IDO Posted January 7, 2010 Share Posted January 7, 2010 Hi All, Looking to get a second car (drove in to london today in the supe', mostly sideways!), have come the the conclusion as much as i love the supra (used everyday for the last 5 years) London traffic and speed bumps are getting too much and as the missus has said a few times "we need something practical"... Have had the offer from someone in the family of a good deal on a mazda3... I've had a quick go in it and think its quite a nice car, anyone had any experience with them?? Looking to use it as the everyday car so i can keep the supra in a garage and save it for weekends.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tooquicktostop Posted January 7, 2010 Share Posted January 7, 2010 I have had all kinds of second cars (Corvette as you know right now !!) I look back at some of the best and they are always the least exciting BUT never went wrong as long as they were serviced, this service was always very cheap as well Ford Mondeo 1.8 SAAB 9000 Volvo (the big box back one !, dont even remember the name) to name but a few The Ford stands out for me, never missed a beat, cheap to run and maintain, nice to drive and loads of space, I also never lost any big bucks on the resale ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creativename Posted January 7, 2010 Share Posted January 7, 2010 Iv sold these for 5 years, so i know most things about them. If there is anything your unsure of gimme a shout. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jdwals Posted January 7, 2010 Share Posted January 7, 2010 We have a 2005 1.6 petrol Mazda 3 for the last two odd years and overall it is a solid reliable car. Don't think it has the zoom-zoom Mazda advertise though! Great space inside and in the boot and the rear seats fold down. It holds the road fairly well. Interior nice enough as well with plenty of cup holders and cubby holes to stick things away. Big glove box too. Nice looking car as well. I will say though that the engine sounds pretty thrashy at motorway speeds - 70mph odd - and is fairly loud compared to other cars in it's class. Also found that the fuel economy in the 1.6 seems to be a bit lower than similar cars. The seats I find are okay but over long journey's (4hrs or so), I feel a bit of a strain on my back when driving. After the flooding that wrote off my Supra, I have had the occasion to drive three Ford Focus's over the last two months and, all things considered, in that class I would consider the Focus to be a better car than the Mazda 3 so would probably point you towards one of those if it was a choice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IDO Posted January 8, 2010 Author Share Posted January 8, 2010 Thanks for the advice guys... Dean, was thinking of a saab at one point and a mondeo, but as the missus will also be using it she had to have a bit of a say in it and wants something a tad smaller than those two... (ps need any graphics/design work done for the chippy give me a shout) Creativename, I still will be looking at a couple over the weekend, anything mainly to look out for? jdwals, thanks for the info very helpful.. other contenders are the focus, golf, civic, leon, A3... but as mentioned we may have a really good deal on a 3' so will have to see how that works out... thanks all for the advice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Havard Posted January 8, 2010 Share Posted January 8, 2010 IDO, It depends on the number of £ notes you'll be saving going for the Mazda 3. Personally I would go for the Focus or the Leon if I was you. I always turned my nose up at Fords before I was forced to have a Mondeo as a company car, since then I have loved them as I abused his thing for 3 years and it never went back to Fords for anything except a service..!! We have the Mazda FWIW and I like the car but it is far from perfect, especially in icy conditions. Whether the 3 is similar I don't know. We have had a couple of Mazdas now and they have been reliable and the back up from Mazda has been great but they could be a little more refined and have better fuel economy compared to the like of BMW etc H. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creativename Posted January 8, 2010 Share Posted January 8, 2010 Like Harvard has just said, fuel economy is the worse thing about Mazda's as a whole. The main thing to look out for is the laquer bubbling on the wheels and boot badge. They are quite noisy at motor speeds, especially in the back. The original battery's are shockingly bad, Iv seen them go flat in less than a week. There is a panel in the passenger side foot well, that has very weak clips and tends to get kicked off by accident. There's no real mechanical issues to look out for. I used to see an occasional one that had a faulty dash display. Day to day running they are a fantastic car, overall bad points I would say they are underpowered and a bit heavy on fuel. If you go to see it and need to know anything particular feel free to drop me a PM. HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IDO Posted January 8, 2010 Author Share Posted January 8, 2010 Ta people, Havard, thanks.. mazda wasn't the first choice to be honest it was the Leon, but as mentioned we could be getting a v.good deal (saving pos' grands rather than hundreds on normal second hand price).. A few of the family had a company which was sold and they were company cars which they bought from the company before the sale or something.. creativename.. thanks fella, may give you a PM if needed.. Think the reliable factor is the main thing after the price, it will mainly be a town/work run-about so motorway noise as mention earlier and feeling underpowered shouldn't be too much of a problem.. will still have the supe for motorway run journeys! Ta for your views people... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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