Mazda 3 - 1st gen review after ~3yrs

NJC

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I bought a 2007 Mazda 3 manual hatchback in 2018 with 345K KM's and it just rolled over to 400K KM's. Since that time, 2 more 1st gen Mazda 3's (2004 and 2006) have been added to our fleet. Here are some thoughts after 50K KM's

Positive:

- Excellent handling and suspension design, very fun driving machine.
- Good styling and functionality of the hatchback. Golden retrievers fit perfectly.
- None of these car leak oil–Ford/Mazda did a great job on engine & component seal quality.
- Very decent sound system
- 2.3L can* be a solid engine, and mine still has a heap of power @ 400K and can get consistent 8L/100KM when I'm driving and not my teen.
*Assuming they're burning too much oil. See below.

Negative:

- All 3 cars burn oil on the 2.3L - ranging from @ 1L per 4K KM's to 1L per 1,500KM's (2004 automatic). There is a known issue with excess oil consumption in 2004 - 2007 2.3L manual trans models.
- 3 minute cabin filter replacement on a Toyota (for EG) is 4hrs on this car. Cover your family's ears when attempting.
- Rear control arm is an ill-thought design–press is required, and no alignment marks are provided for bushing installation.
- Engine oil dipsticks are difficult to read.
- Rear shock tower mounts are prone to break but are easily replaced and inexpensive
- Clutch replacement looks ridiculously complex for backyard mechanic. IE this model gets poor marks for serviceability ease.

A few other pts:

- 2006 and newer have a few more goodies than 2004 / 2005 models.
- Auto trans seem decent - both have 190K KM's.
- The clutch is still functional and original. At 400K, that's an impressive feat.
- Fuel economy is good on standard trans, and reasonable on the auto's.

This car would be brilliant if Mazda's design was built by Honda (Honda shill speaking). I had to replace the fuel pump @ 374K KM's and it was a big job to drop tank etc. I'd avoid high mileage Mazda 3's (>300K KM's), unless it came with maintenance records.
 

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It's interesting to read your thoughts. I have a 2006 Mazda 3 2.3L manual hatchback, which I've had since it was almost new. I agree pretty much with everything you've said.

I have 175K miles on the original clutch, which I thought was impressive, but 400K kilometers is insane. My clutch has been slipping for a while though and should be done. I'm trying to talk myself into the idea that I could do it, but the fact that you have to unmount the engine and lower it (plus the eight million things you have to detach to do that), to get the transmission out, is intimidating. I may save my pennies and have someone do it.

Yeah, I've heard changing the cabin air filter is a bad experience. I need to do that. On the rear control arms, isn't it simpler to just replace the whole control arm? That looks pretty simple.

I will say that I've had a suprising amount of repairs over the years. I'm about to replace the AC compressor for the second time. I had the fuel pump fail well before 100K miles. I've needed new coils; a new oxygen sensor; rear struts twice; the bulb in the passenger airbag warning light of all things (which triggered a terrifying warning on the dashboard that the airbags were malufunctioning); a new starter; broken motor mounts more than once; the clear coat on the roof is not holding up well; and that's just off the top of my head. My partner's even older Prius barely ever needs any repairs. Differing from you, I am pretty underwhelmed by the fuel economy; it's not better than my 1981 Toyota Celica, back in the day; it seems like fuel economy ought to have improved in the intervening twenty five years.

But I still enjoy my Mazda. I really like how it drives. It's a nice size and very pratical. And I really like that it has a big back window and a lot of glass, making it easy to see out of in every direction. I just don't understand why every car now has almost zero rear window and giant C/D pillars making terrible blind spots.
 
It's interesting to read your thoughts. I have a 2006 Mazda 3 2.3L manual hatchback, which I've had since it was almost new. I agree pretty much with everything you've said.

I have 175K miles on the original clutch, which I thought was impressive, but 400K kilometers is insane. My clutch has been slipping for a while though and should be done. I'm trying to talk myself into the idea that I could do it, but the fact that you have to unmount the engine and lower it (plus the eight million things you have to detach to do that), to get the transmission out, is intimidating. I may save my pennies and have someone do it.

Yeah, I've heard changing the cabin air filter is a bad experience. I need to do that. On the rear control arms, isn't it simpler to just replace the whole control arm? That looks pretty simple.

I will say that I've had a suprising amount of repairs over the years. I'm about to replace the AC compressor for the second time. I had the fuel pump fail well before 100K miles. I've needed new coils; a new oxygen sensor; rear struts twice; the bulb in the passenger airbag warning light of all things (which triggered a terrifying warning on the dashboard that the airbags were malufunctioning); a new starter; broken motor mounts more than once; the clear coat on the roof is not holding up well; and that's just off the top of my head. My partner's even older Prius barely ever needs any repairs. Differing from you, I am pretty underwhelmed by the fuel economy; it's not better than my 1981 Toyota Celica, back in the day; it seems like fuel economy ought to have improved in the intervening twenty five years.

But I still enjoy my Mazda. I really like how it drives. It's a nice size and very pratical. And I really like that it has a big back window and a lot of glass, making it easy to see out of in every direction. I just don't understand why every car now has almost zero rear window and giant C/D pillars making terrible blind spots.
Thanks for the feedback. I've had four in our family and haven't had as many problems, but they don't easily go through control arms, and struts / shocks are a consumable.

No need to take out glove box when removing cabin filter, as some Youtube videos suggest. And I've also encountered the ridiculous light bulb air bag fault code.

Regarding rear control arms, it would have been easier to do the whole unit but I didn't realize that it needed to be accurately (as in angle too) pressed into place.
 
Yeah, I used to follow the user reported repair ratings on my year Mazda3 at the site TrueDelta. It seemed like I was having a lot more frequent repairs than most other owners of 2006 Mazda3s. I got the car with 30K miles on it, so maybe the original owner really abused it (though it looked and felt brand new at the time). Or maybe my car was just assembled on a Monday, as my grandmother used to say. I realize that many of the things I've replaced would be expected to fail at some point, but with quite a few of them it was how early in the cars life that it happened, which surprised me. And I really drive my car pretty gently. Still despite all that, I like my car. Somehow, lately, the more problems I discover, the more I feel attached to it.

On the rear control arm, you mean the bushings have to be pressed into place at the correct angle, if you're just replacing the bushings alone? Or do you mean, if you replace the whole unit it has to go into place at the correct angle?

By the way, I was just looking at your OP again and it's funny that you mention how it's difficult to read the dipstick. I have often pulled it out and thought, why can't I tell what this says? This should be simple. What am I doing wrong?

Oh, also, if you are ever replacing the the stretch belt on the AC unit, this video has a great tip about how it's easy to get out if you loosen the bolts on the compressor and drop it a little bit:

It's funny, because I've seen so many videos of people struggling with that belt, with the special tool and tricks with zip ties, etc. I've heard mechanics complain about it. And then just in passing the guy in the video mentions his trick and I tried it and it was super easy to get the belt off with just your hand and turning the crank shaft.
 
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3 minute cabin filter replacement on a Toyota (for EG) is 4hrs on this car. Cover your family's ears when attempting.
I finally managed to do the cabin air filter replacement. I used this video as a guide:

I got it done in an hour, which I thought was respectable. Of course, the previous mechanic who had done this had installed the filter incorrectly. What is the point of paying people, who supposedly know what they are doing, to get it wrong?

Anyway, do you still have your Mazda3s? I hope they're running well.
 
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I bought a 2007 Mazda 3 manual hatchback in 2018 with 345K KM's and it just rolled over to 400K KM's. Since that time, 2 more 1st gen Mazda 3's (2004 and 2006) have been added to our fleet. Here are some thoughts after 50K KM's

Positive:

- Excellent handling and suspension design, very fun driving machine.
- Good styling and functionality of the hatchback. Golden retrievers fit perfectly.
- None of these car leak oil–Ford/Mazda did a great job on engine & component seal quality.
- Very decent sound system
- 2.3L can* be a solid engine, and mine still has a heap of power @ 400K and can get consistent 8L/100KM when I'm driving and not my teen.
*Assuming they're burning too much oil. See below.

Negative:

- All 3 cars burn oil on the 2.3L - ranging from @ 1L per 4K KM's to 1L per 1,500KM's (2004 automatic). There is a known issue with excess oil consumption in 2004 - 2007 2.3L manual trans models.
- 3 minute cabin filter replacement on a Toyota (for EG) is 4hrs on this car. Cover your family's ears when attempting.
- Rear control arm is an ill-thought design–press is required, and no alignment marks are provided for bushing installation.
- Engine oil dipsticks are difficult to read.
- Rear shock tower mounts are prone to break but are easily replaced and inexpensive
- Clutch replacement looks ridiculously complex for backyard mechanic. IE this model gets poor marks for serviceability ease.

A few other pts:

- 2006 and newer have a few more goodies than 2004 / 2005 models.
- Auto trans seem decent - both have 190K KM's.
- The clutch is still functional and original. At 400K, that's an impressive feat.
- Fuel economy is good on standard trans, and reasonable on the auto's.

This car would be brilliant if Mazda's design was built by Honda (Honda shill speaking). I had to replace the fuel pump @ 374K KM's and it was a big job to drop tank etc. I'd avoid high mileage Mazda 3's (>300K KM's), unless it came with maintenance records.

Thanks for the write-up. I almost bought a 2008 Hatchback 2.3, but got nervous because I heard the 2.3L was unreliable. I didn't want to replace my 2007 Corolla's indestructible powertrain with something that would give me problems. I kind of wavered back and forth on it, hoping to get one of the good 2.3L's but there's no way to find out on a test drive. Ultimately, I passed on it.

Question for you: what made you choose the 2.3L vs. the 2.0L ? ? ? Was it that much more impressive?
 
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Thanks for the write-up. I almost bought a 2008 Hatchback 2.3, but got nervous because I heard the 2.3L was unreliable. I didn't want to replace my 2007 Corolla's indestructible powertrain with something that would give me problems. I kind of wavered back and forth on it, hoping to get one of the good 2.3L's but there's no way to find out on a test drive. Ultimately, I passed on it.

Question for you: what made you choose the 2.3L vs. the 2.0L ? ? ? Was it that much more impressive?
I purchased a new 2007 Mazda 2.3 hatchback and owned and maintained it until last year when it was totaled in a collision. I've only heard the 2.0 and 2.3 engines being reliable "workhorses". The biggest complaint I know of for the 2.3 is the plastic composite cartridge filter cap on the bottom of the engine. Oil change shops would over-torque the cap which can crack it and would leak oil which would result in a seized engine, of course. If the cap is torqued to proper spec, which is about 20 ft lbs. if I recall, there shouldn't be an issue. Mine had100K miles on without issue.

And yes, the cabin-filter location is incredibly inconvenient. It was clearly an afterthought.
 
I finally managed to do the cabin air filter replacement. I used this video as a guide:

I got it done in an hour, which I thought was respectable. Of course, the previous mechanic who had done this had installed the filter incorrectly. What is the point of paying people, who supposedly know what they are doing, to get it wrong?

Anyway, do you still have your Mazda3s? I hope they're running well.


The first video I used as reference added some unnecessary steps (dash and glovebox related?), so the 2nd time was a bit easier. Still a PITA.

We have 3 remaining in the family: 2x 2.3L and one 2.0L
 
Thanks for the write-up. I almost bought a 2008 Hatchback 2.3, but got nervous because I heard the 2.3L was unreliable. I didn't want to replace my 2007 Corolla's indestructible powertrain with something that would give me problems. I kind of wavered back and forth on it, hoping to get one of the good 2.3L's but there's no way to find out on a test drive. Ultimately, I passed on it.

Question for you: what made you choose the 2.3L vs. the 2.0L ? ? ? Was it that much more impressive?

The consistent problem I've had with 4 Mazda 3's is oil consumption - 3 of them were 2.3L and one was a 2.0L. I started to run a thicker 5W30 instead of spec'ed 5W20 and that helps. Otherwise they're excellent and durable engines.

I choose cars based on economics ... a guy at work was selling his Mazda 3 and it had the 2.3L, which IMO is preferrable to the 2.0L in terms of low end torque. They're fun cars to drive, and much more interesting than my milquetoast Civic.
 
I purchased a new 2007 Mazda 2.3 hatchback and owned and maintained it until last year when it was totaled in a collision. I've only heard the 2.0 and 2.3 engines being reliable "workhorses".

I think the 2nd Gens (2012 and beyond) are good - it would be interesting to see if they ironed out first gen problems. The one in this review was eventually totaled at 250K miles.

First gen is inexpensive to own, as long as you can do your own work. Primary issue is disposable suspension parts - control arms, struts and rear shock mounts that break.
 
I bought a new 2007 Mazdaspeed 3 Grand Touring in July 2007. I put 158,000 miles on it before I traded it in January of 2016. It had some teething issues under warranty but after that it was trouble free. I did add a Mazdaspeed CAI, a Hypertech tune, Koni FSDs, Michelin PSS tires, Gen 2 wheels, and a JBR rear anti-roll bar set at 50% stiffer than stock. I absolutely loved it. I would have bought another Mazdaspeed in a heartbeat had Mazda seen fit to keep building them, but unfortunately the company has chosen to abandon their performance division.
 
I think the 2nd Gens (2012 and beyond) are good - it would be interesting to see if they ironed out first gen problems. The one in this review was eventually totaled at 250K miles.

First gen is inexpensive to own, as long as you can do your own work. Primary issue is disposable suspension parts - control arms, struts and rear shock mounts that break.


The 2nd generation ended in 2013 and the 3 went SkyActiv from that point forward. The assembly locations changed quite a bit as well.

They do seem to be a good car. I see them all the time.
 
The 2nd generation ended in 2013 and the 3 went SkyActiv from that point forward. The assembly locations changed quite a bit as well.

They do seem to be a good car. I see them all the time.

The Mexican made Mazdas are high quality.
 
I purchased a new 2007 Mazda 2.3 hatchback and owned and maintained it until last year when it was totaled in a collision. I've only heard the 2.0 and 2.3 engines being reliable "workhorses". The biggest complaint I know of for the 2.3 is the plastic composite cartridge filter cap on the bottom of the engine. Oil change shops would over-torque the cap which can crack it and would leak oil which would result in a seized engine, of course. If the cap is torqued to proper spec, which is about 20 ft lbs. if I recall, there shouldn't be an issue. Mine had100K miles on without issue.

And yes, the cabin-filter location is incredibly inconvenient. It was clearly an afterthought.
Regarding the oil filter housing, you can convert them to a spin-on with over the counter dealer parts. Same era Fusions used the same drivetrain but had spin-on filters. Just need the housing and the gasket, like $40-50 last time I looked.

My 07 GT sedan has been pretty much trouble-free since my parents bought it new. Just rolled over 145k miles. Stock clutch. Has had struts/shocks and an oxygen sensor. Everything else has just been normal maintenance stuff (brakes, fluids, etc). Absolutely adore the car, a blast to drive and a good looking little car, to boot.

Only real 'issue' is the 6 disc cd changer has 2 discs stuck in it. I just pulled the radio out, took it apart, and disconnected the changer. Who uses CDs these days anyway? It was annoying, it randomly attempted to load those CDs every time you turned the key, and randomly while driving. Quiet now!
 
Regarding the oil filter housing, you can convert them to a spin-on with over the counter dealer parts. Same era Fusions used the same drivetrain but had spin-on filters. Just need the housing and the gasket, like $40-50 last time I looked.

My 07 GT sedan has been pretty much trouble-free since my parents bought it new. Just rolled over 145k miles. Stock clutch. Has had struts/shocks and an oxygen sensor. Everything else has just been normal maintenance stuff (brakes, fluids, etc). Absolutely adore the car, a blast to drive and a good looking little car, to boot.

Only real 'issue' is the 6 disc cd changer has 2 discs stuck in it. I just pulled the radio out, took it apart, and disconnected the changer. Who uses CDs these days anyway? It was annoying, it randomly attempted to load those CDs every time you turned the key, and randomly while driving. Quiet now!
Yep, I remember looking into the spin-on conversion, but I began to appreciate being able to inspect the filter going in and coming out after an oil change. I actually prefer the cartridge style now. Thankfully, VW has placed the cartridge filter on top of the engine and completing an oil change is even easier on my car!
I had to replace the thermostat on mine around 70K miles because it was sticking open and the engine wasn't reaching operating temp, it isn't too bad of a job on the car. I replaced it with an OEM unit and it always warmed up quickly after that.
Had to replace the alternator as well as it died from my negligence because I drove around with a dead battery(couldn't take a charge) for too long, lesson learned!
 
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