Anyone have a Mazda3?

[catnapper]

Hubby is looking to replace the beater car with a real one. My car is paid off in July and you know what that means..... I get to finish paying off one car to start payments on another one

Anyhooo... we're seriously looking at the Mazda3. It seems like a nice car, but I don't know anyone with it.

The other choices were Ford Focus or Huyndai (I can't remember the name right now, nor the proper spelling) Anyone with either of those cars can speak up too.

I need to hear the good as well as the bad. He'll be putting a LOT of miles onto whatever car he gets, so I need something good on gas mileage and dependable for many years to come.

PS: hubby's beater car has had the "check engine" light on more than its been off. The transmission is slipping. We're not quite sure it'll make it to July!

[Lilith Cherry]

While I don't presently own a car ( I live in China 10 months out of 12.) I did hire a Mazda3 all last summer. It was great! It was easy to drive ( no blind spots etc) very comfortable and good on gas use. It also had the advantage of fitting both my very tall, broad shouldered husband and just under five feet tall me equally comfortably to drive it - with appropriate adjustments of course lol!

There was a lot of space in the car and the trunk too; we drove home from the airport with four heavy suitcases, two wheelie computer/cabin bags and various other odds and ends acquired en route from China and still had plenty of space to spare.

We had no mechanical problems with it even though, being a rental car, it had probably not been treated with much respect by previous drivers. I would thoroughly recommend it!

[CountryWolf07]

I'm currently looking at a Ford Escort/Chevy Cavalier/Ford Focus - not sure which one I will end up with.. just yet. I will find out today.

[moosmom]

I used to drive Mazdas off the assembly line as a temp job when I lived in Michigan. They're great little cars. They ride nice and they're comfortable space wise.

I've seen the Smart Car and am very impressed with it. It's a 2 seater (which is what I need considering I throw alot of my stuff in the back seat, which in general makes my car a two seater). The basic Smart Car price is $10,000. If you want air conditioning and a radio, it'll cost you another $2,000. The gas mileage is amazing.

Good luck. I'd recommend the Mazda in a heartbeat. Another car that is good is the Kia. I've had my car for 7 years now and with the great warranty it has, I recommend it to anyone.

[jennielynn1970]

I had a Ford Focus. You really don't want one of them. I drove it back to the lot and told them I wanted something else because it was a piece of crap. I had it less than a month. It was horrible. It was even one of the "special edition" ones, a Mach something or other.

I've heard nothing but good things about the Mazda3s and Mazda6s. I would love to trade my Nissan Versa in for one of them. I like my Versa, but the Mazda 3s are tons cuter, lol!