Planning - a NEW Mazda3 but 2017? 2018?

bmninada

Contributor
:
2016 CX-5 AWD GT+iActive Soul Red
I already own a 2016 CX-5 AWD GT with all bells and whistles. For my 2nd. car - debating between 2017 or 2018 Mazda3. This month there's some terrific cash back on 2017 models ($2000 cash back).

It'll be my point-to-point vehicle. It'll transport my wife to work. Each way: 23 miles. Driving conditions: North-east - NJ. She doesn't demand ANYTHING fancy. She cares less if car's agile, etc. All I want is SAFETY for her. She does care of: good mpg. And I care about: PRICE.

What I understood - the core difference being in the engine and smart city brake support. For SCBS, I can live completely without it. Engine: that's the question? What is it that's being written that a particular engine was only available in GT versions of 2017 and now available in more trims in 2018? Can someone enlighten me what's this engine and if I'll miss anything? Any other difference?

Also - is there anywhere I can get some idea about good/fair prices today/tomorrow for a Mazda 3 in NJ? My offer's around 15,700 (taxes/reg. excluded) for the base 2017 model. Not sure if its a good deal though.
 
Looks like no one responded so forced to go with an alternate Jap car.
 
Looks like no one responded so forced to go with an alternate Jap car.


This site stinks for Mazda 3 discussions (and is pretty lame for most ALL Mazda discussions). Got to http://mazda3revolution.com for 3 talk.

The 2017 came with the 2.0 or the 2.5. The 2.5 is superior in every way and there is only a small MPG hit. 15.7K might be though but 16K should get you a sedan sport easily.
 
I already own a 2016 CX-5 AWD GT with all bells and whistles. For my 2nd. car - debating between 2017 or 2018 Mazda3. This month there's some terrific cash back on 2017 models ($2000 cash back).

It'll be my point-to-point vehicle. It'll transport my wife to work. Each way: 23 miles. Driving conditions: North-east - NJ. She doesn't demand ANYTHING fancy. She cares less if car's agile, etc. All I want is SAFETY for her. She does care of: good mpg. And I care about: PRICE.

What I understood - the core difference being in the engine and smart city brake support. For SCBS, I can live completely without it. Engine: that's the question? What is it that's being written that a particular engine was only available in GT versions of 2017 and now available in more trims in 2018? Can someone enlighten me what's this engine and if I'll miss anything? Any other difference?

Also - is there anywhere I can get some idea about good/fair prices today/tomorrow for a Mazda 3 in NJ? My offer's around 15,700 (taxes/reg. excluded) for the base 2017 model. Not sure if its a good deal though.

Have patience, grasshopper. I believe the 2018s are a bit quieter than the 2017s and has G-Vectoring control system, which reduces the amount of steering correction needed when driving on the highway.
 
This site stinks for Mazda 3 discussions (and is pretty lame for most ALL Mazda discussions). Got to http://mazda3revolution.com for 3 talk.

The 2017 came with the 2.0 or the 2.5. The 2.5 is superior in every way and there is only a small MPG hit. 15.7K might be though but 16K should get you a sedan sport easily.

My 2.5L mazda 6 gets lower fuel economy then any 2L mazda (3, CX-3) i have ever sat in.

Op, grab a 2017 and pocket the savings. Just be sure to get the 2.5L. I would also look into a mazda 6 because the lower trims still get the lovely 2.5
 
Looks like no one responded so forced to go with an alternate Jap car.

What did you end up getting?

My son got a 2017 and loves it. My understanding is that the differences are mostly cosmetic. Bumpers and the dash layout. The 18s were there but the 2017 incentives were too good to pass up.

This is the 5th Mazda from the same dealership for my family.
 
What did you end up getting?

My son got a 2017 and loves it. My understanding is that the differences are mostly cosmetic. Bumpers and the dash layout. The 18s were there but the 2017 incentives were too good to pass up.

This is the 5th Mazda from the same dealership for my family.

The 2017 still had the 2.0 in the sport and touring with the 2.5 in the touring and the GT. We got my son the 2.0 Touring. Perfect car for a 16 year old. Fun and fast enough with lots of good safety features. And priced right.
 
The 2017 still had the 2.0 in the sport and touring with the 2.5 in the touring and the GT. We got my son the 2.0 Touring. Perfect car for a 16 year old. Fun and fast enough with lots of good safety features. And priced right.

Certainly a safe car. My son was t-boned in his a week after getting his first one. It was totaled out and his second one was the same except soul red.
 
Certainly a safe car. My son was t-boned in his a week after getting his first one. It was totaled out and his second one was the same except soul red.


Wow, hope he was OK! We got ours because of the blind spot monitoring, the rear camera and alert, and the smart city brake support. The Honda equivalents were not nearly as well implemented.

I should have thought about side curtain air bags!
 
Mazda has implemented BSM better than BMW has. I like the additional warning tone in my Wife’s ‘17 CX-5.
 
The 2017 still had the 2.0 in the sport and touring with the 2.5 in the touring and the GT. We got my son the 2.0 Touring. Perfect car for a 16 year old. Fun and fast enough with lots of good safety features. And priced right.

I almost bought my son a new Mazda 3 when he started to drive at age16. However, I then remembered the dings, crunches, and scrapes I saw/experienced within the school parking lot when I was going to college in my RX4 Coupe. And then there was the matter of insurance costs for a 16 year old boy in a new car......that was the nail in the coffin for that idea. So I bought him a $5000 Honda Civic CX hatch that we lowered, added a pillar pod tach, larger wheels, Magnaflow exhaust, and an AEM Cold air intake. He enjoyed that car for 9 years and then sold it for $2000. At the time, his insurance was a very reasonable $149 every 6 months.
 
I almost bought my son a new Mazda 3 when he started to drive at age16. However, I then remembered the dings, crunches, and scrapes I saw/experienced within the school parking lot when I was going to college in my RX4 Coupe. And then there was the matter of insurance costs for a 16 year old boy in a new car......that was the nail in the coffin for that idea. So I bought him a $5000 Honda Civic CX hatch that we lowered, added a pillar pod tach, larger wheels, Magnaflow exhaust, and an AEM Cold air intake. He enjoyed that car for 9 years and then sold it for $2000. At the time, his insurance was a very reasonable $149 every 6 months.

I hear ya. My son got his car in July. In September he backed into someones BMW. $600 to repair their car and $250 to repair the Mazda. Just last month, he opened the door into a cement structure at a gas station. Another $250 to fix that.

For us, just having my son turn 16 and being added to our insurance took our insurance from $1100 per year to $3600. The 3 is about $400 per year to insure. The Mazda 3 was much cheaper to insure than the Civic or Corolla, which is another reason why we got it.
 
Ah - doesn't surprise me. I think 16 year old males are the priciest to insure. Somehow, though we had two teenagers in the same household that included a Corvette, first a 1968 convertible, then a 2001 coupe. Thankfully, the insurance cost never went up past $3000/yr. If we had lived in Los Angeles, that would've been doubled.
Sometime in the early 2000s, I was on a "fun" run with a bunch of Corvette owners, having our usual high speed blasts in the less populated areas, like Palm Desert. One of the owners of a C5 Corvette let his 17 year-old son drive while his dad was in the passenger seat.
As they were rounding a high speed corner, the son drifted into the center of the road and sideswiped an oncoming vehicle. The Corvette careened down an embankment and broadsided a tree. Luckily, no one was badly hurt but I think the dad learned a hard lesson. I was 21 when I bought the 68 Corvette but I had a full 5 years of driving experience! :)
 
Last edited:
Ah - doesn't surprise me. I think 16 year old males are the priciest to insure. Somehow, though we had two teenagers in the same household that included a Corvette, first a 1968 convertible, then a 2001 coupe. Thankfully, the insurance cost never went up past $3000/yr. If we had lived in Los Angeles, that would've been doubled.
Sometime in the early 2000s, I was on a "fun" run with a bunch of Corvette owners, having our usual high speed blasts in the less populated areas, like Palm Desert. One of the owners of a C5 Corvette let his 17 year-old son drive while his dad was in the passenger seat.
As they were rounding a high speed corner, the son drifted into the center of the road and sideswiped an oncoming vehicle. The Corvette careened down an embankment and broadsided a tree. Luckily, no one was badly hurt but I think the dad learned a hard lesson. I was 21 when I bought the 68 Corvette but I had a full 5 years of driving experience! :)

We actually moved and as part of the move, my son kept asking for a mustang convertible. I thought about it but the insurance guy laughed and said not to think about it. I even mentioned I would just get the V6 and he kept laughing. I said, how bad could it be, 10K? And through his laughter he said "to start".
 
As a general rule of thumb, Japanese vehicles are more reliable than American and German vehicles. You made a better choice in that regard (not to mention the temptation to speed factor).
 
most if not all 2018s are built in Mexico... that explains the lack of the i-ELOOP option (didn't sell well to begin with), which does help in gas mileage at the expense of more expensive long term maintenance costs
the 2017 GTs are all built in Japan... with or without the i-ELOOP option... some tourings are built in Japan too

the overall defect rate on the Japan builds are way lower, and the build quality is better (hard to notice)... there are far less recalls too

I'd go with the 2017
 
most if not all 2018s are built in Mexico... that explains the lack of the i-ELOOP option (didn't sell well to begin with), which does help in gas mileage at the expense of more expensive long term maintenance costs
the 2017 GTs are all built in Japan... with or without the i-ELOOP option... some tourings are built in Japan too

the overall defect rate on the Japan builds are way lower, and the build quality is better (hard to notice)... there are far less recalls too

I'd go with the 2017

Well, for the 3, the 2.5L were all made in Japan and the 2.0L were from Mexico and Japan. My son's car is actually built in Japan. The Japanese cars are known to have less issues.
 
Back