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Used 2013 Mazda 3 Sedan Consumer Reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
23 reviews
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Pros
Cons
5 out of 5 stars

If you like driving, you'll love this car

Griffin, 09/12/2016
updated 05/26/2022
2013 Mazda 3 i Touring 4dr Sedan (2.0L 4cyl 6M)
35 of 35 people found this review helpful

My wife bought a 2013 Mazda3 i Touring manual sedan used with about 6k miles. We liked it so much I bought a 2012 Mazdaspeed3 (manual hatchback) with about 40k miles. We've put about 50k miles on each of them since, and love these cars. High-level pros: fun to drive, cheap to run/maintain. High-level cons: cabin noise a little high. Performance For its class, the i Touring's 155 hp keeps the small car zippy. You're not blown away, but stepping on the gas puts a smile on your face and lets you merge with ease. The clutch and shifter are light and excellent. My gripe about the manual is that 5th and 6th gear ratios are too close together, making 5th almost worthless. Handling If you enjoy the act of driving, at least test drive this car. It'll make you wonder why anyone buys a Civic/Corolla/Elantra. The responsiveness is great and the brakes induce confidence. The agile handling comes at the cost of a stiffer ride, but if you enjoy driving, you prefer feeling the road instead of floating over it anyway. The seats are comfortable enough for none of that to be jarring, and they have enough bolstering for you to really enjoy taking curves at speed. Interior This is mostly personal preference, but I find the interior a nice place to be. Controls are easy to access and intuitive, and the bluetooth works reliably. The seats were comfortable even when driving 15 hrs a day on a cross-country trip, but I'm a skinny 5'8", so I can't speak to fitting larger people. The road noise is more pronounced than I'd like, so rough roads are tiring on the ears. Note that a new set of quieter tires has significantly improved road noise compared to the OEM tires, but it's still no Lexus. The engine is fairly quiet during normal driving, but has a nice sound when you rev it up. A few minor rattles have sprung up already, but they're only noticeable on certain roads and when paying attention for them. Trunk space has been adequate, but I don't often need to haul much. Cost to run/maintain The manual Mazda3 i Touring got about 38-39 mpg highway on a cross-country trip, with LA city rush hour mileage (averaging about 20 mph) closer to 26 mpg. With only 64k miles, a couple things have broken: a transmission mount failed, and there's a known issue where the dashboard buckles and creates a gap around the screen. Mazda extended the warranty for that item to 8 years but ours buckled after 9, so they only offered a discount on the expensive repair, which wasn't so great.

Safety
4 out of 5 stars
Technology
5 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Interior
4 out of 5 stars
Comfort
4 out of 5 stars
Reliability
5 out of 5 stars
Value
5 out of 5 stars
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4.63 out of 5 stars

Bye '13 Focus, Hello Skyactiv!!

mazda3_2013, 10/14/2013
2013 Mazda 3 i Sport 4dr Sedan (2.0L 4cyl 6A)
25 of 26 people found this review helpful

I traded my '13 Ford Focus (that I bought brand new), for my brand new Mazda3. Let me tell you this car is better in all aspects. The Focus was very nice, but could not get used to the Dual Clutch transmission. I was in heaven when I test drove my Mazda, it drives better then the Focus, it shifts better, handles better. Everyone says how the Mazda3 has hard plastic all over the place on the inside, I don't know about you but I don't drive and tap my fingers on the dashboard at the sometime. Yes, somethings could of been made and/or placed different, but I've never seen a car where everything is perfect, but the Mazda3 comes pretty darn close.

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4 out of 5 stars

The Fun compact

ChrisMo, 11/15/2016
2013 Mazda 3 s Grand Touring 4dr Sedan (2.5L 4cyl 6A)
9 of 9 people found this review helpful

Picked up a 2013 3 Grand Touring S sedan as a daily driver about 5 months ago (June 2016) and I am pretty impressed. With less than 13,000 miles on it, I feel like I'm driving a new car. At the time, I compared it to a 2014 3 2.0 Skyactiv and I found the 2.5 felt so much more powerful and torquey. It's almost like a small V6. My complaints are few. The 2.5 returns less than stellar mpgs, especially in the city. Because of my very short commute, I estimate only around 20mpg. Highway economy is much better. The last couple years of this generation also have a mishmash of red/blue/white instrumentation. The oem tires seem loud and the ride is a little firm. But that ride helps make this car fun to drive. In top of the line Grand Touring guise, this car is equipped like cars costing 2-3x as much. Bose audio, blind spot monitoring, bi-xenon adaptive front headlights, LED tail lights, navigation, & heated seats are some of the impressive features list. I've been looking at the new 2017 Mazda 6 as a potential replacement but then I think to myself, what am I really getting over my 3 to validate the purchase? Bottom line, why anyone buy a Civic or Corolla over a 3 is baffling.

Safety
4 out of 5 stars
Technology
4 out of 5 stars
Performance
4 out of 5 stars
Interior
4 out of 5 stars
Comfort
4 out of 5 stars
Reliability
4 out of 5 stars
Value
4 out of 5 stars
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4.13 out of 5 stars

Pretty hot hatch

junglist724, 05/29/2013
2013 Mazda 3 i Touring 4dr Sedan (2.0L 4cyl 6A)
21 of 25 people found this review helpful

I recently got the i touring hatchback version of the mazda3. The steering is very precise, unlike a lot of other cars. Skyactiv is a must. The improvement in performance and fuel economy is worth the extra cash. Stay away from the base trim for the 4 door. The car is pretty fun to drive even at low speeds.

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4.13 out of 5 stars

pretty good so far

abqrich, 04/25/2013
2013 Mazda 3 i Touring 4dr Sedan (2.0L 4cyl 6A)
7 of 8 people found this review helpful

Driving this car is a pleasure. Great engine and transmission. Had it for one year with no problems. 38mpg on 5k road trip. Not good on bad roads. Noisy at highway speeds. Dorky console.

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