2012 up Skyactiv automatic.
Good, bad, ugly, trim levels, real world gas mileage, etc.
It's between this and the 2.
2012 up Skyactiv automatic.
Good, bad, ugly, trim levels, real world gas mileage, etc.
It's between this and the 2.
I had my 2012 for almost four years and averaged 32mpg combined. Never saw a shop besides oil and filter changes.
I have a 2012 2.5S, but a lot of the same things apply. Here we go:
-Dirt cheap to maintain, and parts availability is pretty good and cheap. Oil changes every 7500 miles with synthetic, plugs and air filter once in a while, and that's basically it. No timing belt or any surprises. Other basic maintenance (fluid flushes, cabin air filters, etc) of course still apply.
-Motor mounts are notorious for failing early on M/T cars, but it can happen on A/T cars too around 100k miles. They are not too expensive and pretty easy to replace. My wife's 2010 3 with the A/T has 130k+ and hers are original, so YMMV
-End links like to get loose, so plan on replacing those at some point. In fact, my rear driver's side just started making noise at 113k. Normal wear and tear, I'd say.
-Sometimes, a weld on the driver's seat frame likes to break. This is a problem with many Mazdas from the RX8 to the CX-7. There's a push washer that loosens over time that holds a metal dowel to the seat track. It falls off or gets loose and the seat will flex, and snap the weld. Solution: weld a metal washer to the dowel instead of the push nut and tack weld the part that part that snapped. A PITA, but nearly free to do if you have a welder. Both my wife's 2010 3 and my 2012 3 did this, and it was fixed in under an hour, including removing and reinstalling the seat.
-Hatchbacks have bigger front brakes than the sedans, although I'm not sure if the Skyactiv hatchbacks do. Either way, Mazdaspeed 3 brakes are a bolt-on affair.
-Rear brakes may "moan" when backing up in the damp weather. This is entirely dependent on what pads you use. The cars come with ceramics all around, and the factory ones don't do this. I've had two different sets of aftermarket ceramics do this on the back of the wife's car. I switched to semi-metallics and the problem went away. Weird.
-Two trim packages are available with the Skyactiv: Touring and Grand Touring. All will have Bluetooth stereos with audio streaming. The Grand Touring also has leather, HID's, and more gadgets. The audio streaming works well, but for some phones, the data display doesn't tell you what track is playing. I have a vent mount for my phone and run Media Monkey for a music player, so I can see track data that way. Also, the GPS on the Grand Touring is relegated to the tiny data screen, so plan on using your phone for that too even if you get one of those.
-I get 26-28mpg out of my 2.5L/6MT with mixed driving, sometimes more. That's not great, but it was better than the 21-23 on premium I got in my old WRX, so that made me happy. Skyactiv cars get near 40mpg or better.
-2012-13 Skyactiv cars have blue rings around the headlight projectors. Cars that don't are not equipped with the Skyactiv motors. They do make a non-Skyactiv 2.0 MZR (aka the older design) engine, so watch out for those. Skyactiv cars will also have a directional spoke 16" wheel, which I don't think they share with the other cars. They look like this:
NOT this (2.0 MZR Sport):
And NOT this (2.5 S Touring/Grand Touring):
Skyactiv engines look like this:
NOT this:
-Back seat is not that big. Trunk and hatch areas are pretty spacious for a small car, though.
-Ergonomics are not bad. If I can fit comfortably in one, just about anyone can! Wheel is tilt/telescopic, and seats have good adjustability. And you can actually see out of it.
-Most importantly, the cars are fun to drive, and very tossable. You'll find yourself looking to hit every apex perfectly in one of these. Back to back with other small cars, the handling and feel is excellent.
Again, I've owned my 2012 since new, and it's given me very little trouble and continues to be a great car. I highly recommend these cars.
I have a 2012 Skyactiv hatchback auto. The exact model is "i Grand Touring", the non-skyactiv ones are "s" for some reason. Grand Tourings have leather, but the HID/lane departure warning etc was a separate tech package with the Skyactivs. I didn't get that package.
My current average mileage is 32 with avg speed of 29 (commuter traffic). I saw 39-40 going 80 on the highway with AC & cruise control on.
Tires wear out kind of fast. My OEMs were about (not totally) dead at 30,000 miles, and the replacements are looking like they will last 40,000.
Front seats are not the best, although I've been in much worse also.
I have the tiny screen GPS. I find it to be fine and don't generally use my phone instead. But I also don't use more than 3-4 times a year.
Mine doesn't have a USB port for iPod or whatever. Not sure if that matters to you.
Everything else Silverfleet wrote is true as far as I know. I'm just under 50,000 miles on mine.
OEM tires wear quickly. Purchase rear toe adjuster arms/4 wheel alignment and you are good to go. Mazda stopped selling the 2 here because the 3 did better mpg/was roomier/quieter.
I'd like to also add a note about tires:
-They do wear fast. I find that the fronts on our cars wear on the inside quickly. My tire guy attributes that to aggressive factory camber settings, and to adjust that, you need camber plates. Rotate them religiously for the most longevity. I got about 35k out of my last set (Kumho Ecsta PA31). My car has Nitto Motivos on it now, and so far, so good. I've had them on for about 5K with little wear, but they are due for their first rotation.
A little clarity on trim packages:
-i SV: "el strippo" package with the MZR 2.0 and steelies with hubcaps
-i Sport: Slight step up from the SV, adds a few options, still has the MZR 2.0 and steelies with hubcaps (I think 2013 cars got the Skyactiv IIRC in this package)
-i Touring: Skyactiv 2.0, 16" alloys, and Bluetooth radio with data display on the upper dash. Cloth seats. fog lights are an option.
-i Grand Touring: Skyactiv 2.0, 16" alloys, Leather, heated seats, Nav, Bose Stereo and moon roof, optional Tech Package which had rain sensing wipers and HID's, fog lights are an option.
-S Touring: S means you get the MZR 2.5. Has fog lights, cloth seats, Bose 10 speaker Bluetooth stereo, data display, moon roof, 17x7 wheels, and hatchbacks got the aero package.
-S Grand Touring: Everything the S Touring has plus leather, heated seats, nav, and the tech package is optional. The most expensive 3.
Bought the wife a 2012 i Grand Touring non tech package car. I'ts been a great car so far, with 75k on it, all I have done to it is change the oil, unlike others here, I had no issues with the OEM tires, we got 55k on the first set. Second set is wearing great. Averaging about 35mpg overall. Still on the OEM brake pads with probably 25k left on them.
Things I like:
Things I don't like:
That's pretty much it. I'm thoroughly happy with the purchase. Though with their prices hovering around 12k used, and used Volts being in the same price bracket, I'd be tempted to go drive a Volt if most your trips are in the electric only mode's range.
Checking in with 2012 Skyactiv Touring, auto, 50k miles. We do lots of urban short trips, and get about 33mpg overall. Easy to hit 40 on the highway. Literally no issues with the car, wife loves it. I tracked it a few times too and it did fine. Definitely more fun on the street though, obviously not a car that's track ready in stock form. I would love to be able to get a larger Mazda car to replace it when we have kids, too bad we don't get Mazda6 wagon.
In reply to t25torx:
Were your OEMs the Toyos or the Bridgestones?
In reply to slowride:
They also offered Yokohamas on these. Both mine and my wife's had different, crappy Yokohamas on them. I think mine had the Avid S04's or something like that.
The third gen Mazda 3 has quite a different shaped seat compared to the first two generation cars. The steering wheel position along with the pedal position is pretty bad, at least for me.
slowride wrote: In reply to t25torx: Were your OEMs the Toyos or the Bridgestones?
Umm neither, the car came with Continentals on it, so that's what I went back with. Looking at other sites I don't see them as OEM, so not sure how mine ended up with them with only 11 miles on it.
Interesting, I had only heard of Toyos or Bridgestones.
How well does the 2.5 respond to mods? I feel like all the hatch options out there right now are either economy box speed (high 15s) or ludicrous speed (Mazdaspeed 3, Focus RS, etc). Is getting one of these into the high 14s or so easily attained?
In reply to ProDarwin:
That's a good question. The 2.5 MZR has forged internals, which makes me think that doing a non-DI turbo setup would be a possibility using some off-the-shelf Mazdaspeed 3 parts. I guess there's a very small tuning community for these, since it's probably easier just to go buy the Mazdaspeed 3. The 2.5 also has high-ish compression (9.75:1, I think) so boost would be tough without other mods. Not sure if the 2.3 DISI MZR head fits, which might help. I guess a CAI, cat-back, and a tune will net around 25-30hp, but at the cost of over $1000. I'd rather just get a MS3 motor and fuel setup and plop it in for not much more.
Bumping this to the top to see how things are holding up.
Going to look at a 2013 Mazda3 iGrand Touring Hatchback with 140k this evening.
I never got one. Wound up with another protege5, then a 2012 mazda6 instead.
However, my folks got a 15 with skyactiv and haven't had a lick of trouble in over 100k
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