Mazda 3 MPS or a 3 not quite as hot?

[stevebear]

Here we are then

Liking the look of these and hearing that reliability is pretty good so amongst some other contenders, anyone any experience of the Mazda 3 last generation please folks?

Have £4k to spend, the MPS would be nice but being sensible now I have to consider MPG sadly so was there a warmish 3 as a decent alternative.

Cheers y'all

[Pepperami]

I drove a few different cars before settling on the Focus ST, the MPS was one of them. My personal opinion (it is only opinion) is that there are better cars out there for the money. I thought the mk 1 looked great because visually there was very little to distinguish it from any other 3, but the interior as a bit dull and felt cheap, the mk2 was the same, albeit with more toys and it looked a bit more shouty. I ended up testing 2011 mk2 and I'm lead to believe that they drive very similar. I found the steering dull and lifeless, the suspension set up was great in the bends, but over harsh in a straight line. The engine however was an absolute pearl and the seats were great. It was the interior that let it down though. The model I drove only had 12k on the clock but there were broken switches in an otherwise immaculate car (the passenger window switch disappeared into the door card when I pressed it). Overall it was just okay.
After getting in my own car to leave the dealership I realised that I hadn't taken one single backwards glance at it which decided it for me.

Hope this helps.