any ATOT mazda 3 owners/club/etc? heh..

[DanTMWTMP]

Some of you remember my previous thread where I was seriously considering that VW Rabbit. Well, the Rabbit right now in So. Cal is marked up like insane. I would love a hatch, but I fell in love w/ the mazda 3 when I test drove it. It handles really well, and has plenty of power.


17810 before tax and licensing fees..

it was around ~19400 OTD
not the bestest awesomest of deals, but ok i guess.

ya ya yya i got auto shat up lol. don't go "u got auto? you sux!!111"
I deal with a ton of traffic, and i'm a real n00b @ manual, and I have a very short attention span .

I suppose you can check out specs here:
http://www.mazdausa.com/MusaWeb/display...eParameter=modelsSpecs&vehicleCode=M3S.
The only options available were the moonroof and the side airbags (which my car does not have).. I just chose a car from the lot (base 3 s sport). I came in hoping to get a Mazda 3i w/ galaxy gray. They didn't have a 3i for galaxy gray, so they sold me the 3s galaxy gray for the same sticker price as the 3i they had on the lot. Not a bad I guess. I donno what the sticker is in other places around US.

I got the "galaxy gray mica" color (same one as above link @ mazdausa's site)

Since I was a first time car buyer, they initially put my APR to 8.99 WTF. The guy said "no one in the face of this planet will offer you anything below 7.5." After 3 hours of just bitching @ the dude, I got it down to 6.99 arg. My credit is 738. So ya, I financed it for 48 months, and had to listen to his talk about security systems in the car and all that jazz.. I think I said "no" 50 times. The car salesman was pretty cool, just that this bastard finance guy was an a55hole.

I want to refinance elsewhere... any other banks/unions u guys can think of that can land me an awesome APR?


Anyways, ya, it's not the "best spanking deal" out there, but it's ok. Just hope I can find the right bank/credit union that can give me a killer APR.


Pics of the car will come soon enough. Anyways, I know NFS4 has a nice 3 hatch.
we don't have an ATOT compact car club do we? . jk

howabout a Mazda fanboy club? heh.

Anyways, flame me for not getting the best deal, but I really needed a car fast (was bussing to work).



Impressions:
pro's:
pretty nice interior, nice placement of the auxillary plug (for my future ipod/zune..fishing around until hot deal pops ups ).

handling!!! woa! car is very stable @ high-speed turns.

plenty of power. 2.3 engine is definitely no slouch.

Can hit freeway speeds pretty quickly. Passing power is great. I can go from 40-70 mph pretty quickly.

fit-finish, although obviously not as good as toyota's, is really nice. The gaps are even, and everything is all in place nicely.


cons:
pretty high tire noises @ around 60-70 mph.

sometimes, the release button on the parking brake makes noises @ freeway speeds due to some vibration



EDIT:
PICS!!!
http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/DanTMWTMP/mazda3.jpg
http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/DanTMWTMP/mazda3-1.jpg
http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/DanTMWTMP/mazda3-2.jpg
http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/DanTMWTMP/mazda3-3.jpg
http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/DanTMWTMP/mazda3-4.jpg

 

[RossMAN]

http://www.mazdafanclub.com/

 

[DanTMWTMP]

Originally posted by: RossMAN
http://www.mazdafanclub.com/

hmm cool thanks! I recognize a few AT member names there, so hopefully I'll feel welcome there.

 

[DanTMWTMP]

updated w/ pics...

 

[HiTek21]

Nice car, I drove the hatchback for a little while as a rental car. I was expecting a slow acceleration but I was pleasantly surprised at how quick it goes and it handled quite well.

I didn't care for that auto manual shifter the car had (not sure if yours has it too)

How much did you put for a down payment and how much for the monthly

 

[NFS4]

http://www.mazda3forums.com

Far and away the best site on the web for the 3

 

[DanTMWTMP]

Originally posted by: NFS4
http://www.mazda3forums.com

Far and away the best site on the web for the 3

alright cool thanks! I need to tint the windows. I plan on to keep this thing stock.

Originally posted by: HiTek21
Nice car, I drove the hatchback for a little while as a rental car. I was expecting a slow acceleration but I was pleasantly surprised at how quick it goes and it handled quite well.

I didn't care for that auto manual shifter the car had (not sure if yours has it too)

How much did you put for a down payment and how much for the monthly

ya, mine came w/ that tiptronic thing too. $2k down, $418/mo. for 48 months.
6.99 apr (boo! but i'm a first-time new-car buyer). I'm looking to refinance elsewhere very soon.

 

[moks78]

Nice car. My kid drives the older model...06 Mazda 3S. I drive it too when it's the house. Nice handling and plenty of power. The manual tranny is smooth and not too sensitive as compared to my old acura integra. :camera:

 

[HiTek21]

Originally posted by: DanTMWTMP

Originally posted by: NFS4
http://www.mazda3forums.com

Far and away the best site on the web for the 3

alright cool thanks! I need to tint the windows. I plan on to keep this thing stock.

Originally posted by: HiTek21
Nice car, I drove the hatchback for a little while as a rental car. I was expecting a slow acceleration but I was pleasantly surprised at how quick it goes and it handled quite well.

I didn't care for that auto manual shifter the car had (not sure if yours has it too)

How much did you put for a down payment and how much for the monthly

ya, mine came w/ that tiptronic thing too. $2k down, $418/mo. for 48 months.
6.99 apr (boo! but i'm a first-time new-car buyer). I'm looking to refinance elsewhere very soon.

I'm looking to buy a new truck soon. I'm another first time buyer so I'm probably looking at similar rates/payments too.

 

[DanTMWTMP]

ohhh dude it's hitek21... james' friend! haha sup.

anyways, ya, the dealer will be total asswipes and start at 8.99 APR. Do not concentrate on monthlies. They'll keep throwing "monthly payment" numbers at you. screw those numbers. They make their money off the APR. They gave me 8.99 to start, and I was so mad. I didn't leave the room until they put it to 6.99. that son of a biatch. salesperson gives you the price of the car. He'll generally be the cool guy. The financing arseholes are true arseholes of car dealerships. I wanted to kick the guy.

Also, ignore their 60 month financing bullcrap. They'll say "oh, you can always pay the $420/month, but let's say you have a month where you're cutting it, then you have a lesser payment to fall back on..." BS BS BS BS. Don't fall for that stupid trick.
If possible go for 48 month financing or lower, and BE STERN about it. They will, for sure, will not shut up about the damn 60/72 month financing options, since they make more money from that, and overall, you obviously pay more in the end.


but ya, i'm sure you guys already knew that. I had to learn that crap the hard way after listenning to loads of BS from loads of dealerships, hehehe.

 

[pray4mojo]

I bought my 06 Mazda6i from Puente Hills Mazda too!
~16K OTD

 

[HiTek21]

Originally posted by: DanTMWTMP
ohhh dude it's hitek21... james' friend! haha sup.

anyways, ya, the dealer will be total asswipes and start at 8.99 APR. Do not concentrate on monthlies. They'll keep throwing "monthly payment" numbers at you. screw those numbers. They make their money off the APR. They gave me 8.99 to start, and I was so mad. I didn't leave the room until they put it to 6.99. that son of a biatch. salesperson gives you the price of the car. He'll generally be the cool guy. The financing arseholes are true arseholes of car dealerships. I wanted to kick the guy.

Also, ignore their 60 month financing bullcrap. They'll say "oh, you can always pay the $420/month, but let's say you have a month where you're cutting it, then you have a lesser payment to fall back on..." BS BS BS BS. Don't fall for that stupid trick.
If possible go for 48 month financing or lower, and BE STERN about it. They will, for sure, will not shut up about the damn 60/72 month financing options, since they make more money from that, and overall, you obviously pay more in the end.


but ya, i'm sure you guys already knew that. I had to learn that crap the hard way after listenning to loads of BS from loads of dealerships, hehehe.

James told me you were looking at buying a Civic or a Scion tC. He told me the other day you bought the Mazda 3 but he thought it was the hatchback. Can't go wrong with any of those cars.

I'm not good with sales people. They'll probably have me paying top dollar if I do the deal myself. I don't really know what to expect as a first time buyer, I want to go through a credit union but I don't know if I can get a better rate.

 

[OVerLoRDI]

Nice looking car. I was considering getting one of those then I stumbled across a 1995 bmw 540i for 9500. Bought that machine and haven't looked back. Needed some work but about 1k and a few saturday mornings the car is in excellent working condition.

 

[randomlinh]

nice, and welcome to the club. And if you think the stock RSA's are loud... heh, they're nothing compared to the summer tires I had (BFG KDW2's).

Oh, another vote for the mazda3forums.