Performance
Comfort
Fuel Economy
Fun To Drive
Interior Design
Exterior Design
Build Quality
Reliability
Review
Never abused, raced, modified, or wrecked, and serviced only my Mazda dealerships, yet it still began self-destructing within 100 miles of the end of the warranty. From 36K to 55K:
· silly-putty factory rear motor mount began eating itself
· steering began clicking and popping, dealer could not diagnose
· pot-metal shift knob attachment rod sheared off while driving
· toy-car-plastic shift cable end broke off of gear knob
· BlOSE radio died
· engine developed incurable throttle lag
· 2nd gear (and no other) would either (a) engage smoothly (b) engage with notchiness (c) grind (d) not engage at all; dealer could not diagnose
· 1 passenger window failed
· power lock in driver's door failed
Best Features
It seemed like an amazing value at the time I bought it (new), however a lower price in this case just means a more cheaply made car.
Also, it was good fun to drive - when it ran.
Worst Features
To customers:
Get a VW instead. Or even a Yugo. If you already bought a new Mazda, start saving up for a new car, you'll need one in about 3 years.
To Mazda:
1) Find out if the Japanese language has words for
"refinement," "durability," and "reliablity." Learn them.
2) Spend an extra $0.05 on paint and glass that don't chip in so much as a stiff breeze.
3) Nobody blessed with the gift of good hearing likes BlOSE. You shouldn't, either.
4) Fire the special-ed employee that designs your iPod interfaces and "automatic" (sic) headlights.
5) It isn't a "powertrain" warranty if it excludes most of the actual powertrain.