2013 Civic Lx Vs. Mazda 3 Gx?

[Loonie]

(lurk) Hi everyone, I have search and came up empty. Hope someone can respond, much appreciated.

I am currently comparing a 2013 Honda Civic Lx vs Mazda 3 Gx sport hatch and need some input.
The current year end is offering some very good discounts. Honda is offering $2,000 off and Mazda is offering $4,000. I have test driven both cars. Here are my findings:

Mazda price: $18,700, Freight $1,695 - $4,000 discount, X 12% tax in BC ($2,587) = $18,982 total

+ awesome steering feedback, fun to drive, exterior styling! good fuel economy

- Tight space backseat, Dashboard dated, hard plastic, no heated seat, steel wheels

Honda price: $19,445 Freight $1,814 - $2,000 discount, X 12% tax ($2,311) = $21,570 total

+ smooth and responsive steering, spacious seating front & back, heated front seat, good fuel economy

- no cabin lights, 2 setting wipers, noisy engine and wind

Which car would you choose? There is a difference of $2,500 in savings for the Mazda Gx.

Please let me know if I missed any other features.

Thank you for your input.

 

[hornsfan10609]

It's pretty obvious everyone will say the 3. I would never buy a civic personally but they are great cars if you only intend to drive it.

 

[markuszoom5]

OK, so I can definitely help you on this one. My wife has a 2007 Civic EX, which came with spoiler and 16" rims. Very nice and sharp looking car in Electric Blue. I have a 2010 Mazda 5, with side skirts and spoiler. Nice looking for a van. However, the civic has lasted for 7 years now, with only one tire change, regular oil changes, wiper motor replacement (cheap), filters etc. The easiest car to work on that I have ever experienced. However, my 2010 Mazda5 is only 3 years old and has had both rear shocks and bushings replaced due to leaks and squeaks. I have already put new tires on @ 25000, due to excessive wear from the aggressive camber. Honda will accept 30k miles trans fluid drain and fills, easy to do and cheap. Mazda 5 needs 189 dollar complete flush every 30 k miles, as tranny fluid looks very burned towards the end. (5 tranny is same as 3 tranny I believe.)
Now, when I drive the civic, it's all over the place, fishtailing and, steering is unpredictable. It was like that since new. It has a small and noisy engine, and as soon as you let off the gas on the highway, the car feels like it's slowing down. The Mazda 5 feels like it's telling you, you are not driving me hard and fast enough, step on the gas or get out of the car. At stop lights the car always wants to creep and go. The civic likes to sit there until everybody else is gone. As indicated above, is your intention high quality, low maintenance, and dull driving feel, or do you want zoom-zoom and possible little quirks here and there?
So I would say even though the MZ 5 (2.3L engine) is a van, it has that zoom-zoom in it, which allows for precise sporty driving. And the civic feels like it's all over the place and not very peppy. You have to decide if you want easy maintenance and maybe a little less chance of repair with crappy driving feel, or if you want spirited driving and zoom-zoom. Steering/handling/and pep wise the Mazda beats the Civic by far. It's your choice.
Now, the Mazda5 drives like a sports car. No fishtailing, not all over the read. The steering is very accurate, and goes where you want it. I look forward to driving it every day. I don't know if you know how to drive manual, or if you require automatic, but I can tell you (experienced at driving manual VW's for a long time) that if you get a manual shift Mazda 3, you will not regret it, as the car will feel like an F1. It's just that nice. You have to ask yourself if you will be making anybody else unhappy with the manual choice, or are you buying the car for your own pleasure.

 

[phunky.buddha]

Fishtailing? How?

 

[Loonie]

Thank you both to Hornsfan & Markus for your input. I am going to do another retest drive of the civic, at night time this coming Thursday for comparison as I drove the Mazda 3 again this morning. It is a darn fun car to drive, however, the wife and kids are pushing for the civic as it is a little more space and they like the more modern looking dash layout.

I will report back.

 

[Loonie]

One more thing, the reliability is a big issue for me as I used to own a ford focus back in 2002. That car was very unreliable, and constant visits to the shops. I swear I will never buy another Ford again. It's definitely not Job 1!

I can drive a stick shift, my wife on the other hand can only drive an auto, so looks like I'm going to end up getting an auto.

 

[markuszoom5]

one more tip

Thank you both to Hornsfan & Markus for your input. I am going to do another retest drive of the civic, at night time this coming Thursday for comparison as I drove the Mazda 3 again this morning. It is a darn fun car to drive, however, the wife and kids are pushing for the civic as it is a little more space and they like the more modern looking dash layout.

I will report back.

Regardless, what you like more, if the wife and kids are pushing for the civic then you know what to do - get the civic. Also, do not get talked into paint protection or extended warranty. You dont need it, but do get the rust protection if you live around snow and salt. As I read your comment, I wish you good luck with your honda, it will be a good car. Mazda/honda, they are both Japs and reliable, wont break your vallet.

 

[Loonie]

Thank you very much for the recommendation Markus (burp). You've been very helpful. My wife and I did our test drive and we settle with the Civic after all. Perhaps down the road when we get a second vehicle, I will consider the Mazda 3 Hatch for myself. I still enjoy driving that car as it was very fun driving on the ocean scenic route and responsive steering.

For now, it's more of what the family needs, ....

Loonie

P.S. Thx for the reminder about extended warranty and paint protection. They wanted $900 for tending an additional 3 yr, $500 for paint protection. As for Rust $1,000, we rarely get snow except for the occasional odd year. Do you think it's worth it?

 

[hornsfan10609]

Never buy any dealer add on crap, it is a huge waste of money. You would have been happier if you went with the Mazda

 

[markuszoom5]

Never buy any dealer add on crap, it is a huge waste of money. You would have been happier if you went with the Mazda

Drivability wise he would have been happier with the mazda. But when he realizes he can change the air filter on the honda in front of advance auto parts without tools, change the oil without lifting up the car, change the cabin filter in 30 sec, do a tranny drain and fill in 30min, do a complete brake job in 2 hours (with breaks), then he will realize that he is better of with the civic... Best of all he gets to sleep in the same bed because his wife got what she wants...he chose correctly...

Who needs a hole in the cover (actually who needs a cover) that is next to oil filter, who needs 2 stacked cabin filters (PITA), a stupid battery air duct, rotors that don't come off until they split in 1/2, the burned tranny fluid after 30 k, give me a break mazda, they did not think out some stuff like Honda did !!! I really like my 5 and the versatility but after all the quirks, I would go for Honda next...

 

[hornsfan10609]

I can do all of those things with a Mazda 3 short of the cabin filter which takes about 3 minutes (and given it is replaced 2x a year, who cares?). Airbox has clips that pop open, trans fill requires a machine for either car so that is a null argument, (not to mention Honda recommends a retarded partial drain and fill procedure over a long period of time), brake jobs are the same on any Japanese car, and they sit up just as high as a Civic so oil changes are the same as well. The 3 is the better car, although the '14 3 is obviously the best choice. Plus you aren't hating yourself for driving a damn Honda.

 

[markuszoom5]

What is your reason for believing that the 3 is a better car, give me some examples? The partial drain and fill dilutes and replenishes some of the fluid and it's $30 instead of $189 flush at dealer. If the flush was a 100 k miles thing then I would think different. I have yet to see a civic with dark smelly fluid like my 5 had after 35 k...did you check your fluid?

 

[hornsfan10609]

I don't have an automatic trans, bud. I worked on Mazdas for a living, the 5 is far from their best car. All the new models (CX5, 6 and 3) are great cars and I have yet to experience any catostrophic failures working at the largest dealer in the region (not region of the state, the entire southwestern US) so I confidently say the 3 is the better car, in my opinion.
Like i said before, if you just want to drive it the Civic is a great car, but I regularly drove an 09 with the 1.6 and I hated driving it. So frustratingly slow.

The Ford transmissions in the older 3 and 5s are known for dirtying the ATF after 20k miles, they do not have a large enough fluid capacity.

 

[markuszoom5]

I am originally from Europe so this is my first auto, all manuals before. Well I have to tell you that a 2009 civic has a 1.8l 140hp engine, nothing stellar but ok. A civic si has 201 hp and it's just as fun as a mazdaspeed or a GTI. I owned a manual 2.5l 5 cyl Jetta that was the most fun of all cars I ever owned, but worst reliability ever and expensive to maintain. Other than the suspension (zoom zoom) I think the 3 is not any different than any other small car (we are comparing automatics to be fair), manual is a whole different story. Most cars are auto so most people are concerned with auto tranny reliability. You don't have that issue, so maybe you don't understand how it feels like when your wife's car need $40 tranny service and yours needs $189 at same mileage interval, those and other service things make the difference, that is why honda is better maintenance wise. I hope you see my point now...and most people rate a car's "goodness" according to how little money they put into it...

 

[hornsfan10609]

Don't get me wrong, I'm a Mazda enthusiast and as I said I worked for Mazda so my opinion is biased and I am a bit jaded. Maintenance and operating cost is the only thing that matters to 99% of all people, I couldn't agree more on that.

 

[statlerjames]

Mazda 3 at 0% finance is a pretty good deal. Sure it uses a bit more fuel, but its worth it for the fun to drive factor. You only live once!