I just bought a Mazda3i Touring with 5-speed manual and ABS/SAB/SAC package, galaxy gray mica. I'm so excited about my new ride, and relieved to have this whole car shopping process over with. And so is my wife, who is tired of hearing me talk about cars every night for the past two weeks.

I thought I would post a bit about my decision making process. I have been driving a 2005 Dodge Stratus, it was a company car, but I've changed jobs and no longer have that perk. Don't cry for me, I always hated the Dodge, and will probably break even by expensing business mileage, and driving something nicer in the process. As much as I dig the MS3, or RX-8 for that matter, my criteria were value, gas mileage, reliability, and decent leg room (I am 6'3"). I wanted something sporty, but not too much of a hot rod. Practicality was the top consideration. The other cars I considered were:

-Honda Civic LX. Nice ride, good leg room. But not enough features for the money. I can't stand plastic wheel covers, but I also didn't have enough head room (6'3") with the EX with sunroof. Plus I didn't want to spend that much, and they weren't willing to come much off of MSRP. Also, the insurance was going to cost more by about $240 per year. And the styling is just kinda weird. Especially the 4-door.

-Subaru Impreza 2.5. Good leg room, but interior materials felt cheap. Good engine, ride, and handling, but gas mileage was pretty low. I understand the safety and performance benefits that justify the higher cost of AWD, but I just don't need it in Texas. Also, the new 2008 styling was a little boring, and the base model without premium package lacked some key features like alloy wheels. No doubt, it was a fun test drive, but it was just too expensive, even when they offered very close to invoice, I just figured I could find a better value. Plus the salesperson there was way too aggressive and that turned me off.

-Mitsubishi Lancer. I liked the looks of the GTS with the 18" wheels and body kit, but I decided it looked a little too juvenile with that big wing, and those tires were going to be expensive to replace. The ES with tech package had some nice features like bluetooth, keyless ignition, nice stereo. Good leg room, but the steering wheel didn't telescope and there was no lumbar adjustment, so I was worried about long term comfort. They let me take it home over the weekend, and I was just about sold on it. But again, they weren't willing to deal (only $500 off MSRP), and they didn't have a lot of colors in stock with a manual transmission. When they started to get pushy and steer me toward something I didn't really want, I walked. Plus, after I drove the Mazda3, the Lancer's engine felt course and a little weak down low, and the interior materials and ride and noise levels seemed "unrefined".

-2003 Acura TL Type S. I found a very clean, low mileage one of these on the used lot at a Lexus dealer. But my wife was not comfortable with a used car, and I really wanted something with a manual transmission, and better gas mileage.

-Also drove a Corolla - no leg room, crossed that off right away.

Which leads me to the Mazda3 I did buy. I was hankering for the 3s Sport with sunroof and 6-CD package, but I decided the 3i Touring had everything I needed, and was a really good value. The 2.0 felt plenty powerful enough to me, and I wanted the best gas mileage possible. The 3's have a firm, but not too stiff, ride and handling, good acceleration, awesome steering. And it just seems well put together compared to most cars I've been in (and I drive a lot of rental cars when traveling for business). It feels more substantial than the other small cars I considered. Plus the special finance rate was great, I had planned to pay cash, but I can do something more productive with that money now.

Only a couple disappointments:
1) they don't offer a leather steering wheel cover like Honda does (I think, please correct me if I'm wrong)
2) Icy blue was my favorite color (chick color, maybe? I still dig it though) only comes with tan interior, and I wanted black interior for long term durability
3) I just discovered that after 1/1/08 the i Touring will be replaced by the i Touring Value Edition, which will come with the color-keyed grill, 17" wheels, leather steering wheel and shift ****, and piano black dash trim rather than the faux wood. I will admit that the leather steering wheel and shift **** and color-keyed grill would have been nice to have. I think I prefer 16" wheels, they look good on the car and have a nice design, and will be more comfortable and the tires will have longer tread life and lower replacement cost. And I like the woodgrain trim rather than "piano black", just a little bit of color in that very dark interior is nice. But I would have wanted those other additions. I don't know how much the price will increase, but a couple hundred bucks it would have been worth it. Ain't that just the way it goes, as soon as you get your new toy, they come out with the latest version to make you jealous... But it's okay, I'm very happy with what I got. The galaxy grey is really cool, looks a little different depending on the lighting. Definitely not the boring dark gray that is so commonplace these days.

I am really looking forward to driving this car everyday, and participating in this forum!

 

Welcome! Great first post

No love for Nissan it seems? Don't worry, you didn't miss much.

 

No, we have no love for Nissan in this family. We had a Quest van for about a year and received terrible service when attempting to address some very minor repairs. Rattles and squeaks began. Cheap interior materials were not holding up. My general impression of Nissan is they have certain very good engines, but a lot of other quality issues. Don't much care for the look of the new Sentras anyway, and there weren't a lot of great reviews written about it, so it didn't even get a test drive from us.

 

Again welcome. My car has a leather steering wheel, but I guess it doesn't come on the 3i model. You could always buy a steering wheel off of a junked 3s and put it in yourself....... many people have done that. Also if your car doesn't have cruise then you could add that at the same time (in theory).

 

Welcome to the site! Plenty of info and interesting folks on here...

My next car will probably be a 3 sedan also, but I'll wait until after the 09s come out with the 2.5L engine.

 

Thanks. With the i Touring, I do have cruise control and everything else on the steering wheel. Honda lists the leather steering wheel cover for all their models as a fairly cheap option. Just lace it up. I don't see anything like it in the Mazda accessories catalog, but perhaps the dealer could order that part. Surely if a 3s owner somehow damaged theirs they could just replace the leather cover and not the whole thing.

 

No, I think it's the full wheel, no cover.

 

3s here... yeah, you wont find the leather wrap in the mazda catalog. the wheel comes factory stitched, which looks 100 times better than the do-it-yourself lace on jobbies. but if that's what you want, and don't wanna pick up a 3s wheel from a junk-yard, you can always head up to oreily's, autozone, or even wal-mart and pick up either a slip on cover or a leather lace up cover. I'm guessing there's not much difference at all between what you can get there and what honda's selling, perhaps a slightly higher quality material. Personally, i like a beefy grip, so i have a nice slip on cover over my already wrapped wheel.

 

This website:
http://www.autocarparts.com/part/1168/96/

...claims their Wheelskins brand covers look factory. I've ordered a couple of color samples and will probably buy one, it's only $40.

 

Welcome to the forum. I agree with a lot of what you said about the other cars you tested. It's how I ended up with a Mazda myself.

 

oh ya, forogt to mention what sold me on the car... look it up on car and driver's website. for 07, the 3s was the 4th fastest car under $20k.

1. V6 mustang (should be illegal, mustangs should only have v8's)
2. Cobalt SS, G6 GT (personally, i hate GM)
3. Nissan Altima 2.5s (No love for nissan here either, plus... it seems more like a mom car :P)
4. Mazda 3s (nuff said )
5-10 doesn't matter, lol

 

^^Word. Any plans for your new Mazda?

 

welcome to the site

 

Hello All...have recently purchased (Oct'07) an '07 3-s with the Grand Touring package...leather, Bose, sunroof, etc etc.. my forth Mazda in the past 10 years....love everything but the tires...Eagle P205/50/17....any thoughts on the Toyo TR1 as a replacement..preferably P220/50/17...also thoughts on value of cold air intake system....thanks

 

Welcome to the site! Those 220s (probably you meant 225s) might be a little wide for stock wheels, but 215/45s would work fine. You might want to check this thread for opinions on tires, also tirerack.com, edgeracing.com, performanceplustire.com.

The search function will help you with info on the cold air intake.