^^ gotcha. Sounds like he set the brake and it just took a few minutes for gravity to beat friction. And that is why you leave your car in gear!

Any word on the damages and repair costs yet?

 

Beyond my $500 deductible, no, no word yet.

BTW, my rental full-zoot 2011 Ford Focus (automatic) is nowhere near the driver's car that the Mazda3 is. I actually find it hard to believe the two cars are built on a simmilar chassis. Oh well, I guess I can endure for a few more days.

 

sorry to hear about the car but good that there were no injuries. My wife and daughter can't understand why I put the park brake on so far, I should show them your post. Good to know about the new focus, I was wondering how much difference there was. We don't have a mazda dealer locally so I was thinking about going with a new Focus but I love my '06 3 and want something as good or better next time.

 

Actually, the "new" Focus is a 2012 model, the one I'm renting is the previous version. I've driven the new one and it is every bit a match for the Mazda3 in the driving department; unfortunately it has a whopping 3" less of overall leg room than the Mazda, and 2" less than the previous version of the Focus. The lack of leg room is a deal-breaker for me as I have two teenagers which I often schlep around.

For my part, assuming I can hold out until 2013 for my next car, the 2013 Mazda3 with the SkyActiv-D engine will be very high on my short list.

 

lol the Mazda3 isn't built by Americans... the Focus is
EDIT: Ah yeah the 2nd gen... just read... nevermind.
Yeah I've driven that gen Focus as well... horrendous compared to the 3.

 

i cant wait to get my other car runnin, so i can throw my 3 into the shop. i would love to have it wrecked but i need transportation.

i still wanna see pics, maybe if i show them to my car it will start acting right, ya know scare it a little.

 

Okay, I've got my car back; $2,900 in damage. Ouch!

The good news is that the new schnozzle looks like factory new (which of course it is). Funny thing, I yanked the belly pan from the car shortly after I bought it so as to ease access to the oil filter. The guy from the body shop said, "Geez, the entire lower baffle was complete torn off the car; we replaced that too." With a second part, I'm thinking I'll pull the new one off during the next oil change, cut a much larger hole in the old one so I can get to the oil filter without removing the baffle, and save the new one for when I sell the car (I'm Jonesing for a 2013 Mazda3 with the SkyActiv-D engine and a 6-Speed manual tranny).

 

still havent seen pics. you seem to have alot of faith in the skyactiv-d. i for one am a typical skeptic about it, nothing really says reliable for mazda thusfar, its more lucky imo and you of all people should know that when something first comes out its bound to have the most problems. Any reason why your so confident in this new system?

 

A few points:

• I'm an eternal optimist.
• I've read quite a bit about Mazda's development regarding this engine and I am quite confident the technology is sound. In fact, the only real ground-breaking technology are the injectors, not new in and of themselves, but new in how the technology is applied.
• I'm a diesel fan and feel that even with the potential teething issues, the SkyActiv-D will be more reliable than VW's latest iteration of the Common Rail TDI.
• Tempting fate department: I've owned a number of "first year" cars sporting new technology; to date, I have fond memories of each and every one of those cars.

Will I get burned this time around? Don't know.

 

So Dale. I assume you got your car back and all better now?

What happened? How did the repairs turn out?

And especially.... WHERE ARE THE PICS!!!!????