We've been shopping around. Kind of digging on a Mazda 3 5-door in velocity red. What should I really expect to pay? Any little issues I should know about? Also, just saying "Hi." This is my first time at this forum. so... Hi.

 

If you go to the mazdausa.com, you can built and price one there. It give you an idea of what they should cost, also the dealer may sell for less BUT he can't sell for more!

Before I bought mine, I went online to check the prices out (at mazda.ca because I am in Canada). Also another thing, if possible, go 2 differents dealerships and compare their prices. One dealership was quoting from the net (which I already did) and the other sold me the car for 1000$ less. Also I wouldn't go for the extended warrenty or the undercoating but I will get mine Krown rust proof every year.

 

Yeah. The undercoating won't be necessary here. (I live in Dallas) In fact, I'd be surprised if it came up at all. The cars should have it from the factory anyway. I think they may have been trying to gouge you. Both of the dealers here are attempting to charge fpr pin stripes and etching, both of which are total crap. They put it on the entire stock and are trying to force a buy by having no other alternative. The way I see it, they gave it to me for free. I work in auto sales and know what goes into the process. (I sell Subarus, have an older one. I just dig the Mazdas and all you get at the price). Overall, I was curious about how much people have enjoyed thier cars and would they buy another one??

 

I agree fully with Orange. I also live in Ontario, declined all of the crap they tried to sell me, and will be going with the rust proofing every year, instead of the dealer's. I did learn a valuable lesson about separating my trade in and what they would sell the new car for. I ended up getting a fairly good deal that I'm happy with, but it took a lot of haggling.

I love the car. It's everything I expected and more. Granted, I've only had it for a couple of days, but I'm getting the AEM CAI next week, and should be able to let you know about my honest opinions after that. I was hoping for someone to have Dyno results, but no luck thus far.

I bought the sedan by the way after test driving both. I found it to be a little quieter, but that might have just been me.

 

I just bought a 2005 3S 5-door in Velocity Red Mica. I ended up paying 17k for it. I live in Denver. Did not get the moonroof/6-cd package, I need the headroom. Did get the autodimming rearview mirror with temp/direction and that is about it besides the standard sport package. I felt it was a pretty good price. I went on the last day of the month (31st March) and the weather was crappy - I have heard that this helps because the dealer needs to match their quota for the month and not very many people buy cars on the bad weather days so they are ready to sell. The gave me about $1500 off the sticker price.

I had been looking at the 3S for about a year and am soooo glad I got it. The funny thing was when I bought the car it was a cloudy day and it wasn't until the next day when it was sunny that I noticed how cool the velocity red mica looked. I hit the twistys yesterday in it and I was very impressed - this car handles like a serious sports car. I just sold my sportbike and this car will satisfy the cornering rush until I get a new bike!

 

That strange, my girlfriend bought the sedan and drove mine the other day and said mine is quieter. She has the GT with the GFX package. The only reason I wanted the 5 door was the room available when you fold down the seats.
Up to now I love the car!

 

Yeah.. my wife flipped out on the red mica. She totally digs it and we've still only seen in under lights at night. I bet it's really nice during the day. I've been searching around for some tasteful performance bits forf it. Not a whole lot out there, but I called Borla and they said the '04 cat back will fit the '05. I like thier stuff as its not "buzzy". Has a nice throaty growl without sounding like angry hornets in a coffee can. I suppose others here have done some slight mods? does a cold air intake improve things much?

 

Wow, if you needed the headroom you either sport some seriously tall hats or are a giant! I'm almost 6' 5" and I have the moonroof and there's plenty of headroom, not even close to being an issue. Then again, I guess we all have our height distributed differently, I'm pretty even (body/leg ratio sense!)...

I'm happy to date with my car although the dealer had to ship me yet another temp tag because they still don't have my plates. The goon taking the plates off my old car mangled it and was going to put this jagged, destroyed, sharp-edged plate on the new ride before I asked him if he was nuts... It would've surely destroyed some paint with all the sharp edges.

I do have to make an appointment to take the car in as there is a hesitation in the morning before it fully warms up and that shouldn't be... But it handles great and for the money offers more options then anything else I saw.

Best, JP