twodot

My name is Eric, and I currently own a 2007 Scion tC. I had a turbo on it for a little less than a year, and ended up blowing the seals on the turbo. I took the kit off, and reverted back to stock. So it came to the decision to have the turbo rebuilt or just start over. Since the turbo only made 240whp, and would take some serious modification to take it much higher, I decided to start over, and I've been looking at the mazdaspeed 3. I made it through the credit check - the dealer got me a price I could afford, but the bank wants $3000 down, so I'm in limbo while I save my money.

I'm just getting a white sport, no bells, no whistles. I prefer to add my own bells and whistles lol. I don't have endless amounts of money, so the modding process will be slow, but I'm hoping to build a clean little 5-door. I love car shows, so I'm also hoping this car will win me some trophies. All in all, I just want a car with a little more oomph without all the headaches of an aftermarket turbo kit on a car built for N/A.

I have a few questions for the MS3 owners on here...
how is the mazda warranty? do they service the car quickly and accurately?
Do you even have to use the warranty? How is the build quality of the MS3?
The one thing I don't like about my tC is that a lot of squeeks and rattles popped up after a year...a result of snap-in panels.
I guess I just want to hear what you like and don't like about the MS3....or mazda in general.

I'm still getting one, I just want to know what to expect. I love my tC - I just need more ponies and less headaches.

Thanks guys!

Dingo

Where to start? I would suggest looking at a pre-owned MazdaSpeed 3 because you'll save a bunch of money, at least in the Phoenix Metro market. You're not going to get more than 240 whp with the Mazdaspeed 3 even as good as its DISI turbo is. The warranty is good, with an extended warranty available. I've heard good reports of service at other Mazda Dealers, but the exact quality is probably dealer dependent. I absolutely love my Mazda Dealer and I let them take care of all the service on my M3s 4 door. They even did almost all of the mods. As a general rule, unless you like paying for lots of mods and service calls, I would never go with a bolt on turbo kit. I would stick with a factory turbo like the Mazdaspeed, and then if you want to push it I've spoken with several guys who have almost doubled the boost that Mazda sets the turbo at the factory. That said, it's not an AWD (like the 07 MazdaSpeed6 turbo) so you'll bump into that mystical 300 whp "barrier" with FWD where you just start spinning your tires and fighting massive understeer. I'm already feeling the understeer and my M3s 4 door is only pushing about 250-270hp when its full throttle and on the bottle.

Finally, "about Mazda in general": I use to only buy Hondas and Acuras, but finally discovered how much more value Mazda vehicles provide at a better price when I choose my M3s. We recently added a Mazda CX-9, Motor Trend's SUV of the year, to the family stable and I'll keep buying Mazdas as long as they continue to manufacture such great cars that are also fun and easy to drive.

Enough? If not, please let me know.

pearlms3

i went from 320 whp srt 4 to the ms3 an i like it better, its built very well although the shifter is a piece of poop i have gone thru 2 cause the bend, but over all is a pretty good car, lets just say i would nt go back im a technician so take it from me is really good.