It's a long story but I have tried. She has her heart set on a New Beetle, which I have been trying to talk her out offor years.
I had was driving a '92 Ply/Mitsu van(Colt Vista/Expo) before.It served me well but the A/C had been gone for several years and it too wasgetting long in the tooth, burning oil and other problems were beginning to crop up. It was decided that I would get my first new car. I had decided to look at the Mini and the 3.I never DID get to look at the Mini.
She's had several (new cars) in our lifetime.

 

hahaha my buddy had one of those as a field car. man that was fun to drive. see what works is my dad gets the new car and my mom gets my dads hand me down... which is not a big deal becuase they are nice cars. its like this he bought a 02 TL so my mom got the 98 accord. then he bought a 04MDX then my mom got the 02 TL. thenn my dad bought a brand new MDX my mom got the 04 MDX. its pretty interesting. my car is like drowning in the sea of honda. my grandma has an 04Acura EL my other grandma has an 97 Accord, my grandpa has a 01 Accord and i got my 08 mazda3. you should see it its sad lol. i feel bad for my car because its all alone. there are virtually no Mazda's on my street. lol. now im assuming that you bought the Saturn new??

 

Nope. It was used. We've only been married (my first) since 2000.

 

ahh thats cool. so basically you went from a dodge to a mazda3 good decision haha. buuuuut they are both hatchbacks. i guess its fair to say you like that feature better then the trunk lol

 

Basically a re-badged Mitsubishi Expofrom the start, and a 5-speed to boot.
Yes. I've owned a number of HB's in my life.A Nissan Stanza, my beloved '80 Civic, several Rabbit's and Golf's (to drive, fix and sell mostly,) a VW Bus (type II, if that can be considered a hb. That thing was a disaster.)

However, a number of sedan's/coupe's/convertibles (with a trunk) have passed my way too:A '57 Chevy 2102dr., Corvair, Opel Kadett Ralley, several Volvo1800's, a Volvo sedan, 2 MGB's, a Datsun 510.

And BTW: The only one of these vehicle to have an auto trans was the Corvair which quickly and shortly replaced the Chevy after an accident. I drove it for less than 3 months. All others were 3-sp, 4-sp, 4-sp w/electrc OD, or 5-spds. Next car to have a 6-sp MTX.

 

wow thats a ****load of cars haha. considering i will have my mazda3 for like the next 10 years (hopefully haha)

 

Kazera KZ-V [align=left]These are the wheels. I purchased them from tire rack. They look and ride good. wish I went with the 18", mine are 17"
[/align] Also I got the spoiler on ebay, painted and shipped for$125 bucks. I think it was an extra $500 at the dealer. You send your paint code and they match it. east install[align=center] [/align]

 

They're a little heavy for what I'm trying to do, but still lighter than the OE 17's,and nearly an exact copy of theKosei's! Of course how can I not like them.
They even offer a "light gray" finish, +50mm offsetand @ $130 ea. the price is certainly right too.
Good find EC!!