OT: rented a Mazda 3 mini feedback

[eddief]

I know this car gets a lot of kudos here and maybe some data points would be helpful for shoppers. I rented from Hertz and they offered a Mazda 3. This was not the turbo model and it came with auto trans. Smooth riding, decent power, comfy seats, great gas mileage. Compared to my Golf Sportwagen the interior seemed really el cheapo looking and the user controls for all the normal stuff was horrific. Tiny, out of the way buttons for the hvac. Do-it-all-knob for media stuff on the console was quite the driving distraction. Probably more reliable than a VW but VW did a great job on interior quality and user controls.

[likebikes]

mazda does not offer a turbo model of the mazda3 (or any other of their models) in this country.

[Ralph]

Rental version not their nicest interior.

[eddief]

I meant that it was not the high horsepower model forgot no Turbo.

[rePhil]

We bought a 2016 6 about a year and a half ago. Primarily my wife's car and she really likes it. Enough power and great mileage. Ironically after shopping all mid size brands, it came down to the 6 or a Passat. To her the 6 was an easy choice. I like that it has a transmission rather than a CVT.( I know the VW does not use cvt)
Also interesting is that the 6 was also over 90 something percent built in Japan.
She doesn't use the "do it all knob" or touch screen too often as many functions are on the wheel. So far it's been her favorite car. For reference, her last two were Mustangs

[abr5]

mazda does not offer a turbo model of the mazda3 (or any other of their models) in this country.
They do in the US, Mazdaspeed3, 2.3l turbo. I have one, they are ridiculously fun little cars.

[Ken Robb]

They do in the US, Mazdaspeed3, 2.3l turbo. I have one, they are ridiculously fun little cars.
Speed3 ended when the new MAZDA 3 came out in 2014. I had our 2014 3 in for service and was loaned a new 3 to run some errands. It had the 2L engine rather than the 2.5 we have. It was peppier than I expected. I think the excellent 6 speed automatic transmission had a lot to do with that because it's eager to downshift several gears if necessary even at part-throttle. I would still go for the 2.5L because there is very little difference in fuel economy and there is still a little drag racer deep in my heart. :-)

[likebikes]

They do in the US, Mazdaspeed3, 2.3l turbo. I have one, they are ridiculously fun little cars.
hasn't been made for a few years now.

should have added the new disclaimer in my original statement. :)

[ultraman6970]

My personal problem with many of this new cars is the stereo replacement issue.

[shovelhd]

My personal problem with many of this new cars is the stereo replacement issue.

What issue? Anything can be replaced.

[rePhil]

I hear you,or heard you.Back in the day I liked my music loud, these days not so much. My wife's Mustang had the Shaker Radio which was a nice system. The Mazda's system is more than adequate, and I don't see how or why anyone would bother to change it.

My personal problem with many of this new cars is the stereo replacement issue.

[eddief]

is tied into all the other electronical stuff. Seems like you either get the Fender option or the standard stereo. My googling on upgrading the standard one suggests there is not much aftermarket stuff available.

[ultraman6970]

Not all the time, like putting an aftermarket radio in a volvo :P

Well the dashboards are designed so nice that pretty much an aftermarket radio wont fit. Example and this is the simplest of them... 2006 town and country uses a din and half radio, there's none (maybe 2 two options and hyper expensives) in din a half and what ever you can actually put in there will leave the TV and the discs carousel useless.

In mazda depending on the year the dashboard is curved and honestly is pretty nice but try to get a nice radio in that dashboard, you cant, the actual radio was curved aswell, design awesome... want to go aftermarket big no no... and so on and so forth... soon many manufacturers of stereos will stop making radios...

I do agree that anything can be replaced but... depends a lot of the car and in cars that are like 5 years old well... not that easy as before.

What issue? Anything can be replaced.

[Ralph]

On our vehicles.....Radio is integrated with NAV. Powered antenaes (sp) for satellite radio. Same touch screen for reading text, etc. They are not just a radio.

[shovelhd]

There are a plethora of adapters for aftermarket units. If the HVAC is integrated into the system, that might be the line in the sand, but for audio, video, steering wheel controls, stuff like that, it's cake.

[batman1425]

The head unit on the Mazda 3 circa 2011-2014ish (before the latest redesign) was swappable with aftermarket- all it did was drive the stereo - but it interfaced with the multifunction display and steering wheel controls. There were some solutions to maintain said functionality, but they didn't keep all the features and they were clunky and unreliable.

One of the biggest compatibility issues was maintaining the bluetooth cell and music interface. The easiest solution was to use whatever connection was built into the replacement head unit but that often meant losing the steering wheel and voice activation controls to activate it.

In summary - yes you can make changes, but even for todays "simple" cars, it isn't as easy as rolling to best buy for a head unit and fit kit anymore.

[Ken Robb]

I suppose that one ADVANTAGE to auto manufacturers going to proprietary audio units is I notice far fewer cars with smashed windows and holes where the DIN radios were before thieves stole them. FWIW our 2014 MAZDA3 is the mid-level trim and it came stock with a pretty good BOSE system. OTOH, when I had a 2017 MAZDA3 loaner last week I learned they no longer have CD players so I would have NO music in a car like that unless I subscribed to XM. Our local FM stations offer nothing I want to hear and I'm not going to buy and load some other device.

[batman1425]

I suppose that one ADVANTAGE to auto manufacturers going to proprietary audio units is I notice far fewer cars with smashed windows and holes where the DIN radios were before thieves stole them. FWIW our 2014 MAZDA3 is the mid-level trim and it came stock with a pretty good BOSE system. OTOH, when I had a 2017 MAZDA3 loaner last week I learned they no longer have CD players so I would have NO music in a car like that unless I subscribed to XM. Our local FM stations offer nothing I want to hear and I'm not going to buy and load some other device.

The Bose in my '11 Mazda 3 wasn't too bad. Wasn't great, but I thought it was punching above it's weight given the price of the car.

[rePhil]

I think '16 was the last year for the CD player.In the bit over a year we have had it we never used the CD player. We also had 6 months of XM, but my wife prefers Pandora through her iPhone.


I suppose that one ADVANTAGE to auto manufacturers going to proprietary audio units is I notice far fewer cars with smashed windows and holes where the DIN radios were before thieves stole them. FWIW our 2014 MAZDA3 is the mid-level trim and it came stock with a pretty good BOSE system. OTOH, when I had a 2017 MAZDA3 loaner last week I learned they no longer have CD players so I would have NO music in a car like that unless I subscribed to XM. Our local FM stations offer nothing I want to hear and I'm not going to buy and load some other device.