Looking to buy a used Mazda 3 - what to look for, what to avoid
- Thread starter grampi
- Start date
I have a 2017 Grand touring hatchback crystal black I bought new with the heads up display, Bose, leather , heated seats and wheel, sunroof power driver seat, led lights, auto braking and lane keep assist... the whole enchilada...It has the 2.5 motor and 108,000 highway miles (prior panemic) on it. You couldn't pry it from my dead arms. It runs better than new.
Traded in a 18 3 hatch for my current cx30. One of the best cars I ever owned and kind of regret selling it. It was a GT model with 2.5 motor. Excellent road trip car for my wife and it regularly got 35 to 36 mpg at 75-80mph, even better on 2 lane roads at 65-70mph. Plenty of pep and passing power. Was never in the shop for anything except tires (I did my own basic maintenance). I switched it over to 5w30 after the 36K warranty period. I was surprised that it quieted the motor quite a bit and with little if any hit to gas mileage. The car came with some crappy Dunlop tires which were extremely noisy and rode like rocks. Some new Pirelli's transformed the car and made it almost as enjoyable to drive as the Miata I had for 15 years. A great car that I can highly recommend.
It is. Zoom zoom.
Excellent purchase.
Many years can be extremely loud highway cruisers(lots of road noise) due to the lack of sufficient sound deadening insulation. I don’t know which model year(~2016) that Mazda addressed this. Today’s models are among the quietest, if not the absolute quietest in their segment, even rivaling some cars in the next size segment up in terms of cabin quietness. But that’s today. You’re looking for a pre owned vehicle.
Don’t be afraid of the 2.0L. They’re plenty powerful enough and get way better fuel economy. The 2.5L replaced the 2.3L as the optional engine. So, it’s not as though you have a choice of 3 engines to choose from. I believe that the 2.3L was optional from 2004-12 then the 2.5L is now used across the Mazda model lineup.
In my opinion, Mazda’s have among the best driving dynamics(steering feel, brake feel, ride/handling combo, etc.) and the best looking vehicles with great interior materials. But their deal breaker for me(at my age) is the “mostly” all black interiors, and the poor(er) outward visibility in certain models. Not that the outward visibility is terrible, it’s just that most in segment vehicles have a noticeable better view outward and to the sides & rear IMHO! And I find their interiors a bit cramped/claustrophobic.< That might be stretching it a bit. Lighter interior colors would make the interiors feel more open & airy.
This isn’t to say that I don’t like Mazda’s, I do indeed!
However I always give them a good test drive when looking for a vehicle. Often because of their good handling, the everyday ride can a bit concerning for me. Many people like that dynamic. But it depend on the vehicle and its age/miles.
Don’t be afraid of the 2.0L. They’re plenty powerful enough and get way better fuel economy. The 2.5L replaced the 2.3L as the optional engine. So, it’s not as though you have a choice of 3 engines to choose from. I believe that the 2.3L was optional from 2004-12 then the 2.5L is now used across the Mazda model lineup.
In my opinion, Mazda’s have among the best driving dynamics(steering feel, brake feel, ride/handling combo, etc.) and the best looking vehicles with great interior materials. But their deal breaker for me(at my age) is the “mostly” all black interiors, and the poor(er) outward visibility in certain models. Not that the outward visibility is terrible, it’s just that most in segment vehicles have a noticeable better view outward and to the sides & rear IMHO! And I find their interiors a bit cramped/claustrophobic.< That might be stretching it a bit. Lighter interior colors would make the interiors feel more open & airy.
This isn’t to say that I don’t like Mazda’s, I do indeed!
However I always give them a good test drive when looking for a vehicle. Often because of their good handling, the everyday ride can a bit concerning for me. Many people like that dynamic. But it depend on the vehicle and its age/miles.Just inspect for rust on older ones. They rot badly in New England .
I believe 2014 - 2018.
A friend out in greater Vancouver recently bought a 2016 cheap (written off due to a rear-end collision, but repaired well) and is very pleased with it.
The black interiors may be a show stopper for me. I absolutely hate black interiors, and almost all of the 3s come with it...I don't know why Mazda can't offer some lighter interior colors...Many years can be extremely loud highway cruisers(lots of road noise) due to the lack of sufficient sound deadening insulation. I don’t know which model year(~2016) that Mazda addressed this. Today’s models are among the quietest, if not the absolute quietest in their segment, even rivaling some cars in the next size segment up in terms of cabin quietness. But that’s today. You’re looking for a pre owned vehicle.
Don’t be afraid of the 2.0L. They’re plenty powerful enough and get way better fuel economy. The 2.5L replaced the 2.3L as the optional engine. So, it’s not as though you have a choice of 3 engines to choose from. I believe that the 2.3L was optional from 2004-12 then the 2.5L is now used across the Mazda model lineup.
In my opinion, Mazda’s have among the best driving dynamics(steering feel, brake feel, ride/handling combo, etc.) and the best looking vehicles with great interior materials. But their deal breaker for me(at my age) is the “mostly” all black interiors, and the poor(er) outward visibility in certain models. Not that the outward visibility is terrible, it’s just that most in segment vehicles have a noticeable better view outward and to the sides & rear IMHO! And I find their interiors a bit cramped/claustrophobic.< That might be stretching it a bit. Lighter interior colors would make the interiors feel more open & airy.
This isn’t to say that I don’t like Mazda’s, I do indeed!
They do, but it's pretty much trim specific. I like some interior color in my cars as well and had to do some compromising to get what I liked. For example they offer a color called "Greige". It's a light Grey/beige but comes on only one trim (have it in my cx30 "preferred trim"). They also offer a blood red (deep red color...not bright...have it in my CX5). It's found on carbon edition trims There's also a terra cotta (rust) color on some carbon editions. I've also seen a cream/whitish color but can't remember what trim it's offered on. Then lots of basic black. My 3 had the traditional black leather but it wasn't too bad from a temp. standpoint. Most cars have pretty good solar glass these days (excepting windshields). My seats didn't get too hot but yeah, a totally black interior isn't much to look at.
Mazda does offer lighter interior colors, light gray and a tan, in previous generations. But good luck finding them. They also offer these lighter colors with the standard cloth fabric. However their leather interiors are typically all black or black & parchment. Parchment, which is a tan color but in Mazda’s, it’s closer to white.
I really like Mazda’s vehicles however I find myself buying something else. My daughter had an 2006 mazda 3i w/2.0L & auto and she loved it. Quick and good mpg. But it had a bit too much FORD DNA in it for my taste.
This was the first gen that was too loud on the hiwy(although the drivetrain was smooth & quiet) and the body disintegrated due to rust. However, Mazda has addressed this.
When I’m looking to buy new, I always test a Mazda in the segment of vehicle that I am shopping in. They’re always worth the consideration because you just never know, you might just come home with one.
Last edited:
After doing some pretty extensive searches, out to about a 100 mile radius, I'm running into several road blocks. It's looking like finding a 3 with an interior color other than black is going to be impossible. There are currently zero in a hatchback model in my search area. Another road block is that with almost all of the 3s I've looked at with leather interiors, the driver's seat skin is coming apart at the seam, and the bolster is flattened out. The ones with the cloth interiors seem to be holding up much better. That's okay because I prefer cloth interiors. I hate leather. However, there are far models with leather than cloth. Another road block is almost all of the 3s I've seen so far are showing that they've been involved in one, or multiple accidents on the Carfax report. I'm not liking what I'm seeing so far...this is not going to be an easy search...
Your dealer can’t order ANY model Toyota. They get what Toyota sends them. Your dealer was hoping to get something “near” your wants..or find one at another dealer.
I would buy a manual transmission Tacoma, but there is no chance I can find one close enough to my desired truck. My dealer has been trying for two years..every truck shipped has 8-11 thousand dollars of unwanted options on it.
My brother-in-law had been looking for a new F-150 for quite some time. He kept finding previous year model hold overs for a good price, but every one of them had options he wanted that were not available on these trucks because they were missing computer chips that were necessary for those options. He eventually found one that had the options he wanted, but he was looking for a long time. Gone are the days of the consumer getting what they want. Now days you get what you get...
My wife has an 18’ 3 touring model. She is approaching 140k miles with no powertrain issues. My only complaint has been the low profile wheels, while they do help in handling, we had to replace two of them when someone ran her into a construction area in a downpour. Not saying that is a common occurrence, but if you live somewhere with potholes that rattle your car when you hit them; you may want to get the smaller wheels for bigger sidewall.
Her backup camera went on the fritz but I fixed that myself, just a rattle loose connection; then we got a letter offering a recall repair. Timing wasn’t on our side, but at least it wasn’t much more than time and contact cleaner as an investment in the repair.
As for your comment about accident history, they’re small affordable cars primarily aimed at young inexperienced drivers; that was bound to be an issue.
Her backup camera went on the fritz but I fixed that myself, just a rattle loose connection; then we got a letter offering a recall repair. Timing wasn’t on our side, but at least it wasn’t much more than time and contact cleaner as an investment in the repair.
As for your comment about accident history, they’re small affordable cars primarily aimed at young inexperienced drivers; that was bound to be an issue.
It’s Mazda’s marketing catch-all name for several engine and transmission technologies designed to maximize fuel economy and minimize emissions. It’s not just one big thing but a bunch of little ones like piston design, spark timing, fuel management, etc. Whatever it is, it works really well.
To the OP: anything 2012 or newer is more Mazda and less FoMoCo. I had a 2012 Mazda3 with the 2.0 Skyactiv and a 6mt and it was an absolute joy to drive. The only thing I didn’t like was the “smiley face” front end but the next generation fixed that.
Right!
We were put on a waiting list when we bought our ‘23 VENZA in 2023
We were put on the list in March and the car arrived in late July. We put in two choices of colors & interiors and took the one that showed up first.
no one knows what it means but it's provocative.
