SPEED3 Owners thread - Page 3

I wouldn't use that strong of a language, as to call someone an idiot. It all depends on market, and how bad you want it. Maybe the people in your part of the country don't now (or care) about this car. If the dealers in Cali have a strong demand, and are getting 2k over sticker, what would you do? You can easily spend that much money traveling to another state to buy a car. My friend just got back from Tampa and said he saw 3 in 1 day. So, apparently they are selling well there too.

i LOVE the new speed3 (more than the speed6)
and i wudnt b surprised if they mark it up
cuz only 5000 are coming to the US this year... so demand is high

if the speed3 was out when i got my car in July.. i wudda got it. UGHH

If I understand correctly, the 5000 is for all of North America, not just the US. I got mine a bit below sticker. But hell I would have paid more, because in my mind, the car is actually worth more than what they are asking anyway.

I had a check engine light twice myself. I cleared it myself the first time (at about 400 miles), hoping it was a loose gas cap...to no avail as it was back on at 800 miles. The dealer found a code P0441 (purge solenoid valve) malfunction. The tech, a friend of mine from when I worked for Mazda, said he has seen quite a few 3s with that repair in the past, this was his first Speed3 incident however. I traded a SP23 (that replaced an '04 STI) on my Speed3 (never had ANY issues at all to return to the dealer with that car, I just let the erratic operation of the Autodown driver's window become a part of the car's personality,even though there was a countermeasure part to fix it...). I also bought an early production 3 (so early it didn't even have the 2.3 decal on the front fender) that my ex-wife still has, also an almost perfect automobile reliability-wise. I work as the service manager at an Infiniti dealer, so I drive demos most of the time, but get a chance to drive almost everything out there...I missed the velocity of my old STi, but loved the practicality and especially the interior style and quality of the 3 over the Subarus (although I miss the bitchin' staccato exhuast of the flat four...) so the Mazdaspeed3 is EXACTLY what the doctor ordered...

dunno Im taking it back to mazda to see whats up the cel light went off but i just dont feel the power any more I would feel it in 3rd now it just feels like resistence before I even hit 3000 rpm

So far, I have no problems to report. But I have only put about 400 miles on the car, so time will tell. Because I only drive it a couple days a week, everytime I get in it, it is like the first day I bought it. Pure fun!

I spoke too quick. I decided to drive my S3 to work this morning, and about halfway there, the CEI come on. What is going on? I filled up on Saturday, and have only driven about 30 miles since then. I am going to call now, and make the appointment to have it checked.

I finally picked mine up Saturday afternoon. Just realized they didn't give me wheel locks. Grr. Anyway, here's my old and new. (GTI 337 is sold)

did you get a gt or sport? Yeah MY cel came off then back on today have an appt with mazda

I dropped mine off today at lunch. They should have it ready tomorrow. They gave me a Hyundai Sonota to drive. It actually is a pretty nice car, with good acceleration, and ride quality.

make sure you post when you get the car back, i gotta call tommrow I guess this must be a problem for the spd3 because thats like 4 people so far including myself with this issue.

Yes, I will. According to the service advisor, it is an ongoing problem with the 6 as well. They gave me a loner car, but still it is a pain in the ass to deal with.

I did have something interesting happen yesterday. I had posted before about how I have not seen another S3 here. I had just dropped off my car at the dealers, and stopped by the grocery store. I ran into the son of an old friend of mine. We got to talking, and I asked him what kind of car he was driving. Turns out, he bought the first S3 that was sold here. How ironic!

Also, while I was at the dealer, they told me they just got in another black one, and were pretty sure it was already sold. So, that makes 4 that they have received so far, and all have sold in only a few days.

New member of the forum, here. Just got my MS3 on Saturday. True Red GT. I'm real stoked. It is a great car to drive. Sporty enough, but not too much of a compromise anywhere else...Hopefully no CEL issues as I see this thread has turned into...

For the record, I paid MSRP in Houston, TX.

I'm already considering the CAI and CBE. I kinda like the exhaust how it is though, seems free-flowing enough and has a nice snarl at idle. I wonder how much of the quoted increase in power (35hp) would come from just the CAI...?

Joey

Just checking in. They still have my car at the dealers. I called this afternoon to find out what is going on and they told me "they have a call into Mazda tech support". Whatever that means. They have had my car a day and a half, so apparently it isn't something simple. WTF? The car has only got 450 miles on it!!

Hey congrats on your car. Yeah the CEI thing has turned into a pain. Don't let it worry you. It's one of those things that might not mean a damn thing. Just a nuisance. I still love my car.

Hello, I a proud new Speed3 owner i got mine back on Nov. 4 and could go on and on about why i love this car. I love mazda and this is like that extra icing on the cake. BUT... Maybe i'll gloat and post pics later. Now i want to clear somethings up i see many of you are haveing CEL's and exhaust stuff. Brake probs. I have some answers i have been going through it all and untill now thought it was just me. Number one what i can tell you for sure is that when my CEL cam on i got it to the dealer the next day. They had me on the phone 3 hours later saying it was a faulty purge valve in the fuel tanks Evaporator System. Though i don't know exactly how it all works i get the jist. Mazda said no way. At 800 miles!?! so a call to the Mazda Tech confirmed it was not a miss judged CEL indeed the purge valve was bad. Overnighted... installed... boom done. Quick and easy but a big "whoa what the heck" right?

So CEL is gone and purge valve is replaced. You guys mentioned the carbon and such on the exhaust. I agree. Thought it was a normal thing with an outlet of that size or posibly just because of the engines output. I'm comming from an 03 Protege5 so this is big. I have to wiupe it daily to keep from building up and ruining the chrome. I also have heard the brakes squeak a bit just before the car halts and it's been very faint. Thought okay new ness wearing off...... wrong. This very night I'm comming home from work and i hear squealing. whoa so i stop. And it's as if the brakes squeaked and it were catching every so often. It's directly correlated to the speed. Though the brake pressure has nothing to do with it. I check parking brake many times to see that is was released and it is as released as it can get. I do note that in the down position it's got about a half an inch of play or a bit more just jiggle room before engaging.......weird. So this squeal is my current gripe and i'm, going in tomorrow to give it away yet again at 1350miles to have a problem diagnosed. The only good thing is the dealership is incredible to deal with and it's absolutly painless.

Has anyone noticed the tranny is kinda rough. It's like it is just a mess o[image][/image]f stuff in there and it mostly does'nt shift smooth. I keep missing third under fun acceleration. And i know how to drive, never owned and automatic, Tested in MD for my license oh so long ago in a 5 speed, drive, straight 7 speeds and double over 10's for a living. I'ma Proffesional driver, i think i can hadle a six speed from mazda, so it weirds me out.


I also wanna note that i have felt a bit of a drop in power under normal acceleration, almost as if it were climing a ladder, missed a rung, and kept on trucking. I believe someone had mentioned something to that effect already. Hopefully you CEL sufferers can use my experience to help along the dealers and possibly bring about widespread attention to it. If any one wants to coment on these things please please do. This area is riddled with people who would'nt own a car unless it were 11 years old and had a neon grean honda emblem, soo it's exciting to find this forum, just sad my first post is to second the calls for help and send out my own.


Thanks,
Mike
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Ditto on the rough tranny I thought it was me, but I see that its not, when your shifting from 1st to 3rd you can actually feel like stuff is moving around in there huh?

Well what i meant by that, (and i am sorry for the lack of correct punctuation and spelling but i type faster than my mind lets be efficient) is that it's rough like the shift gate is'nt clear as if it's hung up. At first i thought maybe i was'nt used to it and was'nt hitting it dead on, but as time goes one i don't believe so.

Like I said, I'll be at the service department @ 7 am so i'll probably have something to report back tomorrow evening. I'll keep you updated. Any one have any other not mentioned issues??? or know where you can find a good collection of things like this other than just randomly encountering it on a forum, like adatabase??

its true it does feel like your catching on things thats what I meant and I have been driving stick a long time as well.

but from 3rd thru 6 its smooth

I have actually had to wait to take mine tommrow is my first time where my scheduele dosent demand me having my car so I can finally get to mazda for my CEL issue.

Agree about the tranny. 1-2-3 seems tight and clunky. Also, the clutch is agressive and "bites" quickly. I assume this has something to do with handling the torque. Last week, I was trying to pull out of a parking lot on a very steep hill. I had to stop just at the top, and of course someone pulled up behind me, and I mean right on my azz. As I was exiting, I also had to make a sharp right hand turn. Well the clutch bit, and I barked the tires, and kind of "danced" out of there. I am sure the people that saw it thought I was showing off, but I felt sort of stupid. LOL!!

I feel your pain. I have had a similar instance and i am very very self consious about my driving. Driving in a passion and nothing to be taken lightly in my opinion. THe clutch does engage sharply but I think its normal it's more track clutch than a smushy commuter clutch. I like it but i have'nt fully gotten used to it. Also in first like you barked them, if the DSC is'nt off it'll kick in and bring all your seemingly showy but in reality grief to a quick end. I tried to see if i could lightem up rolling second with a clutch dump which is'nt good but worth a try once or twice in a cars life. WHAM. I realized just how closely that cars computer is watching out for me!! (^,^) Any who it's in the shop now guys/gals and I hope to have more info this eve, though they need it to stop raining. I put in in for a whole host of issues ( see previous posts). Untill; then keep on smoking SI's and i hope your cars fair better than mine. Millage correction for the record......1420.....tooo early....owww. Peace.


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I just got a call from the dealer. Yeah, it's the "purge valve". The part is on back order from Mazda, and won't be available until January. So (as we already know), this is a problem across the board. The good news, is that it won't hurt anything to drive the car, so I am going today at lunch and pick it up.

Well I guess that must be the problem, because my car drives fine