Looking to get a 3....any advice?

[jthrockmorton]

Hey all,

So my first car is starting to crap out (96 Celica...i bought it to get around town at home and now after taking it across country to school and 2+ years of just hanging in there it's about done) and it looks like I'm about to be in the market for buying a new car. I want something sporty, economical, and with a hatch, so the 3 seems to be a good fit. But my question to you all is: do you have any advice for me in looking at the Mazda 3? Is there anything I should be weary of? Do they have a history of certain problems? Do Mazda's run as long as Toyotas or Hondas? Is there anything else I should know?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[P5_Boricua]

scrap the 3... get a p5... haha, just messing man, from what i hear the 3s are fun reliable cars, that what im looking at as my daily driver when I go to the dealer in about a month... of coourse I'mma keep my p5 to boost the crap out of it for fun haha

 

[weatherdan822]

My advice, try to stay away from the first model year (ie - 2004); I have a black 04 hatchback with an automatic transmission with 132k miles on it and I need to replace it soon. Other than that, really every 3 is amazing! Pretty good fuel mileage, great comfort, great reliability, great everything really!

 

[oaklandopen]

take a good look at all the models and engines, and pick which best suits your needs. If you want pure economy, get the 2.0, if you want pure enjoyment get the mazdaspeed (hatch only), and the 2.5 falls between

You really can't be 100% when you refer to reliability of any car or manufacturer. You might go after honda because it has 1 car out of 100 crap out, but then you get that one car. Or, you could see a vw has 99 out of 100 cars have a problem, and get the one that doesn't

As far as overall manufacturer reliability, mazda is plenty good. As far as a model's reliability, the 3 is also good. If you're going brand new, the 2nd gen mazda3 has been out since '09 ('10 for the speed3), so the first model year issues aren't really in consideration

Until I totalled my 07 mazda3, the year or 2 I had it for was problem free. Since owning my 08.5 mazdaspeed3, I was warranted a new accellerometer, and output shaft bearing

Go to a magazine stand or book store and check out a consumer reports, and while you're at it check out a kbb, which is another indication of reliability since resale value kinda goes along with it