Test Driving

[kaliyama]

Hey,
I posted in the older mazda 3 forum but this one seems to have all the traffic. I owned a corolla in college and grad school, and was always fine with it. I came in and drove a scion tC on the path towards picking up a corolla with the good financing deal.

Liked it - I may have bought one then (stupidly) except their stupid no-haggle price policy means that A) it seems like a very bad deal in this market and B) I can't get 0% financing on the vehicle because of that no-haggle price. So I did more research on cars-which-are-not-Corollas and the mazda 3 gets compared a lot. I'll also take a look at the 6.

I want to get a feel of trade-offs and different driving experiences. I figured i'd try one of the i and s models. I'm mostly looking at the 4-door models but am going to give the hatchback a shot too.

Is there any point in driving different trims rather than just sitting in the car to get a sense of the difference?

 

[solidtrance]

Go drive one and you wont ask any more questions. The 3 will bury the Corolla once you have been at the wheel of both. One piece of advice for you, don't drive a speed 3 unless you are already sure you can swing the monthly payments. After driving that you will never be happy with anything else in the price range.

 

[kaliyama]

Go drive one and you wont ask any more questions. The 3 will bury the Corolla once you have been at the wheel of both. One piece of advice for you, don't drive a speed 3 unless you are already sure you can swing the monthly payments. After driving that you will never be happy with anything else in the price range.

Of course it will bury the corolla. Was more thinking about the tC. Point well taken though.

 

[fateexceeds]

I want to get a feel of trade-offs and different driving experiences. I figured i'd try one of the i and s models. I'm mostly looking at the 4-door models but am going to give the hatchback a shot too.

Is there any point in driving different trims rather than just sitting in the car to get a sense of the difference?

YES! The i has a 2.0L engine with 148 hp. The s has a 2.5L w/ 167 hp. In my opinion, it's worth driving them both if you're new to Mazdas so you can get a feel for each of the engines. There are also slight differences in features, styling, and fuel efficiency, of course...

If financing incentives are a concern, the 3i is still available at 0.0% for 60 months until May 3rd. Don't know what's available for the 3s.

And of course, there's the MS3, which has a turbocharged 2.3L w/ 267 hp (but is only available in the hatchback). My local dealer told me the lowest you could get on the MS3 right now is 4.99% for 72 mos. I agree with solidtrance's recommendation: don't drive it unless you can afford it, or you won't want anything else!



I had my heart set on an MS3 and even test drove one and started working on the paperwork... until the sales guy realized he screwed up when he told me that the 0.0% was available. They wouldn't haggle enough on the price either, so I decided to settle for a 3s (which they were willing to haggle on), but they didn't have the one I wanted in stock. So, I went to another dealer that did have it in stock (and that matched my asking price). The 0.0% financing and the fact that my wife didn't kick my ass (she would've if I got the MS3) are keeping me from being too disappointed about not getting the MS3!

 

[solidtrance]

Well done Fate. Lots of people would have made a very bad choice if they were put in that position. The younger people who work with me frequently tell me they want a car like mine, and they seem shocked when I remind them that I drove multiple Hyundai's and many other econobox type cars for a long time before I could afford to buy exactly what I wanted.

 

[nate0123]

I was a sedan guy until I drove the new 3 hatch. I think the styling just plain works and is sportier than the sedan in this case. I like the shorter length and the lower rear window for parking, and you can fold down the rear seats and have a huge cargo area. Another advantage over the tC is that you have doors for rear-seat passengers (I hate tilting my seat forward in coupes.) Oh and it's ride and handling balance are unlike any other car in the price range. The tC is a snooze behind the wheel IMO.

There were a bunch of incentives and 0% for 60 when I bought mine so it was almost a no-brainer.

 

[fateexceeds]

Well done Fate. Lots of people would have made a very bad choice if they were put in that position. The younger people who work with me frequently tell me they want a car like mine, and they seem shocked when I remind them that I drove multiple Hyundai's and many other econobox type cars for a long time before I could afford to buy exactly what I wanted.

Thanks. I'm surprised how entitled most people my age and younger think they should be. No one wants to work for anything these days. I decided to get what I could afford and went for the best deal, plain and simple.

 

[solidtrance]

At the end of the day you ended up with a great car (My first Mazda was a P5), that you can afford to enjoy, and paying for it will not dominate your life. You will enjoy the car more that way.

 

[Lord_Zath]

yay, a feel-good thread for a change!

I agree w/the others - try them out but be prepared when you get the stupid grin on your face and are pressured to buy it on the spot. Leave your checkbook at home!

 

[kaliyama]

Thanks for all the help guys. I appreciate your advice. I'll let you know how things go on Sat. I'm going to give it a good think but everything i've read indicates that I want a mazda. I am super excited to figure out how to mod the damn thing too once i get one.

 

[fateexceeds]

Thanks for all the help guys. I appreciate your advice. I'll let you know how things go on Sat. I'm going to give it a good think but everything i've read indicates that I want a mazda. I am super excited to figure out how to mod the damn thing too once i get one.

Best of luck! Look forward to hearing the results.

By the way, Mazdas are not hard to mod at all. I had never worked on a car until I got my old Protege, and I was able to do a bunch of mods on my own. And as you can probably tell, this forum is an amazing resource!

 

[fateexceeds]

At the end of the day you ended up with a great car (My first Mazda was a P5), that you can afford to enjoy, and paying for it will not dominate your life. You will enjoy the car more that way.

definitely! I have a mortgage to pay, so the 3s is perfect for my budget, especially with the 0.0%.

 

[fateexceeds]

be prepared when you get the stupid grin on your face

see, the new 3's are smiling for a reason! hahaha

 

[kaliyama]

Gave the 3i and 3s a spin. The 3s was a total blast. I really liked the hatchback, which I didn't expect going in. The handling was good and the 2.5 litre had lots of "zoom." The only downside was that the dealer got pretty sleazy trying to pressure me into a sale that day. So they sold me on the car, just not on buying it from them...

 

[Lord_Zath]

Glad you liked it

 

[nate0123]

Gave the 3i and 3s a spin. The 3s was a total blast. I really liked the hatchback, which I didn't expect going in. The handling was good and the 2.5 litre had lots of "zoom." The only downside was that the dealer got pretty sleazy trying to pressure me into a sale that day. So they sold me on the car, just not on buying it from them...

Luckily there are hundreds of Mazda dealerships in the country.

You could even email around to try to work the best deal.

 

[fateexceeds]

Gave the 3i and 3s a spin. The 3s was a total blast. I really liked the hatchback, which I didn't expect going in. The handling was good and the 2.5 litre had lots of "zoom." The only downside was that the dealer got pretty sleazy trying to pressure me into a sale that day. So they sold me on the car, just not on buying it from them...

glad you liked it! good luck finding a better dealer.

 

[Lord_Zath]

We do have a regional California forum. You might want to try posting in there to see what dealers/sales people are good to go through...