is the Mazda 3 good?

Yes, the same as a Mazda 121 is a fiesta, a Skoda Fabia a VW Golf, Skoda Superb a VW Passat, Mondeo a Jaguar and Vectra a Saab !

Right, is the Mazda 3 as good to drive as the Focus?

Any opinions are likely to be subjective; best to try both yourself.

If you are thinking of getting one or the other as a second-hand buy, it might be worth considering the cost of things like service items, alternators, brake parts and so on.

If buying new, local opinions on the value (or otherwise) of respective dealers may be important!

HTH

Chris

Marvin ( snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.delete.co.uk) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

t'other way around.

Go and drive both and see what YOU think.

"Don't mean nuthin" An Astra VXR shares a heluva lot of parts with a bottom of the range Astra, but I know which one I'd rather drive round a track. (and its not an Astra!) :-)

My old chap has a Mazda 3 Sport (2.0l job) and frankly, its rubbish!

Its nearly 3 yrs old (one of the first) and done 50k:

o there are rust bubbles on the rear arches (which Mazda are refusing to fix dispite the anticorrosion warranty) o the steering is waaaaay too light and devoid of any feel whatsoever. o it eats tyres and they're a funny size = expensive. o its had numerous problems with the ABS and TC. o the stereo is worse than absolutely dreadful, a tranny radio in a bathroom sounds better. o the ride is harsh and bouncy. o has needed rear discs, and a new caliper (320quid, mazda wouldnt pay)

on the few plus points I can think of:

o the engine is sweet and keen, tho not especially fast for 140ps- my old Focus 1.8 (115ps) would just about keep up with it in a straight line, and be right past it on the twisties. o its reasonable on fuel. o the climate control works alot better than in my Xtrail!

Over 65k and 5yrs the Focus needed 3 sets of tyres and scheduled servicing. It cost around 1400 over that period. So far the mazda has cost almost 2000quid to keep it on the road.

So, in a nutshell, Mazda have engineered out *all* the qualities that make the curent Focus so great . Avoid.

Tim..

I see. Thanks.

That's the only thing that put me off a relatively new 2nd hand mazda, the price of parts. It could be said that the chances of something going wrong are pretty low, but knowing my luck, all sorts of consumables will go wrong at once, and cost a fortune.