Hi all, I am planning on purchasing my first Mazda after hearing such great reviews (many of them from here!). I am trying to decide on two cars and was wondering if I could get some advice.

The first car is:
2006 Mazda3 Hatchback Grand Touring 2.3l
$8500
80,000 miles
Sunroof
Power everything
Recently had the engine mounts replaced because of vibration, which is gone now
Manual

Second car is:
2005 Mazda3s (not hatchback) 2.0l
$9500 obo
40,000 miles
Power locks/windows
Cd player
Automatic

I would prefer to have the hatchback, but it is not an absolute necessity. I am just wondering if the features in the 2006 are enough to counter the miles of the 2005. I had heard that in 2006 there were some upgrades to the engine and I know that the grand touring is more upgraded than the sport. I would like to have the car for at least another 3 years, and I am thinking that even with 80k, I could still do that. Any thoughts??

 

All else being equal, I'd buy the 2006. Why? It has a real transmission.

 

Thanks for the reply! What do you think is better about the transmission in the 2006?

 

A manual transmission is always preferred over an automatic. Period, full stop, the end.

 

I got you on that one! I'm just a little concerned over the high mileage vs. the downgraded car with less mileage. I would hate to buy it and then end up having to drop a ton of money on it!

 

Well, for that matter, cars these days with less than 100,000 miles on them (and have a complete service history) are barely broken in.

 

I too would recommend the '06.
It's newer, bigger engine and bigger brakes, a GT (LED tails!!,) a 5-sp manual trans instead of a 4-sp auto, less money up front, already had new mounts, it's a hatchback which you want and looks better anyway, and it's not an '010 or '11 (no smiley face) which also means it still has the round fog lights. Does the 3i Sport have fogs at all?

By '06 Mazda claims to have used better ignition coils, there were also some slight changes made to suspension setup for slightly better handling out of the box, not that it couldn't be healped with some aftermarket tweaking. (Springs, shocks, adjustable upper rear control arms to eliminate some of the tire-eating negitive camber, and especially sway bars.)

Just my .02

 

just watch it, ive recently come to find out that the head have a questionable lifespan, other than that id get the 06 hands down, not because it has power everything but its going to be more fun to drive, hands down, only downside is that its a hatch find a 4door

 

What they said.

 

If the "just watch it" comment was due to mine about the hatchback, the OP said he/she WANTS the hatchback!! I can't help that. And they DO look better, and have more room even if they are shorter than the sedan.

Now, what's this about the cyl heads? Of all the posts I have read through, I have never heard anyone complain about the cyl head having issues. Could it be that you have a one-off problem, Travis?