Concerned Buyer

[skylar2ups]

I bought my Mazda from Kings Mazda too I was very pleased with them! My local dearlership down here is nothing like Kings Mazda, but I love everything about the Kings Automall!

 

[shadow1077]

Both cars are great its up to you what you choose. But as other said check your insurance too! its very important to check the rate of it between 2 cars.

 

[pat_smith1969]

My biggest concern is that im buying the car at home in maryland then will have to drive it all the way back down to mississippi to come back to school and would hate to have a problem in the middle of nowhere alabama or tennessee.

I just got a 2008.5 MS3 GT in Maryland (gaithersburg mazda). Got a GREAT deal on it. These cars (and probably the GTI as well) come with road side assistance. If you break down in Mississippi or some such just dial the number from your Cell phone and they will come help you out.

I broke down on a cross country trip once (had a brand new S10 at the time). Chevy towed me to the nearest dealer, fixed me up and got me on my way in about 3 hours. Of course that was business hours.

I wouldn't worry about the car breaking down, you have roughly the same chances of any new car breaking down.

 

[pat_smith1969]

One thing to think about...
I have a friend with a 1.8t Jetta. He said he has to change the timing belt at 60k miles and since it is a "zero clearance" engine it is extreemly important he does so on time. I THINK the MS3 is your typical 100k miles. That doesn't sound too different but it is a 40% difference in mileage.

 

[///M Compact]

One thing to think about...
I have a friend with a 1.8t Jetta. He said he has to change the timing belt at 60k miles and since it is a "zero clearance" engine it is extreemly important he does so on time. I THINK the MS3 is your typical 100k miles. That doesn't sound too different but it is a 40% difference in mileage.

The MS3 engine uses a timing chain.

 

[Young Roids]

chains usally go longer than belts I have heard you can go 120k on chains. ms3 is also zero clearance as are almost all modern engines. It is a rarity to have a non zero clearance engine.

 

[chrisp]

Yeah but it's still just a Civic.

true, just saying I have had numerous toyotas and hondas and now a subaru and I dont seem to have any problems with these cars. There are a ton of mazdas having issues without even having a year under their belt. True a civic is just a civic(burnout)

 

[Young Roids]

civics are dope. I like the Si sedan

 

[Circle9]

Yea, whats with all the comments about "It's just a Civic"? I had an '07 Si, and it was a great little car. My 3 main reasons for getting a MS3 were: the dealer thought they were selling a Sport, not a GT, insurance is $100 less a month on the MS3, and the cops don't pay me any attention now.

 

[mesarec]

Ive had my speed 3 for almost 2 years now. no problems at all. noisy shocks in the winter when u first start it up then the noise goes away..normal. Interior rattles may come on any car..cant be too picky about slight noises. mechanically my car ahs given me 0 issues. funny..ive riden in an STI JUST like chrisp's(wink)...no differance rattle noise wise...just dif stiffness suspension.

 

[chrisp]

Ive had my speed 3 for almost 2 years now. no problems at all. noisy shocks in the winter when u first start it up then the noise goes away..normal. Interior rattles may come on any car..cant be too picky about slight noises. mechanically my car ahs given me 0 issues. funny..ive riden in an STI JUST like chrisp's(wink)...no differance rattle noise wise...just dif stiffness suspension.

Ive ridden in a mazda 3 just like mesarecs.........(hi)

 

[skylar2ups]

I'm pretty sure his Civic wasn't an Si and the base Civic is not a fun car to drive, are they safe? Yes. But it's not fun to drive like the Mazda3 (base) thats all I was saying... calm down.

 

[chrisp]

I'm pretty sure his Civic wasn't an Si and the base Civic is not a fun car to drive, are they safe? Yes. But it's not fun to drive like the Mazda3 (base) thats all I was saying... calm down.

my wifes car is an 02 civic lx. nothing special at all. My last car was an 07 civic si sedan, and I traded it in for my current scooby. Frankly I would take a reg civic over a reg 3 7 days a week. not too sure whats sooo fun about 150-160 hp

 

[skylar2ups]

my wifes car is an 02 civic lx. nothing special at all. My last car was an 07 civic si sedan, and I traded it in for my current scooby. Frankly I would take a reg civic over a reg 3 7 days a week. not too sure whats sooo fun about 150-160 hp

It's the way it drives... I'm not going to fight with you on another thread I was just telling everyone what I ment when I said it's just a Civic.
I have a 3 iTouring and my sister has a Civic LX both from the same year... and both of us as well as many friends and family like my 3 better.

 

[mesarec]

I had an 07 3s touring...its slow....hence i traded in for my 07 speed3. i also have an 08 civic. feels a tick slower than my old 3. and by that i mean it probably runs an 18 and the 3 runs a 17.8 haha. ("these numbers are not accurate only for example purposes...so dont jump on me) i personally as far as body quality think the civic is more sound than the reg 3. the speed3 is a whole dif story(thumb).and dude an lx civic may "just be a civic" which is very true. i have it for point a to b driving and fuel economy, but you know wut? a regular 3.....is just a 3. 140 hp stock or 145 without the pzev. put ur exahaust on, do ur fanciness to the outside....still just a 3.

 

[skylar2ups]

I had an 07 3s touring...its slow....hence i traded in for my 07 speed3. i also have an 08 civic. feels a tick slower than my old 3. and by that i mean it probably runs an 18 and the 3 runs a 17.8 haha. ("these numbers are not accurate only for example purposes...so dont jump on me) i personally as far as body quality think the civic is more sound than the reg 3. the speed3 is a whole dif story(thumb).and dude an lx civic may "just be a civic" which is very true. i have it for point a to b driving and fuel economy, but you know wut? a regular 3.....is just a 3. 140 hp stock or 145 without the pzev. put ur exahaust on, do ur fanciness to the outside....still just a 3.

True true to each his/her own I personaly don't care about the speed of a car, I dive to much to only look at that.

 

[MS3Zoom24]

little of topic but i saw a soccer mom in a mugen civic si this morning and it was really weird.

 

[60181]

I am going to be buying a new car in a couple of weeks so I have been looking around forums trying to find out everything i can. So far I have narrowed my decision down to a mazdaspeed3 or a vw gti. Now when i look at the gti forums they are filled with positive things about how they all love there car, then i look on this site and there are posts about the engines falling out. Basically im wondering if I buy a brand new MS3 is this something i will have to be concerned about cause if so im definitetly going to go with the gti.

Don't read too much into the negative. The ups and downs flow on any message board. BAsically you'll hear more negs on message boards than good and that's typical.

I looked at the VW GTI too. Have a friend who's had several including an R32 now and they do respond well to mods. Downside is the mods are needed to make the car what the MS3 is and with that, you'll dump your warranty. Which believe me, VW's do have tons of issues. Not to mention, the car was fairly pricey when equipped the way I wanted it. The one I spec'd out was close to $30k as I wanted it done up right.

In the end, the MS3 has been tons of fun. It's not the luxery sport sedan I'm used to, but it has plenty of power, handles great, is fairly light on the pocket book cost wise and I kinda like the sleeper effect it has. Besides, everyone has a Civic or GTI. I don't see many MS3's near me at all....but then I do live in Honda Country. Makes for some fun times on the roads though.

 

[chrisp]

Don't read too much into the negative. The ups and downs flow on any message board. BAsically you'll hear more negs on message boards than good and that's typical.


not on a honda or subaru forum(loser). seems to be a mazda thing

 

[mesarec]

like i said ive had my speed3 for 2 years, no issues at all. honda and mazda both are japanese by the way. its like any car, sum people might get a lemon, u never know. i personally love my speed3 and would never go gti cause its just too dam slow. if i were to go anything other than speed3 and wanted sumthing camparable speed it would be an sti. not gti. and whos havin issues with their speed3? i would really like to know so i can be aware of possible things?