Great Car
My previous car was a 2007 Ford Focus. I liked that car, and was going to buy a new one in 2015, until I found out that owners were really complaining about the auto transmission which is a dual clutch design. I was also not fond of the CVT, so that ruled out most other cars. I almost bought a Ford Fusion which had a 6 speed auto similar to the Mazda, but it felt too big, underpowered, and the seats felt "cheap". So I drove the Mazda3 and it was the perfect car for me. I like everything about it. My wife drives it to work every day, and last summer, we took it on a road trip to Kansas City and back for a total of more than 4,000 miles round trip. The Mazda rides and handles great. It cruises at interstate speeds of 75 and 80 all day long. The onboard computer says that we average between 36.7 and 36.9 mpg. It corners better, has way better brakes (4 wheel disc), and more power and gear selection for steep upgrades (less shifting down and slower engine speeds). It actually feels like a sports car. One complaint was that the seats needed more padding for long trips, although we did have sheepskins on the Focus which wouldn't fit the sportier seats on the Mazda. We just sat on pillows, and everything was fine. This is not noticeable until after about 3 hours on the road. The Mazda and the Focus both have considerable road noise, but we bought some Weathertech floor liners for the Mazda and put the original floor carpet mats in the trunk. It made a difference. The only other complaint that I have is that in 2015 I had to upgrade to the Isport trim level to get cruise control, but it did give me several other options that you can look up. I know that there are several standard options on the newer models, like backup camera, blindspot monitoring, and they now all come with aluminum wheels, which mine did not. When the time comes to get a new car, I will most likely get another Mazda3. The only thing that Mazda is not offering to keep up with the competition is the warranty. Some of the brands are offering 100,000 miles compared to Mazda's 3 year 60,000.
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Verified Owner
