Faults:

Nothing Major, but many small, annoying things that are hard to pinpoint. All of them just add up to mar the overall appeal of the car. I should mention that all these have been present since new, and aren't a result of abuse or wear.

- Vibrations at ~50mph+ despite having had the wheels balanced.

- Dash creaks when I go around a sharp corner

- Drivers door mirror 'jiggles' so image isn't clear

- clunking sound from the rear under hard braking from low speed

- clunking sound from the front sometimes when shifting.

General Comments:

This car does have very sharp handling, the steering response is incredibly precise, the suspension isn't bad though a little soft, and the brakes are very good.

The engine isn't particularly impressive, and the odd gear ratios cause the car to never feel like it's happy to be driven with enthusiasm. Second gear, for example, is tall and the car feels disappointingly gutless until around 3500rpm, but shortly after that, you feel like you should shift because the engine doesn't sound or feel smooth at higher revs.

I certainly had expected this car to feel quicker considering it's a small sedan with a 2.3 liter engine. I can honestly say it feels very similar in terms of power to some 1.6 liter cars I've driven, with ~30-40 less horsepower. That brings me to another point, 160 horsepower from a 2.3 liter engine isn't particularly impressive, compared to what other Japanese automakers are achieving. The MPG is quite poor too, I've averaged 22mpg combined since getting the car. If it had better performance, this wouldn't be an issue, but since it feels slow and uses a lot of gas (comparatively), it's again disappointing.

The car's exterior looks pretty sharp, the 2006 model's factory alloy wheels are among the nicest looking factory alloys I've seen on any car, and the factory side sills complete the look nicely.

One low point about the exterior is the paint, it's very prone to scratching and chipping, although the same can be said about many new cars which now have to use the new paints for environmental reasons.

The interior is surprisingly good at first glance for a car in this price range, the seats are manually adjustable and comfortable, and most of the controls are well laid out. There's masses of headroom, I expect almost any height driver could get comfortable in this car.

I have only two complaints about the interior, firstly the textured plastic used for much of it can be easily, and permanently scratched with a fingernail, quickly marring it's appearance. Second, the backlit gauges are very hard to read while wearing sunglasses, and the LCD information panel is impossible to read with them on.

The ride isn't particularly great, it's noisy on all, but the smoothest of road surfaces, and the car is affected quite badly by crosswinds. It's comfortable enough however, and I think it could take longer journeys in stride quite happily.

Overall I'm sad to say that I've grown disappointed with this car, it's simply not as good as I'd hoped in the areas which are important to me, while surpassing my needs in areas I don't care so much about. If performance isn't among your top priorities, and a rattle, squeak, or vibration here and there aren't things that will bug you, I'd highly recommend this car. If you're seeking near perfection in terms of build quality (as some might say is justified with a brand new car), I don't feel this car quite has it.

I wasn't expecting outstanding quality, but for a new car it had more minor issues than I would have hoped.

It really all depends on your needs, and your standards/expectations.

Faults:

Nothing.

General Comments:

The Mazda3 provides the physical embodiment of what the French describe as the joy of living. The Mazda3 is a sheer pleasure in everyday driving, yielding even greater exhilaration when driven well with bravado. You would need to pay $20K more to get a car that handled better than the Mazda3, or even as well. This is almost the most fun that you can have with your clothes on. Well close anyway.

I have about 12K miles on my Mazda3 GT sedan, and loving every minute. This car is a superb value, crammed with worthwhile content that you just will not find with competitive entry-level economy cars. A perennial overachiever in a compact class full of diminished expectations. I cannot wipe the silly grin off my face when I’m driving this car.

The build quality is impeccable with even body gaps, and seamless paint. Interior and exterior styling provides the visual equivalent of the driving experience on steroids. The only gaffs in the interior are the flimsy sunvisors and cheap carpeting that look more at home on an entry-level compact car. Wait; this IS an entry-level compact car, but the point is that these are the only pedestrian pieces of the package. I honestly felt that these parts should have been upgraded in GT trim.

Amid all of the rich content such the bi-xenon lights, rain-sensing wipers, and tire pressure monitors, Mazda forgot a power trunk release which I felt was a curious omission.

If given the choice I would have passed on the red-orange dash backlighting which is a blatant pander to a silly BMW tradition. The red illumination is distracting on a BMW and it is no better on the Mazda.

Emulating BMW chassis dynamics on the other hand is all good and this is where the Mazda shines. Dialed in and direct with great brakes that provide loads of feedback.

The only other parts bin error lay with the choice of OEM rubber. The Mazda3 is shod with Goodyear Eagle RS-A tires that are simply dreadful. Short-lived and loud with marginal grip and ‘watch out’ performance on wet surfaces.

The Bose audio system is merely adequate, not exhibiting the same luster of the driving experience. For the bloated brand premium that Bose seems to think they bring to the party, it is all hype.

One piece of advice that I would offer strongly to any prospective purchaser is to avoid the entry-level ‘i’ in favor of the ‘s’ or ‘GT’ variants where you can get the car optioned out with inflatable curtains for side impact protection. The side pillars of this and any other compact car are far too close to the occupants to deform sufficiently in a side impact before occupants begin impacting hard surfaces with sad result. The inflatable curtains offer cheap insurance at the end of the day. Do not buy this or any compact without them.

Reliability of the car has been outstanding. I have not been back to the dealership since I bought this car. The Volvo S80 T6 that I traded in was 2.5 times the price of the Mazda and was never out of the shop for two contiguous months. Fact is that I spent more in repair orders over four years for the Volvo than the purchase price of the Mazda.

All-in-all, an unreserved recommendation that yields dividends every day you get behind the wheel.

Zoom, zoom.

Here, here.