2008 Mazda MAZDA3 Consumer Reviews

Fun to drive - with a few problems

Vehicle

2008 Mazda MAZDA3 New s Grand Touring 4dr Sedan (2.3L 4cyl 5A)

Review

I bought this car new in 2007 - the car has more options than entry level luxury vehicles (328i, g35, a4, etc) at half the price. I went with the Grand Touring trim since it packed so much bang for the buck. This car is fun to drive and carries Japanese reliability. It feels connected with the road (not like BMW, but more so than other Japanese models) Major issue with this trim level is that the tires wear out every 15k miles - OEM even sooner. the OEM tires are absolute garbage. Mechanic says car has negative camber causing uneven and quick wear on tires. Computer component failed at 48k miles and Mazda fixed even though warranty was done. (It took them a month to diagnose)
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Had a Mazda 3 sedan 2008 for 9 months in Upstate NY

Vehicle

2008 Mazda MAZDA3 i Sport 4dr Sedan (2.0L 4cyl 4A)

Review

It was a great car at first and it's lasted throughout all of this crazy weather we've been having in the northeast with the hurricane and rain. I purchased the car used at 36,000 miles or so and now has about 44,000. On one occasion I left for a trip over a weekend and the car seemed to be hesitant to start. Again, this past weekend I left it over the weekend, which wasn't especially a record cold temp. weekend and came back to a non-starting vehicle. It sounds like it might be the battery, but I left the car a night and if the lights had been on this annoying buzzer goes on in my car before I remove the keys. I'm not sure what it is that is wrong, but I will be bringing it in to find out.
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Terrible! A huge regret!

Vehicle

2008 Mazda MAZDA3 i Touring 4dr Sedan (2.0L 4cyl 4A)

Review

My mazda is 3 years old, has broken down on me 4 times, and I am now told by Mazda that my car needs a new engine. I regret buying this lemon. Terrible customer service too. Stay away!
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Great Car

Vehicle

2008 Mazda MAZDA3 s Touring 4dr Hatchback (2.3L 4cyl 5A)

Review

I bought it new and had to let it go when my son was born. Owned it for 56K miles. Never had any problems with it. I commuted from NJ to CT every three days and the car was very comfortable, excelled well on I-95 and the Merrit Pkwy, and had great fuel economy. No complaints. Would have kept it forever, however, the rear seats, once my son moved beyond the infant car-seat stage, became too small. Great for a couple or if you have older children in front-facing booster seats. Miss the car!
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Fun car, but replace tires every 12,000 miles!

Vehicle

2008 Mazda MAZDA3 s Sport 4dr Sedan (2.3L 4cyl 5A)

Review

The car, itself, is fun to drive and packs some punch. Gas mileage in the city is not great (my experience has been around 20-22mpg), but on long trips, my experience was 32-34mpg highway. THE REAL PROBLEM with this car is the tires wear out very quickly! My oil change guy noticed that the original tires were wearing badly at 8,000 miles! At 10,000 they were done! The second set of tires lasted about 14,000 miles. The current set has approximately 10,000 miles and need replaced! The soft compound, speed rated tires are very expensive to replace and will bubble or blow out when even a small pothole is touched. I doubt tires were factored in enough to the True Cost to Own, so buyer beware!
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Great, fun car!

Vehicle

2008 Mazda MAZDA3 s Sport 4dr Sedan (2.3L 4cyl 5M)

Review

Purchased as a one owner vehicle with 34000 miles. A joy to drive with taut handling and smooth manual transmission. Light clutch that took a bit of getting used to. No issues with rattling or brakes. Prefer having a coolant gauge that the new models don't have. Comfortable seats, better than average stereo system and Ipod jack is a plus. Great acceleration in second and third gears and very stable at speed for a relatively light car. Mileage averages 27-28 combined city/highway. A bit noisy at speed but figure that is the sacrifice for a preferred stiffer suspension. Love it!
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Best value for fun and economy

Vehicle

2008 Mazda MAZDA3 i Sport 4dr Sedan (2.0L 4cyl 5M)

Review

Good looking, fun-to-drive, low purchase price, and good fuel economy make it hard-to-beat for the $. Much more of a 'driver's car' than the Civic, Corolla or Sentra. MPG is usually 32-35 MPG (combined) after break-in, and already saw 39 MPG, all highway miles. No rotor warp as others have stated: a torque wrench MUST be used when tightening lug nuts! No issues to date, only service has been oil changes.
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I've had a few problems

Vehicle

2008 Mazda MAZDA3 s Touring 4dr Sedan (2.3L 4cyl 5A)

Review

I traded in my 2002 Civic for my Mazda 3... I've had 4 Honda's in the past and regret my Mazda purchase some days. To start, the tires had to be replaced at 22,000 miles, my rotors are warped, and my a/c stopped working this summer because I had an issue with the thermostat. The only thing that the warranty has covered is the problem with the thermostat. It's not bad to drive and it starts every morning, but I certainly won't be purchasing another Mazda in the future!
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I upgraded and had some ups and downs

Vehicle

2008 Mazda MAZDA3 s Grand Touring 4dr Hatchback (2.3L 4cyl 5A)

Review

I like the way it handles now versus how it did when I bought it. It's a used car with only 17,700 miles on it so it's a good deal. Of course I needed to fix some things before I could actually enjoy it like I now do. I like how it gets up there when I need it and when I out on a 1 to 2 hour drive I love the bose system. It helps to have soft tires greatly. This car corners nicely.
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Unsatisfied with the Warranty & Dealer

Vehicle

2008 Mazda MAZDA3 New i Touring Value 4dr Sedan (2.0L 4cyl 4A)

Review

I bought this mazda3 new and 3 months later I had brake/rotor problems. I took it to the dealership 3 times in 11 months, they mechanically fixed my rotors and 1 month later the same problem happened. My steering wheel shook every time i braked. I called Mazda one month later and the dealership and Mazda said i was not under warranty. What? Whatever they did to my car was not sufficient. I am still dealing with the problem and found out today i have a manufactures warranty for 3 yrs/36,000 miles. So, everyone lied to me and still nothing.
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