make sure to run all the numbers before you buy, not just the sticker, thing like insurance can cost you more than a car payment. I would have to pay $350 a month for a $9000 new Hyundai accent in insurance and $140 car payment, well for the total of $490 I could be driving an Acura or bmw for car payment + insurance, and while they wouldnt be fully loaded, neither was the hyundia.
Have you driven them? The Corolla is one of the most boring cars available, I think.
True - but I went to 3 different Mazda dealers and did not get a good feeling any any. Not so with the Toyota and Honda dealers. Bad sign for Mazda. Maybe it's just the three I went to.
See above.
Yup! It's the manual. Keep forgetting about the 5-speed automatics. :-)
"High Tech Misfit" wrote in message news:5m2oapup1u59$. snipped-for-privacy@hightech.misfit...
According to Consumer Reports, the Mazda 3 and the Corolla both have excellent reliability. The Mazda 3 also scored excellent on Customer Satisfaction, while the Corolla was "only" very good. At JD Powers neither the Mazda 3 nor the Corolla scored particularly well in "Mechanically Quality" category (slight edge to Corolla), or "Overall Quality" category (again a slight edge to Corolla). As far as JD Powers rankings were concerned it was close to a dead heat with the Corolla having slightly better Quality Ratings (but only "about average") and the Mazda having a slight advantage in the "appearance" category. Otherwise they were the same. In the JD Powers "Appeal" ratings, the Mazda 3 was third behind the Mini and Prius. The Corolla did not make the list. In the JD Powers long term dependability study (long term is only 3 years for JDP), Toyotas in general (not specifically Corollas) finished 7th (194 problems per 100 vehicles), behind Lexus, Porsche, Lincoln, Buick, and Infiniti. Mazdas in general (but not 3's specifically) were worse than average (252 problem per 100 vehicles). The highest ranked compact car in this study was the Chevrolet Prizm (isn't that a Corolla?). Corolla were not in the top three compact cars, but two other Toyotas were (Echo and Prius). In the initial quality study, Toyotas in general (but not specifically Corollas) also finished 7th (105 problems per 100 vehicles). Mazda did much worse than average (149 problems per 100 vehicles). This is only a difference of around 0.44 problems per vehicle. Not really significant. In the initial quality study, the Corolla was tied with the Civic for third in the compact car category. The Mazda 3 did not make the top 3. Over at Edmunds.com, the Mazda 3 gets a much better Customer Satisfaction Rating than the Corolla (9.4 vs. 8.4). This mirrors the Consumer Reports Customer Satisfaction Rating. So, it seems to me, that even though the Corolla is probably more reliable (but only slightly so), has better initial quality (again slightly so) and gets better gas mileage, Mazda 3 owners are happier with their choice. I wonder why?
Ed
(once again agreeing with Dizzy! And i had my head examined Tuesday!!!)
MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.