Faults:

Not a heck of a lot. The ABS sensors need attention at my last MOT, and an exhaust bracket. Brakes have a bit of vibration and will need attention soon. Climate control is still ice cold, but was re-gassed before I bought the car.

General Comments:

A stylish family car, the Mazda 3 looks very nice for what it is. I also opted for the Tamura model as it is well equipped. The car looks very smart in red with original Mazda alloy wheels.

Good looks continue inside with stylish dashboard. Seats are very comfortable. Ride is a bit firm, but the car has a sporty feel. It's a shame the 1.6 petrol engine isn't up to much performance wise. But it is economical enough and I wanted petrol after hearing horror stories about the diesel engine reliability in these cars.

Sharp handling and good visibility, the car is good to use daily. I always get out feeling fine after short or long journeys, the car is easy to drive

Basically the Mazda 3 is a perfect all round car, reliable and economical to run with good looks and decent to drive.

Faults:

Brakes and suspension seem to wear out earlier than expected, but just basic wear and tear. No major faults. Air con is not as great as it used to be. Timing belt and servicing carried out as per guide. Some small rust spots here and there.

General Comments:

Bought this as a run about for work and leisure. Good looking in white with the alloy wheels, sport model gets lots of equipment. Heated seats are a God send on winter mornings!

To drive the Mazda 3 is not the most exciting, but was surprisingly sharp in the handling department. Will not win any races, but the 1.6 turbo diesel pulled fast enough, while doing about 60 MPG. Cannot say fairer than that.

This is the last of the older shaped Mazda 3's (2009 on-wards model) before they changed to the newer shape, which is slightly better looking in my opinion.

Interior is a little cramped, but is well laid out and comfortable. Overall it is a decent modern car. My only concern is the surface rust - at only 7 years old, I find this unacceptable as I have had older cars with no rust whatsoever. Looking through the reviews on here and elsewhere, this seems to be common for Mazda unfortunately.

Faults:

Nothing, I only owned it for 2 hours!

General Comments:

This is a short review... because... I only owned the car for about an hour! I looked for a car to replace my trusty Nissan Primera 2000 GXE which I had owned for 17 years (see my review of it on this site). I headed straight for the Mazdas, and also, the same dealer where I had bought the Primera. After hearing great stories of reliability, performance, cornering etc, I took one for a test drive, kinda liked it, rather than loved it. I was not too sold on that Dolphin smiley face, but initially it seemed to drive well, was reasonably comfortable and economical, and was priced really well for a New Zealand new car with low km and a service history.

However, things took an unexpected turn when I took it on the motorway, when suddenly a load "shusshing" noise cut across the cabin. What had happened? Thinking I'd lost a tyre, I slowed down and went into the inside lane. No, I hadn't lost a tyre, it was just the road surface that had changed to a coarser surface! I've been driving over that same patch of road for many years, and never noticed it. The other thing I quickly noticed, was that I could hear the whoosh of traffic passing me, particularly trucks, and that began to give me a fright. From then on, every truck that passed me was accompanied by a loud "roar". Why had I never noticed the noise of traffic passing me before? I can only guess that not only is the sound suppression poor on the suspension, but the general sound insulation on the car in general is poor as well. Maybe they use thin glass as well? I don't know. I can only guess it's done to save money and/or keep the weight down to keep the fuel consumption down.

Anyway, I returned the test drive car to the dealer, and, thinking I could get used to the noise over time, purchased it to be delivered in a few days time.

In the intervening time before picking it up, I read owners reviews that the road noise issue is a common issue with these cars, and there's little you can do about it. Gulp. I really hope I can get used to it, I've just bought this car!!

After picking it up, I drove across some road works were they were relaying a section of road with coarse, volcanic chip, where the stones were loose and hadn't yet set into the tar. The noise was incredible, the stone chips bounced and resonated around the wheel wells. Gee, I bet there's no acoustic lining around the wheel wells either to soak up the sound of stone chips! So I did a 180 degree turn and took it back; there's no way I could live with the road noise. Full marks to the car dealers, they gave me my money back no questions asked; they didn't want me to have a car I wasn't happy with.