Traded my '97 Civic HF for 2015 Mazda 3i Touring 5dr 6sp Auto + Tech (Newbie)

Well I said goodbye my little economizer '97 Civic HF and entered the modern era. I test drove a number of 2014 M3's and 2015 cars before finding the perfect Fit (oops former Honda owners say things like that)! Purchased under the Costco program it seemed the savings were surprisingly good on 2015 Models considering the dealer inventory which was limited. The dealer had 2014s mostly and 2015's in both VIN 3 (Mexico) and VIN J (Hofu, Japan). The dinosaur in my DNA said go with the J VIN so that meant Red Soul metallic which looks fine to me. The Tech package changed from 2014 to 2015 model years which through me a loop (actually a moonroof) and now I will need to add navigation with the SD chip. Wow what an impressive little car. I have all of 56 miles on the car ... so will just say hello for now!

Excited as one can get and hope to garner a lot of useful information from this Forum.(breakn)
Cheers,
Dan

Congrats. My son still has his 97 Honda Civic CX hatch with Eibach springs/struts, 16-inch wheels and tires, magnaflow cat-back, dual pillar pod with tach and clock, and an AEM CAI.
At 160,000 miles, the manual trans is making a weird noise, but other than that, everything is great.

I think his car averages 35 MPG - impressive for a 17 year-old car!

Congrats! Enjoy the car So even with the tech package you have to get the navi separately?

concept said:

Congrats. My son still has his 97 Honda Civic CX hatch ...
I think his car averages 35 MPG - impressive for a 17 year-old car!

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My best was 39mpg with the Civic HF on the highway (the EPA sticker back then says 44) and I averaged around 34-36 overall. Sweet running Honda after 17 years ...but in no way compares to the (modern) M3 as far as the amenities. Same goes for the 2014 Civic HF ... very limited as far as upgrades... you can go to the EX but then you lose the mpg's that the HF offers.

lowincash said:

Congrats! Enjoy the car So even with the tech package you have to get the navi separately?

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Yup, go figure ... makes a bit of a mess when comparison shopping for Mazda 2014 vs. 2015. Was not easy to get 'apples to apples'.

There is a post in the audio section for discount on SD card (repeated here)
http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/show...rd-with-7-quot-Full-Color-Touchscreen-Display

Comparison 2014 to 2015 Mazda i Touring 'Tech Package':

2014 i Touring Technology Package
- Dual-zone automatic climate control system
- Overhead console with sunglasses holder
- Illuminated vanity mirrors (driver & passenger)
- Roof-mounted "shark fin" antenna
- MAZDA CONNECT Infotainment system with:
-7-inch full color touch screen display
-Multi-function Commander control
-Infotainment system voice command
-Rearview camera
-Mazda navigation system
-Bose 9 speaker surround sound system with Centerpoint 2 and AudioPilot 2
-AM/FM/CD/MP3/HD Radio
-Pandora , Stitcher and Aha internet radio integration
-SiriusXM Satellite Radio with 4-month trial subscription
-SMS text message auto deliver and voice reply
-E911 automatic emergency notification

2015 i Touring Technology Package
- Power sliding-glass moonroof with one-touch-open feature and interior sunshade
- Dual-zone automatic climate control system
- Overhead console with sunglasses holder
- Illuminated vanity mirrors (driver & passenger)
- Roof-mounted "shark fin" antenna
- CD player
-Bose 9 speaker surround sound system with Centerpoint 2 and AudioPilot 2
- SiriusXM Satellite Radio with 4-month trial subscription

The big difference (it seems) is that the Mazda Connect Infotainment is included in the base Touring model for 2015. The moonroof package was added to the 2015 Tech package; however, the 2015 is only 'Navigation Ready' after purchase and hence the SD card is now an accessory that needs to be purchased separately to enable Navigation. Counterpoint is that for a 2014 with Tech package ... no moonroof. If a moonroof is desired that would need to be purchased additionally as the 'Moonroof package'.