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Love the car although it has it's minor negatives.
Mike A, 05/24/2016
updated 02/20/2020
2016 Mazda 3 i Sport 4dr Hatchback (2.0L 4cyl 6A)
23 of 24 people found this review helpful
I have had the car for more than 3 weeks and put about 1,200 miles. Here is what I like and dislike: Likes: -Looks. Bought the "gray" which actually looks more like charcoal black. -Decent backseat room. Perfect for my teen kids. -Fuel Economy. Averaging about 33 MPG in mixed city/highway. I like in the suburbs but still deal with lights. Its not stop & go but its not true highway either. -Lots of standard features for the iSport. Rear view camera, bluetooth, voice commands, text reads. -Acceleration. Its quick. (**Update after a year of ownership, it is not quick. Not sure why the acceleration went down or why I said it was quick originally.) -Braking. Maybe because the brakes are brand new but it stops on a dime. -Money factor on leasing. *This is key if you are considering leasing. I researched a lot on this but Mazda offers competitive money factors. It is cheaper for me to lease the Mazda3 than say a Kia Soul although the Soul is cheaper.* -Warranty: Powertrain - 5 yr/60k miles plus 3 yr/36k miles roadside assistance (although I have AAA). -Reliability. Consumer Reports has rated Mazda as one of the most reliable brands. Dislikes: -Road noise. Not sure if it is the tires but the road noise is the worst and loudest. I thought my old 2013 Civic had a lot of road noise but this Mazda3 is load! -Seats a little uncomfortable. -Black interior. Looks nice but in the summer, black dashboard and black seats will make the car an oven. -Second week I made a wide right turn and heard a loud pop underneath the car. Then I started hearing metal hitting each other after hitting bumps. Took it to the dealer. They said everything was fine but did confirm the noise. After 3 hours, they said they needed to contact Mazda (this was on Saturday). Noise went away by Monday. Not sure if they fixed it unknowingly. Gone for now. Hope it does not come back but this is a big concern. -Interior Light brightness. There are only 2 options unless mine is defective. Its either bright or less bright. No in-between. Why? Never seen only 2 choices. *Update (after a year of ownership): Everything I mentioned above still stands except for the acceleration. One other item that I took the car to the dealer was when you hit the brakes hard (at slow speed), the car made a noise as if some metal was loose. Dealer determined the brakes were dirty. They cleaned them and noise went away. No issues besides that. I will update in another year. **Update (after 2 years of ownership): Had a recall where part of the rear brakes caused premature wear. I did get new rotors and pads for my rear brakes. Acceleration is not great and is worst with the AC on. I will have the dealer check it out in case there is anything wrong with the transmission. Car is OK but it is not really fun to drive. This is a lease and I will end up buying it in any case. Almost will exhaust the warranty. I have over 32k miles so far and its been only 2 years and 1 month. **Update (after 3+ years of ownership): Again, the acceleration is horrible on this car when the AC is on. The transmissions lags in shifting. No power, no torque. Have two other minor issues: 1) no way to set an audio alert when a text comes in; and 2) why can't my car beep when I lock the doors using my keyfob. You have to press twice for it to beep. Should be at the first press not second. Other than that, it is doing well. No major issues. Approaching 56k miles although its almost 3 1/2 years old. **Update (almost 4 years of ownership; 63k+ miles): Rear shocks need to be replaced; mechanic stated this is a little premature as they usually last 90-100k. Still has lack of power, torque so poor acceleration unless you manually shift gears. Tires are overdue for replacing. I replaced one set so need to replace next set. Overall, the original tires lasted me about 60k which I think is OK. Hoping this will last me another 6 years before I am able to replace this.
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Roomy, Sporty, GREAT fuel economy **and SAFE**
jeff b, 08/05/2016
updated 08/07/2017
2016 Mazda 3 i Sport 4dr Hatchback (2.0L 4cyl 6M)
32 of 34 people found this review helpful
Whats not to like about a sporty hatchback that gets 40+ mpg? No, it`s not a muscle car, and it`s never going to be. Performance is what you`d expect from a 2 liter engine...maybe a tick more but nothing that`s going to push you into the seat. It scoots just fine. The seats are supportive and comfortable. Also, for me, the interior controls are fantastic. There have been some complaints about the ergonomics of the infotainment system and I honestly don`t get it. The screen is well placed and sized well enough. The controls are both on the steering wheel as well as the main control knob which sits comfortably right under your right hand. I read a complaint that the radio kept going up the frequency range after the user stopped clicking. Buddy, there are two settings for the radio. One of them is the "scan" feature. Turn that off and you get one station at a time. The rear view camera is nice and quite useful. I got the six speed manual transmission, and I love it. The clutch is very light and feedback is perfect for the vehicle. One great feature is the hill start assist. If you come to a stop on a hill, the car will automatically hold the brake for you to allow you time to engage the clutch without rolling back. Handling wise, it`s a win as well. Keep in mind you`re not in a ferrari. It has it`s limits but it`s got a sports car`s soul. The automatic windshield wipers are AWESOME. It`s not just on/off, but it also automatically adjusts the wiper speed according to how hard it`s raining. All in all, I am 100% happy with my 3. I took possession of it lock,stock, and barrel (no financing) and I don`t regret it one bit. I had my expectations in the right place and the car exceeded many of them. No, it`s not a race car. Yes, it`s exponentially more cool than a Prius and gets better mileage than a smart car. Plus, I`m a professional musician and my entire rig fits in the hatch. If you want a practical vehicle that`s fun and won`t make you feel you sacrificed your youthful exuberance for space and crappy fuel economy, this is a great car. I was in a terrible accident with this car not too long after my initial review. I was stopped, and rear ended by a car going 70mph. The rear bumper was pushed nearly into the back seat and the car was obviously totaled. I walked away from the crash with little more than aches and pains that you`d expect from such an impact, but I was still able to walk away.
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2016 Mazda 3 for sale near you
3 of 72 listings
- i Touring 4dr HatchbackMSRP: $14,59032 mi away
- i Sport 4dr HatchbackMSRP: $15,59032 mi away
- i Sport SedanMSRP: $11,99843 mi away
See all 72 listings
Great Ride and Handling
Mike Horstein, 07/14/2016
updated 01/27/2017
2016 Mazda 3 s Grand Touring 4dr Sedan (2.5L 4cyl 6A)
11 of 11 people found this review helpful
The 3s Grand Touring was an easy choice. It rides and handles beautifully. The steering is quick and precise, and the driver's seat is very comfortable. The transmission shifts are crisp, and are very responsive to accelerator pressure. In addition, the audio system is the best I have experienced, no doubt because of the Bose speakers. When stopped temporarily on a hill, you have 2 seconds to move your foot from brake to accelerator before the car begins to roll. The headlights, taking their cue from the steering wheel, swivel to point in the direction you will be going, rather than where the car is pointing. There are, however, a number of annoyances. The electronics (with the exception of closing the driver's window) are disabled when the ignition is turned off. It requires a separate operation to restore the audio. Three distinct operations are needed to select a station, instead of, for example, simply switching between a pair of AM and FM stations. I would have appreciated all four windows, not just the driver's window, operating with one touch. The numbers on the dash cannot be read in sunlight when wearing sunglasses. The blind spot monitoring is mostly an annoyance, forever warning me not to change lanes while I am doing so safely. The reason is that it only measures distance, and has no knowledge of relative speed. While the BSM feature can be disabled, it cannot be decoupled from the cross-traffic alert, a most desirable feature. To deal with this problem, I have attached a pair of blind-spot mirrors to the side-view mirrors, and rely on this combination to make my decisions. While I am satisfied with the 25 mpg (in primarily city driving), the range is a big disappointment. The manual says that the car has a 13.2 gallon tank; however, it functions as if it had only an 11-gallon tank. Both the gas gauge (an inconsistent discrete device) and the range indicator show no miles left when only 11 gallons are required to fill the tank. So I get no more than 225 miles from a tank of gas. I would much prefer the old needle, which was a true indicator of the gas remaining in the tank. Despite these complaints, I would buy the Mazda 3 again, because it is a pleasure to drive.
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Recent Owner, Not a Drop of Buyer's Remorse
nino scholz, 02/24/2016
2016 Mazda 3 s Grand Touring 4dr Hatchback (2.5L 4cyl 6M)
17 of 18 people found this review helpful
First off, it should be noted i have only owned the car for about 700 miles, so i cannot comment on reliability and such. I can say that there have been no problems so far, and the forums for the mazda 3 are NOT littered with threads about oil consumption and HG issues as some other car forums might be. Lets get the bad out of the way first: My car is the Grand Touring 2.5L 6speed Manual, so it's loaded aside from the tech package (which means no eloop or radar cruise). One of the features i really like on my car is the red light camera warning system, which tells you via voice warning that a red light ticket camera is ahead. It's a great feature, but on at least 2 occasions has gotten stuck, with the lady repeating herself 10-15 times before traffic starts up and finally it clears up. Quite annoying. Also, as with my previous Mazda, the lower door panels scuff easily. That pretty much sums up the negatives I have so far. The Good: First off, the interior on this car is excellent. It has a luxury feel all over and is feature packed. The infotainment works well and is intuitive, and also allows modifications via "tweaks" from the modding community so you can tailor certain things to your liking. Wi-fi functionality is even present, but hidden initially. The leather seats look and feel great, and the dash materials are high end and look great overall. I'm 6'3" and have ample head room up front. The LCD display for the infotainment looks a little out of place, but you quickly get used to it and realize it is in the perfect spot. The BMW inspired infotainment controls are instantly easy to use. The heads up display - it seems like a gimmick until you use it. It displays your speed and next turn for navigation, as well as other info at times. It is very useful on the interstate to keep you aware of your speed. This can be turned off or adjusted. Backup camera works well, blind spot chime can be turned down or off but works well, and the voice control is decent, although i'm still getting the hang of it. There is plenty of storage space, although the door pockets are a bit small and more cup holder than storage. The climate control is easy enough to use, but I personally prefer a simple 3 dial manual layout. Overall, the car allows nice customization through the infotainment center in allowing you to turn off and adjust features to your liking - example - the door locks can be set for "one touch unlocks all doors" or "press once for driver, twice for all". The driving experience is fantastic. You quickly forget this is a compact economy car. The 2.5 has plenty of pep. enough to chirp the wheels and put a big smile on your face. Power is adequate at all RPM's, and impressive when you have the engine in a sweet spot around 3.5K. You'll be pushed back in your seat if you are into that sort of thing. The car handles great. I've taken a country drive in the twisties already and it was all smiles. minimal body roll and confidence inspiring steering feel. The shifter has a very short motion. Initially, it was hard to tell 1st from 3rd, but I quickly got used to it and have not thought about it since. The clutch has a bit of a binary feel, but again, I quickly became accustomed. For casual driving, the car does not drift or require extra attention to stay on track on the interstate. Road noise is acceptable to good. I suspect new tires would help in that department, but it is certainly not an issue for me. Also nice is the fact that the engine does well in just about any rev range for daily driving - it's a bit of an "any gear will do" affair unless you really want to get on it. More than a few times i've found myself cruising around in 4th gear when i should be in 6th, because the car does not get loud or jerky. Even for interstate passing, downshifts are not usually required. There is enough torque in the low range for standard driving maneuvers. So far i'm getting around 30mpg mixed driving, and it seems to be improving with break in. I also do enjoy the car from time to time so my figures are far from optimal. All in all, I would buy another if this was stolen. I took the car on a 34 hour test drive before buying and that feeling has not changed - I love the car and am very happy with my choice. Mazda does make cars that are fun to drive, and they it well.
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Two Weeks In
sarge79usaf@yahoo.com, 03/05/2016
2016 Mazda 3 i Sport 4dr Sedan (2.0L 4cyl 6M)
10 of 10 people found this review helpful
I have always knew I would end up getting a Mazda3. I went from a 2003 Audi A4 1.8T Quattro that I purchased brand new, to this 2016 Mazda3 2.0. Other than losing all wheel drive and the peppiness of my modified Audi, this automobile is quite an upgrade for me. First off, there is instant power to the wheels, instead of waiting for the turbo to kick in at 3k RPMs. The cabin interior is quite nice, even though I went from leather to cloth. I at first scoffed the side impact avoidance system I went along with, but it actually helps with the slight blind spots this car has; however, the side impact indicators stay on a little too long after I am well past the mouth breather lingering in the passing lane... The entertainment system/Bluetooth connectivity is great and the sound is as well, even though I didn't go with the Bose premium sound. A little weird not having a CD player, but I guess they are a little dated now anyways. As I mentioned the Bluetooth connectivity is a no brainer, so no CD player needed at all for someone with an iPhone/Droid/or any other Bluetooth enabled device. The ride is smooth and handles corners extremely well, as well as the plethora of potholes the wonderful D.C. area has to offer. Speaking of potholes... I took this to New York and this Mazda3 handled their potholes as well like a champ. Overall, I am happy with this purchase, but a little dismayed at how much it would cost just to get the SD card for the GPS. I'll just stick with my cellphone.
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