To '06 or to '07, that is the question

Hello All!
 
I'm shopping around for a new car and the mazda3 has definately caught my eye.  I'd be purchasing a base manual model if I go with mazda.
 
At the moment I'm debating whether to consider the '07 model or a cert pre-owned '06.  Mechanically they seem very similar from the research I've done so far.  Comments/opinions definately appreciated on the differences of these model years.
 
Also, for existing owners, can anyone comment on overall experiences and common issues with the mazda 3.  I've heard talk of motor mounts.  I've also heard talk of a relatively poor AC system.  I live in the CA bay area and the weather here is usually pretty mild but with black paint or black interior, the AC has to work or it's pointless spending the money.  Since the AC runs about $800, I'd appreciate opinions. 
 
Thanks!
 
 

Well, it's a good choice going for Mazda! The Mazda 3 is one of the more popular sport wagons on the market today (compared with the Ford Focus, VW GTI, and others). I would completely vouch for the new '07 Mazda 3 because you'll have the low miles and a full warranty. And might I suggest that you get the car in stick because even though it has no real power difference between Auto and Manual, it's a blast to drive with stick. There is also no major difference but the '07 will have a more refined overall package.

Yes, I believe a common issue is the engine mounts and that one or two of them rust. When you go in for your usual check up at the dealer, ask them to check that. As for the AC system, I've have not seen no real centralized problem with it.

And a little insiders tip for good gas mileage, NEVER open a window. Apperantly it kills your gas mileage by like 6 mpg.

quote:

ORIGINAL: TMR Net Shark
And a little insiders tip for good gas mileage, NEVER open a window. Apperantly it kills your gas mileage by like 6 mpg.

And this is how myths are born...ugh....

The drag your car makes with windows open causes the engine to bog down.  The AC unit draws power from...guess what....THE ENGINE! whichin turn lowers your MPG.  They act on the car at the same rate and with modern cars today either is costly...and it is NOWHERE NEAR 6 mpg.  The only time a window will bog the engine down as much is if you are at like 80-90MPH.  Then you get a crap load of drag.

I shake my head at you.

quote:

Edmunds.com testers drove almost 100 kilometres in two cars at just over 100 km/h – one had the A/C on and the windows up, and one had the A/C off and the windows down. "The effect [of having the A/C on] appears to be fairly minimal in modern cars," it said.

If you get a smokin deal on an 06 I'd just do that

jcasetnl:
 
The thread below was a good topic, and may help you get a feeling regarding owner issues.

 http://www.mazdaforum.com/m_36804/tm.htm
 

 
My 3i w/ATX is a pleasure to drive.  Just got the woindows tinted - seemed to take care of any weak A/C issues.  In my opinion, the main difference between the 3 and $30K - $40K cars in the same class is the road noise (lack of insulation.)
I will be taking care of that issue by dynamatting the floor board, door panels, and trunk.  This is about a $1000 dealer mod., but should bring it up to the same feel I might get from a car 3X more expensive.


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I would go with the 2007.  A number of minor changes were made in time for 2007.  The changes to the body shell and suspension are significant IMO ... I drove a 2006, then a 2007, on the same day, thought the 2007 handling was noticeably better.
 
Also, I like the look of the interior seat cloth for 2007, versus 2006.  I have the black seat cloth (I think the other colors are unattractive, frankly), have not found it to be hot ... my exterior color is the light silver (aka sunlight silver), it reflects the heat of the sun nicely.  My experience is that it is the exterior color that can make a big difference as to whether or not a car is hot.
 
The linked article talks about the changes for 2007. 
 
http://cars.about.com/od/mazda/fr/ag_07mazda3.htm
 
Problems?  I would inspect the paint THOROUGHLY before taking delivery of a new one.  I got my new one home, found there were several chips, and had to fight with the dealer for a month before getting a proper, professional addressing of the issue. 
 
Many find the Mazda dealers to be twits, but I know people who have new Hyundais, and new Hondas, and they also think their dealers are twits ... so perhaps that's just the way it is.
 
If you have any intention of selling or trading in this car within a few years, get the AC.  It'll knock the value of your car down a lot if you don't have AC, since its pretty much expected equipment these days.  Also, where you live may not be hot, but what about vacation driving?  To sweat for hours on a long road trip - that's not living.

Interesting you mention that.  I test drove an 06 today, but it was still brand new.  It was a base sedan in white.  My main gripe is it had no AC, and that totally kills resale.  I offered the dealer 11.5k + destination.  The way I figure it, eventually mazda will offer up the incentives.  Car sales have been dismal across the board.  So the 07 base will come down to around 13.3 if mazda offers a 1k incentive.  So the gap between the two is only 1.8k in the end comparing apples to apples.  Another problem is the tan interior, which looks like crap to me.  I was really hoping for a red/black or silver/black.  Either of those would require AC, though. 
 
It had been sitting so long he had to break out the battery charger and it had 15 miles on the odometer.  I'm probably the first guy in a year to even look at it (which of course, I pointed out). 
 
He balked when I offered him 11.5k (of course).  I explained given all the limitations (color, no AC, interior), it was like the fat girl who wants to dance with me.  If she tries hard enough to talk me into it, I might give her a twirl.  But if she thinks for a second that it's my job to convince her, she's got another thing coming.

quote:

ORIGINAL: UrbanmanUSA

I would go with the 2007.  A number of minor changes were made in time for 2007.  The changes to the body shell and suspension are significant IMO ... I drove a 2006, then a 2007, on the same day, thought the 2007 handling was noticeably better.

Also, I like the look of the interior seat cloth for 2007, versus 2006.  I have the black seat cloth (I think the other colors are unattractive, frankly), have not found it to be hot ... my exterior color is the light silver (aka sunlight silver), it reflects the heat of the sun nicely.  My experience is that it is the exterior color that can make a big difference as to whether or not a car is hot.

The linked article talks about the changes for 2007. 

http://cars.about.com/od/mazda/fr/ag_07mazda3.htm

Problems?  I would inspect the paint THOROUGHLY before taking delivery of a new one.  I got my new one home, found there were several chips, and had to fight with the dealer for a month before getting a proper, professional addressing of the issue. 

Many find the Mazda dealers to be twits, but I know people who have new Hyundais, and new Hondas, and they also think their dealers are twits ... so perhaps that's just the way it is.

If you have any intention of selling or trading in this car within a few years, get the AC.  It'll knock the value of your car down a lot if you don't have AC, since its pretty much expected equipment these days.  Also, where you live may not be hot, but what about vacation driving?  To sweat for hours on a long road trip - that's not living.

Thanks - that's excellent advice. 

Yeah, AC is pretty high on the list.  In fact, that's why I'm also looking at the 07 sentra.  Not as much fun to drive but IMO a nicer "more mature" interior overall than the mazda3.  Power door locks/windows, curtain airbags and AC are all standard on the base sentra.  When you add that stuff up, the sentra and mazda3 run a tight race.  AC alone adds nearly a kilobuck to the mazda3.   

I agree that black in the only interior color for the mazda3.  It looks great, and the differences between the 06 cloth and 07 are minor but quite noticeable. 

My biggest gripe with both the mazda3 and sentra is the mtx are pretty stiff and chunky.  Honestly, my old neon beats both in this department hands down.  The mazda3  beats the sentra, though, but not by much...

Thanks for the link - very informative. 
 
It's funny, the more I read about the mazda3, the more neon-like it sounds.  Don't anybody get offended by that statement, the neon was a very fun to drive car for the money.  A set of H-rated tires made it a total blast.  It was about as zippy as the mazda 3, too, since it had a lower curb weight.  But I digress.
 
I like many aspects of both the mazda3 and the sentra.  I think this battle will come down to which automaker or dealership offers the incentives to bring the price down to what I'm looking to spend.
 

quote:

ORIGINAL: PAC

jcasetnl:
 
The thread below was a good topic, and may help you get a feeling regarding owner issues.
[link=http://www.mazdaforum.com/m_36804/tm.htm]

 http://www.mazdaforum.com/m_36804/tm.htm[/link]
 

My 3i w/ATX is a pleasure to drive.  Just got the woindows tinted - seemed to take care of any weak A/C issues.  In my opinion, the main difference between the 3 and $30K - $40K cars in the same class is the road noise (lack of insulation.)
I will be taking care of that issue by dynamatting the floor board, door panels, and trunk.  This is about a $1000 dealer mod., but should bring it up to the same feel I might get from a car 3X more expensive.


Thumbnail Image

quote:

ORIGINAL: Draconius

quote:

ORIGINAL: TMR Net Shark
And a little insiders tip for good gas mileage, NEVER open a window. Apperantly it kills your gas mileage by like 6 mpg.

And this is how myths are born...ugh....

The drag your car makes with windows open causes the engine to bog down.  The AC unit draws power from...guess what....THE ENGINE! whichin turn lowers your MPG.  They act on the car at the same rate and with modern cars today either is costly...and it is NOWHERE NEAR 6 mpg.  The only time a window will bog the engine down as much is if you are at like 80-90MPH.  Then you get a crap load of drag.

I shake my head at you.

quote:

Edmunds.com testers drove almost 100 kilometres in two cars at just over 100 km/h – one had the A/C on and the windows up, and one had the A/C off and the windows down. "The effect [of having the A/C on] appears to be fairly minimal in modern cars," it said.

Go ahead and shake your hear, I'll be saving my 6 mpg :-P

quote:

ORIGINAL: TMR Net Shark
Go ahead and shake your hear, I'll be saving my 6 mpg :-P

 
My 2cents is Draconius is correct, no way does the MPG fall by 6 when turning the AC on.  In the city, it might hurt you by 1-2 MPG.  On the highway, having AC on, versus windows down and having much increased drag, it'd be pretty close to a wash.  Also, if you have a woman in your life (or aspirations to have one), I think you'll find the fairer sex is not excited about what a 65 MPH breeze does to hair and makeup. 
 
 

quote:

ORIGINAL: jcasetnl
It's funny, the more I read about the mazda3, the more neon-like it sounds.  Don't anybody get offended by that statement, the neon was a very fun to drive car for the money. 

 
The Mazda3 will not give you an Oldsmobile or Lexus type of ride, I agree, but its light years better than the Neon ever was.  The Neon was an unreliable piece of %&$#, much different than what the automotive reviewers of the world have found re the Mazda3.  I'm not offended, just calling it as I see it.

What I was reffering to is the general approach of a "fun to drive" low-buck car. 
 
Though, the hatchback version of the 3 does start to get into mid-card territory.
 
Yeah, the neon had relability issues, though a very big part of it was the infamous headgasket on the 1st generation vehicles.  Such a stupid move on chrysler's part to let a vehicle out the door like that. 
 
Later vehicles had minor maintenance issues, but the drivetrain was pretty solid in the 2nd gen.  Still, they never quite got passed the reputation they earned for themselves with the headgasket.  I think that's ultimately why they killed the line. 

quote:

ORIGINAL: jcasetnl


It's funny, the more I read about the mazda3, the more neon-like it sounds.  Don't anybody get offended by that statement, the neon was a very fun to drive car for the money.  A set of H-rated tires made it a total blast.  It was about as zippy as the mazda 3, too, since it had a lower curb weight.  But I digress.

This is probably why the woman wants one of these, she currently drives a neon. 

quote:

ORIGINAL: jcasetnl

Though, the hatchback version of the 3 does start to get into mid-card territory.

 
I agree with your point, to pay north of $18K (pre tax), for a 3, is not territory into which I would go.  Its a sleek, cool compact that hauls butt with great handling, some nifty features, I acknowledge, but still its a compact.  Of course, I am more utilitarian about cars than many.

quote:

ORIGINAL: UrbanmanUSA
My 2cents is Draconius is correct, no way does the MPG fall by 6 when turning the AC on.  In the city, it might hurt you by 1-2 MPG.  On the highway, having AC on, versus windows down and having much increased drag, it'd be pretty close to a wash.  Also, if you have a woman in your life (or aspirations to have one), I think you'll find the fairer sex is not excited about what a 65 MPH breeze does to hair and makeup. 

I usually lose 3-4 mpg (+/-27 > +/-24) running A/C full time and in mixed driving.

I have to agree about the typical vanity of the fairer sex though.  That's funny, but so true. 
I made mention of possibly restoring an old MGA to my wife (reliving old memeories) and that was her first complaint... 
"That's a convertible, isn't it?" 
I said, "Damn straight it is, Woman!!"    
They just don't get it.