Enlighten me: Mazda 3

This is probably not my first thread on Mazda3s.  I've searched for them in the past.  Current situation is my van is a berkeleying nightmare and I'm tired of renting cars.  Thinking about just snagging one of these and dealing with my van on a less stressful schedule.

Mazda 3 has by far the most confusing naming terminology for trims. (i, s, S, Sport, SV, Touring, Grand Touring, Premium are all possible suffixes shown on the first page of my CarGurus results)  What do they mean?  Anyone have a decoder ring?  Do any of them correspond to 2.5 vs 2.0?  Do any of them correspond to a package with/without sunroof?

Are there any weak points in the 2014-2018 generation?  I drove a 2.0 manual hatchback yesterday and it felt like a great car.  The only thing I immediately wished it had was the 2.5.  There were some minor annoyances inside but they reflect the general state of the market, not so much Mazda decisions.

Is the sunroof noisy on the 3rd gens?  Moving away from the nightmare van, 3 things I am most interested in are:  manual, sitting low, quiet.  I'd love to avoid them, but given that the 2.5/6spd/hatch combo is thin on the ground (I can count those I've found for sale on one hand and have fingers leftover), it looks like a sunroof may be hard to avoid.

Wildcard - there are places that will 2.5 Swap an NC for dirt cheap.  Will they do the same for a Mazda 3?  I'd happily buy a 2.0 then have it swapped if that were a simple ask (2.5 Skyactiv in this case, not the older Duratec)


 

As far as quiet, I can say the earlier cars 2010? with the 2.5 were anything but quiet--the culprit being tire/road noise.  I otherwise loved the car, especially the slick 6-speed manual and plentiful torque from the 2.5.  I have no experience with the newer 3, but I really hope Mazda found a way to get some more cabin insulation in the car or otherwise quiet it down.

My GF bought a 3 Sport 2.0/6MT hatch new in 2017. It's up to well over 100k miles now with no real issues. I don't mind the 2.0 - not as much torque, but it revs easily, and with the manual it's arguably more fun, though I can see the appeal of the 2.5. I think it would benefit from a small drop and new, better shocks, but that's just me. It's pleasant, though the seats don't really work especially well for me (short bottom cushion, and the headrest pushes too far forward). Easy enough to work on, and hasn't shown any real rust despite being used in NY winters from new. No sunroof, so I can't comment on that.

If you can, I'd hold out for a 2.5/6MT car. They make decent power and are a good trade-off for power and efficiency. I haven't heard anything bad about the 3rd gen cars save for the clunky infotainment system. The cars themselves are solid. I haven't heard anything about bad sunroofs at all on these. They are a lot nicer inside than the 2nd Gen cars were (I had one for 9 years) and quieter. 

Every 2.5 powered Car should have a sunroof. The 2.5 was kept at the high end of the model range form 2014-2017 

I sold these cars for all of those model years. 

Give me some time during lunch and I'll lay out everything. 

the only real thing you're looking for is a pre skyactiv X car, which should be everything Pre 2018. 

If you're looking at one with a touch screen.. make sure it's in good shape and has either been replaced already, or you are prepared to. 

the outer screen face panel delaminates and it's pretty common. 

My mom drives a 2010 2.5 6spd hatchback. It's been very useful and reliable. I think this is the longest she's kept a car in her life. The seats went from comfy, to broken, to broken in. Not the highest quality interior parts for sure. And as others have mentioned, it is not a well insulated car so you hear a lot. We've tried different tires and can't get rid of the road noise.

And she doesn't know this, but it'll spin the tires if you turn off traction control.

We've had a 2010 Mazda3 since new. It has a 2.5 & six speed trans. No sunroof. It was my wife's daily for years, spent some time as my commuter beater, and has pulled a trailer with kayaks and canoes from Maine to Key West on multiple camping trips. It spent the last ~5 years being mistreated and neglected by my daughter. It has a little over 200k miles now, and other than a clutch at ~125k when my kidlet was learning to drive a manual, it has been pretty trouble free. I think I recall replacing a leaky oil filter housing at one point - other than that, brakes, tires, fluids, etc. Oh, and it got a new dash pad under warranty. It has been sitting for the better part of the last year and the last time I started it, it had symptoms of a bad MAF/throttle position sensor/idle control (idle surging to north of 2k rpm) that I haven't investigated yet. 

I'm admittedly not sensitive to road noise, but I can't say that I ever noticed it being an issue. 

Mostly anecdotal and irrelevant since you are looking at a 2014+, but it has served our family well. 

Is there any reason to avoid an early one with the tiny tiny infotainment system?  I'd just replace with something from crutchfield.  

 to 

It looks a little janky in that its angled upward, but hard to tell where eye level is in the photo.  



 

common mazda compliants. 

needs 30 more hp

the infotainment is pretty dated

road noise

why so many sunroof options and less hard top options?

I've been eyeing a new or new to me one myself lately, this is hard to argue for the money but I need to give up the manual trans...

this is basically a cheap GR, with probably better around town mannerisms. 

it gets more affordable if you just want FWD with a manual trans but the interior options drop fast because of it. Kinda obvious to see why mazda has done so well lately. Offering things people can afford that seem much nicer and without a lot of variety they don't struggle with quality issues due to complexity. they just make good cars. 

I'll fanboy elsewhere but I know its warranted here :) 

fidelity101 said:

it gets more affordable if you just want FWD with a manual trans but the interior options drop fast because of it.

Do they?  The current gen gatekeeps the manual behind the Hatchback + Premium trim.  Lowest I can get the website to price it at is $32k

 

You can't get the manual trans with the Sport model.  Silly, it is.  

I have talked about it on here before... I really like the 3rd gen 2015 2.5 Grand Touring sedan with the auto my dad has. It drives great even with the auto, handles really well for a "non-hot" compact, has plenty of power in my opinion, interior in the GT trim is really nice, has nice features like a heads up display, lane change warning, back up cam. He doesn't have that many miles on it (I think like 50k) but it has been entirely problem free. 

What I like:

Wet clutch auto feels super responsive, and the shifts in sport mode are great. It's not PDK fast in manual mode, but it's fine, and Mazda got the shifter right, forward for downshifts, backward for upshifts unlike some other brands. GT gets you paddle shifters which I like for popping down a gear on the freeway even in auto mode. Handling, power, size, reliability, steering feel, interior quality, MPGs. It's all great. I have heard of people taking these to 400k without issue. It honestly reminds me of a FWD E36 328i in terms of handling, power, size.

What I don't like:

The seats don't work great for my bum for some reason, it feels like they need more padding on the bottoms. If it were my car, I'd add a pad or something. I will note, it seems to have something to do with my height/body type as my dad and mom do not have the issue. 

The road noise is sort of weird, it's not that it's louder than some other cars, it's just sort of odd It's like wind noise has been completely canceled, but road noise persists, so it feels sort of louder in comparison. I can't totally explain it. Certain tires seem to help. My dad replaced the OE tires with some BFG Comp 2 A/S and it seems a bit better. I believe the 4th gen is better from what I have heard, I haven't driven one.

I think it could use a little more rubber. The OE size is 215 and I would prefer 225.

That's it.

The trim names got all confusing a few years back. In the 3rd gen I think it used to be sport (base), touring (more options), and Grand Touring (top shelf). Then they added Premium above Grand Touring I think at some point. Now there is Carbon and others. I believe "i" and "s" means 2.0 and 2.5 respectively. I think SV might have been more basic than Sport, not sure. I think they had steel wheels IIRC.

The 4th gen looks nicer, but it does have a torsion beam rear suspension which is a downgrade on paper from the 3rd gen. I hear the steering is also slower. It's not as sporty from what I have heard, but is a nicer car. A youtuber named Zygrene just did a review of the 2.5 NA with the MT and liked it. He seems to know what he's talking about.

I highly recommend the 3rd gen overall. I haven't had any issues with the infotainment system. My dad's has the bigger screen one being the Grand Touring and it works fine. I have heard you can do a hack and add Apple Car Play, but my dad doesn't care and hasn't done it.

They made an update to the third gen, I think around 2019 with slightly different lights and G vectoring control. I haven't driven one but it supposedly is nice. Note, I have driven a 2.0 and found it perfectly fine as well. The MPGs are not that much better than the 2.5 on paper, but I wonder how it translates in real world. It doesn't have as much grunt, but the 2.5 sort of runs out of gas at the top, and if may have been my imagination, but it's possible the 2.0 doesn't feel quite as wheezy up top, could be that it just makes less power down low.

In reply to spacecadet (Forum Supporter) :

I'm confused, Skyactiv X was not sold in the US as far as I know. Why would that be a factor?

I had a 2008 Mazda3 GT with the 2.5 and six-speed. It was awesome. I didn't notice a road noise problem. The quirks I encountered was a squeaky clutch pedal and a door actuator that went bad - and that was it. Everything else worked well and it was fun to drive.

In reply to CyberEric :

I'm pretty sure it was starting around 2019/2020. But I may have my wires crossed. 

Ultimately the earlier cars are the most affordable option and from everything I've seen rock solid reliable in the powertrain department. 

I threw a $100 deposit on a 2016 2.5/hatch/manual on Carvana that must be a new inventory item for them - in the "inspection" process.

3g 2.0 hatch seems infinitely more available.  If a 2.5 is too hard to acquire, I'll grab a 2.0.  I'd love the power, but I can make do for a commuter.
 

SO on the infotainment and trim level side. 

the basic infotainment that doesnt have the 6 inch color screen was only offered in the first 1-2 years. I can't remember if it died off completely in 2015 or 2016. But it was relegated to the cheapest iSV and iSport trim levels 

CyberEric is correct the i models are 2.0 and the S models are 2.5. 

It might be possible to 2.5 swap a 2.0 car.. but the skyactiv motor is completely different from the MZR motors that had a ford block.. and even ford stamping on them. 

The manual transmission options were far more plentiful in the earlier years of the Mazda 3, as time has gone on.. mazda has taken away the manual transmission from more and more of the trim levels.

If the goal is a simple car with less expensive options, then you really want to go older. 

Blind spot monitoring is nice..but the sensors sit right under the bumper cover in the rear and are expensive to replace.. the feature became standard on more and more trim levels as time went on. As did the options with lasers and cameras in the windshield that increases the cost of replacing those. 

IMHO, you should be looking for a 2015/2016 era Mazda 3 with no Blind Spot warning and having the screen, FYI, some of the 2014 and 2015 cars had the screen but no backup camera. 

I had both a 2015 Mazda 6 manual and 2016 Mazda 6 automatic, the automatic is great, but I completely understand the draw of the manual transmission for the long term. It just has less question marks. 

The hatchback sold in significantly less quantity at my dealership, and was not offered in the iSV Trim, I believe it was offered in the sport trim... but I can't 100% remember. 

Ultimately.. the hatch make a lot of compromises that the sedan really doesn't. I vastly prefer the sedan over the hatch mysef because the hatch trunk area is SMALL. 

 

@TravisTheHuman, cool good luck. 

@Spacecadet, the Skyactiv X never came to the US (just did a quick google). It did come out in around those years, but was EU only. The only engine options for the 3rd gen were the skyactiv G 2.0 and 2.5. Note that these motors are not the same as the previous MZR/duratec mills in the 2nd gen despite being the same displacement. Much higher compression, better power and MPGs. I believe it was a clean sheet design from Mazda. You could get the 2.0 skyactiv in the 2nd gen for a couple of years at the end of the second gens life cycle. 

The 4th gen offers the 2.0, the 2.5 (now with 5 more hp) and the 2.5 turbo as well as AWD. 

spacecadet (Forum Supporter) said:

Ultimately.. the hatch make a lot of compromises that the sedan really doesn't. I vastly prefer the sedan over the hatch mysef because the hatch trunk area is SMALL. 

 

my in-laws have the sedan and that is exactly why they opted for it, the trunk space in the sedan is HUGE! you can fit 3 full sized stowed luggage it seems or dang close to it. seeing them eye to eye at the dealer was very easy to notice this too. 

fidelity101 said:

common mazda compliants. 

 

needs 30 more hp

the infotainment is pretty dated

road noise

why so many sunroof options and less hard top options?

 

I've been eyeing a new or new to me one myself lately, this is hard to argue for the money but I need to give up the manual trans...

this is basically a cheap GR, with probably better around town mannerisms. 

 

it gets more affordable if you just want FWD with a manual trans but the interior options drop fast because of it. Kinda obvious to see why mazda has done so well lately. Offering things people can afford that seem much nicer and without a lot of variety they don't struggle with quality issues due to complexity. they just make good cars. 

 

I'll fanboy elsewhere but I know its warranted here :) 

Before I bought my Forte GT back in 2020, I test drove one of these with FWD and the 6MT. It was extremely underwhelming and disappointing IMHO. They do lock this behind the Premium trim, and at the time, the pricing was right around $27k. It was a good looking car with a great interior, but it was not fun to drive at all. Despite having almost 30 more hp than my old 2012 Mazda3 with the 2.5/6MT, it felt much slower and handled worse. The Kia was a rocketship in comparison and just felt better. 

All that said, one of these with the 2.5T and the 6-speed automatic would be a fine daily driver. I vastly prefer the auto in these. We have the same drivetrain in our CX-50 and it's great. 

Yeah I haven't driven the 4th gen yet, but it's my belief that the 3rd gen is more of a GRM car. Better handling, lighter, sharper steering, more advanced rear suspension with more or less the same drive train as the non-turbo 4th gen. 

My parents also went for the sedan over the hatch. My mom has a history of backing into things and she didn't feel comfortable with the rearward visibility in the hatch. I like the looks of the hatch more than the sedan myself and depending on the shape of what you want to carry, the hatch might be more useable, but I agree the sedan has a huge trunk. 

spacecadet (Forum Supporter) said:

Ultimately.. the hatch make a lot of compromises that the sedan really doesn't. I vastly prefer the sedan over the hatch mysef because the hatch trunk area is SMALL. 
 

Its definitely different shaped.  And yeah, 3g and 4g have weaksauce hatch sizes.  The opening still appears to be advantageous over the sedan if you carry oddball sized stuff once in a while.

CyberEric said:

Yeah I haven't driven the 4th gen yet, but it's my belief that the 3rd gen is more of a GRM car. Better handling, lighter, sharper steering, more advanced rear suspension with more or less the same drive train as the non-turbo 4th gen. 

My parents also went for the sedan over the hatch. My mom has a history of backing into things and she didn't feel comfortable with the rearward visibility in the hatch. I like the looks of the hatch more than the sedan myself and depending on the shape of what you want to carry, the hatch might be more useable, but I agree the sedan has a huge trunk. 

3rd gen never came AWD turbo did it? is that only the 4th gen? 

I keep eyeing a mazda3 for a new rally car and run a more production based AWD class, would be fun to beat up on a subarus with an automatic transmission but good to know the rear suspension design gets cheapened up with the 4th gen just to give to the exterior department. If thats the case are all mazdas of that era the same rear end (style)? when I was under my parents 2023 CX5 it was very similar to the mazda 6s I have turned wrenches on. 

sure any of them can be converted 4wd but it becomes its a deeper rabbit hole.