The little Gray Harlot seduced me... (the story of a mazda 3 impulse buy)

[PeteyBoy3K]

So, I had gotten my '99 VW golf under the worst of conditions: It was a first model year (the MKIV) body style, guaranteeing all sorts of cheap plastic crap to break within 3 years (and it did!). It was a car I inherited and I picked it up in 2001 with 29,900 miles in Ohio. In driving it back to Durham, NC, I had passed over the 30,000 mile barrier... and since the 60K warranty was halved by the owner transfer (at least this is what the VW dealer told me) I could no longer have the broken trunk latch and wonky temp sensor replaced under warranty.

I still loved my adopted Forest Green Golf ("Helga" was her name, "Shnookums" is how we referred to her). It had brought me a world of handling and power I never thought possible compared to my ailing '88 camry (Woogums). I performed oil changes, put lots and lots of highway miles on her (up to about 98,000 miles), bought a little green clean machine to suck out all the dirt from the tan fabric upholstry and carpeting, and armor-alled everything else.

However, when I graduated from Duke, I found myself in Atlanta with a salary and started looking around at all the shiny new happy motor vehicles I could buy myself... I think that the Golf detected it was being cheated on, because it started to fall apart at the seams. I took it in for an 70K service and to try and replace all of the things that had since busted:

1: The trunk latch was a micro-switch laden monstrosity, and somehow the switches had gotten gummed up so that the trunk could never tell it was open or closed, thus, the trunk light would only come on sometimes, and the trunk would re-lock 2 minutes after it was unlocked, regardless of how many times it had been opened or closed. This also meant that it would be insecure in a parking lot for said 2 minutes.

2: The engine temperature sensor was broken, it would read 190, or somewhere below 190

3: the CV Joint boot had to be replaced

4: there was a minor power steering leak

5: the middle rear seat belt had since jammed

6: standard maintanance (rotate, balance, change oil/filter, 4-wheel alignment)

I could only do the CV-boot, temp sensor, and standard maintenance before hitting my preset limit of "I'm only spending $1500 on this car". Thus, leaving many of the other features I loved that had since broken to be fixed in a future visit (it didn't help that the dealer messed up the door locks, at least I didn't have to pay to have them fixed)

So, I started researching such things as the mini cooper S, Mazda RX-8 and VW R32.

within 5000 miles of that service, the ignition coil started failing, causing the Golf to spit and sputter and hesitate like a cat on a plank in the ocean. Luckily, by then I had found a pair of South African mechanics that were on the way to work, who managed to do all the work for under the cost of the part VW was quoting me (part and labor for $500, for what VW was telling me was a $600 part).

by now I had started to look at more sensible compact hatchbacks, like the matrix, prius, Golf TDI, Jetta Wagon TDI.

Then, the alternator went a month after that, another $500 down the hole (for a $600 VW part, yay South African Mechanics)

Finally, I had done another trip to Raleigh, planning on the big 105,000 mile service (where the timing belt would have to be replaced and a general tune given) and I lost the car key. I had to make a round trip in a rental to get the spare because of all the security and immobilizer crap associated with the car would have made it impossible to just somehow jump it. Unfortunately, I only had one key where the remote didn't work because it went through the wash, and it would cost me $200 to get two keys with two working remotes from the dealer (since the keys are special and have to be programmed and the South African mechanics didn't have the tools for it). The security system had also gone haywire: the aformetioned trunk latch had started re-arming the security system upon locking WHILE I WAS DRIVING THE CAR... causing the alarm to go off, the engine to quit, and for me to have to pull the key out of the ignition and re-disarm it by sticking the key in the door and re-unlocking the car. (this means death since 1.5 minutes usually gave me just enough time to make it to the middle of an intersection). I started not locking the car and scheduled an appointment with the dealer the next day

So I took it in to the dealer, and the end estimate comes to $1000 again. $200 for the keys, $180 for the diagnostics on the security system, and $600 for the new security module. I got back to the dealer, paid them $180 for the diagnostics. I had decided to get rid of this car... it was not making it to 105,000 on my dollar, since it was costing me more than a new car payment to keep it running. In fact, I test drove a tornado red '04 Golf TDI GLS before I picked up my little green gobliny golf.

It was strange, seeing all the places where VW had fixed Gripes I had with the '99 golf in their '04 model. four doors, cupholders molded into the midconsole instead of in some little pop-out contraption in the dash. Power everything.... and now much more efficient. Alas, it was still divey in tight turns and the new deisel was much jerkier and prone to spasming under cruise control (there's torque issues, and then there's TDI)

I got back to work, and called a Toyota dealer to ask about the prius... 9 month wait, deposit to get on the list, nothing available to test drive, perhaps if I rent one from Enterprise for a day (at $30 a day) I'd be able to see what they were like... but they'd have a Matrix XRS available the next day. Then... On a whim... I called Mazda... I had seen a few Mazda3 5-doors and thought they were kind of neat. They would be open until 8:00, I arrived around 7:00

I was seduced by a titanium gray mazda3 with leather seats and the moonroof/6-CD that I test drove. It was smoother, handled better, and had a bigger engine than the 2.0 Golf (with the same efficiency). It also treated the 5th door like a... 5th door. Unlocking and re-locking with the rest of the locks on the car. I was also a sucker for steering wheel buttons and the little orange LED's in the dash that lit up every time I hit audio control buttons. So, that same night, after I had spent weeks and weeks going through all the possible cars and fantasized about a weeklong circuit trying to test drive everything... I signed up to finance the Mazda3 that I didn't even realize was missing ABS, Side Air bags and all that jazz (not that it matters, I just kinda wasn't expecting to drive a car lacking ABS in 2004). I had bought another first-model-year car and had now financed it for 5 years with an extended warranty that only lasts 4 (an incentive to pay it off sooner if I ever heard one)

I'm kinda waiting for the remorse to hit, to feel dumb for just going into "new... car... NOW" mode and then ending up with Lina (pet name "ookums"). I worry that something will break and make me feel dumb for being so hasty, that I'll be driving up mountains and have to downshift into fourth and wonder whatever possessed me to buy another japanese car with iffy low-end torque. I ponder that I'll get t-boned or have to slam brakes on an icy day and get hurt because I didn't pay attention because the ABS and side-pillows that the Golf had.

But then I realize, I have a shiny new car devoid of all the safety crap that I never really ended up using in the first place (and now don't have to pay for). I now hope that someone will spill soda on the seat and all I'll have to do is take a tissue out of the storage compartement and just wipe it up! I hope that people will bring in bottles so that I can show them the bottle holders in the door. I hope that I drive on a hill and not only will it hold speed, but it will accelerate beyond someone who /couldn't/ hold speed. I still giggle at how the audio system appreciatively blinks when I hit a button and plan to get the tape deck and temp-sensing mirror upon future visits.

More than anything I'd say this all ties into my own special (eccentric, strange, weird) way of doing things... plan and plan and plan for something that doesn't happen, and then find I was able to manage just fine when something I didn't plan (and usually more catastrophic than I dreamed) occurs.

That, and it really is a lot easier to clean leather and alloy wheels :-D

Thanks for reading this far... Wish me luck with Lina! Any advice/comments are appreciated

[MazdaDryvr]

I have a co-worker with a 99.5 golf. Same colours and alot of the same problems. You did the right thing. :)

Oh, and if you buy a 3 here in Canada, they have ABS standard. ;)

[PeteyBoy3K]

the '88 camry (first car) didn't have ABS...

It makes things more.... fun....

"oooh Gravel!!!" *slam* *sliiiiiiiiiide* *giggle*

yea, so I'm crazy. I'll just remember to pump the brakes in a lockup, keep the tires good (might replace with some potenza RE950's when the stock good years wear out) and just try my darndest not to tailgate.

It also helps to tell yourself that
A. apparently threshold braking can decrease braking distance over ABS and
B. you just don't wanna drive in snow/ice anywhere in the southeast US because of all the other silly people... unless of course you need milk/bread

also, for some reason, my insurance company is giving me the ABS discount... I told them to take it off because my new car didn't have it (and I don't wanna be accused of insurance fraud), but apparently they cant because that discount is set by the VIN... perhaps that specialized power-braking technology is seen as some sort of safety feature... oh well.

[taylor5]

Dude,

As a former VW owner, I know all about those gripes you mentioned. I owned a 2000 GLS 2.0 and it was trouble from day one. My sister owns an identical one still and it has been very good to her....go figure.

I got so mad at VW, that I went and traded for a 2002 Protege'5 and kept it for 2 1/2 years and then got my Titanium 3s 5door. No leather or ABS. Just the 6 CD changer and moonroof. So far, I had some rattle issues with the rear end interior area and my brakes have somehow fixed themselves with my groove problem going away. They look normal now. Very weird. No idiot lights lighting up on me either...(as I knock wood). Rattles seem to be fixed too after numerous visits to a very cool service department here in Raleigh. They had trouble finding it and were scratching their heads as much as I was.

I love the car and it does remind me of my 95' Golf Sport 2.0 (4 cylinder GTI before the name changed to GTI in 96') That was the last good VW ever built in my opinion. And the last good one I owned before that crap 00' GLS Golf.

I do love the new 3 though after I got through some of the issues. They are all cars though, and all of em' are gonna give trouble from time to time because simply???......It is a mechanical device and that is all there is to it.

Enjoy it man, and tell Atlanta 'hello' for me....Midtown and Buckhead...Oh boy.....trouble.

[PeteyBoy3K]

hmmm, I haven't had any rattle fun... but I have had just little "where the hell is that whistle coming from" moments when I hit a crosswind
(there seems to be something about the way the wind hits the door-jams... )

Then again, I'm probably just getting used to a new version of road noise... you know, since the engine running at 4000 RPM's isn't drowing out the minor whoosh's and bumps.

right now I am just trying to get home before dark so I can re armor-all everything... I tried to finish up my do-it-yourself detailing during dusk yesterday and then just sort of went "whoop, missed a spot there.. and there... and there... and there... and oooh, big spot over there..." (headshake)

and yea, midtown and buckhead are... interesting....

[MazdaDryvr]

When I saw the 3 for the first time, I almost regretted buying my MSP. ;)

[seanmcsean]

I saw it on the mazda website and something told me I had to drive one.. I got in, drove it around for an hour with the salesman and I was hooked.

[goldwing2000]

PeteyBoy,
The auto-dim temp mirror is pretty sweet. I ordered one the day I bought my 3 and installed it myself when it arrived. It's a really easy install and comes with very detailed instructions. No special tools needed.

Enjoy!

[Jpasta]

I have a co-worker with a 99.5 golf. Same colours and alot of the same problems. You did the right thing. :)

Oh, and if you buy a 3 here in Canada, they have ABS standard. ;)

ABS is not standard, I live in Ontario and mine dosen't have ABS

[BlueMonsta]

ABS is not standard, I live in Ontario and mine dosen't have ABS
hmm i live in ontario too.. im test driving the 3 today... (after work)
not standard? I can live with that.. i dun have ABS on my protege (91 baby!).. lol. I'm use to threshold braking... but too bad my guardian isnt. I still remember during my first snow storm driving... I was like OK pump brakes if shit happens. and my car just started spinning out (brake/tire inbalance)... i was like errr wtf man... stop spinning. then i got freaked out. slowly learned to threshold brake, it was better but i had to counter-steer to keep the car braking straight... lol

I just want the foggies, i need to do alot of highway driving.

[I_Vtec]

What dealer did you buy the 3 from in Atlanta?

By the way we have small meets about every other month in Atlanta if you want to come out to one.

[Jpasta]

hmm i live in ontario too.. im test driving the 3 today... (after work)
not standard? I can live with that.. i dun have ABS on my protege (91 baby!).. lol. I'm use to threshold braking... but too bad my guardian isnt. I still remember during my first snow storm driving... I was like OK pump brakes if shit happens. and my car just started spinning out (brake/tire inbalance)... i was like errr wtf man... stop spinning. then i got freaked out. slowly learned to threshold brake, it was better but i had to counter-steer to keep the car braking straight... lol

I just want the foggies, i need to do alot of highway driving.

this is the first car i have ever driven that doesnt have ABS
im only 18

[BlueMonsta]

this is the first car i have ever driven that doesnt have ABS
im only 18
I'm only 19! so no worries. u live in the toronto area?
watch out for black ice if ur inexperienced.
I still dunno wtf to do if i hit it...
cause i hit a LARGE (it covered both lanes for 30-50 m) outside york central hospital. I just SLOWLY spun out... took me 15 secs to do the 360. I hit the curb at like 10km/h? the car was fine, i had no kit so no body dmg.

but yah... hope u stay accident/ticket free man

I'm official both for now

[PeteyBoy3K]

I bought it from Mazda of Roswell

I feel pretty good about it, they gave me $4000 for the Golf... and that kind of cinched it for me. :)

Another interesting thing I noticed about the Mazda is the new plastic intake manifolds... I suppose I can see that they don't heat up the air as much... and I would like to think they are cheap to replace... but secretly know better (whenever something plastic in the golf went, it was NEVER cheap)

[3junky]

PeteyBoy3K,

Got mine from Mazda of Roswell also! Similar story, "just going to test drive" until I ended up signing papers! Ha, that guy Sonny is a hell of a salesman, although I wanted the 3 anyways. Where do ATL 3 owners meet up? I would like to see some mods first hand.

[I_Vtec]

PeteyBoy3K,

Got mine from Mazda of Roswell also! Similar story, "just going to test drive" until I ended up signing papers! Ha, that guy Sonny is a hell of a salesman, although I wanted the 3 anyways. Where do ATL 3 owners meet up? I would like to see some mods first hand.
Come out to meets with all Mazdas. Not just 3s.

[3junky]

Yeah, that would be cool, where can I find info on these in my area?

[I_Vtec]

Yeah, that would be cool, where can I find info on these in my area?
http://www.msprotege.com/forum/showthread.php?t=65438

Here ya go. Meet in Atlanta in late June. Should be a blast. If you were to show you would be the first 3 at one of our meets.

[3junky]

Sounds great, count me in! A little ways drive (I am in Marietta), but worth it I'm sure. I will mark it down on the trusty calendar, thanks.

[I_Vtec]

Sounds great, count me in! A little ways drive (I am in Marietta), but worth it I'm sure. I will mark it down on the trusty calendar, thanks.
If you're in Marietta then you're near me. We should go get a margarita sometime. You got an AIM screen name?

[3junky]

Yeah I live right near Riverside & Johnson Ferry. Margaritas r good.

[rodslinger]

I bought it from Mazda of Roswell


I almost bought mine there too. I was actually working a deal with Rick Case Mazda at the time. They would call me back every day for almost two weeks and lower their price another $100. And I'd keep telling them what I'd pay. I finally went to Mazda of Roswell and found the same car without NAV and came to a price agreement. About halfway though signing the papers, Rick Case called me on my cell and agreed to my offer. I felt bad for the salesman as I told him a better offer came along and walked out. I picked up my 3 that night at Rick Case. Couldn't be happier.

[PeteyBoy3K]

PeteyBoy,
The auto-dim temp mirror is pretty sweet. I ordered one the day I bought my 3 and installed it myself when it arrived. It's a really easy install and comes with very detailed instructions. No special tools needed.

Enjoy!

I just installed my birthday present from my parents yesterday (the temp sensing auto-dimming compass mirror)... and yea... I got to know the footwell of the drivers side compartment and the space between the firewall and the battery case a bit too well.

Needless to say, I was thinking more "just take off the old mirror and install the new one which runs off batteries" or something... not the "take off these panels and disconnect the hood release cable so that the temp sensor wires can share a grommet with it andthen run all the wires up the pillar and under the roof fabric so you can connect..."

I had an easy time of most of it.. the biggest pain (emotional annoyance and hand scratches... I look like I got in a fight with a cat) I had was reseating the grommet in the firewall... insulation kept getting caught I couldn't get it cleared with just one hand... and therefore I needed to remove the battery and detach the case (Ironically, the only plastic peice I snapped, a retaining clip for the wiring harness covor, was a result of this extra step) so that I could fit two hands in there. This was also all in the 95 degree Columbia, SC humidity heat of doom.

My arms are killing me... as are my scratched up hands. Oh well. The mirror is really cool now too. The one thing that was bugging me is that the angle was messed up for a while so I couldn't get the horizon to the middle of the mirror, but in the top 1/3rd (thus , it always looked like I was driving out of a valley). but I changed my seat and messed with the angle a bit and things got better.

[goldwing2000]

And now you are more knowledgable about your vehicle! Congratulations!

[PeteyBoy3K]

And now you are more knowledgable about your vehicle! Congratulations!

it was neat to see where the little hose goes that leads water out of the sunroof

[Da 6]

as for the plastic manifold....with all the moving parts inside it i'll add that this one isn't gonna be cheap either....

Yep 2nd car and no abs

[jersey_emt]

I searched and couldn't find any information on VW 'halving' the warranty when you transfer ownership. I've never heard of anything like this; I've heard of companies charging a fee to transfer the warranty, but never reducing it. I think you were misinformed.

Glad you like the 3 though ;)

[PeteyBoy3K]

JerseyEMT: The whole fiasco just enforces my idea that Volkswagons aren't willing to take responsibility for their gremlins (maybe the halving was something they did with their 99.5 models only because they didn't want to deal with as many warrantly claims)

I also now noticed that the pillar-covor I had to remove isn't quite seating right... I guess I'll wait until the weekend to pull off the weather stripping and see whether there is a clip I'm missing or something.

I also will go ahead and check to make sure that the grommet didn't fall out or anything equally upsetting.

but yea, still a fun car... and now I know more of how it fits together

[ng3]

had a 96 Jetta GL only 2 problems: Electrical and Speedometer. Headlight bulbs kept burning out in a month so I put on 4 fog lights and the speedometer just quit one day on the hiway. It was good not counting about 30k km but eventually had to fix it. They had to take out half the transmission crap to fix it but it was covered under warranty. BTW I got my money back for the remainder of the warranty when i traded mine in

[ng3]

Also all the GTA people, anyone know the name of the store in Brapton where they have the CAI? Or any other store... Pacific Mall????

[BlueMonsta]

sorry.. i dunno
but check www.toprotege.com
they probably have ppl that no

[RoadWarior]

I have a client who was the service manager for the local Lexus dealership. Then he was transferred to the VW dealership next door, owned by the same guy.
I was talkingto him about the Lexus line and also the VW line, he told me flat out, "don't buy a volkswagen". Besides the problems, the attitude management of VW comes down from the people at Germany and they just don't care about servicing their cars, not like other car companies.

Another client told me he took his VW into the dealership to have some warranty work done, set an appointment a few weeks in advance, made arrangements for a loaner car. He arrived in the morning to drop off his car and found out there were 12 other people waiting for a loaner car and they had already given out the 2 loaner cars they had. It took the guy 2 hours to find a rental car and get to work.

About the only way I'd drive a VW is if someone gave me the car free and I'd have access to a second car if/when the VW had problems....

I'm sure there are plenty of VW's out there that are great cars with no problems but what if you're stuck with one that does have problems.

[Mikey444]

ABS is not standard, I live in Ontario and mine dosen't have ABS
ABS in Québec is Standard.

[joepro]

ABS is not standard, I live in Ontario and mine dosen't have ABS


ABS is standard on the GT trim only.

[ham]

ABS is standard on the GT trim only.

To clarify, ABS is standard in Canada on both sport trims (GS/GT) as well as the GT sedan trim. It is also part of the sport package for the sedan GS trim. It is not available at all on the sedan GX trim.

ham

[BlueMonsta]

To clarify, ABS is standard in Canada on both sport trims (GS/GT) as well as the GT sedan trim. It is also part of the sport package for the sedan GS trim. It is not available at all on the sedan GX trim.

ham
depeneds on the dealer man....
i went the other day....

but i prefer no ABS...

[PeteyBoy3K]

.. lexus say vw suck... dealer suck... etc etc

Actually, I never had that many problems with a dealer being biscuity regarding availability or shuttling me. Gosset VW was downright sweet in terms of taking me to work for free and getting to the roots of the problem within a day, just like they said they would after scheduling the appointment. They even had a call center set up to remind you politely of upcoming service stuff (nice... if not a bit creepy).

I also had good experiences with the local import shop for regular VW tunings and replacements. The real issue is: I got it for free... and it started costing me $300 - $400 a month to keep it running. The security module thing was just the final straw that wouldn't let me lock my car...

The thing is, the VW would require me to have a garage, and about $2000-$3000 worth of equipment... not to mention a gaggle of VW geek friends and free time to keep it in repair. and I didn't want that. The mazda had the "if I let it sit in an apartment parking lot and drive it about 800 miles a week... things won't fall off that I have to pay to replace". Not to mention I'd be driving a new car with more power. That was much more worth $350 a month...

I'd never finance a VW/Audi/Porsche... especially if it was the daily driver. I'd lease and reccomend my friends do the same. Keep it for the two years it doesn't suck, and then just hand it back to them... with whatever peices fell off.

and yea, in ATL, I don't think I've ever needed ABS... I just try not to tailgate :-D

[grvaughan]

I bought a 2001 Protege 2.0 LX, the predecessor to your Mazda 3 (though mine is 4-door). I've been very happy with it, but I wish it had a little more power and low-end torque. It's up to about 86K miles and the only problem I've had with it is a power door lock (and it keeps burning out brake light bulbs...).

I was wondering how you like your Mazda 3 now that you've had it for a while, and if you think it's zippy enough? It's got a 2.3L engine, now, right?

[taylor5]

Hey'' grvaughan,

Well, I am not sure if this question is for me or the other guy,,,but it showed up in my personal email...so that you know this, but I sold my Mazda3s 2.3L this past January. Why?..Long story "very" short, it was a lemon that went in the shop 15 different times in 11 months ( for all kinds of stupid quality issues ..major and minor) and I could not get the lemon law to work for my advantage. A bad seed and two dealers that treated me like crap or just did not care...not to mention the 1-800 customer service number..."whooo boy", they were "nasty". I traded for a Toyota product(at a pretty steep loss of money) that has been awesome, fun to drive and no troubles and worth every extra penny that I should not have paid but "did" finally give me "peace of mind" with "all" of the ownership experience. While there are many owners on here that love their 3, I will personally not consider Mazda ever again. So I am not the best person to ask. You really need to talk to the people who still own one after 1 to 2 years. Good luck and have fun in your search.

[Jadore3]

So, I had gotten my '99 VW golf under the worst of conditions: It was a first model year (the MKIV) body style, guaranteeing all sorts of cheap plastic crap to break within 3 years (and it did!). It was a car I inherited and I picked it up in 2001 with 29,900 miles in Ohio. In driving it back to Durham, NC, I had passed over the 30,000 mile barrier... and since the 60K warranty was halved by the owner transfer (at least this is what the VW dealer told me) I could no longer have the broken trunk latch and wonky temp sensor replaced under warranty.

I still loved my adopted Forest Green Golf ("Helga" was her name, "Shnookums" is how we referred to her). It had brought me a world of handling and power I never thought possible compared to my ailing '88 camry (Woogums). I performed oil changes, put lots and lots of highway miles on her (up to about 98,000 miles), bought a little green clean machine to suck out all the dirt from the tan fabric upholstry and carpeting, and armor-alled everything else.

However, when I graduated from Duke, I found myself in Atlanta with a salary and started looking around at all the shiny new happy motor vehicles I could buy myself... I think that the Golf detected it was being cheated on, because it started to fall apart at the seams. I took it in for an 70K service and to try and replace all of the things that had since busted:

1: The trunk latch was a micro-switch laden monstrosity, and somehow the switches had gotten gummed up so that the trunk could never tell it was open or closed, thus, the trunk light would only come on sometimes, and the trunk would re-lock 2 minutes after it was unlocked, regardless of how many times it had been opened or closed. This also meant that it would be insecure in a parking lot for said 2 minutes.

2: The engine temperature sensor was broken, it would read 190, or somewhere below 190

3: the CV Joint boot had to be replaced

4: there was a minor power steering leak

5: the middle rear seat belt had since jammed

6: standard maintanance (rotate, balance, change oil/filter, 4-wheel alignment)

I could only do the CV-boot, temp sensor, and standard maintenance before hitting my preset limit of "I'm only spending $1500 on this car". Thus, leaving many of the other features I loved that had since broken to be fixed in a future visit (it didn't help that the dealer messed up the door locks, at least I didn't have to pay to have them fixed)

So, I started researching such things as the mini cooper S, Mazda RX-8 and VW R32.

within 5000 miles of that service, the ignition coil started failing, causing the Golf to spit and sputter and hesitate like a cat on a plank in the ocean. Luckily, by then I had found a pair of South African mechanics that were on the way to work, who managed to do all the work for under the cost of the part VW was quoting me (part and labor for $500, for what VW was telling me was a $600 part).

by now I had started to look at more sensible compact hatchbacks, like the matrix, prius, Golf TDI, Jetta Wagon TDI.

Then, the alternator went a month after that, another $500 down the hole (for a $600 VW part, yay South African Mechanics)

Finally, I had done another trip to Raleigh, planning on the big 105,000 mile service (where the timing belt would have to be replaced and a general tune given) and I lost the car key. I had to make a round trip in a rental to get the spare because of all the security and immobilizer crap associated with the car would have made it impossible to just somehow jump it. Unfortunately, I only had one key where the remote didn't work because it went through the wash, and it would cost me $200 to get two keys with two working remotes from the dealer (since the keys are special and have to be programmed and the South African mechanics didn't have the tools for it). The security system had also gone haywire: the aformetioned trunk latch had started re-arming the security system upon locking WHILE I WAS DRIVING THE CAR... causing the alarm to go off, the engine to quit, and for me to have to pull the key out of the ignition and re-disarm it by sticking the key in the door and re-unlocking the car. (this means death since 1.5 minutes usually gave me just enough time to make it to the middle of an intersection). I started not locking the car and scheduled an appointment with the dealer the next day

So I took it in to the dealer, and the end estimate comes to $1000 again. $200 for the keys, $180 for the diagnostics on the security system, and $600 for the new security module. I got back to the dealer, paid them $180 for the diagnostics. I had decided to get rid of this car... it was not making it to 105,000 on my dollar, since it was costing me more than a new car payment to keep it running. In fact, I test drove a tornado red '04 Golf TDI GLS before I picked up my little green gobliny golf.

It was strange, seeing all the places where VW had fixed Gripes I had with the '99 golf in their '04 model. four doors, cupholders molded into the midconsole instead of in some little pop-out contraption in the dash. Power everything.... and now much more efficient. Alas, it was still divey in tight turns and the new deisel was much jerkier and prone to spasming under cruise control (there's torque issues, and then there's TDI)

I got back to work, and called a Toyota dealer to ask about the prius... 9 month wait, deposit to get on the list, nothing available to test drive, perhaps if I rent one from Enterprise for a day (at $30 a day) I'd be able to see what they were like... but they'd have a Matrix XRS available the next day. Then... On a whim... I called Mazda... I had seen a few Mazda3 5-doors and thought they were kind of neat. They would be open until 8:00, I arrived around 7:00

I was seduced by a titanium gray mazda3 with leather seats and the moonroof/6-CD that I test drove. It was smoother, handled better, and had a bigger engine than the 2.0 Golf (with the same efficiency). It also treated the 5th door like a... 5th door. Unlocking and re-locking with the rest of the locks on the car. I was also a sucker for steering wheel buttons and the little orange LED's in the dash that lit up every time I hit audio control buttons. So, that same night, after I had spent weeks and weeks going through all the possible cars and fantasized about a weeklong circuit trying to test drive everything... I signed up to finance the Mazda3 that I didn't even realize was missing ABS, Side Air bags and all that jazz (not that it matters, I just kinda wasn't expecting to drive a car lacking ABS in 2004). I had bought another first-model-year car and had now financed it for 5 years with an extended warranty that only lasts 4 (an incentive to pay it off sooner if I ever heard one)

I'm kinda waiting for the remorse to hit, to feel dumb for just going into "new... car... NOW" mode and then ending up with Lina (pet name "ookums"). I worry that something will break and make me feel dumb for being so hasty, that I'll be driving up mountains and have to downshift into fourth and wonder whatever possessed me to buy another japanese car with iffy low-end torque. I ponder that I'll get t-boned or have to slam brakes on an icy day and get hurt because I didn't pay attention because the ABS and side-pillows that the Golf had.

But then I realize, I have a shiny new car devoid of all the safety crap that I never really ended up using in the first place (and now don't have to pay for). I now hope that someone will spill soda on the seat and all I'll have to do is take a tissue out of the storage compartement and just wipe it up! I hope that people will bring in bottles so that I can show them the bottle holders in the door. I hope that I drive on a hill and not only will it hold speed, but it will accelerate beyond someone who /couldn't/ hold speed. I still giggle at how the audio system appreciatively blinks when I hit a button and plan to get the tape deck and temp-sensing mirror upon future visits.

More than anything I'd say this all ties into my own special (eccentric, strange, weird) way of doing things... plan and plan and plan for something that doesn't happen, and then find I was able to manage just fine when something I didn't plan (and usually more catastrophic than I dreamed) occurs.

That, and it really is a lot easier to clean leather and alloy wheels :-D

Thanks for reading this far... Wish me luck with Lina! Any advice/comments are appreciated
Funny story right there! congrats...and same here with my Honda I traded in for my Mazda3....best of luck! And I agree the leather seats are great (rockon)

[Vibe2M3]

Have to ask...I'm in ATL too. Did you shop at Jim Ellis by chance. I ask since my test drive there was in a Titanium Gray 5 door with leather and I went ahead and bought that car that day. Got to love the sales folks...test drive a car with leather and somehow you just can't ever see going back to cloth!!!

[Chilly]

I bought a 2001 Protege 2.0 LX, the predecessor to your Mazda 3 (though mine is 4-door). I've been very happy with it, but I wish it had a little more power and low-end torque. It's up to about 86K miles and the only problem I've had with it is a power door lock (and it keeps burning out brake light bulbs...).

I was wondering how you like your Mazda 3 now that you've had it for a while, and if you think it's zippy enough? It's got a 2.3L engine, now, right?
I've had my 3 for just over a year now and I still really like it. I've owned 4 Mazdas (626, protege, 6, and now 3) and enjoyed driving all of them. I would recommend Mazda to anyone who asked b/c my cars have been so reliable.

[PeteyBoy3K]

Have to ask...I'm in ATL too. Did you shop at Jim Ellis by chance. I ask since my test drive there was in a Titanium Gray 5 door with leather and I went ahead and bought that car that day. Got to love the sales folks...test drive a car with leather and somehow you just can't ever see going back to cloth!!!

No, I got mine at Mazda of Roswell... Ironically, my roomate ended up getting a 2005 4-door-S same color at a Jim Ellis in/near Smyrna. Both shops were great, it's just the Jim Ellis shop had more leftover 2005 stuff and better deals for the config he wanted (auto/6-disc&moonroof/SAB-ABS-EBD)

I was wondering how you like your Mazda 3 now that you've had it for a while, and if you think it's zippy enough? It's got a 2.3L engine, now, right?

I still really love mine (it's got about 38,000 miles on it now). It is still zippy enough, but I was really floored-anew when I got a 30K engine treatment (combo of replacing the air filter and engine de-gunking) and new tires (Kumho Ecsta ASX). I don't really have any complaints except for the few dings and scratches that have come along after a 1.5 years of driving... No alarming new creaks/squeaks/rattles or sudden dropping of parts.

The one thing I don't get is all the complaints about the A/C. Even in ATL I don't think the A/C is all that weak... I have to deal with having an all black interior in a parking lot all day... but when you first get in if you set recirculate and crank up the fan it only takes a minute before I am feeling cool enough. I feel the A/C is adequate, although I have started driving home with the windows down, the sunroof open and the A/C off on pretty days, so I might just be a lot more heat/humidity tolerant than most people...

Sorry for my late reply, hope this helps some people.