretty good. That said, you also have the auxillary input (or an Ipod adapter for +$150) to spit MP3s onto. I haven't really missed it in the CD player except on the odd chance some friends of mine burned a CD that night.

I recently heard there's many options available such as CIA's. Do you guys recommend these, and how much do they go for?

$150 and up is the pricing I've seen. The MS CAI is $250. This choice mainly hinges on whether or not you want to try and keep the car under warranty or not. If the latter, go cheaper, but I definitely recommend you get one.

 

[eddienyny]

It sounds like the Sport trim is more what you're looking for. If you're planning to upgrade your sound system... the Bose package on the GT will just be a waste of money.

I personally don't mind the sound system in the MS3. Lack of an MP3 is a bummer... but there's an aux jack in the arm rest to plug in your iPod... or you can install the iPod integration kit in the glove box. It seems to be easier to just carry my Nano instead of a stack of CDs.

Mazdaspeed only makes a CAI and CBE. There's a long debate about getting Mazdaspeed vs. 3rd Party Vendor performance parts so I won't get started on that here. Regardless, I think everyone on this board will agree that a CAI replacement should be the first thing on your list.

 

[chronus377]

Thanks for all the advice guys. This is still the one of the best message boards I have ever been to. I'm way too excited to get my hands on a MP3,. So much so, I'm desperately reading every post here and constantly searching for more pics of them.

Well, hopefully in a month (if I can find a good deal) I'll make another post with pics of my very own MP3, I'm thinking it'll be red. (drive2)

 

[jtom]

I personally would get the sport model. I really dont care for leather and I would upgrade the sound system so the gt model is not a must have.

I would also just get the mazdaspeed CAI right off the bat; get it installed before you even drive the car off the lot. The exhaust would probably be a good idea but I would wait a while before considering getting it.

However, you will notice at least at all the dealers I have looked it, in the southeast, that the majority of the 07 MS3's still at dealers are the gt model. This is pretty annoying but just be aware of that.

 

[amazeme]

i want it too..

but if i'd just get a little changes over the 07, why wait?
what do you guys think?

 

[ispypsi]

yay first post.

i'm also looking at MS3's. i never thought i would get so obsessed over a new car, but I'm really looking forward to selling my current one so i can go pick one up.

the discussion i had with my father (always good to get advice on cars from people who have bought many over the years and know how to haggle) is that you could get an '07 now, for a discounted price, being the '08s are almost out (and might be by the time you buy).

But you could either save a little now, or maybe more later, being that your car will already be considered a year old at this point, in automaker's (and dealer's) terms. This means if you keep the car for 5 years, and go to trade it in, in late 2012, the car will only be 5 years old instead of 6. Even if your build date is mid '07, it still falls into that bracket for depreciation and whatnot.

 

[eddienyny]

I think that's a good point for those on the fence between the '07 vs '08. Both model years are virtually identical so the real issue to consider is if/when you sell your car down the road, do you want a low mileage '07 or a high mileage '08 (compared to everyone else on the market with the same model year).

KBB places more emphasis on mileage so you'll see that identical vehicles with the exact same mileage (but different model years) will be priced pretty close to each other anyways.

Personally... I think its 6 in one and a half dozen in the other, and I would opt to just get the car as soon as possible to curb my enthusiasm.

 

[chronus377]

That does sound like good advice ispypsi, tell your dad I said thanks. It does make more sense from a resale perspective to go with an 07. I'm not sure from a sale price perspective if its best buying now, when there's less available but new models coming, or if buying when the 08's are here so stock will be higher. I guess it probably just depends on the dealer.

Yes, there does seem to be an awful lot of GT's in stock, when I search on Mazda's invetory around my area, theres only 5 sports, and like 20 GT's. Honestly there's a much bigger selection than I imagined.

There's two Sports I'll consider, one is blue the other is red. Both are listed at just under 23k with no extra goodies. I will go check these out when I get back I think. I've been in Shanghai for the past three weeks for business and I'm looking forward to coming back so I can test drive a MS3.
(usa)

 

[ispypsi]

actually my point was to go ahead and buy the '08.

i guess it's because i never trade in a car, i usually prefer to sell outright via autotrader or internet forums. i can usually get what i want for it easier. going by that method, im saying that if you pick up the '08 now. it might fall into the "higher mileage for an '08 vs lower mileage for an '07" comparo, but unless the buyer or dealer asks the build date, theyre not going to know. theyre going to see '07, and unless the mileage is freakishly low for its age, theyre going to see 07 and thats an automatic point for people to offer less or expect it to be worth less than if you were trying to sell them an X year old '08.

being there are no changes (and esp none for the worse), i'm just waiting for the '08's, unless i find a smoking deal on an 07 the way i want it. plus people who aren't big "car people"...when they buy cars, if you bought an '07 tomorrow and then try to sell it in say, january '08, people are going to assume the car is a year old...when in reality it could have been built today...making it less than 6 months.

technically i dont think it matters. i think its a toss up to see if you can save more now going older or save more (by making more on the sell) later on going newer. it also depends on what your dealer is listing them at, how good at haggling you are, how long u plan on keeping it, and etc. i personally wont have anything to trade, and will probably be putting between 10.5k and 12k down, i'm set on what i want, will at least attempt to haggle down as much as possible, but im going to keep it for quite a few years, so im not worried about the resale toooo much. (technically i should be looking for an '07 then haha)

 

[Hikaru9]

Fairfax? Come hang out with the MEC peeps! *^_^*

 

[chronus377]

Hmm, yeah... I see what you mean. Thanks for the advice ispypsi, its very much appreciated.

I've heard of MEC and been to your board section. I will have to join up with you guys, especially when I get my MS3. Thanks for the invite. I'm very much interested in doing some autocross and I'm sure you guys get groups together for that. Right now I have low morale with my P5, I still love the car but man do I want a MS3 instead. I just need the performance I guess, cause I still think p5's are slick.

 

[dkswim]

i have a gt with nav i like the all the other options in the gt and the nav is helpfull if your waiting for the 08 i would weight till january beacuse of tax's but thea are all good get them to install the cai from the start part of the deal

 

[We Are Ninja]

If the '08's are gonna be unchanged from the '07 models, I'd got for the '07 no question; they should start marking them down for the year end soon...

 

[chronus377]

Ok, I did my first in person look today at a local Mazda dealership. They have a good number of MS3, about 6-7 total. I realized the cosmic blue is my color. Its odd how different the colors look in person compared to photos. I think the red might be too flashy for my taste (its nice though). Surprisingly the silver, which I though I had no interest in, looks pretty good in person.

I also think the sport model is for me. I need to do a final check on this by bringing my own CD and listening to the difference in the Bose vs. regular stereos.

They had a cosmic blue 07 there for MSRP at 23,700. One crappy problem though, it had a small scratch on bottom of one fender. I know they can repaint that at the dealership but that kind of scares me. Its should be a new car, not a repainted one. I might be able to use that to my advantage to reduce the price but I'm also scared their paint job won't be to the quality of the factory.

Some questions come to mind, the sales man claimed that the sport stereo has MP3 functionality unlike the GT. Is that true?! Please tell me he's not mistaken. Also, they would not let me test drive it, which is odd (but I kinda like that). He said because they are such a specialty car they try to avoid adding miles to them, they don't let anyone test drive unless they are seriously committed to buying.


I am still going to be looking around, and will probably buy sometime around August 20th. I at least have time on my side, so I'll go see more cosmic blues in the area and hopefully find the best deal possible.

 

[Hikaru9]

... the sales man claimed that the sport stereo has MP3 functionality unlike the GT. Is that true?! Please tell me he's not mistaken...

I'd say he's smoking something, but then... it's so typical of the car sales people to be clueless about the products they're supposed to sell. *^_^*

 

[ophten]

Its possible, but I would check. My understanding is that the MP3 functionality was lost due to the INFO system. There are a couple 6 disc changers for the MS3 which do have that functionality (w/ and w/o NAV), so I would assume that these do not offer the info functionality but do offer MP3 integration.

That said, I would have preferred MP3 over INFO. I've been doing gas mileage math in my head for years.

 

[chronus377]

Went to a second dealership today. Some info for you all: They said that 08's will be arriving in September for them! Yay! Also, they'll be available in all four colors immediately... the first one they get is red. I could tell the last dealership I went to was lying when they claimed March. This place was very honest, I liked the staff much more.

They had only one MS3 left, as they just sold a black one to a couple that was still in the show room. I tried to test drive it, but once again they only would let me do so if I was VERY certain I wanted to buy that one. I didn't want to BS them, so instead I test drove a MS6 instead to at least get a feel for the power.

I must say, it wasn't quite what I was expecting. It seemed a bit tame compared to my expectations. I'm hoping its just because I was in a brand new MS6 which is different than a broken in MS3. Can anyone tell me whats the biggest difference you can feel in terms of the engine between the models? I couldn't really feel the turbo that much or even hear it.


Well, thats it for now. I'll must likely hold out till the 08's, unless the other place gives me a killer deal on the sport cosmic blue.

Thanks for all your feedback so far, its been very helpful!

 

[Antonio DiMarco]

MS6 is a totally different car

Went to a second dealership today. Some info for you all: They said that 08's will be arriving in September for them! Yay! Also, they'll be available in all four colors immediately... the first one they get is red. I could tell the last dealership I went to was lying when they claimed March. This place was very honest, I liked the staff much more.

They had only one MS3 left, as they just sold a black one to a couple that was still in the show room. I tried to test drive it, but once again they only would let me do so if I was VERY certain I wanted to buy that one. I didn't want to BS them, so instead I test drove a MS6 instead to at least get a feel for the power.

I must say, it wasn't quite what I was expecting. It seemed a bit tame compared to my expectations. I'm hoping its just because I was in a brand new MS6 which is different than a broken in MS3. Can anyone tell me whats the biggest difference you can feel in terms of the engine between the models? I couldn't really feel the turbo that much or even hear it.


Well, thats it for now. I'll must likely hold out till the 08's, unless the other place gives me a killer deal on the sport cosmic blue.

Thanks for all your feedback so far, its been very helpful!

The differences between an MS6 and an MS3 are huge. You really should try and test drive an MS3. Words cannot describe the feeling.