Richard_rsp's 2011 Mazda 2 Touring in Brilliant Black!

Alright,we are officially a Mazda family again! My fiance and I traded our 2010 VW Jetta Sportwagen TDI for a 2011 Mazda 2 Touring (for me) and a 2010 CX-7 i SV (for her). Both cars are absolutely incredible (in their own way)!

Here is some pictures of my Brilliant Black 2011 Mazda 2 Touring...
Sorry its dirty (it IS black, gonna happen) but it was raining all the way home.





















Yay! (yippy)

Nice 2!

Looks good!

Thanks! Im LOVING it!!!

Nice, I must say, I rather like your taste in cars.

Thanks! It seems like Brilliant Black is popular among Mazda2 owners on here... Nice car!

As for the other cars:
There have been several other non-Mazda cars, though. I have been a bit of a dealership hound over the past few years. My fiance and I have developed a plan for our automotive future, though, so that will be slowing down significantly.

Complete order (including project cars) -
1992 Mazda Protege DX
1994 Honda Civic Si
1989 Mazda RX7
1989 Mazda RX7 (#2)
1989 Nissan 240SX (#1)
1989 Nissan 240SX w/ SR20DET (#2),
1997 Nissan Pickup,
1989 Nissan 240SX (#3),
1993 Mazda 323,
1989 Toyota Corolla GT-S,
1988 Ford Festiva,
2001 Mazda MP3
2007 Honda Fit
2004 Mazdaspeed Miata
2008 Honda Civic EX
2009 Honda Si Sedan
1995 Honda Odyssey (given)
2010 VW Golf 2.5
2010 VW Jetta Sportwagen TDI
2010 Mazda CX-7 (Current)
2011 Mazda2 Touring (Current)

HA You had a Festiva? I had 3 at one time. Fun Cars.

Here's a pic

if you dont mind me asking... what was the reason for trading the tdi? im curious because it is a car on my protege replacement list. funny how the mazda2 is also on that list.

Sorry for the delayed response, was at the Rolex24 this weekend and didnt have access to the web.

HA You had a Festiva? I had 3 at one time. Fun Cars.

Click to expand...

Yep, Festivas are lots of fun! I wanted to do a B6T swap REALLY bad, but I had it at the same time as my MP3, and I couldnt swing keeping both cars, so the festiva eventually went.

what was the reason for trading the tdi?

Click to expand...

Opinion and why I got rid of the TDI:
Backstory: My fiance and I have a vehicular plan: We want one car that I can autocross and another car that we can sleep in when we go to races. When we got the TDI, it was the vehicle to sleep in (replacing our 300k mile Odyssey) and we were planning on grabbing a used Miata/ MX-5 or something for the fun car. But, price and nervousness led to our decision to alter that plan. Read-on...

About the TDI Decision
Well, first of all, I would like to say that the TDI was a nice car. Given that, the TDI also had a "nice car" price (The Sportwagen was $27k MSRP with a 6-speed, Pano-roof, and mudflaps - and they dont move a whole lot from MSRP). The MAIN reason I got rid of the TDI was because my new fiance wanted (and really needed) a newer car (she has been driving our Odyssey). We looked into leasing (as she doesnt drive a ton like I do) but it was going to add a minimum of $200 a month for us to lease. Buying a used car would also add at least $200 for a decent car and the interest rate would have been higher. While we could have swung $200 extra, it ended up making more sense to buy a Mazda2 for me (fun to Autox and inexpensive) and a leftover base CX7 for her (we got it almost $5k off MSRP). Ended up raising our monthly payment ~ $150 a month over JUST the TDI, INCLUDING insurance. Not bad at all.

Why I was nervous about the TDI:
TDI's are known for being ultra reliable - the older ones. No one really knows about the 100k+ reliability of the 2009+ Common Rail TDI's yet. A very small percentage of TDIs (probably about 50 known on the forums, way less than 1%) have suffered a failure of the High Pressure Fuel Pump due to (suspected) lack of lubricity from ultra-low sulfur diesel. While this has been relatively rare, it ends up being ~$8,000 repair bill because it sends metal shards into the entire fuel system, which is very labor intensive to clean out. Also, VW has been very argumentative about this being a fueling problem, not a design problem and has refused several repairs under warranty. HPFPs have failed at 10k miles and at 70k miles, all without warning. While this is not a deal killer by any means on the TDI, this is nervousness #1.

Nervousness #2 came from a similar reliability concern. This was only my 2nd VW (the fist was the Golf and I didnt have it long either) and I was AMAZED by the amount of computer controlled items. To modify almost anything on VWs, you have to go into the computer and let it know you are changing something so it wont throw a malfunction code or CEL. The computer relies on sensors for all of this data. One forum member, who travels for work, just replaced 2 of those sensors at a very shocking price (sorry, I dont remember, but I was shocked at the cost). Also things like the Diesel Particulate Filter, which is scheduled for replacement before 100k miles, are very expensive parts. Was this car going to cost me significantly in the future? I wasnt really wanting to find out.

The final thing that was driving my paranoia had to do with structural integrity. When the TDI was only 59 days old, I was rear-ended by a girl on her cell phone. There was not much damage, but just a bumper replacement , repainting, etc.. But as the car aged, I noticed squeaks and rattles forming in places like the headliner, windows, pano-sunroof. While this might have been cured by some lubrication, it got me questioning if that accident was going to affect how the car fits together in the future. What if a leak showed up in the headliner? Will VW void the warranty and say it was the accidents fault and then I have to go to court? It was more worry than I am willing to put into a car.

All of that said: The TDI never really gave me any problems, it was great on long trips, and got incredible mileage (I averaged 38mpg with a 46mpg max tank). However, it is expensive to buy, potentially expensive to maintain, and I found I was worrying more about the car than any other I've ever owned. I wanted something more basic, more pure, and the Mazda2 was the car I needed. It's really nice to not have to worry about a car again...

thanks for all that information. ive heard about the expensive maintenance... and lack of ease of replacing things yourself.

i just want good fuel mileage, and a descent size. if you want 40 mpg, and good space, there really are few options... and the sportwagen tdi is the cheapest. (the prius is smaller, and the fusion hibrid is more expensive) plus, i really liked the interior. very upscale from the fords and others i have test driven recently.

anyways... ill end my threadjack. nice to hear people loving the mazda 2.

Just to wrap up: Yes the interior is nice and upscale, but beware: it rattles. I didnt want to believe it at first (because the VW was nice and solid feeling and quiet), but it about drove me nuts trying to locate all the little sounds towards the end. Also, just FYI, if you get the "cornsilk" interior (tan), make sure that you or your significant other does not wear jeans with dark dye. The vinyl is horrible about dye transfer and it's difficult to clean off. After only 10k miles, my fiances seat was almost completely blue!

And yes I agree, it is difficult to find 40mpg in a roomier vehicle. But it was worth it for me to take on a smaller vehicle and a small hit in my fuel mileage (thats wierd to say that i took a mileage HIT by buying the 2 ) to not have the nervousness and idiosyncrasies that were associated with the TDI. Whatever you choose to go with, good luck!

thanks!

just good to hear someone with experiences with both.. not a lot of people would be in the market for a 2 and a tdi at the same time.

Having owned a few Mazda's between my wife and I, and a couple VW's, Richard is right on.

It's amazing how many years VW has been known for electrical problems. Even broken window regulators took way too many years for them to sort out (I went through three myself, and helped several other people put their window back up after a broken regulator). Of the two GTI's I've had, my '00 I bought new and at 11,000 miles when I was swapping out for an aftermarket cam I found one of the lifters was completely pitted on the top and it had worn down the cam lobe significantly from the friction. Something I never would have found had I not opened up the motor for the cam swap, and eventually the engine would have died on me, or at least been down power.

Second GTI was a '97 that I bought used with 24k on it. This car was almost showroom new, perfect condition...yet I never could get the check engine light to turn off. Eventually came down to a faulty smog pump, something I don't expect to die within 24k.

My wife owned a '99 Prot for years, put a ton of miles on it and never had any major issues, my 3 was flawless for the entire time I owned it, and my parents have an '03 Miata that I think might be up to all of 6k miles now (occasional summer weekend car)...no issues other than a dead battery from sitting too long. Everyone has their horror stories of one manufacturer or another, but overall Mazdas have always run great for everyone I've known and even the base model '99 Prot was more fun to drive than anything else in its class for that year.

good cars have gone through your garage