I’m giving some thought to a Mazda3 (a Mazdaspeed would be overkill) as my next car, and I have a few questions. On my budget I think the model year would range from 2007 to 2011. This would be my first ever Mazda.

A friend in Los Angeles has a 2005 Mazda3. He says he gets a lot of heat gain through the windows, and the a/c isn’t very effective. Has this gotten any better in newer 3’s? I live in Seattle, but even here the summers can be hot.

Features I would definitely want: side curtain airbags, ABS, tire pressure monitoring. Desirable features: traction control, heated seats. What model year and trim level would I have to get in order to get these features?

Are the headlights halogen, HID, or can they go either way? I believe in replacing headlights that have become cloudy (I did this on my last two cars after I’d bought them), and I imagine HID’s are expensive.

Thanks for your thoughts.