2005 Mazda 3i, yay or nay?

[sciwizam]

I'm looking at used cars and one that popped up in my price range is a 2005 Mazda 3i with 84000 miles on it, with the dealer asking $8500 for it. How are Mazda's for reliability and safety? I'm looking at driving this thing for maybe 6-7 more years. I'm reading that with the side impact crashes this car fairs poorly. Should I bite or keep looking?

 

[CurseTheSky]

Kinda high mileage for a car you plan to keep for 6-7 years.

Mazda's tend to be a little more on the sporty or prestigious side, similar to upscale Hondas (Accord) or Nissans (Altima). For around $10k or under, I'd look at a 2006-2007 Ford Fusion with the I4 and ~50k miles, or a Ford Focus.

 

[Zivic]

keep looking. I have a 97 protege which I really like (my beater), but I have driven the mazda3 and do not like them nearly as much....

I would get a focus or fusion

 

[zCypher]

The 3 drives really well, but I think that's a bit high mileage/price. However I have driven the Fusion as well and given the choice in the same price range I'd definitely go for a Fusion over a Mazda 3. I wasn't overly impressed with the Focus, but it does give the 3 a run for its money.

 

[sdifox]

Where are you located? If winter is an issue be aware that Mazda seems to rust more.

 

[MiataNC]

If memory serves...The 2005 Mazda3 with the 4-speed automatic transmission had some reported problems.

Based on your brief description the price you list is between trade-in and retail. Not horrible, but not great either.

 

[soulcougher73]

If you live in a hot humid area in the summer i would not buy it. I had one and its a known issue that the A/C sucks in the Mazda 3. Hopefully by now its fixed on the newer models but i know the first few years it was bad. I live in KS and i could drive for an hour after getting off of work during the summer and the car would not cool down that is how bad it was. I took it in many times for that but nothign they would do. The mazda 3 forum thinks it was a compresser that was too small or cycled too fast or something like that. Anyways i got rid of it and took the hit after 1 year of ownership. Gots to have good A/C here in KS in the summer 🙂

 

[Throckmorton]

Do people really pay $8500 for cars with 85k miles now? I've been looking at used cars on Craigslist and the asking prices are all insane... When did depreciation stop happening?

 

[ElFenix]

the 3i auto has the same drive train as the focus. should be the same reliability for the expensive parts.

85k is a lot of miles.