Mazda 3 Automatic Touring: Honest Owner Reviews and Opinions | Cheffers

[raebates]

Our Baby Boy is getting ready to purchase his first car. He's considering a Mazda 3 Automatic Touring. He asked if I knew anyone who had one and their opinion of the car.

So, Cheffers, anyone have one?


TIA!

 

[thecougchef]

ive been debating this same car myself. my girlfriend has one & everytime i visit her in arizona, i LOVE driving it. my dad is a mechanic & i would NEVER purchase a car without his approval & without him checking the car out first. so when i mentioned i want a mazda3 .. his exact words were "that would be in my top 3 cars for you." his other two cars were the honda civic and nissan sentra or altima .. i cant remember which one.

hth.

 

[PamperChefCarol]

Don't have that model, but I have a Miata that I have driven since 1997. It has 156,000 miles on it, original transmission and clutch. It's a great car and I plan on driving it until it explodes or falls apart. And, yes, I drive it year around, and that's saying alot living her in Michigan!

 

[raebates]

Good to know. He had checked out several cars through Consumer Reports and a couple of user review sites. He has talked to friends and mentors. It's his first major purchase (he's 22 and recently graduated), so he's trying to make sure he has all of his ducks in a row.

 

[thecougchef]

Good to know. He had checked out several cars through Consumer Reports and a couple of user review sites. He has talked to friends and mentors. It's his first major purchase (he's 22 and recently graduated), so he's trying to make sure he has all of his ducks in a row.

thats me too. 22, just graduated & looking to make my first big purchase - a car. good luck to him!

 

[LeslieSGI]

Speaking of Mazdas, does anyone have a Mazda5 and if so how do you like it? My Ford Focus ZX5 (though I love it) is just a tad too small for a Pampered Chef Senior Consultant (I think that is what I will be in April.). :chef:​

 

[dianevill]

I don't own a Mazda but for my last two trips I rented a Mazda 3. I loved it! It had great pick up and heated up quickly! The first one only had a couple hundred miles so it handled really well; the second one had about 40K miles and it ran equally as well. I told DH that would be a nice 2nd car for us when his goes kaput (which I do hope isn't any time soon).

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

I also had one for a rental, I drove it for about a month, including long distances. I drove it all over northern West Virginia, and it was a riot on those winding, hilly roads.

 

[shed]

My daughter bought one in July. She loves it. It handles great. Great pick up. We live in the mountains of West Virginia and it runs well whether she is driving the windy back road or the interstate.

 

[chefkugler]

My husband had a Mazda 3. Loved it, had it for 4 years. He just traded it in for a Mazda Tribute. He travels far and in the winter he needed all wheel drive. So we had to trade it. Otherwise he was set to keep it. He enjoyed it. I liked driving it. But to go from driving my Dodge Durango to his little Mazda 3, was a huge difference.
The one good thing is in the 4 years we never had to replace anything on that car. Just normal maintance. I think he will always stay in the Mazda family now.

Oh I will note there is a reason they call the Mazda 3 the ZOOM ZOOM. LOL

 

[pampchefsarah]

My last rental (which was last week, sigh) was a Mazda 5, and I loved it. Even my husband, who got to drive it for a day, came home and said 'just remember, we can't afford to buy a new car.'

I've never driven the Mazda 3, but I had a Mazda for years, and we bought that used. In fact, it's the car we drove when we moved from California to Virginia - in 3 days! Finally had to give it up when the transmission blew. I would recommend a Mazda, especially since some models are actually built in the USA.

 

[pampchefsarah]

Oh, and Rae, you should be very proud of your son for being so level-headed at such a young age. Meghan, you should be proud of yourself. Of course, since you're a PC Consultant, we already know you're smart at making wise life decisions.:love:

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

I also had one for a rental, I drove it for about a month, including long distances. I drove it all over northern West Virginia, and it was a riot on those winding, hilly roads.

My daughter bought one in July. She loves it. It handles great. Great pick up. We live in the mountains of West Virginia and it runs well whether she is driving the windy back road or the interstate.

Really? I was never able to pick anyone up with it.

 

[raebates]

Thanks so much for all the info. I'll pass it along to our Baby Boy.

Oh, and Rae, you should be very proud of your son for being so level-headed at such a young age. Meghan, you should be proud of yourself. Of course, since you're a PC Consultant, we already know you're smart at making wise life decisions.:love:

Thanks, Sarah. We are very proud of him.

Really? I was never able to pick anyone up with it.

Gee, KG, I'm befuddled. Maybe your car was the wrong color.

 

[legacypc46]

Mazda Miata's have been my car of choice since the year they came out...until I gave DH my 10-year anniversary edition to trade in for a pick-up a few years ago :cry:.

The craftmanship was amazing. It proved it's worth early on when I had an accident: another car came into my lane; I was going over 70 (on the German Autobahn) when the car hit the guardrail and went into a spin....but the Miata handled so well, I could contain the spin to my lane (and the guardrail), it didn't flip, and my mom and I walked away without a scratch (the car body was trashed, but the frame and engine were fine). The police were amazed. Anyway, that incident made me a believer in their quality of manufacture.

I've yet to deal with a Mazda dealership that didn't leave me feeling slimey, but have no complaints about their cars.

 

[thecougchef]

Meghan, you should be proud of yourself. Of course, since you're a PC Consultant, we already know you're smart at making wise life decisions.:love:

i dont know how i would be able to afford my student loans without pc!

I've yet to deal with a Mazda dealership that didn't leave me feeling slimey, but have no complaints about their cars.

thats weird because our mazda/jeep dealers are sleezy here too. thats why i was debating against the mazda 3 - i didnt want to deal with their salesmen anymore.

 

[SummerG]

Just chiming in about Mazda's in general. I LOVE my '99 Mazda Millenia! So much so that it's the second one I've owned. First one was bought brand new and then I bought another one used when I relocated stateside. My ex-DH has a Mazda 6 and loves it too.

If Mazda still made the Millenia I would buy another one.

 

[starrmarie]

I drive a 2006 Mazda 6 that we bought brand new. It has about 40000 miles now and still runs perfect. I love it! and have had no problems with it except for a fan recall (which they fixed right away and has worked perfect ever since) My next car will be another Mazda!