Comments on: Hi, lets talk about cars some more (or, third times the charm?)

By: MSueS

MSueS — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 21:29:54 +0000

Stop in at cartalk.com sometime. It has everything about getting or keeping a car. I like those guys, they have a show on NPR.

By: Joel

Joel — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 21:51:22 +0000

We’ve only ever owned four cars. The first was a Mazda GLC (a hatchback) and the second was a Mazda 323 station wagon. We traded the GLC after 15 years when the floor rusted out. We sold the 323 after 14 years to the son of my colleague, it’s still on the road and they’re very happy to own it. The cars we currently own (Saturn SL2 and Pontiac Vibe) were chosen because they provide a little better crash protection, and we were anticipating Rebecca driving.

By: Netmom

Netmom — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 21:51:23 +0000

It’s kind of cute, actually, and I’ve heard decent things about Mazda reliability. However, it looks smallish… can you drive it without your head sticking out the sunroof?

By: Lynnster

Lynnster — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 21:55:59 +0000

I drove the 3 about a year ago as a rental and loved it. Been saying ever since I would be tempted to get one if I could afford a new car right now.

Most people I know that have ever had Mazdas either still have them or their kid’s driving their old one now, so they seem to me to be keepers.

I really really liked driving the 3 last year. I rent A LOT and that’s probably my favorite one I’ve had of the compacts and almost favorite one of all. I say go for it!

By: SaraJ

SaraJ — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 22:05:02 +0000

I have owned numerous Mazdas as have other people in my family. They are amazingly reliable and last forever. Certainly a wise buy. Zoom Zoom Zoom.

By: K.C.

K.C. — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 22:10:24 +0000

A good friend of mine has one and loves it. I think his is an ‘04, but he has had no complaints.

By: LeeAnn

LeeAnn — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 22:22:33 +0000

Perhaps you should rent whatever car you are thinking about buying, for a week, to see if it’s the right one for you.

By: sumgurl

sumgurl — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 22:24:12 +0000

screw cars … get a bike.

By: Susan

Susan — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 22:31:06 +0000

Everyone I’ve known who’s owned a Mazda has loved it. I say go for it.

By: Atomictumor

Atomictumor — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 22:51:11 +0000

Hey, renting the car is a good idea… I hadn’t thought of that.

By: Mrs Eaves

Mrs Eaves — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 00:26:00 +0000

I don’t know anything about the reliability of Mazdas, but I’ve liked their style for a while now. I must fall into their target market, cause the zoom zoom zoom commercials always appealed to me.
I think it’s a nice compromise between the conservative Honda and the flashy Charger.

By: Bisc

Bisc — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 00:48:15 +0000

My Impala gets 31 MPG. It looks pretty cool. Lots of room. Has a 10/100 warranty and parts don’t cost an arm and leg. Lots of pretty colors….

By: Jane

Jane — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 01:15:14 +0000

How ironic that you should mention the Mazda 3. We had one for about 2 months. My DH is 5′10 and fell in LOVE with the Mazda 3. Had every bell and whistle. We bought it and after 4 weeks he was in physical agony.

He has a long commute and for some reason just couldn’t get comfortable in the car. He even ended up switching cars with me. (I was driving a Ford Focus wagon at the time. Which I LOVED!!) Well I knew he wouldn’t last in that car for long. He is waaaay to vain to be seen in a wagon.

I didn’t mind driving the 3 although it was a bit of a pain to have a car seat in the back. It totally ruined my “hot babe in a hot car” image thing I was working on. ;-)

Anyway after four weeks we ended up trading in the 3 for a Honda Accord which we love!!

By: realtorchick

realtorchick — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 01:19:34 +0000

My friend who is a car dealer has one, and loves it.

By: Jenn

Jenn — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 01:34:21 +0000

Only because I own one do I know this…the Accord V6 is what is rated in Consumer Reports which is why it shows lower MPG. I belive my 4 cyl gets 26/32.

By: Stormare Mackee

Stormare Mackee — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 01:57:31 +0000

We’ve got a ‘02 Mazda Protege, currently 85,000 miles with nothing but oil changes. For some real zoom-zoom-zoom, check out Mazdaspeed 3, 263hp, 155mph top speed for around $22k… sweet :)

By: JennCurran

JennCurran — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 02:12:21 +0000

Great choice. Can’t beat the price, good safety results, solid little car with a lot of pep. Perfect for you and your boys, lots of fun with space in back for Pigpen, roomy cargo area too.

Hope you like how it drives. The 6 is a really fun car to tool around in. Only suggestion would be to for the manual transmission if you don’t mind a stick. Mazda manuals are just a lot of fun.

Good luck AT.

By: timsan1

timsan1 — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 02:13:05 +0000

I have come around about Mazda and dream about the RX 8. I don’t think you can go wrong here for the money. What size engine comes in the 3 vs. the 6? I like power. I have been driving around the tin bucket civic for about a year now. I want to skool somebody on the road but when I step on the gas the car sort of says “oh my god” and slips and lurches forward in a slow motion sort of way. The way I feel is that if you are going to get a car and you have to sit in it for 45 to an hour a day — get one that makes you happy. Yes, within reason, but like building a bad ass computer, give some room to grow. As for the fuel economy - they all are like 12 to 20% inflated anyway — the hybrids are worse.

By: Atomictumor

Atomictumor — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 02:15:28 +0000

Oh man, ~~Sumgurl~~ timsan1, MastaG got a transformer RX-8, and he’s been ALLLLLL about those. He begged me to get one, despite the fact that he’d have like 2 inches of legroom, and would have to carry all the luggage on his lap when we go out of town.

Edit: Sumgurl? Am I on crack?

By: The Bosphorus

The Bosphorus — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 02:56:35 +0000

I think Netmom raised the deal breaker here. Can you fit in the the thing? It cracks me up to think about you driving around w/ your head stuck out the sunroof.

By: Atomictumor

Atomictumor — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 03:05:10 +0000

It’ll need a test drive before I know for sure.

By: Holiday Grinch

Holiday Grinch — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 03:36:39 +0000

Hondas and Acuras are rock solid. Carmax is the place to buy used cars.

By: Nicole

Nicole — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 04:17:28 +0000

My husband recently bought the Mazda 3. Loves it. It’s cute, peppy, good mileage, good cargo space…and he got the manual, because it’s more fun and more fuel-efficient. I rarely get to drive it (I’m always schlepping kids about), but when I do, I enjoy it.
Renting is a great idea–test drives are just not enough to base a buy on.

By: alice

alice — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 04:42:31 +0000

I have a tan Saturn station wagon, a red Dodge pickup truck and a red Mitsubishi Eclipse.

That was everything that I know about the cars that I own — I couldn’t tell you the model years (they’re all 20th century — with one exception, I’ve never paid more than $5000 for a vehicle), so I can’t claim to know a lot about cars, but I do know it’s possible to wring a lot of miles out of an older car. (I also know that it’s a hell of a lot of fun to drive a Mitsubishi Eclipse — more fun that it shoud be, so if you’ve got a half-decent scooter, I’d probably trade you my Eclipse for it…).

By: Emma LeighWBParent

Emma LeighWBParent — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 06:08:36 +0000

A car expert friend of mine suggested I get a Mazda 3…not the station-wagony one. I love the 6, tho. Question is, I hear you’re a pretty tall guy…how’s the room in that thing?

By: Aunt Beck

Aunt Beck — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 07:29:37 +0000

We have had an Impala since 2002. I love it, and it is excellent on gas…ask your Dad, he has one as well. Glad your week is going…fairly well, all things considered, glad you went to visit the Doc, and you never know, those folks you work with probably need you lots more than you will ever know. Just be patient and kind, and you will make their journey on Earth a little more pleasant. You will be blessed for doing that. First Peter 5:7 tells us: “Cast all of your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.” God does have the master plan for your life. Love you…Aunt Bec

By: Matt Hearn

Matt Hearn — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 21:54:33 +0000

Spoiler? C’mon, man, those things just add drag.

I have the precursor to the Mazda 3, the “Protege,” which of course is nothing like the modern version. I can report that the only problem I’ve had with it is a funny issue with my shifter in which the device that prevents you from changing out of Park unless the brake is depressed fails to work. (The first time it happened I was very late for something and decided the best course of action was to rip away the plastic fascia and fiddle with it until it worked; it eventually did, but of course now any passenger in my car can see the inner workings of my shifter console.)

My wife drives an 05 Honda Accord, which we love; we basically splurged on every option, so she gets seat warmers and XM radio, and I get a V6 engine that causes the car to accelerate rapidly enough that my kidneys actually leave dents in the leather seat.

You can’t really go wrong with any major Japanese model at this point.

By: rm1024

rm1024 — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 22:05:12 +0000

Well, let’s see…..you could get something like my ‘68 Plymouth Road Runner with that bitchin hemi. It has planty of room and can get you there fast (smoke the tires from one light to the next!).

Gas milage? Who cares! I have’nt checked the price of gas since ‘63…it’s still 30 cents a gallon….right?

By: timsan1

timsan1 — Fri, 05 Jan 2007 01:14:48 +0000

I think you should get a car that is not you. Like a giant crown victoria or an excursion. Maybe a Suburban or an H3. I think it would be great fun to go the dealer and drive one of those huge beasts and when they think they have sealed the deal juts say “I don’t like the steering wheel” and then walk out. yeah.

By: KCS

KCS — Fri, 05 Jan 2007 19:12:02 +0000

I say go with the Honda. You absolutely cannot be the reliability. I’ve had four of them (have two now), and my family has several as well, and we’ve consistently done nothing but routine maintenance with pretty much zero problems. Generally a little pricier, for a reason. You’ll probably have more legroom in the Honda, too. My sister is 6′ and comfortable fits in our Civic.

The only Mazda we ever had was a 626 that was just never quite right, so I kind of lost my trust in Mazda there. My dad bought it for my sister to drive with like 35,000 miles on it, and for the 30-40k miles she drove it, it was in and out of the shop fairly regularly. Was a nice car, just very frustrating.

Good luck! You just have to go drive a bunch of stuff. What looks good on paper might not be for you once you see it in person.

By: eklektic1

eklektic1 — Sun, 28 Jan 2007 08:39:30 +0000

Help Please…..
I have a 2002 Protege5 hatchback with approx. 75M miles. The “check engine” warning light came on the other day and after checking the obvious reasons that would cause this-no dice. The light is still on! I went to a local mechanic & he said it had something to do with our “freezing weather”(for L.A. anyway) & to just let engine warm-up B/4 driving. The weather got warmer and the light went out. Fast forward several days and the Check engine light came back on & is still on. The light doesn’t blink it’s just constantly on now. I’d like to avoid the cost of taking car in to my Mazda dealer-however I can’t help but think that something is really wrong with the engine. Can anyone offer some advice or else I’ll have to take in to dealer Monday A.M. Thanks

By: Atomictumor

Atomictumor — Sun, 28 Jan 2007 20:55:11 +0000

I wish I could help you man, but I got nothing. I’d probably find a cheaper mechanic, tho.