Bought a new daily driver today
 

I bought a 2008 Mazda 3 5 spd hatch for $500 under invoice (touring option).

The dealer gave me $1500 for my absolutely destroyed 325is (rotted out, trashed interior, lots of rust, needs rear calipers, exh, rear subframe/trailing arm bushings, dented hood, no foglights etc...219k very hard miles!) and the 2008 Mazda3 touring for $500 under invoice. I put an additional 3 grand down and received 0% financing for 36 months.

The car is Aurora blue, 5 spd of course. Touring package means 17" wheels, 6 disc changer, traction control, sunroof/moonroof and satellite radio ready.

The sale sticker on the car's windshield said $19,450. I got it for $17,400 plus the 1500 for the BMW so it was $17,100 out the door after all said and done (not including the 3,000 down payment). So I'm financing ~$12,900 + tax.

Pics coming later. Do I like the car? Absolutely. It's very practical and sporty enough for a daily driver. In all honesty, zero automobiles outside of air cooled porsches make my heart race, but this is as good as it will get for my daily.

I will miss the faithful bimmer. I bought that one over 6 years ago with under 75k on it. If it hadn't rusted/rotted out so much, I'd likely have stuck with her til 250 or even 300k miles.

Its seems everyone who has those Mazada 3s are very happy with them.

I've had my 2007 MazdaSpeed3 since 2/07, have 22k on the odometer and have enjoyed every minute of it!

Its no E30.

i only have 3500 miles on my MS3.

i like it alot. i admit, i dont love it. i miss my 4x4 truck, i guess.

Drop the coin to have them install the speed3 exhaust (it'll stay under warranty) and run a ground wire to the electric throttle body (it's poorly grounded) and it'll become a different car. In fact, run a full ground wire system ($50, $60) all around with some ricer octopus grounding system and be happy.

That's a good deal in return for a trashed BMW.

Excellent choice reliability wise...Just put fuel and some oil and go.

I picked up an 06 3 a month ago. Could not find a 5 door which I like better.

Fun little cars. Driven "normally" I'm getting close to 30 from the 2.3.

Figure it'll make a good 1st car for the daughter to learn on in 7 years.

I love my Mazda 3, and further kudos to Mazda for currently being the ONLY manufacturer the has the shift pattern correct on their manu-matic transmission. Pull back to shift up, push forward to shift down. Even Porsche has it wrong on their new PDK.

Excellent cars, hope you enjoy yours!