Hi everyone,

I'm REALLY interested in getting a Mazda 3 but my family is discouraging me from buying one because apparently the parts are really expensive. They used to have a Mazda MPV and would always get angry with how the prices of the parts were ridiciously high. I've done my research and from what I understand, it's a reliable car, not a gas guzzler, and looks great (which for me are the most important things ). I'm pretty much sold on it BUT because this is the first car that I buy, my family's "words of wisdom" are making me a little weary.

My question to all of you experienced Mazda drivers is: Are Mazda parts really that expensive? I mean, i dont want to get slammed with high costs for maintaining the car.

Looking forward to hearing what you guys think...

 

the mazda parts themselves aren't too expensive unless you're looking to buy MAZDASPEED parts which are really expensive but of great quality. mazda does charge a lot for labor fees though.

 

in my opinion, parts for a new vehicle will slightly be higher. parts will always be expensive if you buy them from the dealership. i was looking around for brake pads for my mazda 3 and the dealership was selling them for $110.00. i went to autozone and they were selling them for $35.00. labor charges for any vehicle is expensive. the best thing to do is always maintain your car, oil changes, tuneups, etc.

 

Be Cautious. The oil change at a dealership is $40 here in Louisiana. I found a place where I could buy my own oil filters for about $7 each and bought synthetic oil (use 5w20 only) . Problem with this is you need to find a place that will KNOW HOW TO change the Mazda's funky oil filter setup. I found a place that will do it for $10 if I give them my own filter and oil! ALOT better than the dealership. Just keep the reciepts when the dealership tries to pull a fast one on you about not changing oil.....Also. I have had NO problems with my 3. Im going on 9K miles now! I have a sport with all the trimmings and goodies! Got it off the showroom floor at a $2K discount cause it was a 04 model.

 

So, the older Mazda3s have the funky oil filter that has no casing as well? I just bought a filter from them and was surprised to see that it had no casing and that the casing was already on the car. Guess I might go to a lube place and have them do it.

 

so far i dont have prob with my car.. well, it really depends on where you buy your mazda parts. just look for a reliable source to avoid spending much $$$.

 

Example: 2004/5/6 Mazda 3

Oil Filter:

2.3 liter engine: L321-14-302-9U - $7.87
2.0 liter engine: LF10-14-302 - $7.60

 

yeah parts for new cars are always going to be expensive especially aftermarket parts, but it all really comes down to where or who get the parts from, oh and if the intitial price for a 06 Mazda3 is over $13,500 then please DONT BUY IT.

 

Mine was over 22k... should I feel bad?

 

well if it was not the standard model then no...but if its the one with just power windows then i would go back to your dealer and punch them.