Mazda 3 fastback owners

Petelock · 7 May 2016 at 21:00

Hi,

I'm mightily considering a petrol 2.0 Mazda 3 fastback, likely the se-l grade.

Mazda currently has a 3 year 0% interest finance offer with 0 deposit. My plan is to buy it out after the lease expires.

Aside from test driving, I thought it would be good to get some feedback from any owners. If you happen to have the hatchback version, I'd still be interested to hear.

Seems a fun car and I can get one new for £16637 or £15007 for an she grade. Seems a legit deal......?

Phoenix211 · 7 May 2016 at 22:36

I'm interested in these too! Had a test drive and it was nice, bit slow on the oomph but nice equipment. Shame we done have the new version that has epb and sunroof.

muon · 8 May 2016 at 17:43

I have the Sport Nav 165 Hatchback, so I think the only thing I don't have as standard is the Lane Assist. The cars in all 4 grades are very well specced imo.

A well handling car with no turbo but enough torque and power for a standard hatchback. The lack of a turbo comes at the cost of low end torque for the petrol but power is very linear.

The 120ps 2.0 engine that you are looking at has the exact same torque as mine but is limited at the top end (hence the lower 120ps vs 165ps). But the reality is that it makes no difference in real world driving as torque is all that matters for most people and you will rarely be going far above 4k revs.

http://www.automobile-catalog.com/curve/2014/1919495/mazda_3_2_0_skyactiv-g_120.html
http://www.automobile-catalog.com/curve/2015/1919525/mazda_3_2_0_skyactiv-g_165_i-eloop.html

Only negatives I've found is the noise in the cabin can be quite annoying. The other thing you will be avoiding with the SE-L grade is the harsher ride from 18" rims, so I do get complaints sometimes from passengers, however, as a driver it feels sharper on the road.

I bought almost 2 years ago now <19k with pearlescent paint (inclusive of broker fees in Sep 14). Depreciation has been worse than I expected though, with the residual value likely to be around £12k when it is 2 years old.

A small point is that what you are looking at is a hire purchase rather than a lease.

Petelock · 9 May 2016 at 08:58

Hi both,

Thanks for the feedback - helpful!

Muon, is your version that with the skyactiv engine/chassis?

Fair point on the HP, but as I say I will be buying after the 36 months so see it as 3 year interest free credit

I'm gonna book in a test drive to see what I think and I did see a sport nav version new for £16495 from a local dealer. Crazy price so if it's still available it may bare consideration.

blairw · 9 May 2016 at 11:03

I have one, the Sport Nav - got it on 0% down, 0% APR as I needed the deposit money to go towards a house purchase.
It is a really nice car, good to drive but nothing inspiring. I have changed job now and have the option of a company car or allowance. The allowance is covering my car payment at the moment but I would prefer to change over to a plug in hybrid merc on the company car scheme if possible. Unfortunately I am a bit upside down when it comes to equity in the car due to the 0% down, 0% APR so would need to pay a bit more than i'd like to settle the finance! That's shortsightedness for you!

muon · 9 May 2016 at 19:52

Petelock said:
Hi both,

Thanks for the feedback - helpful!

Muon, is your version that with the skyactiv engine/chassis?

Yeh, its the 2014/2015 model. Has the ieloop system as well which works pretty well. I don't think it improves economy that much though.

Scrutinize · 9 May 2016 at 23:01

Always worth checking out Romford Mazda as they usually have solid deals on the top spec pre reg delivery mile cars + v low apr. Saved 30% on my 6 Sport 175 auto last year and they had the same savings on the 3 sport at that time.

Petelock · 10 May 2016 at 10:38

Nice. Thanks for the heads up. I have a pretty good deal lined up with Masters Mazda, but I've dropped Romford a message to see if they can better it! 0% apr right now is really helpful with the pcp program Mazda offers.

I have a test drive booked in for Friday btw, so hopefully I'm still invested after a spin

blairw · 10 May 2016 at 16:26

It needs worked pretty hard in my opinion but on the whole it is a fairly enjoyable car - looks good as well imo

Petelock · 13 May 2016 at 23:19

Had my test drive and enjoyed the car. Gonna go for it!

Now I just need to get shot of a 9 year old Nissan micra on eBay/Friday ad!

rodenal · 13 May 2016 at 23:31

Take it you have checked the same car on drivethedeal and or broadspeed? It's the same car, access to the same finance packages (so your 0% in this case) but potentially with a significant purchase price discount

Edit - looks a similar purchase price, £15.8k

Petelock · 14 May 2016 at 07:31

I ran a deal via car wow and used that as the basis of my negotiations. Got an se-l grade with metallic paint for £16,800. Not too far to go pick it up.

Petelock · 8 Jun 2016 at 21:04

Picked up the car on Monday. Not had a chance for a decent drive yet, but loving it from the time I've been behind the wheel so far. I'll get the d750 out for some shots on the weekend.

Matthew.M · 8 Jun 2016 at 21:27

I must have missed this thread. I have the hatchback 2.0 SE-L.

I posted my thoughts here previously.

That's a pretty good deal - I paid slightly less for my hatchback but that was a year ago now and I didn't go for metallic. I've since done 32k trouble free miles. Enjoy!