A Solid Decision (and lots of fun)
Great Drive: Handling is superb; steering exquisitely communicative and well weighted,; engine (2.3) sounds great, revs easily, and goes like a Jack Russell Terrier after drinking a bottle of Jolt. Great Practicality: 5 door hatchback is flexible, roomy and comfortable; the cloth seats are grippy, supportive, and firm; gas milage is great (25/32 with the 2.3). Great Future: Highly rated reliability; fantastic projected resale value (best selling fleet car in Europe for this reason); safe; well-built and stylish. Conclusion: An economical, practical family hauler with the soul of a much more expensive european sports sedan (or is that Zoom-Zoom?).
Great car
It's been a pleasure owning this car, just wish it held its value better for trade in/ resale. Have moved on, now into a 2016 VW Passat. It was time.
- Safety
- Technology
- Performance
- Interior
- Comfort
- Reliability
- Value
- s SedanMSRP: $5,900389 mi away
- i SedanMSRP: $2,699401 mi away
- s 4dr HatchbackMSRP: $4,500630 mi away
Stay Away
Purchased a 1 year old hatch with 24,000 miles, with 50,000 now, I have had to replace the engine and transmission linkage. I had an Explorer with less problems and that is saying something. Buyer beware of this one.
Good
With neither the proper (last-gen) Golf nor Focus available, there's not much competition so I'm happy with what I get! The 3 drives well although the handling can be described as 'great' only by comparison to something quite wobbly. The shift is tops but the steering isn't too precise. We couldn't get traction ctrl and/or ABS on our model. This is a top-spec (S) yet the power window has no one-touch up. Having just paid the toll you either hold the window-up button with a line of angry Boston drivers behind you or pull away into the Boston winter with the window open. Plus the buttons are placed too far ahead and aren't illuminated. Please, a few LEDs for 17K!
Friday afternoon car
Purchased brand new. Looked great, sporty, fun to drive, typical great Mazda clutch. However, I feel my car was built on a Monday morning or Friday afternoon, I had nothing but problems with it in the year & a half I owned it. Pieces of trim falling off, just about every sensor/idiot light would come, check engine, air bag, etc. needing a trip to the dealership. One time it would not start and had to be towed to the dealership, luckily it was in my driveway at the time. I was very fortunate that the dealership/Mazda had a loaner car program, which I needed on several occasions, otherwise those expenses would have added up, but I still had to take time off for drop off/pickup.