Overall, how does the Mazda 3 compare to other cars in its class (civic, etc.)? Are they reliable cars? I'm mainly interested in the 4 door version. Are they going for msrp or can they be gotten for less? Thanks for any info.

 

A friend of mine was shopping for a car in this class. The 3 is a very attractive car, the best looking of the bunch IMO. She ended up not getting one due to the price...they're going for a good amount right now and they come standard with virtually nothing. The end price was in the low 20s! The Civic and Corolla are the old standbys, but neither look sporty or appealing to me. The best buy of this class, IMO, is the Sentra Spec-V. It can be had for about $15k, comes w/ quite a bit of standard equipment, has a good chunk of hp (the most for that price I think), and is fairly fun to drive. However, I don't personally like the styling/looks, but if that doesn't matter much, it'd be a good choice. The other is the Kia Spectra5. I say the 5 cuz it's supposed to be sportier than the standard Spectra, and it looks quite nice. The biggest drawback is the 138hp engine.

 

Fully loaded MSRP ~$22k

Base MSRP ~$15k

While there's not a ton of wiggle room on the 3, you'd still be hard pressed to pay more than $20k for a well equipped car.

And you can run a Civic sedan into the 20s.

 

The 3 is a pretty good small car. If I hadn't gotten a company car, I would have considered one for commuting to Manhattan. I used to drive them plenty when I worked at Enterprise. Compared to the Focus, Crapalier, Corolla, Kia, and Hyundai I drove while working at ERAC it was definitely the best small car. Handles well and has a decent amount of pickup even with the automatic. I used to drive a civic and I liked the 3 better also.

Andy

 

One of the nicest things about the Mazda 3 is how well you can deck it out, which is why it can top 20k. It's one of the only cars (maybe the only car) in it's class to offer leather seats and a navigation system. They don't even offer the navigation system in the bigger brother Mazda 6.

Tony

 

My brother has owned a Mazda3 GT since the car came out in '03. It's been an awesome car. Very torquey motor, very smooth. The car is nice and quiet at freeway/highway speeds.

I've probably been behind the wheel of his car for at least 1,000 miles of it's use, and it's quite a good daily driver.

My only complaint would be that it doesn't like to rev like Honda's do, but aside from that it's very nice.

I would suggest waiting for the new Civic to be released if you're not in a hurry, it's probably going to reclaim the "lead" in the segment.

 

I think I'm going to be the only detractor as far as the 3's looks go. I liked it a lot when it first came out, but now it's really wearing on me, and the sedan model doesn't look any better than a 'Rolla IMO. The hatch is definitely the better looking car, but even that is wearing on me now. I do like the interior however, as it feels very well built.

A nav system in a car like the 3 is absurd IMO. Maybe it's just because I check maps before I go places I'm not familiar with, but I wouldn't even get a nav system in a $40-50k car, let alone one in the high-teens/low-20s.

 

I doubt that you can beat the Mazda 3, as far as compacts go. It's attractive, priced well, and most importantly it has great road feel. I test drove one while I owned my 330i, and was very close in terms of road feel. I was shocked and impressed, to say the least.

 

For 20K I'd buy a Cooper S.

Sam

 

If you need to carry a lot of stuff, the 5-door Mazda 3 is worth considering.