John P
|
| posted on 11/8/22 at 02:50 PM |
|
|
Buying Used Mazda 3 - Any Comments
I'm considering buying a December 2015 Mazda 3 Skyactive-G Sport Nav (petrol) automatic from a local dealer.
We've looked at a lot of options but this is my wife's favourite along with a Peugeot 2008.
It's priced at the top of the range but is in totally unmarked condition with just 18,000 miles and would come with 12 months warranty.
My two concerns are what the real life MPG would be and also the fact that it's automatic so presumably has a dual clutch which I believe can be
very expensive to replace.
Any comments / suggestions?
John.
|
|
|
|
|
ian locostzx9rc2
|
| posted on 11/8/22 at 07:20 PM |
|
|
I own a 2015 Mazda 3 sportnav 2.0 ltr Petrol manual and probably the best alround car I have owned performance is good handling is excellent basically
a focus underneath my case car tax is £30 I’ve owned it for 3 1/2 years it returns 40 mpg average over this time and due to the cost of fuel at
present I did an economy drive on the motorway 360 mile and I got a genuine 52 mpg which for a 2.0 ltr petrol my my mind is pretty impressive it is a
great car to drive .I’m guessing your average mpg will be slightly less being an auto but I would definitely recommend a Mazda 3 and I have to many
of my customers and I’ve been a mechanic for 40 years Mazda are in my opinion a good quality brand as for the auto boxes I havent had any dealings
with but with all autos if something goes wrong it normally ends up expensive hope this helps
|
|
|
John P
|
| posted on 12/8/22 at 04:07 PM |
|
|
Thanks for the info.
The fuel consumption does seem good for a 2-litre engine and I prefer the idea of this to a small 3-cylinder turbo although that would probably be
cheaper to run which is important to me now that I've retired.
The best price I could negotiate was £14,000 although they did offer me probably £500 over it's real value for my existing car.
I wasn't terribly keen on an automatic and although the semi-automatic feature would have been interesting to play with reviews seem to always
recommend going for a manual so I think that's what I'll look out for.
Unfortunately they're very rare at the moment and the next nearest to me is around 130 miles away.
John.
|
|
|
ian locostzx9rc2
|
| posted on 12/8/22 at 05:03 PM |
|
|
That’s a lot of money for a 15 plate car if you don’t need an auto the manuals are really good as for the engine yes it’s a big capacity but not turbo
so that’s one thing not to worry about it really is a great alround car plus as the emissions are lower there only £30 a year to tax if you get one
registered before 1st March 2017 it really has been an average of 40 mpg mix driving on a motorway run it gets 45 plus and as I said I kept the speed
down and got gen 52mpg happy hunting for a Mazda 3 it will be worth travelling for the right car I drove 170 mile each way for my one also mine is red
aswell it’s a lovely colour
[Edited on 12/8/22 by ian locostzx9rc2]
|
|
|
Mike Wood
|
| posted on 14/8/22 at 08:09 AM |
|
|
John
Interesting choice - I did not realise you could get a 2 litre non-turbo petrol. Why not see if you can find a manual version for you both to test
drive?
Is this the saloon or hatchback? - might be tempted by a hatch just for versatility. Do you want to tow anything, such as a Locost, Austin 7 or
something else fun on a small trailer, if so perhaps a manual is preferable plus what is its max towing weight (1300kg for the 2.0 petrol? 1500kg for
the 2.2 diesel?)
It does sound like secondhand car prices are no longer the relative bargain they were until recently, and back to earlier times when good ones were
never cheap. Value and quality are key.
Have you looked at the MoT history and vehicle check on the DVLA website
https://www.gov.uk/check-mot-history?step-by-step-nav=58fad183-27f5-4dd9-b51e-696c992373d7 & https://www.gov.uk/get-vehicle-information-from-dvla
(as well as what paperwork the car has)? - useful if it highlights poor maintenance although that mileage I would be surprised if bald tyres and worn
suspension or steering joints had featured heavily. Might have had rusty discs that needed replacing due to low mileage. The usual check for 3 or 4
different tyre brands fitted and of unheard of ditchfinder makes. Hopefully this is a cherished car with proper maintenance.
What Euro NCAP is it in relation to any potential low emission zone (current and likely new ones that might be introduced) you might want to drive it
in (the London one has a useful reg number checker).
It does sound like you may have already located the car you want, particularly as the other potential driver has picked it as their favourite! My
experience of sharing driving is that it helps if you have a car that both folk are happy/comfortable/confident and like to drive.
I could see an argument for me in future that having a petrol car with two pedals would aid my subsequent switch to electric cars; as well as make
sure I focused on other road users - but at the moment still enjoying manual gear shifting on a sedate non-turbo 1.6i 115bhp 2016 Subaru Impreza
hatchback (tows 1500kg, low ratio gearbox and great in winter and on rough surfaces) plus a 1961 AH Sprite and hopefully a Locost when built!
Good luck with your search. And I know a lot of the above will be obvious stuff you have already thought of - my apologies!
Cheers
Mike
[Edited on 14/8/22 by Mike Wood]
[Edited on 14/8/22 by Mike Wood]
[Edited on 14/8/22 by Mike Wood]
[Edited on 14/8/22 by Mike Wood]
[Edited on 14/8/22 by Mike Wood]
[Edited on 14/8/22 by Mike Wood]
[Edited on 14/8/22 by Mike Wood]
[Edited on 14/8/22 by Mike Wood]
|
|
|
nick205
|
| posted on 17/8/22 at 02:39 PM |
|
|
John
Is it dual clutch or is it torque converter auto.
Suspect Google'ing will tell you (failing that a Mazda dealer would probably tell you).
SWMBO and I have driven manuals all our driving lives. Just changed to a Skoda with a DSG auto, which is dual clutch. No concerns over reliability,
but the gearbox requires an oil and filter change every 45k miles. Not a small cost and not every garage is skilled/equipped to do it either.
A service cost and item to keep in mind if the Mazda auto is dual clutch.
[Edited on 17/8/22 by nick205]
|
|
|
GRRR
|
| posted on 17/8/22 at 08:11 PM |
|
|
Lots of this has already been said but I have a 15 plate 2.0 sport nav, in soul red. Paint is very very soft so worth checking it over, fuel economy
is good ours averages 39mpg mixed driving inc town and sitting at 70 on motorway. Feels like a premium car. Android auto upgrade is cheap using kit
from Ali Express. Manual so cant comment on the auto aspect. Timing chain too so no cam belt worries. Would definitely recommend these cars to anyone
considering them.
£14k seems far too high even if the auto is rare, mine has done around 36k and I’d estimate it’s value to be a little under £10k with used car values
having gone up.
[Edited on 17/8/22 by GRRR]
|
|
|
ian locostzx9rc2
|
| posted on 22/8/22 at 02:53 PM |
|
|
Did you buy one in the end ?
|
|
|
SJ
|
| posted on 22/8/22 at 03:14 PM |
|
|
I've got the Mazda 6 2.0 petrol 2017 model, which shares a lot with the 3. Brilliant car with real life MPG is about 40 average.
|
|
|
John P
|
| posted on 22/8/22 at 03:53 PM |
|
|
Hi,
I think we've decided we will go ahead and buy a Mazda 3, ideally a Sports Nav in Red (my Wife's pretty definite about the colour), but not
the one we'd seen. This is because it seem a bit expensive and also because it's an auto which I didn't really want and is both more
thirsty and £100 / year more on car tax than a manual.
Getting one however isn't proving easy.
The nearest I found was around 120 miles away but was already reserved whilst others are either much too far away, have high mileage or some other
issue and I'm not very keen on driving long distances to see just a single car unless it appears to be exactly what we're looking for.
I guess we'll just keep an eye on Autotrader and the Used Mazda site and hope for the best.
John.
|
|
|
ian locostzx9rc2
|
| posted on 22/8/22 at 04:18 PM |
|
|
Happy hunting
|
|
|
John P
|
| posted on 1/1/23 at 05:01 PM |
|
|
Just an update.
We finally bought a 2016 Mazda 3 Sports Nav Black Edition in Soul Red.
I did pay just over £13K which is probably more than it's worth but it did have just 25,000 miles and was being sold through a local Mazda
approved dealer with a warranty.
I'm generally very happy with it. It's good to drive, the acceleration is much better than on my old Honda especially when joining
motorways or overtaking and it's quite relaxing although I've not done any really long trips as yet.
I am also extremely impressed with the headlights which are adaptive and by far the best of any car I've had previously.
It also has lots of toys although the Sat Nav is out of date and an update from Mazda is around £100 which I can't really justify for the few
occasions I use it. As far as I can tell I can't easily connect it to my Android phone to use Google Maps for example and I'm not that
keen on going back to a windscreen mounted TomTom even though I have one from my old car.
Thanks for the advice given whilst I was looking for this.
John.
|
|
|
Russell
|
| posted on 1/1/23 at 05:20 PM |
|
|
quote:
Originally posted by John P
It also has lots of toys although the Sat Nav is out of date and an update from Mazda is around £100 which I can't really justify for the few
occasions I use it. As far as I can tell I can't easily connect it to my Android phone to use Google Maps for example and I'm not that
keen on going back to a windscreen mounted TomTom even though I have one from my old car.
Try https://mazdatweaks.com/
|
|
|
