My First New Car

In reply to spacecadet :

I've seen only one other hatch in Eternal Blue, and it was an automatic.  

The dealer tried to upsell me on the warranty but I said no dice.  The extended warranty only covered out to 7 years or so, and ended up being about $3000.  Of course, they try to sell it to you as "only" 50 bucks a month on your payment, but I can do math in my head.  Considering the factory warranty is 3/36 B2B and 5/60 powertrain, I don't see much value there.  

Yep, there was $2K in customer cash on the car, plus the dealer took another 2k off the original MSRP.  For having to transport the car from 3 hours away, and delivering it to my house.  I looked at some 2 - 3 year old 3's that were not much cheaper than that.  And my credit union has nearly free financing.  

volvoclearinghouse said:

In reply to spacecadet :

The dealer tried to upsell me on the warranty but I said no dice. 

Mazda will probably send you a welcome kit and in it will be a pamphlet about buying the warranty through them. I'd recommend talking to them.

The $3k does sound ridiculously high for a 7yr/100k warranty. I got my 7yr/125k from Ford for my ST at just over cost for $2k, and the extra 25K miles to get to 125k do cost a decent bit more over a 7yr/100k.  

These are phenomenal cars, but they are really computer intensive and if you have a software or infotainment issue after 36K miles... you're going to possibly be holding a REALLY expensive bag because there's no easily accessible tools on the DIY market to fix these electronics and software. I saw very few major warranty issues in my time at Mazda, but I did have multiple customers where the infotainment went into an infinite boot-loop. 

 

Congratulations! I really like the color. Very nice. 

Good choice, bought my mz5 new and drove it 206,000 trouble free miles. Wishing you the same!

Second fill-up, and first one tracking MPG- 35.5.  Not too shabby.  I still need to check the tire pressure.  

Me being me, the first thing I did when they dropped the 3 off in my driveway was check all the fluid levels.  

I was leaving the house the other day, and a guy in an Eternal Blue 3 and a CX-5 blew past me at like 120mph, headed East towards Baltimore.  Weird. 

volvoclearinghouse said:

Me being me, the first thing I did when they dropped the 3 off in my driveway was check all the fluid levels.  

When I bought my Silverado I found it was about 1/3 quart over on the dipstick so I drained a little out. (It takes 8 quarts).  

My younger non-car guy brother challenged me as to who checks fluids on a new car?

pinchvalve said:

I was leaving the house the other day, and a guy in an Eternal Blue 3 and a CX-5 blew past me at like 120mph, headed East towards Baltimore.  Weird. 

What time, and what roads?  The 3 could have been me.  

EDIT: Didn't see your "120 mph".  No, that wasn't me.  

Datsun310Guy said:

volvoclearinghouse said:

Me being me, the first thing I did when they dropped the 3 off in my driveway was check all the fluid levels.  

When I bought my Silverado I found it was about 1/3 quart over on the dipstick so I drained a little out. (It takes 8 quarts).  

My younger non-car guy brother challenged me as to who checks fluids on a new car?

1/3 qt over wouldn't bother me.  The engines I've seen, at the FULL mark there's a shockingly small distance of oil over the sump pickup.  And still a long way to go to the bottom of the crank.  

First thousand miles have been great!

It's really shocking how good this car is.  I guess my standards were pretty low, having driven nothing but beaters my whole life, but even compared to some other newer cars I'd driven as rentals, this is really a step above.  Steering, brakes, transmission all feel just "right".  This past week when it was 100 degrees out, the A/C kept the inside nice and chill.  Even the infotainment system, which I was wary of, became intuitive very quickly.  

So everyone at work is pretty much convinced that I was kidnaped and replaced with a different person- Mike would never buy a *new* car!

Glad to hear you're enjoying it. 

I drove old, crummy cars that needed work for years and years. The first "new" car I had was an '06 350Z in 2010, AC worked, quick, decent stereo, etc. I've only owned one car not produced in the last decade since then, and it was '90 Miata track rat. 

z31maniac said:

Glad to hear you're enjoying it. 

I drove old, crummy cars that needed work for years and years. The first "new" car I had was an '06 350Z in 2010, AC worked, quick, decent stereo, etc. I've only owned one car not produced in the last decade since then, and it was '90 Miata track rat. 

Yeah, it's really hard to motivate myself to drive anything else.  I had a short errand to run and thought about taking the old Mercedes....but....nah.  ;-)

Adjusting my driving based on the BSFC map I found online yielded a surprising gain- from my first tank of 35.5 mpg, I filled up today and got 39.2!  Same mix of driving, same roads, similar conditions.  The BSFC chart indicated the lowest fuel usage per power developed between 2000 and 2500 rpm at light throttle openings, so I tried to keep the car in that range, regardless of what the "shift indicator" was telling me.

EPA ratings can suck it.  M/T FTW!

Congrats.  Love the colour.

When my wife wanted to switch to a smaller ccar from a minivan, I test drove all of the cars that used the same platform - Ford, Volvo and Mazda (this was the last of the previous generation, a 2013). The Mazda was by far the best in terms of suspension choices and handling.

We also bought the Sport - I still fail to see why anyone would buy the sedan version of the 3, unless it was on aesthetic grounds (price is slightly more - $1K or so, so that may be it).  So much more useful in the hatchback version!

I wish they had the gauge cluster from the 2.5L models across the whole range. I don't know why but the digital tach on the 2.0L bugged me when I test drove one. Pleasant car to drive otherwise.

In reply to wspohn :

My dad bought the sedan version b/c my mom couldn’t see out the back of the hatchback. That was the only reason. I’m going to have the 3 for a month, looking forward to driving it and seeing the mileage I get vs my 63 hp Festiva!

IMO the hatch is slightly sexier, and definitely more useful.  I cannot, however, fathom why Mazda made the hatch version 6 inches shorter than the sedan.  If anything, the hatch should be longer!  I was hauling the recyclables last week, and had to put the back seats down to fit our bins- they only _just_ didn't fit with the seats upright. 

Funny, I think visibility was pretty good, at least by modern car standards (which, admittedly, are pretty low).  The rear window is a tad smallish, but not altogether un-useful as a portal. 

The digitach is...different.  But functional.  I didn't even notice the 2.5 cars had a different tach.   Needles >> Digital bars.  The tach feels like it wants to be in my old friend's 1989 Pontiac 6000.  

Nice car and nice family. You are doubly lucky.

Not much to update...over 2000 miles on the new 3 and still like to stop when I'm getting coffee in the employee breakroom, glance out the bay window, and admire her for a few seconds.

4 fillups so far have been between 35 and 39 mpg.  Not too shabby for my mix of driving.  I really like the Fuelly.com on my mobile phone.  

I did annoint the cargo area a few weeks ago, hauling some spare C6 automatic transmissions for the race car.  The black rubber mat I bought for the cargo area caught most of it, but a little puddle of ATF spilled onto the carpet.  *sigh*  Any tricks for removing ATF from carpet?

Sunday I needed some stone for a small project, and decided I'd take the '83 Benz beater rather than subject the rear springs on the 3 to 500 pounds of bagged aggregate.  After driving the 3 for so long, it was amazing the difference getting into the 240D.  The shifter felt rubbery and truck-like, the steering had comparably no directional feel, and the acceleration was....well, that's always been atrocious. 

Mrs. VCH says I'm getting spoiled by my modern car, she thinks I'm going to sell all my old crap.  We'll probably get a condo in an HOA while we're at it...send the kids to boarding school...maybe join a book club to boot.  

My mother told her the other day while we were skyping with them, "See, Mrs VCH (no, she does not really call her that, although I kindof wish she did), now that VCH (no, she does not call me that either, though I kindof wish she did) got a new car, you should get one, too."  Mrs. VCH just smiled politely and said that, no, she likes her old Suburban.  

Update:  3333 miles in a 3.

To celebrate this milestone, the 3 got a fresh tank of 87 octane this morning.  According to Fuelly, this was the best tank ever, at 39.9 mpg.  Learning how to "drive the map" (BSFC Map for this engine) seems to be paying off.  I'm also fairly certain that there is no way I'd be pulling these sorts of fuel economy numbers with the automatic- regardless of what the EPA ratings are.  

It also means ignoring the "shift indicator" in the tach.  Yesterday I did an experiment.  I was cruising at 50 mph in 5th gear, going up a long, steady, slight grade.  I flipped on the instant MPG readout and it said 29 mpg.  The shift indicator was telling me to upshift, so I put it in 6th, and after stabilizing the car's speed back to 50 mph, I noted the instant MPG was reading 21 mpg.  

Besides my obsessive behavior in checking fuel economy, nothing else really to note.  The 3 does it's job of sloshing through ~100 miles of daily driving without quibble.  It has used no measurable amount of oil, needed no work done to it, hauled recycling, transmissions, chicken food, sand bags, tools, and the two little VCH children, and been more fun to drive than I ever thought a front dragger could be.  

According to the maintenance tracker, the first oil change is due at 4500 miles.  I'll be picking up some Mobil 1 0W-20 special for the occasion.  

Nice! To be fair, that car shouldn't need anything until you are well past 100k miles on the odo other than oil changes, brakes, tires, windshield wipers. 

Which is the part of the beauty of a new car. Just get in and drive. 

volvoclearinghouse said:

In reply to Mndsm :

I test drove a Civic hatch and a diesel Cruze hatch, both with manuals. 

When the diesel Cruzes first came out they were only automatic and that turned me off to them. I didn’t know they were bringing manuals here now.

congrats on the new ride!

In reply to crankwalk :

I think the 2018 is the last year for the manny tranny Cruze, regardless of engine.  

I was talking to a guy who worked in a Chevrolet service dept and he said he's seen a lot of them in for repairs.  Common rail diesel issues.  

I love it.  I want it.  Have been eyeing these and it's what we'd be buying new, if my wife decides to buy new.  But there's a dark blue I love on a coworker's CX9 that doesn't seem to be offered on the 3.  :(

Every time I think our finances will allow me to get a 3 or a 6 something pops up. So I am still wanting and waiting for one of these. I do love both of their blues and would definitely get the sand/tan interior. 

Congrats on the new car! Also it is fun to see some pictures of Balemore, used to work in Towson.  

RedGT said:

I love it.  I want it.  Have been eyeing these and it's what we'd be buying new, if my wife decides to buy new.  But there's a dark blue I love on a coworker's CX9 that doesn't seem to be offered on the 3.  :(

The 3 is available in dark blue.  In fact, there's one still in stock near me in that color, with the 6MT.  $17k....and I'm sure you can nick that down even more (I did)

https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/detail/749651686/overview/

"Deep Crystal Blue Mica"

Still 500 or so 2018 3 hatches with the 6MT in the country, even.  Scoop one up, it's a nice car.