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Sedans Honda Civic Honda Civic vs Mazda3
1333 messages, Last post on Jun 06, 2008 at 5:37 PM
You are in the Honda Civic Forum. Your Hosts are pat & karens
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Replying to: eldaino (Jun 13, 2007 5:25 am) I look forward to test drive the Si out. I am a manual shift guy (I haven't own an automatic in over 15 years)so it will be great. Now back to Mazda3. I have read that maintenance on that car can be expensive. I read somewhere too that its hard to find the 17" tires that fit. Normal 17" tires don't fit well with the Mazda3, is that true? Sandman, any problems with your Mazda at all? |
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Replying to: sonnyrocker (Jun 13, 2007 5:39 am) My mother in laws maintanence on her mazda 6 has been expensive, but we have some pretty crappy mazda dealers around here. But then again, i know some people who do it themselves and have no issues. Honda service is usually easy and not expensive when compared to other automakers. at least you run less of a chance of going in for unscheduled maintanence!
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Replying to: sonnyrocker (Jun 13, 2007 5:39 am) Unfortunately, most of those models are made by BMW, so the tires are expensive. 
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Replying to: eldaino (Jun 13, 2007 5:45 am) You can also use 215's with no issue. I will be ordering that size at the end of the summer because I want the Falken Ziex 512 and they don't sell 205's |
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Replying to: sonnyrocker (Jun 13, 2007 5:39 am) The last thing I remember sandman saying about the Mazda3 was that it wasn't aging that well. It had squeaks/rattles and just seemed older than it was, in general. Sandman will step-in and fill us in, I'm sure, but I didn't know when he'd be back! |
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There are some rattles that the dealer just can't locate which is a bit irritating. They had to re-swap out the rear pads and now that bad brake dust is back, worse than before. The car just feels old before its time and the wife doesn't really push it that much. She even said this will be our last Mazda. We just hit 30k on Tuesday and if we wouldn't take such a big hit on the trade and what's left of our prepaid maintainance(?), the car would be gone. Maybe it's just our particular car, it's just not aging well. But since we owe nothing on it, we'll just keep it until something really major goes wrong. This is by no means a slam on Mazda products...it's just that our experience has not been as good as we had hoped. Buy what you really like, that's the bottom line. I really think most folks do love their Mazda 3's. Just wanted to give another point of view to keep in mind. But honestly, any car can have many little problems that just ruin the owner experience. Good luck with whatever you choose and please let us know. I'd be very curious on what you end up with. The Sandman 
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Replying to: sandman46 (Jun 14, 2007 5:12 pm)
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Replying to: eldaino (Jun 15, 2007 6:46 am) Why do you think you'd take a hit on the trade? The resale value is very strong. As an example, my 2006 3s Touring (stick) with 28K miles has a Kbb trade in value of $13,235 for good and $14,175 for Excellent (mine is probably in between). Edmunds is a little lower. I paid $16,700 in October of 05. I think that's very good I understand the prepaid maintenance being an issue, though |
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Considering both the Civic EX manual coupe and the Mazda 3s GT hatch manual. I drive about 25,000 miles/year and I am looking for a fun car that is economical. I expect to own the one I buy about 5 years. Here's my feedback after test driving both on several occassions. Civic EX coupe manual -handling is fun -acceleration is good -reliability is likely better than M3 -resale will probably be better -interior is nice for the money except seats look cheap but comfortable -better tires based on forum discussion -better trunk configuration (can easily drop to golf bags in) Mazda3s GT manual -handling is more fun -did not feel a big difference in acceleration -interior is much nicer than civic (leather, Bose, etc) -did not find the pedals too close although they are close enough that I know what everyone is talking about -exterior is better looking -stability and traction control is a big plus (NH resident) -two sets of clubs requires the back seat in down position Other things I am wondering about: interior noise in the M3 hatch vs sedan do not like reading some of the things in the Mazda discussion like tranny problems, lousy tires, etc. Maybe someone can put me at ease. I would appreciate any feedback since I am very close to puchasing. Thx. |
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Replying to: ecofun (Jun 25, 2007 8:18 am) The biggest upside for the Honda is that it's a Honda, so you have a bit of an edge with reliability. Gas mileage is also going to be a bit better in the Civic. The upside for the Mazda3 is the features that come with the GT. There are definitely more toys (especially for the money compared to the Civic EX) on the GT like the leather and Bose that you stated, but also the auto xenon headlights, foglights, rain-sensing wipers, auto climate control, and sportier 17" wheels (just my opinion, though). The only complaint we have is that the A/C isn't all that strong, which is more noticeable since we're in FL. I would imagine that downside weighs very little on your decision since you're not battling 90 degree weather on a regular basis in NH. I know how hard this decision is because there isn't a clear-cut winner. My wife has an '06 Mazda3 GT automatic with the sunroof/bose package and I have an Accord, so I'm a fan of both Honda and Mazda. We looked at the same two cars for my wife that you're looking at, and we made the choice for the Mazda3 based on the reasons I mentioned. The reliability has been excellent so far after 20K miles (knock on wood). We also had a friend who hooked us up with the employee pricing so the deal we got on it made a difference; although, I think we could have received the same deal without the employee plan. As you may have already assumed, my vote is slightly in favor of the Mazda3, but either car would have made us happy.
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