Mazda 3- Best bang for the buck

[sprintman]

I'm driving an 89 626 GT (Turbo) 245,000kms original turbo/engine and going strong. Mazda have their act together. I'd like the 6 MPS as it's called here. All-wheel-drive and turbo. Nice.

 

[9296D21B14]

CharBaby. Just saw your post after updating my recent new car purchase saga. Could not agree more. That's what I felt on a recent test drive with the Mazda3 2.0l. Reminded me of my M/T '80 Rabbit in terms of the fun factor and the handling even had me thinking of my long gone but not forgotten '72 Triumph Tiger 750 M/C. It brought a smile I tried to hide from the salesman. Couldn't help it. Wish me luck!

 

[CharBaby]

929,
Good luck on your new purchace. The Mazda 3 is a great choice. I was actually helping my daughter(who loves Honda's as I do), look for a car. After a test drive in a 3, the choice is clear.

 

[vol245]

I have a '04 Mazda3 hatchback and have owned it for almost 2 years. It has about 42k miles on it now. We get around 30 mpg with the 2.3 and manual tranny. The only problems so far have been two purge valve replacements (under warranty) and the auto-down feature of the driver's window doesn't always work.

I wanted a hatchback and liked this one best.

 

[CharBaby]

vol245,
Slick looking car as well. I only looked at the hatchback, sat inside, looked around, opened the hatch, bla bla bla... Nice ride!

 

[windnsea00]

I'm usually not much of a Japanese car fun but I really think the Mazda 3 is sweet! I like how it uses that solid/safe euro platform mixed with a reliable japanese drivetrain. I test drove a hatchback manual and thought it was one of the best cars in its class in terms of agility, power, and style. The new VW Rabbit (Golf) seems like a pretty well priced competitor also.

 

[Chris Meutsch]

[/qb][/QUOTE]

My second car was a Mazda MX6 2.0L MTX with 81k miles. It now has 194k and runs great. I will definately look forward to another Mazda, but I think this one will get me 250k before I sell it. [/QB][/QUOTE]

I had the MX6 from 1989, LX version. It went 161k under me and the only thing it needed major was a new distributor at 154k. (It's a Ford Probe so people may say it's not a true Mazda)

 

[surfstar]

All MX6's use Mazda engines all the way. The 90-92 Probe LX used Ford's 3.0L Vulcan. From Wikipedia: "The Probe was mechanically identical to the Mazda MX-6, and both cars shared the Mazda GD platform (1988 to 1992) and GE platform (1993 to 1997)."