Buying a Mazda3. Need advice.

[Moses]

Actually my daughter is buying one. She wants a sedan, so the hatchback and the MazdaSpeed are out.

It seems like only the Grand Touring edition is available with halogen headlights. Am I wrong. I'd hate to see her buy an expensive trim package just for the headlights, but I want her to have good visibility at night.

Any other things to keep in mind while shopping?

Thanks.

[azasadny]

Moses,

I've had a MazdaSpeed3 for over a year and my wife drives a CX-7. The CX-7 was involved in an accident (it did really well and protected the occupants) last summer and we had a Mazda3 hatchback for almost a month while our car was being repaired. We loved the car and the hatchback is very practical and is great for carting around stuff. I'd definitely get the hatchback, especially you can comfortably fit 4 adults and some bags. We are very impressed with the Mazda vehicles we have driven and would buy/lease them again!

[TGTIW]

I have a 06 hatchback. You are correct that only the Grand touring comes with the HIDs, but to be honest, throw a set of silverstars in the standard lights and she won't have any problems seeing anything. The only complaint I've had about the car is the oil filter. The 2.3s come with a cartridge filter and the 2.0s have a spin on. The cartridge plastic cap can crack the filter housing if over-torqued. It also appears that the Mazda oil light may not always indicate low or no oil and a number of people have killed engines because of this. If you are changing the oil yourself it shouldn't be a problem, but I wouldn't trust a quickie place with it.

[vash]

moses, i got the regular headlights and they are bright, very bright. i didnt get the GT model so no crazy white light for me. good for her, great car. i personally like the hatchback better.

[azasadny]

Yep, that's good advice there TGTIW. I always take our Mazdas to the local Mazda dealership for oil changes and I have been using AMSOIL 5w30 in my turbo and I'm getting 32mpg.

[Jamie79SC]

We love, Love, LOVE our Mazda 3 hatch. Plenty of room, and very fun to drive. Braking rivals the 911.

[BlueSideUp]

We had a Mazda3 hatch with Xenons and no special package. It was a factory car for one of the execs or designers here at the Socal design center before we had it so the options were probably special ordered that way. It was an '04 with automatic (the '05s got a 5 speed auto...much better), leather, xenons, rear spoiler, and without sunroof. I really liked that car a lot and my only complaint was with the 4 speed auto. In my opinion the xenons are really nice and I would try to get them, the other headlights aren't horrible though.

We ended up selling the car 8 months later for exactly what we paid for it.

[TGTIW]

I'll also add that Mazda is one of the only manufacturers that have the shifts on the "manu-matic" correct. You pull back to shift up and push forward to go down.