LIandy

Hi everyone. I'm new here. I've been a Honda owner and a Nissan owner (both excellent cars). Recently I was in the market for a new compact car and was looking for something sporty; but "Daddy sporty" not "Street car racing" sporty. So the Honda Civic Si was out (plus I was not happy with how Honda redesigned their car this year) and the BMW was too expensive, so I settled for the Mazda 3 S Touring (manual trans).

I love the way the car drives. But after being with it for a week I notice what I feel to be cheap quality parts in the car. In terms of the quality of the visors, the ***** on the AC, the pad/liner in the trunk, the cloth interior, etc... I know these are small things, and I am not worried that I will break the sun visor or rip the carpet and cloth in the car, but what worries me is, if Mazda skimped out on the interior quality, did they do the same on the transmission or any other important engine parts?

My concerns stem from reading posts on here that engine mounts are breaking and cars are being broken into just by knocking into the side of the door. So far my only negative experience (and I've only had the car for a week mind you) is that when I picked up the car from the dealer, the gas tank read 1/4 full. I asked him where's my full tank of gas? He said that the tank was full and sometimes on the Mazda the tank will read 1/4 full but as I drive around I will see the needle go up. OK, that's weird. Never had that problem before with my other cars. I drove the car around for a couple of days and the needle went up to just above the halfway mark towards 3/4 full. However, is this going to happen everytime I gas up? Or was this a one off thing since it was filled up and driven for the first time? Has anyone had similar experiences?

I was looking for a reliable car... did I buy one in the Mazda 3? What has been your experience.

ccracing19

I have a 2005 Mazda3 SP23 - it would be hard to compare with a Mazda3 due to all the upgrades, but over all the cars should comparable. I traded in a 03 Mazdaspeed Protege for a RX-8, after year,not happy I found the SP23. I absolutely love this car, have had NO problems what so ever!!!! I know all the guys at the dealership and are friends outside of them working for Mazda. I have been told of all the Mazda cars, the 3 has been the BEST car, never any problems. I have 38,000 miles on mine and can't find any reason to trade (trust me I like cars and normally don't keep one for more than 2 years, but with what options came on the SP23, no need to change) but over all the 3 is a great great car.

LIandy

FYI...

I gassed up my car this weekend and the fuel gauge issue was no more. Someone told me it is possible that whoever gassed up my car at the dealership did not turn off the engine while gassing up. That can cause your fuel gauge to misread your levels. That was exactly the case.

HorsySce

Great! I love an easy fix. Enjoy your 3!

J-Protege

I have a 2002 Protege reading over 97000 and it still runs like a dream. In the last 18 months, it needed only an EGR valve ($250).

Pretty reliable I'd say, and I'd bet the same quality has transfered over to the 3 after the Protege was retired.