Faults:

No problems yet.

General Comments:

YEEEEEHAWWWW!!! If I could use only one "word" to describe this mini-missile.

Phenomenally fast car!

Out handles most cars on the road except exotics.

Slick sporty interior with well bolstered seats.

The stiff sport suspension is a tad rough when bumps are encountered.

Requires premium fuel, but averages 23 MPG even with spirited driving.

Utility with the spacious hatchback is supreme for a Sport compact (this car's official classification).

Did I say fast? 0 - 60 in well under 6 seconds with a quarter-mile ET of around 14 seconds, achieved by nearly all of the major car magazines.

The only other disadvantage is that it is a speeding ticket waiting to happen.

Faults:

Within the first 2 months of owning the car, it died on the expressway. It eventually died on me, again while driving on the expressway.

When the air conditioning was on, the RPM would flutter and almost go down to zero. The car almost stalled numerous times. I took the car in and they had to redo the computer system on the car because the air conditioner was taking away juice from the engine. I previously had a '98 Dodge Stratus (which I bought in 2002), and it never died on me, until I purchased this car.

General Comments:

The car was good on gas.

It is impossible for the average Joe to change the oil; Mazda has a plastic protector with a hole to get at the oil filter, but the filter is not by the hole and it is impossible to use a wrench to take off the filter. I had to cut a bigger hole in order to do my own oil changes.

The car is a dog on the road. Car came equipped with Autostick and I had to shift the car down to 3rd gear in order to pass someone on the expressway. A horse has more pickup than this car.

The seats are not comfortable. I sat in the back and tried to sleep and couldn't because my back hurt so bad from the seats. Even other guests in the car mentioned the same thing.

No leg room in the back. This car should only be a 2 seater.

Trunk is small.

Headrests in the back seat cause trouble seeing out the back of the car.

I would not recommend anyone buy this car. After having it 9 months, I decided to trade it in and go back to an American made car. If you want comfort and reliability buy a Dodge. That is what I ended up doing.