Mazda 3 potential buy

[colin86]

Looking at potentially buying Mazda 3 has anyone had one looking at what they are like ? How reliable they are ? Do the Mazda rust like the used too ?

The model an looking at is 2014 or newer .

[markirl]

I was told to steer clear of the 2.2 diesel for reliability concerns. 2.0 petrol is a great engine though!

[colin86]

That’s good to hear it will be petrol
Version .

[ToastMan76]

I have a 2015 2.0 SE fastback in petrol.

Internally, I prefer the looks over the Bland dashboard you see on so many cars with that crappy middle computer screen, but it feels slightly dated compared to the digital dashes you see now. Entertainment system is fine enough - no DAB though!

Drive wise - its nippy enough, quite torquey due to N/A. If you keep the revs it keeps most of its power but can run out of puff due to the map, but a Starchip should sort it. I do 25k a year in it and its perfectly reliable. Had a few brake issues due to a sticking calliper but other than that faultless to 100k.

Economy - when ragging it youll get 40mpg, I currently get 60ish driving like Miss Daisy.

Anything particular you want to know?

[colin86]

That’s great thanks for the reply sounds like a reliable car just what a wanted to hear . Is there anything to look out for when buying one ? My main concern was rust as you always used to hear bad things about that with Mazdas.

[VR99]

I'm going through a similar debate in my search....Mazda 3/Volvo V40/Leon TSI/Civic 1.8 but looking for an auto petrol.

The torque on the Madza 2.0 looks surprisingly high for a petrol n/a engine..the rare 165 bhp model with leathers looks especially appealing

[ToastMan76]

No rust issues on the skyactiv model at all. Had mine from new and not a spot. Paints fine too barely a stone chip on it!

[colin86]

Thanks for all reply’s they seem to be good reliable cars .

[CX53]

ToastMan76 said:

I have a 2015 2.0 SE fastback in petrol.

Internally, I prefer the looks over the Bland dashboard you see on so many cars with that crappy middle computer screen, but it feels slightly dated compared to the digital dashes you see now. Entertainment system is fine enough - no DAB though!

Drive wise - its nippy enough, quite torquey due to N/A. If you keep the revs it keeps most of its power but can run out of puff due to the map, but a Starchip should sort it. I do 25k a year in it and its perfectly reliable. Had a few brake issues due to a sticking calliper but other than that faultless to 100k.

Economy - when ragging it youll get 40mpg, I currently get 60ish driving like Miss Daisy.

Anything particular you want to know?

That fuel economy is genuinely very impressive for a big ish engined naturally aspirated petrol

[ToastMan76]

CX53 said:

That fuel economy is genuinely very impressive for a big ish engined naturally aspirated petrol

Its frustratingly impressive. Ive been craving a new car for a couple of years but normally do 25k so any new car becomes exceptionally expensive, even decent diesels cant match it! Like I mentioned I used to not care about MPG and was getting 40k even when ragging it and driving quickly. Now since money got a bit tighter, driving everywhere smoothly and going 60-65 on motorways and I get 60 - thats actual also, I fill up every 3 days over 350 miles. Bonkers.

[Mercury00]

ToastMan76 said:

Its frustratingly impressive. Ive been craving a new car for a couple of years but normally do 25k so any new car becomes exceptionally expensive, even decent diesels cant match it! Like I mentioned I used to not care about MPG and was getting 40k even when ragging it and driving quickly. Now since money got a bit tighter, driving everywhere smoothly and going 60-65 on motorways and I get 60 - thats actual also, I fill up every 3 days over 350 miles. Bonkers.

Is your car a manual? Mine's a manual and the clutch and gear change are a bit of a pain in the arse. I read that Mazda gear changes are great before buying it, but I've changed the gear oil and lubed all the linkages and everything, and it's still incredibly notchy.

[ToastMan76]

Mercury00 said:

Is your car a manual? Mine's a manual and the clutch and gear change are a bit of a pain in the arse. I read that Mazda gear changes are great before buying it, but I've changed the gear oil and lubed all the linkages and everything, and it's still incredibly notchy.

Yea I have manual 2.0SE fastback. The gearing is great for me, never had too much of an issue at all definitely not notchy for sure. Only ‘notch’ issue is sometimes when in neutral gotta let the car off brakes and roll slightly to get in gear but this is very rare.

[VR99]

Anyone familiar with the auto transmissions used in the Mazda 3.. specifically the reliability/durability and smoothness of operation etc?