Hi all
new here.
I'm buy with in the month and I have two cars I'm looking at right now.
First isa matalic Phantom Purple Mica 2007 S Touring 23k miles, moonroof, 5spd automatic, Electrochromatic Rear View Mirror and 6 disk CD changer. 13k miles left on the 3-36k warrenty.

Second is an 2005Black S with 38k miles, moonroof, 4spd automatic. leather heated seats and Bose sound system.
12k miles left on the 4-50k warrenty

I difference between the two is about $1500.

What to do?

Is the 5 spd auto that much better then the 4spd?

Is there a way to hook an Ipod up in the 2005? (I know the 07's have the jack in the center stack)

Are there more standared features on the 07 touring S that I don't know about compared to the 05 "S"

I guess the question is ...is the Bose and leather heated seats worth the two more years and higher miles??

Also what do you guys think of the Purple??
I kind of like it.....but????? It looks more maroon to me...
thanks

 

Where are you located? If you're in the US then the 2005 model is actually one of the limited production sp23's.... I think only 5000 were made... since in '05 they were the only ones that came with the bose system. If it is a sp23 then it's actually carbon gray, not black, and it has HID headlights. Really the sp23 is roughly equivalent to the current GT model except without auto climate control.

I'm a MTX guy so I can't really speak much about the ATX between the years, though I believe people are much happier with the 5 speed vs the earlier 4 speed one.

In '05 there wasn't a standard audio input, however there are tons of options for hooking up an external device ranging from simple audio inputs like the Aux Mod, to full ipod integration with text display on the LCD. Let me know if you want more info about those.

Standard feature-wise I think the biggest changes have been making more trims with fewer individual options. Newer models are more likely to have side airbags and ABS. Also I believe some '07's (maybe all) have traction control. The '07 has the ambient temp display,, though you could add one of the auto-dim mirrors and get that feature on the '05. For the most part they're basically the same car, but if there's a specific feature that makes or breaks the deal for you then go with that vehicle. Personally I might go with the '05 if it has the HIDs. My '05 has about 42k miles on it right now and aside from a few rattles that I need to dampen I've had basically no problems with it.

 

I personally like the purple. Andyou're right. It's morer plum purple than a grape purple.
By '07, Mazda had made improvements in the handling and supposedly the A/C system. And as you'd said, added more standard features. And of the 2, I would opt for the 5-sp auto. You should see better mileage from it.
Leather? Eh!! I'm not too int leather seating anyway, but have heard (not experienced) that the leather is not the best quality. If you live in a hot climate it's always hot. If you live in a cold climate, the leather will be cold and clammy feeling... at least until the heat in the seats takes over which I'm sure would be a few minutes. Also, leather requires more maintainence and is harder to take care of.

Though I like the look of the earlier ones (like mine) better, I'd still go for the '07.

 

thanks for the info.
I live here in the northeast and traction control would be kind of needed...
Side air bags??...Well I do have two little girls that ride in the back....

So you think the bose and the leather plus it being a sp23 I should go for the 2005.

So how hard is it to do the aux jack mod?


thanks

 

thats a simple no brainer. the 07 has less mileage and more warranty left. 5 spd auto trumps 4 spd any day. and the purple isnt even that big of a deal. theres so many purple cars out there.

 

If you're driving in snowy conditions a good set of snow tires and careful driving will be far more usefull than traction control. I'm not saying that TC isn't good, but it won't help if the tires can't get traction anyway. I would highly discourage buying a 3 without side airbags, nuff said.

Like virgin I'm also not a big fan of leather, though I wish I had heated seats.... one of these days I'll add them to my cloth seats. I wouldn't make the deal based on the leather or the bose.... even with it being a sp23. I mean they're rare, but you can get basically all of the options and more on a newer grand touring (except for the optional saddle brown leather and the carbon gray interior). You'd just have the novelty of the limited edition car.

Depding on which method you went with you'd probably be done with opening the dash, plugging in the aux unit, and running the cable in about 20 minutes. It's super easy.

 

So from what you guys are saying
The o7 has all this on the 05 "S"
traction control,5spd auto,mp3 jack,side air bags, Electrochromatic Rear View Mirror, better AC.
Am I missing anything??

I guess that would make the extra 1500 or so worth it then no?

 

I'd be a bit wary of the '07 - 23K miles in a year is an awful lot. It's likely been driven quite hard.

 

In service date is sept. 2006

 

i agree about the mileage being extra high. but high mielage doesnt have to mean the car was driven hard or abused. btw wat is the price ur getting the 07 at?