Friend is contemlating a 3

Hello,
My friend is contemplating getting a mazda 3. Is there any years, issues, models, motors, that she should stay away from? Any other info we should know before she buys something? She is looking for a manual. Anyone have any input as to how these cars do in the snow (we live in Minnesota). I'm sure a lot of this has been covered by a lot of people, but to dig for all this information would take longer than anyones polite response of "Yes, look for this..." or "No problems yet..." and all that.
Thank you for any information.

Mine's the 2006 4 door, rear spoiler, leather interior, premium stereo 'auxmod' added for wired aux input, moonroof, alloy wheels, low profile tires, autotint rearview mirror, 5 speed automatic slap-stick...

This is a very sporty car for the size/money. Here in Calif they come with a 2.3 dohc 16 valve engine that puts out 160hp... it has plenty of passing power when needed.

Lots aof folks like the manual trans. but I've been pumping clutchs for decades so I opted for the 5 speed slap-stick automatic, I love it... you normally have it in drive like any car, then when you feel like it, slap it to the left and its a motorcycle shifter, without the clutch!! What a blast!

You can get the stereo with a Sirius receiver in the rear quarter panel, or you can do what I did, add an Aux cord that terminates with a 1/8" stereo input jack. You can plug in XM, Sirius, Ipod, Cell phone, etc to this Aux cord.

So, it's a zoom, zoom, zoomer! With the low tires it corners like it's on rails. It pretty quiet inside with everything shut, I was surprized after driving with the wife in her cars. Course I do have a Town Car, nothing compares to that one for quiet.

The mileage can be really good, even above sticker claims if you baby her... I can squeeze 34mpg consistantly if I try (tested over 3000 miles).. that's easy starts, little braking, and not exceeding 60mph. More realistically, I drive (after that test) at 75~80 all over the place, I'm not a jackrabbit start/stopper but I do like the speed... I can get down as low as 29mpg consistantly when I feel like it.

Cons
My rides a bit rough (bumpy) but remember, I'm on low profiles, and I'm accustomed to the Lincoln.

I'm under warranty for awhile, so the shit that goes wrong in the first few months are going to the local dealer to be fixed.

1) Clock loses time whenever it feels like it, 15min to 1/2hr jumps. There's a TSB to replace the display panel that fixes the problem. The dealer put two large scratches in my paint on that visit.

2) Steering tilt tensioner fell off. Dealer scratched the crap out of the kick panel at the drivers entry on that visit.

3) Auto sensing rearview mirror arrived at dealer after 3 months excuses. Dealer installed it, 10 miles later the windshield spider cracks from under the mirror.

4) New windshield arrives, dealer scratches the dashboard, and the face of the glovebox on that visit. To make up for it, while they fixed those scratches, the yardboy sprays some oily shit on my tires and wheels; I'm still trying to get the shit off 3 months later, and he makes a large S scratch in the left-rear roof pillar.

5) I complain of an engine oil leak so the dealer adds a dye to the oil and says 'drive 300~500 miles and come back for inspection.
Then he claims there's no evidence of leaking oil.

3500 miles later I pull up on the ramps to change the oil, FUCK!! Those f'n SOB's cut off the hinges to my engine splash guard, and failed to replace the two snap-in fasteners. I suppose they decided to modify my car for my own good, OH FUCK AM I PISSED !! F'n so called educated mechanics. Fuck!

So I take some close up shots of the leaking engine oil, missing fasteners, and cut hinges and havn't yet been back to vent about this one.

I mean really, who are these idiot mechanics. I obviously have a rear main seal that's somehow f'd up, its under warranty, but they'll decide what I need, and what I dont while they're taking my trans out, and putting it back?

I'm kinda between a rock and a hard place.... (grandma's phrase)

If you want to do some browsing or ask Q's from 17000 members, try >>> here (http://www.mazda3forums.com/index.php) <<< too.


My bottom line:
After the bugs are worked out, this is a great car for a daily driver.

ok i'm in australia so its a bit different.

i bought my wife a Sp23 in march '04

picked it up from the dealer without rear brake lights. dealer said "its just globes. on your way home stop off at a servo and pick up some globes. you'l be right"
he didn't even know they were LED assemblies.

i got in the boot to fix the problem. they were unplugged after the parking sensors were installed.

as we drove home the plastic cover in the roof section of the hatch fell off. thanks again to the parking sensor installer.


we've gone for 35000k's and its been perfect. i've noticed that others are now for sale but they have bald tyres. i guess some people don't like the cost of replacement tyres.

other than that we couldn't be happier with it. every mazda survey we fill out we say the car is perfect but the dealers are shite!

New problem just cropped up --

Automatic Temperature Control lowers, no problem but I can't get it to rise (spinning the Control Knob) unless I push IN the knob with a bit of force while turning it.

Bunmmer, another opertunity for the dealers to break more shit!!!

Ok- some of the people here seem a little disgruntled.

We haven't seen many problems at all with these cars. I just had a good friend of mine buy one because they are great for the price and low maintence.

Really, keep the oil changed and up on your services and you'll be fine.

As far as problems there haven't been many. I can talk all day about "if it does this it needs that" but i'm not going to. There was a very simple and quick recall on the very early 2004 models. Not major or invasive. I believe they're almost all done. The cars, depending on driving habits, are hard on tires. Keep your pressure set and keep rotating them and you'll be fine. The only other thing I can think of is a squeak from the rear brakes, in reverse, and cold. Mazda's come up with some updated parts and a fix that seems to work well. If the car's in the warranty term, and THEY CAN DUPLICATE the problem, they'll take care of it.

But really, these are great cars. I can highly reccomend them. Very very few problems, auto, manual, 2.0 or 2.3. Enjoy.

rw

i have two new problems developing.

as i don't drive the car everyday, i'm not as used to it as my wife. it appears to me that its getting harder to start. a few more turns on the crank and a bit sluggish to turn over. i checked the battery and its 100%. then one night as i started it, the headlights flashed just as it struggled then it started. the headlights were off.

also the cruise control is failing. we hardly use it as my wife drives in traffic about 10 minutes to work. the only time we use it is on the freeways when i drive. we turn it on and set it but it won't maintain the speed. then (while its on but not set) it speeds up of its own free will.

Well, I had my Temp. Control Dial fixed and sure enough, the dreaded inevitable damage was done again. This time the dealer had someone step on my rear bumper with light gravel stuck on their shoe and scratched my rear bumper to hell.

Man I can't wait till the warranty is up!

The entire climate control panel was replaced and some cabin sensor as well.

Disgruntled! Who said that? I'm being personally violated by these dealers... you may like scratches all over your new car, but that shit infuriates me.

As for the problems with the car; Yes, it's a bit irritating that a new car has some defects, but I can live with those repairs. My main complaint is the dealers damaging my car. I still haven't mustered the courage to have my Rear Main Oil Seal repaired.

Still, it's a great little car, fun to drive, and very reliable so far. I'm averaging 110 miles per day, and somewhere in the range of 36,000 miles per year.

Subaru 17171 invoice -$500 rebate -$540 (3% dealer hold back) +$625 destination + invoice=16756+profit =$17500 they told me out the door for an Impreza 2.5i, 0-60 is 7.9 seconds, best on mazda3 S is 7.3, but subaru is heavier , has awd, better reliability, but gets 20/30 mpg.
Same size, even look the same sort of.
Im looking for a new car soon too but they dont want anything for my trade in so ill wait till it poops or till I get a good job after graduating.
With the mazda3 and 10k miles per year ill save $20 a month "only."
It snows heavy like once-three times a year in NY.
What do you guys think?
If I test drive and one is more comfortable than other surely ill get that one, but lets assume both are comfy.
Yes, the Mazda3 surely looks better to some but I care more about the engineering.