Thinking About Buying a Mazda2 -- Reliability?

J

John W

Member
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1993 Volkswagen Fox, 1988 Volkswagen Fox, 2000 BMW 323it
I have three old cars that I've had to work on literally every night and some days for the past three weeks straights. I'm exhausted. I've always owned older vehicles, but I need a break. I'm a minimalist who really hates how heavy most modern vehicles are. I also need a practical, inexpensive car. So the Mazda2 seems like it might be a good choice.

My main concern is reliability. If I'm going to put grown-up money down on a car, it damn well be something that doesn't F-up very often. After all, that's what I'm trying to get away from! I know they're new (to the U.S. market anyway), but I haven't heard positive things about Fiesta/Mazda2 reliability. Specifically, J.D. Power gave the 2011 model poor marks and Car & Driver's recently completed long-term test car had more issues than a new car should. So ... what do you all think? How have your Mazda2's been to live with? Did the quality of the 2012 models improve over the 2011 models? Are there any particular weak areas of this car in terms of durability?

Also, FWIW, I would be picking up a 2 with a 5-speed manual -- probably a Sport, unless I get a great deal on a Touring. I also autocross 3-4 times a year and do an occasional track day. Not sure if any of this matters. ...

So, is this the car for me? I really don't want to become a Honda Fit owner. ...
 
I absolutely love my 2. No problems at all after 17,000 miles of abuse. Everything seems to be made from decent quality materials. Another positive thing about the 2 is that it is VERY easy to work on. Very simple and plenty of room under the hood.
 
This is good to hear. I see you're also from Virginia. Do you know of any dealers that are positive to work with (i.e. they sell their vehicles cheaply)? I don't mind traveling to No.Va. if I have to do so.
 
I have a 2011 2 Touring 5 speed that has had absolutely no issues in the 17k I've put on it since March 2011. As a minimalist car, the 2 is next to perfect.
 
I wanted a touring with a 5 speed so I had to go to Lexington, KY to get mine. All of the dealerships in southwest VA and eastern TN would have had to do a dealer trade and wanted like 18-19K...which is a complete joke..lol
 
15,000 miles on mine w/o any reliability issues except the radio recall.

Don't compare with the Fiesta as many components are different and we got the pick of the litter.

My wife has a 2010 Fit. We both prefer the M2 since its a lot more fun to drive. The Fit does carry more and has better cupholders. The M2 has a much better sound from the radio/CD player. On and on.......

John
 
Sounds like it'll be a good fit for you. Personally, I think the extra $1500 for the touring is worth it (I paid about $15,000 for mine before taxes, etc.). I'm shocked at how useable the space actually is. The MZR engine isn't exactly new technology so it ought to be pretty reliable. And if you haven't noticed already the mpg's are actually under-rated. Very decent aftermarket support as well for how new it is, and handles deceivingly well out of the box in the twisty stuff.
 
Thanks, all, for sharing your experiences. Ngd298, any chance you were at VIR at the end of March? There was a black Mazda2 Touring there that, now that I think of it, probably got me thinking about Mazda2s in the first place. ...
 
ngd298 said:
I absolutely love my 2. No problems at all after 17,000 miles of abuse. Everything seems to be made from decent quality materials. Another positive thing about the 2 is that it is VERY easy to work on. Very simple and plenty of room under the hood.
Click to expand...

This. I just rolled 15k on my 2 and have had it, as of today, for exactly one year. No, it's not fancy or flashy, but I think it beats the pants off of anything else in its class in build quality, ease of maintenance/repair, and overall driving feel. When it comes time to trade in my wife's Mazda 3, there's a 95% chance we'll just get another Mazda 2.
 
John W said:
Thanks, all, for sharing your experiences. Ngd298, any chance you were at VIR at the end of March? There was a black Mazda2 Touring there that, now that I think of it, probably got me thinking about Mazda2s in the first place. ...
Click to expand...
Nope, wasn't me. I really want to get mine out on the track though.
 
Today I test drove a black sport 5-speed. It was one of two car's the closest dealer to me had on the lot. The best way I can describe it is that it felt like a 4/5 scale version of the 2005 Ford Focus ZX-3 I used to own. Tall, direct steering, decent handling, light clutch and precise, slightly notchy shifter. I wasn't expecting much in terms of acceleration, but it was slower than I had hoped for. A large part of this was that the salesman accompanied me and he wasn't exactly slightly built. The A/C was on during the test as well.

All in all, the 2 is still a contender. The best price I've been able to find semi-locally for a Sport 5-speed is $14,834 with 0-percent financing for 60 months. Seems like a decent price, but I'm hoping I can do just a little bit better. We'll see. ...
 
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Too bad you don't live out here in Oregon.
The dealer by me has a black sport 5-speed for $11,988.
I want to buy it & sell my 2011, but I'm too chicken..........afraid of being stuck with both cars.
I could probably come out even pretty easily, but have a brand new car instead of a year-old car.

It's the 'loss leader' in this week's ad.
Even if you didn't get that one you could e-mail just about
any dealer out here & get them down close to $13,000, so be
careful how much you pay or you just might regret it.
 
MacAttack7 said:
Too bad you don't live out here in Oregon.
The dealer by me has a black sport 5-speed for $11,988.
I want to buy it & sell my 2011, but I'm too chicken..........afraid of being stuck with both cars.
I could probably come out even pretty easily, but have a brand new car instead of a year-old car.

It's the 'loss leader' in this week's ad.
Even if you didn't get that one you could e-mail just about
any dealer out here & get them down close to $13,000, so be
careful how much you pay or you just might regret it.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, dealers here in pickup and SUV land didn't order a lot of 2s to begin with. The dealer I went to today only had two on the lot and they were both 2012s. The other dealer I'll check out next weekend is an hour away and they only have 7-8, again all 2012. The car I drove today had only been on the lot for three days and still had plastic covering the horizontal body panels.
 
Buy the black one out here & pay to ship it across the country. Probably cost $1,000 to ship it. So it's still $13,000.
I'd even go look at it to make sure it's ok if you want it. Or at least use that as a bargaining chip in your location. Type in Royal Moore Mazda in google, then click on print ad under 'specials'.
 
We just purchased a 2012 Black Touring AT for $15467 + TTL in the SF Bay Area on Memorial Day weekend. The price included an armrest and trunk protector, which we could not negotiate out. We thought the price was too good to wait, since we learned that this particular combination was almost all gone locally and none destined to be shipped in to our area.

Another local dealer beat the price at $14899 for a Silver Touring AT. This would roughly be about $12600 for a Sport MT (based on discount off invoice).

(I would have preferred a MT, but my wife refuses to learn to drive a manual transmission.)
 
Yeah, I'm not finding those kind of deals around here. The best I've found so far is $14,350 with 0% financing for 60 months. Next best is $14,830 with 0% financing for 60 months. Our taxes @5% in Virginia are relatively cheap. So to buy a car in Oregon or California and ship it out east (~$1,300) doesn't make quite enough sense.
 
owl said:
(I would have preferred a MT, but my wife refuses to learn to drive a manual transmission.)
Click to expand...

I had the same issue so guess what? Now I drive a MT 2 and she drives the older Subaru lol. I wasn't giving in to her complaints haha.
 
The reason you're not seeing that is because by taking the 0% finance option you loose out on a significant dealer incentive. I got a much better deal on my wife's 5 (than my 2) because we didn't finance it. Either way, 0% financing is very nice....its kind of like free getting money!
 
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