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Mazda3

9314 messages,  Last post on Nov 15, 2012 at 5:26 AM

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What is this discussion about? Mazda MAZDA3, Hatchback, Sedan

    

Messages Page 914 of 932

#9130 of 9314 Owner of 2004 mazda3s by mazdarules

Jun 20, 2007 (11:13 am)

I own a 2004 mazda3s and have not had any of the problems listed above. My car has the 2.3 liter four cylinder engine. I live in very humid parts of the Midwest and the air conditioning has always been adequate (and I am a hot-natured person). Due to a disturbing situation that I had with Mazda's parent company (Ford), I do understand your frustrations about the air conditioning, though. I bought a brand new '96 Ford Contour back in the late 90's. Two years into ownership and still under warranty, the air conditioning completely stopped putting out any cool air. I took the car to three different dealerships and received nothing but totally lame excuses as to why my air conditioning was not working (one dealership said the fan speed was not set correctly and another one said the sun heats the ducts up? YEAH RIGHT!). When I called the corporate customer service line to ask for help, I was told that the company must support their dealers and there was nothing they could do to help me. I sincerely hope Mazda will take this matter seriously and not become the arrogant, deceptive, incompetent mess that their parent company has become (Ford).

#9131 of 9314 Identifying Trim Level by magicspeller

Jun 23, 2007 (11:50 pm)

Hi, everyone.
 
New user--and new owner--here.
 
Can anyone tell me how to determine whether a particular Mazda3 Sedan is an s, s Touring, or s Grand Touring model?
 
My wife and I got caught up in the excitement and bought a very nice 2006 Mazda3 today without the proper preparation. The dealer sheet and the CarFax report both identify it as a Mazda3S. However, based on the features (fantastic! It has pretty much everything but a sun roof), I suspect that it is a Touring or Grand Touring vehicle.
 
I'm just trying, after the fact, to price the car online to find out what it's worth--hoping to put my mind at ease by proving to myself that I got a good deal, I guess!
 
I can see no external identification of the model--not even an 's' or 'S'. I even tried using an online service to decode the VIN, hoping that would help, and was told by VINquery.com:
 
"This VIN decode turned out to have more than one trim level. Please select a trim level to view/print:"
 
I was given the choice of generating a report for the s, s Touring, or s Grand Touring! So I was right back where I started.
 
As far as I can tell, it is not possible to upgrade from an s to an s Grand Touring by adding options (for example, I don't seem to be able to add leather seats), but it does seem to be possible to upgrade from an s Touring to s Grand Touring.
 
Or does it matter? Is an s Grand Touring just an s with added features, or does it have unique features you cannot get by upgrading?
 
Thanks for "listening". As you can tell, I'm VERY confused. I would appreciate any help you can give me.

#9132 of 9314 Reverse research [magicspeller] by autonomous

Jun 24, 2007 (5:11 pm)

Replying to: magicspeller (Jun 23, 2007 11:50 pm)
Why not just check Edmunds site for the model? Just go to the www.edmunds.com and select New Cars and Mazda and Mazda 3 and you'll see the three "s" sedan models: sport, touring and grand touring. It would probably have been worth doing the research first, but when you're bitten by the buying bug it's hard to resist sometimes. Happy trails with your new car!

#9133 of 9314 Re: Reverse research [autonomous] by magicspeller

Jun 24, 2007 (6:00 pm)

Replying to: autonomous (Jun 24, 2007 5:11 pm)
Thanks a lot for the reply. I like the "reverse research" title.
 
I actually wasn't totally unprepared. We had test driven a Mazda3 Friday and looked at a few other cars. Saturday morning I went through the Edmunds site and printed out a stack of information on the Mazda3 and several of its competitors--which we were going to check out before we made a decision in a week or two!
 
I knew enough to tell the difference between an 'i' and an 's' model when I saw it, but even after spending quite a bit of time at the site since the purchase, I still haven't found anything that says how I can tell whether I have an s Grand Touring or an upgraded s or s Touring model.
 
Of course, it might not really matter in the end, but I'm just extremely curious to know exactly what I have!
 
And I'm becoming more and more pleased with myself for having made a great decision.

#9134 of 9314 Re: Reverse research [magicspeller] by mrblonde49

Jun 25, 2007 (11:55 am)

Replying to: magicspeller (Jun 24, 2007 6:00 pm)
Does it have leather seats? If not, it's not a Grand Touring. If so, it most likely is, but can be a Touring with a rare leather seat option (I never saw any when I was looking for mine). Also, auto climate control was only on Grand Tourings.
 
So, after that, if it is not a Grand Touring, a touring would have 17 inch wheels. A regular s would only have 16's, if I recall....
 
Touring also had standard side airbags, which were optional on the s

#9135 of 9314 THINKING OF BUYING A MAZDA 3 by smallcar1

Jul 04, 2007 (8:27 am)

I have a couple of questions. If I don't buy a GT (there are none in Aurora Blue in NYC area) can the stereo be upgraded aftermarket as the Bose is only available on the GT?
 
With an automatic transmission is the difference in MPG only a few MPG between the I and S models? I'm in NYC and my driving is a mix of stop and go (city and traffic jams) and open highway driving when I come home late at night on weekends.
 
Thanks

#9136 of 9314 Re: Feedback from 3 owners re: A/C [jankemd] by igozoomzoom

Jul 09, 2007 (11:50 pm)

Replying to: jankemd (May 24, 2007 9:23 am)
If you took the Sirius receiver out, would that solve your problem since it would free up the slot? You said you didn't use it, correct?
 
I'm sure you'd have no problem finding another Mazda3 owner who would be interesting in buying the Sirius receiver from you at a decent price.
 
And on a completely unrelated topic- I've been considering purchasing the Sirius receiver for my '06 Mazda3. I just don't want to spend the $400 the dealer charges for it. If only I knew someone who had one to sell......where might I find such a person.... =)

#9137 of 9314 Re: THINKING OF BUYING A MAZDA 3 [smallcar1] by igozoomzoom

Jul 10, 2007 (12:09 am)

Replying to: smallcar1 (Jul 04, 2007 8:27 am)
I can't give any definitive answers on the stereo question, but I know that the Mazda accessory catalog has a few options to boost stereo performance. They seem expensive, though. I'm not sure how much an aftermarket amp, speakers, etc. would help but you're pretty much stuck with the head-unit because of the design.
 
If MP3 capability matters, that is only available if you choose the 6-CD changer option. I didn't bother to learn that until after I bought mine. Not a huge issue, but worth mentioning.
 
Have you considered expanding your search beyond your immmediate area? Also, have you considered both body styles (sedan and 5-door)? When I bought my '06, I couldn't find an s Touring 4-door manual in Titanium Gray anywhere in the Southeast. I found a few Touring 5-doors with those specs and I bought one. Initially, the 5-door wasn't even a consideration but I fell in love with it very quickly.
 
Transmission- if you do a lot of stop-go driving, do yourself a HUGE favor and get the automatic. I got the manual because I lived two miles from my job at the time, but changed jobs a few months later and had a daily 56-mile commute in crawling interstate traffic (Atlanta). I have a friend with the automatic who gets better MPG than my manual in similar driving conditions. I have averaged 23.5 over the 35k miles I've owned the car and his shows 25.0 over the course of 22k miles.
 
The automatic is a great unit and the car is still very fun to drive with it. Edmunds has reviewed the automatic Mazda3 a few times as well as Motor Trend and Car and Driver. Look up those reviews if you have a chance. They all speak favorably of the automatics performance and it's manual control functionality.
 
I love my manual and luckily I recently had the chance to move to an area with much less traffic and live only a few miles from work. Life is good.
 
Good luck with your purchase. If you have any other questions, I'll do my best to answer them.

#9138 of 9314 Re: THINKING OF BUYING A MAZDA 3 [smallcar1] by zzoomp09

Jul 14, 2007 (12:11 am)

Replying to: smallcar1 (Jul 04, 2007 8:27 am)
I was in your same situation when I was looking for my 3. I want the 5dr GT 5M with at least the Bose Moonroof package and I really had a hard time looking for one.
 
Dealer suggestions would be Wayne Mazda (Wayne, NJ) and Rt 1 Sansone Mazda (Avenel, NJ). Honestly, both don't have great service but you'll definitely find a GT Manual there. Wayne has the largest inventory. Sansone has what I want (5dr GT 5M with Bose/Moonroof).
 
Aurora Blue is really hard to find. This is the best selling color variant of the 3. When I was looking for my 3, I found some on the city dealers (Manhattan and Koeppel in Woodside), but they only have the Sport models in automatic. If it was a GT Auto or Manual or if the Sport was in manual, I might have considered it. I got the Silver 5dr GT 5M.
 
If you want good customer service, try Maxon Mazda (Union, NJ) or Ramsey Mazda (Ramsey, NJ) or Mazda of Lodi (Lodi, NJ). I had great experiences with those but they just don't have what I want.
 
I don't have an experience with an automatic so I couldn't give my opinion on that one. With a mix (let's say around 40/60, 50/50/, 60/40) city/highway (NYC Traffic), you'll average around 26-29 MPG. I suggest putting in premium, you'll enjoy the sound of the S models with premium gasoline. If you'll drive mostly in NYC traffic, depending on how you accelerate, you'll average in the low 20's.
 
With NYC traffic, the manual is fine. It's really not that hard to drive it in NYC traffic. It's actually a breeze. Of course, an auto is still better in NYC stop-and-go traffic, the 3's manual is still very easy to operate.
 
Overall, even though I wasn't able to get the color that I want, I've actually gotten every other thing that I wanted in this car, with a few extras. Loving every minute driving it!

#9139 of 9314 Re: Feedback from 3 owners re: A/C [igozoomzoom] by bigfur

Jul 15, 2007 (10:44 am)

Replying to: igozoomzoom (Jul 09, 2007 11:50 pm)
If you dont want to pay those prices do what i did. Buy an aftermarket one (most have a FM transmitter) i have an 07 M3 so i use the aux input. Advantages of this set up are you can take it out if you sell the car and you can take it to another car if you go on a long trip. Also if you have a home stereo you can buy an extra part to hook up to it and listen to it in the house too. In my opinion get the aftermarket set up, its much cheaper and easier way to go.

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