hey guys,

Just became a member and i need some help making new car choices..

Im 19 years old and in 2nd semester of my first year of college but please don't hold my age against i am a very good driver and already had my first car experience. about 2 weeks ago my old car ( 1989 300E) needed break work done and other small repairs well needles to say it was more than we wanted to pay so my parents decided to get a new car instead of putting more money into the old one. The decided since i will be on my own soon they wanted me to have a cheap ( under 20 grand) , reliable , good MPG car that was not to expensive for repairs. We looked at all the car companies that have to offer such a car.. mazda, honda, nissian etc..i looked at all of them and it came down to two choices the mazda3 4-door or the honda civic coupe.

I am leaning towards the mazda3 because it handles like a dream and the 4 door will be better in the long run. i think i will be getting the itouring if i choose mazda because it is in the price range and i would like to have power windows ,locks and such. I am stuck on to get the 5 manual or 4-auto, i do love to drive which is mostly what i do on the weekends just go on the road and enjoy the feeling of driving which is why i would love the manual but i do live in a pretty big city which is bumper to bumper traffic and lots of stop lights were its stop and go . I would like to know how you manual owners like it.. does it drive well , smooth , and if you live in a city does it get to annoying to bear at times? Also I just wanted to know how you older mazda owners like your car after awhile does it still handle well and have any major problems..

p.s. one reason why i would choose honda is cost for repairs and reliability because its pretty much a fact that honda is the best in that category and i would like to know how much repairs are ( if anyone had to have anything done)

thanks for reading this sorry that its a little lengthy and for responding if you choose to

 

Welcome to the forums I know people knock them but you might also want to take a look at the new Hyundai Elantra. We've had our Elantra since '02 and have had no real problems with it at all.... great car. It's roomier than our 3, more comfortable on long trips, and has more storage space. Granted the 3 is a nicer car than our Elantra, however ours is the next older model than the one that's out now which is apparently quite nice. If you add the "popular options" package you get some basic stuff added on. The car already comes with power everything and a MTX. With this package it comes to about 16k.
MTX vs ATX. Personally I'm a die hard MTX driver so I'll always recommend a MTX. Now if you're spending more than 50% of your time in traffic then you may want to seriously consider an automatic, but make sure you're actually getting what you really want. Is your traffic bumper to bumper under 5 mph, or does it consistantly move. If you can keep the clutch out then traffic isn't that bad really. The shifter in the 3 is like butter with a snick-snick feeling between gears so no worries there.

I've had mine since May of '05 and it has a little over 40k miles on it. I haven't had any major problems... just a few TSBs I've taken it in for. There are of course people who have had nothing but problems with their cars, but you'll find that with any manufacturer occasionally. Oh and don't worry about people replying... I'm sure virgin1 and some others will chime in in a few minutes.

 

Here's my 2 cents...

I recently bought a 07 itouring and love it thus far. My previous car was a '97 Honda Civic EX I bought in '01 and drove for 6 years. I bought it with 23k miles and now it has 110k. I honestly can't say anything bad about Hondas other than their torque/hp, torque especially, can kill ya when you're doing slight inclines over distances. It doesn't have the power or fun-factor the M3 has, but it was still a great car and I loved it to death. I drove my Honda hard, and I do mean hard, all the time and it never hated me for it. I did standard tires/oil/etc when it was due, but never had anything major happen. Once my brake line busted, and another time my computer chip glitched out and made my car drive weird for a few days, but both were fixed in a day for free under Honda's warranty. My clutch needed replacing at 100k miles but that's to be expected. Never had to replace the brakes. Note that this was also a SALVAGED TITLE Civic, which I never found out till years after I bought it. Hondas have a proven track record and anyone that says differently is in denial. Many people are driving older Hondas with 200k on it, and they're like Toyotas in the sense they will drive almost forever as long as you fix things that break. My Uncle had a 80's civic hatchback with 300k miles on it. Buying a Honda is never a bad choice and probably still the best investment you can make. While Hyundai's might be good cars as well, remember that Hondas hold their value really well. Many manufacturers lose a lot of value the second you drive off the lot, and even more a few years later. Hondas are overpriced for their age because they are quality cars and their history proves it. This may not be important if you're planning to drive the car forever, but if you change your mind and need to sell/trade-in, you'll want as much value behind the caras possible.

Though I'm a new Mazda3 owner and can't speak on it long term,thus far ithas beena great handling car that's more fun to drive than my modded Honda ever was. The manual transmission shifts really smooth and the power you get at 3k-4k RPMs blows my Civic out of the water. The Civic always felt like it was an in-shape runner with weights aroundthe ankles. The 3 feels like the weights are gone. I got my 07 itouring for 15k (had to gamble the price down) and am very happy with it. It's also VERY NICE not to have the negative attention Hondas get that begs for punks/ricers to break into it constantly and steal ****. My Civic was broken into at least once per year here in Oregon, so needless to say I eventually stopped putting anything nice in it because it would always get stolen.

Both are great buys, and if you are leaning one way or another, remember you're only chosing between the #1 or #2 car to buy right now for the money...neither is a bad bet.

 

If your buying for cash (it sounds like your 1989 car is basically worthless), you should be able to negotiate like mad and get a really good deal right now. Car sales in the USA have been slow so far in 2008, the dealers have inventory and need to move it.

You can use the Edmunds True Market Value tool (see link below)to determine what cars are selling for in your area. It's free!

http://www.edmunds.com/zipcode/new/index.html

With a bit of negotiating, you should be able to pick up a nice Mazda3 for under $20K (thought I wouldn't tell the sales person this is your budget).

Sizzlin07 and I have the same car (and my pics are my actual car), except I have the automatic. I really like the shiftable auto. I insisted on getting theside airbags, for safety reasons (not sure if Sizzlin07 did). The iTouring package is good to get, it builds into the car most things that people take for granted these days ... upgraded stereo, air conditioning, cruise control, power windows/locks, etc.

I've owned mine just over a year now, no buyers remorse here.

 

i have an 08 mazda3 and it looks and drives better then the civic. my friend owns a 08 honda civic and iunno i just didnt like it as much as my car. looooks WAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY too futuristic.. and i have a standard too. now mind you i dont drive in that much traffic but yesterday on my way home i got stuck in alot of traffic. and it was fine for me. plus having an automatic costs $1000 more.. and thats a big factor right. well for most people anyway. anyhow im 18 myself and i love this car and i dont want to drive anything else. my parents always want to use my car.. alllll the time! (this is because i have the standard, unlike them who have a 2004 and 2006 acura MDX.) soo if you are contemplating on which to buy.. id go for the mazda3 just cuz it looks nicer inside and out. hope that helps

 

I was in the same pickle you were in. I was 17 and i had a 1993 chevy s-10 blazer. The car was starting to stall on me. I was towards the end of high school, and i was moving to New York from Florida and i knew that car wouldn't make it. My dad thought i should have a new reliable car for college. I agreed. lol. His choice was a civic. My choice was a mazda 3. We went to the honda dealer (this was back in 05) and they had an 05 civic 4dr special edition. My dad liked it and i hated it. Its a civic, there's about 10around every corner. The dealer was giving my dad great numbers ($14,500), but i wanted to make the stop to the mazda dealer. We left and we went to the mazda dealer, and it's all history from there.I got a 4dr s model, (back when there was only an i and s trim), with the sports packageand atx. I got the auto because i didn't know how to drive stick at that time, and my dad didn't want me to have stick. If you're in a big city with a lot of traffic, go with the auto. If you're on an open road just shift the gear **** over. There is no limiter, soyou can red-line the car in manual mode and drive exactly like a manual.I chose the3mainly for looks, craftsmanship of the car, and its uniqueness. I am now20 and still have the car. It will be three years at the end of March since the car was purchased.I have had no problems with the car. Only in the snow. That's when i start cursing the car out, but i know the car is meant for road-gripping performance not tackling snow, so i brush it off my shoulder.The car still feels and acts new. people turn there heads when they see it, andits just a stunning, beautiful car.

If you are looking for cookie-cutterwith blaserefinement, but gets good gas mileage and can go for 300,000 miles go with the civic.

If you want something different andfeels like you're in a german built car, like your 300E, that gets fairly good gas mileage and will last about 200,000 miles go with the 3

Good luck.

 

^^ Lev trying getting some snow tires and the 3 will drive like an entirely new car.

 

^ I would like snow tires, but i already need new tires. I had these tires for a year, and the tread is already low. I put about 20,000 miles on them so its about time for them to go. Ihave bridgestone potenza's and they gripped so wellwhenthey were newer. Now the tread is low and the tires spin out more than they use to.I like the 17" rims, but putting new tires on every year is costly. I also take turns veryquickly because i can't get enough of the precise handling. I shouldn't have gotten this car becasue it is way too much fun to drive and it gets me in trouble. Just talking about the car makes me want to go for a spin. I will definitely be looking into snow tires since they make abig difference. Question for all those with DSC and live in snowy areas; How did the car handle in the snow with DSC engaged?

 

My $0.2 Lev. I have yokohama yk520 tires on now. I've put about 20k miles on them (the same amount that killed my RSA's) and they barely look worn. Also they're one of the cheaper tires for the 17" rim.

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^ Thanks a lot icspots. I was going to ask what tire i should get. If the yoko's still look good after 20,000 miles and are cheaper, i will be seeing those onmy car in a couple of months, when i have money saved.