Learn me Mazda Skyactiv

Going to look at a Gen 2 Mazda 3 with the 2.0 skyactiv engine. It has 178,000 miles on it but the price is right and the body and interior look good. And it's a 6 speed. 
 

I haven't come across any concerns with these engines or the Mazda 3 in general (I'm in the southwest, rust is not a concern).  Am I missing anything?
 

This would be a daily driver for the next few years and I would likely take it to ~230k or so before a replacement becomes viable. Give me your thoughts please 

They seem to like building carbon in the intake because they have eight discrete intake ports, so lots of surface area for it to collect, but it's not as bad as the old first generation GDI cars that would have the valve working in a jellymould of crud in the port.

I've only seen one engine failure and that was due to maintenance failure.  Turns out, engines need oil in them.

I know they were direct injection but hadn't come across it as an issue yet. Good to know. I didn't have my old MS3 long enough to have this issue but I'm aware of what it entails. I can borrow a blaster to clean up the ports if needed. 

In the Miata application, they build up a certain amount of carbon and then stop. I don't know the mechanism but it doesn't seem to be cause for concern. 

I don't have any advice to offer, but I can give you a bump in case anyone here missed your question.

Thanks Colin!

Is it possible I have gone so far into normal person car land that no one knows about these? I didn't think that was possible around here

My folks bought one brand new in 2015 or 16 or so. Sitting on about 160,000 now. Hasn't needed a damn thing other than brakes tires and oil changes. It has been a solid car for them and I wouldn't hesitate to get in it right now and drive it anywhere. I think the reason you're not seeing many responses is these things are about as reliable as gravity and simple as a claw hammer

The underside is pretty much the same as the 1st gen, there's not much goes wrong.  The Skyactive motors don't seem to have any great problems, only thing I've heard of really is fuel pump failures, but I wouldn't say it was a huge issue (possibly something to be aware of though, with those miles).   I've replaced a lot of stuff on my 1st gen, but that's the state of the roads down here.

I don't know how different the first generation Skyactiv 2.0 is from the second generation, but the second generation motors are proving to be extremely stout.

I did a ton of (over)-analysis when considering a new SUV, and we ended up with a Mazda CX-30 (2.4 liter). I did research earlier generations of the Skyactiv engine and the only issue appeared to be an oil-consumption problem that affected one or two model years. It was traced to a bad batch of valve stem seals, a recall was issued, which solved it. So unless the car you're looking at wasn't taken in for the fix, you should be good to go.

This is all great news. Hopefully the rest of the car is as nice as described

I think the reason there hasn't been much comment here is that nobody has any experience fixing these as they just don't break.  That's about as good a recommendation as can be had around here. 

Keith Tanner said:

In the Miata application, they build up a certain amount of carbon and then stop. I don't know the mechanism but it doesn't seem to be cause for concern. 

Exactly... they seem to self limit, which is good.

The fact that this is the worst one can say is a pretty good indicator.

The rest of the car... I live where Mazdas dissolve before they have major issues, but the rear shock mounts fail everywhere.  Easy repair and the parts are commonplace now.

I've had my 2013 3 hatch Skyactiv w/ 6 speed for a little over a year and 25k miles now. I got it at 188k, will turn 213k this week.

RF strut was ccompletely blown. They were original, and replaced with Koni Special Actives which have been great. 

It doesn't burn a noticeable amount of oil.

It needs a clutch. It frequently shudders from a stop, and sometimes will slip then grab when engaging after an upshift. I think it's been abused. It never offers to slip in high gear, so I've just kept on trucking.

Sway bar end links are a little loose, and are clunking now.

It needs motor mounts. I've read that they're a common problem.

It left me stranded once when a coil pack went out. It went into limp mode and would barely make it off the road into a parking lot.

I do mostly highway, 40 min each way to work. It's averaged 35mpg. It hates short trips, and needs to be HOT. It takes at least 20+ minutes on the highway to achieve max fuel efficiency. Trips shorter than 20-25min will get 28-30 mpg, even with easy highway driving. I did a 650 mile round trip recently and it got nearly 41mpg on that trip.

I needed something for work, and I think the 3s drive and ride much better than a Corolla or Civic.

In reply to Laserface :

Thanks for the response! This is really relevant for me, I have a similar use case  

This will be a commuter for me ~30 mins each way plus much longer drives for work a few times a month. 
 

Parts seems to really cheap which is encouraging too. I DIY everything and it all looks really approachable. 

Oh one thing that's a bit disappointing (on the 2.4L at least) is the rather low mileage. I can't complain though since I knew that going in. The 2L is better but I don't know by how much. Just throwing that out there in case it matters.

In reply to kb58 :

Mileage is a bonus but not a deciding factor. There's a 2.5L hatch in a similar price range that I'm considering as well. 
 

I had a Fiesta ST slip away but that's on my list too. 

For what it's worth, my wife is on her second Mazda 6; the first one was totaled at approximately 85k when a guy ran a red light and hit the car. The current Mazda 6 is nearly at 100k.

Both cars have performed flawlessly and have not needed any significant repair. The engines have been great. I understand that <100k is still sort of low-mileage, but I certainly wouldn't hesitate to buy another.