Faults:

Transmission and steering rack gives so many problems.

General Comments:

I am very happy I sold this car. Lost almost 8 La ks from the deal. This is one of the worst second hand market cars in Sri lanka. The agent's service is so bad. Gave lots of problems in the AT transmission. Would not recommend anyone this car. Maybe this is a good car in the US, but not in Sri Lanka.

Faults:

EGR valve plugged up causing a rough idle.

Front wheel driver side bearing went.

Very weak A/C and heating.

Rust on rear wheel well.

General Comments:

First the good: the overall driving experience on this car was good. I loved the handling, and loved the 5 speed. There was more than enough power to get around, but fuel economy is not up to par with others in its class.

The interior was well designed. I never had anything go wrong with interior trim pieces or rattles.

Now the bad: this was my wife's car, and I owned a Civic, so that is my benchmark.

We live in Canada so it gets cold in the winter, and can get hot in the summer. In winter, compared with my Civic, which blows out hot air, this Mazda blew out lukewarm air. This was okay most of the time, but under -25c we would have to blast the heat full blast to keep the interior warm. In the summer the a/c was very lackluster. I'm not sure if there was something wrong with the car, but it would not blow out cold air constantly.

Warm summer days sucked driving this car.

Faults:

On third set of tires (yes, THIRD set) in 57,500 miles.

Not great on snow/ice, but much better after the first set of tires were replaced with Kumho tires. (And, I learned to put the car in Manual drive and use 2nd gear to get going after a stop sign or stop light in the snow/ice.)

Not a lot of room in back seat for rear-facing infant car seat. Otherwise, passengers in general in the back seat seem to have plenty of room.

General Comments:

I love my Mazda 3! The only things I would change would be the wheels/tires, and I would add a little more room in the back seat for child seats.

17" rims seem to wear the tires more quickly, and I can't believe I'm on my third set of tires in 57,500 miles! The second set may have lasted another 5000 miles or so, but I recently hit a HUGE pothole and cracked a rim causing a bubble in my tire. I decided to just replace all four tires, since they were close to being replaced anyway.

I was also a little disappointed in the Manual shift option. When it's switched to Manual, the car automatically drops down to first gear when the car stops. Half the fun of having a manual shift is going up AND down in gears! I don't like having the car do it for me. I rarely use it, unless it's snowing.

Faults:

THREE flat tires in two years, and I'm not a crazy driver by any means. I don't peel out with neutral starts, I don't slide turns, these tires are simply pieces of junk, and if Mazda still use these Goodyear RS-A's, I will stay away from them.

The car itself is a tank.

General Comments:

About the car itself; I have no complaints. A good balance of performance and fuel efficiency. The 2.3L engine puts out 175HP, and in this small car with stiff and low suspension, you notice the boost in power a lot.

It handles like a 2 door sports coupe, so Mazda hit the "zoom zoom" feel out of the park with this car. 2 years later I still love having the confidence to throw it into corners with little to no deceleration or body roll.

It's also built like a tank. People who say these cars aren't reliable, I don't get it, maybe I got lucky with mine. Two instances where a lesser car would have been out of commission... the first I was on the 401 highway in Toronto going about 130kms in the fast lane, as was the pickup truck in front of me. An office chair flew out of the back of the truck (moron didn't secure his stuff properly), and with a cement wall to my left and traffic to my right, I could only slow down and pray it didn't hit my windshield. It hit my front grille/bumper VERY hard, and all that happened was a golfball sized dent, barely noticeable. NO mechanical damage at all. NOT EVEN A PAINT CHIP!

Another one, was during this winter, I got caught in a snowstorm. On a turn slowing down, the back end of my car slid and I hit the front-right wheel on the curb. The same happened to my father's Toyota, it was a $600 repair. My 3? NO damage. I drove away. Everything in perfect working condition.

My only complaint is Mazda uses really lousy tires. I've had 3 flats in 2 years and I never peel out my tires. If Mazda stop using the Goodyear RS-A tires I'd buy another one. If they still use them, I'd pass.