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Mazdaspeed 3...used or new?

H

hellfreeze

Golden Member
So I'm thinking about trading in my car for a Mazdaspeed 3, but I'm confused about which one...

2008 NEW...Red...$23,500
2008 USED...Silver...5,500 miles...$21,999 (I can probably talk them down a bit)

What would you guys do if you were in my shoes?
 
Theres a redesign for model year '09. Id say wait for the '09s to come out and try to get a good deal on a new '08.
 
Originally posted by: Wreckem
Theres a redesign for model year '09. Id say wait for the '09s to come out and try to get a good deal on a new '08.
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I'm kind of trying to keep the same design. I have an '07 Mazda 3 with a lot of miles because of a lot of driving I had to do.
 
Originally posted by: hellfreeze
Originally posted by: aphex
If I were in your shoes I would post it here; http://forums.anandtech.com/ca...tid=85&flcache=5077916 😉

However, to answer your question, I would go used but talk them down to 20k, their used price is too high even with low mileage. Why are they dumping it so soon?
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Supposedly the person that owned it before injured her shoulder so she had to get an automatic.
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They told you a female drove a manual transmission? And you believed them?
 
Originally posted by: mugs
Originally posted by: hellfreeze
Originally posted by: aphex
If I were in your shoes I would post it here; http://forums.anandtech.com/ca...tid=85&flcache=5077916 😉

However, to answer your question, I would go used but talk them down to 20k, their used price is too high even with low mileage. Why are they dumping it so soon?
Click to expand...

Supposedly the person that owned it before injured her shoulder so she had to get an automatic.
Click to expand...

They told you a female drove a manual transmission? And you believed them?
Click to expand...

Female tried to drive it, now he gets to buy a fried clutch.
 
Originally posted by: Wreckem
Theres a redesign for model year '09. Id say wait for the '09s to come out and try to get a good deal on a new '08.
Click to expand...

I've heard that because there was an '08.5 model, the redesign will probably come with the '10 model.

Personally, I just bought a non-speed '08.5 a few months ago and I already have 6200 miles on it. I would have loved the speed, but with the lower mileage and the requirement for premium, it wasn't worth it to me at least.
 
I know the 3 is on the sportier side of small cars but 23K sounds like a lot of $$
if it were me I want a little more sheet metal for that kind of dough..
 
Originally posted by: BUTCH1
I know the 3 is on the sportier side of small cars but 23K sounds like a lot of $$
if it were me I want a little more sheet metal for that kind of dough..
Click to expand...

This is the Mazdaspeed3, though, and I believe it compares pretty favorably performance-wise at this price point.
 
Originally posted by: yelo333
Originally posted by: BUTCH1
I know the 3 is on the sportier side of small cars but 23K sounds like a lot of $$
if it were me I want a little more sheet metal for that kind of dough..
Click to expand...

This is the Mazdaspeed3, though, and I believe it compares pretty favorably performance-wise at this price point.
Click to expand...

Oh, ok, I flipped over to Edmunds and checked it out, 263HP and 0 to 60 in 5.9
excellent performance for that price for sure..OP, might want to call your insurance
agent and get a quote for this car, if your below 30 and have a ticket or two on your
DMV report you might get hosed big time, check it out beforehand so you know the
real cost of the Ins. and payment together. Looks like it would be a complete blast to
drive!!
 
Ignore what most of these people are saying, they don't seem to know anything about the car or how insurance works.

OP - I considered buying a new or used one a couple months back. I looked into some Mazda forums and found most of the people on there were stupid teenagers trying to get more power out of the car and running into reliability problems modding it. Not a good sign.

I test drove it quite a bit as I was serious about buying, they just couldn't get to the price I wanted, and found it to be too boy racer for my tastes. The interior design was just Knight Rider meets Fast & Furious. The handling was great, although I could do with a little more suspension compliance. No leather & heated seats was a downer for me also.
That aside, the drivetrain was one of the best turbo four's I've driven. I was set on Subaru at first, but after driving an 08 WRX I was left unimpressed. The combination of the shorter gears on the MS3 and the faster spooling turbo made for a great driving experience, you didn't feel like you had to always be at 3K+ to get moving. It would pull from the bottom of 4th well, great for driving around in traffic. And the ~3000lb curb weight means you can get decent MPG if you stay out of the boost.

Aside: I'm still set on Subaru, because I don't trust the Mazdaspeed6 for long term reliability and on driving an 06 Legacy GT, I would live with that drivetrain. I'm buying a lightly modded 06 Legacy GT soon, which should be around 250-270wHP & 275-300 wTQ - should be quite the boost over a stock one and will keep me happy for a while. I hope! 🙂

Oh, and to answer your question - I would buy used, as long as it's un-modded and has factory powertrain warranty. I hate paying depreciation on new and I wouldn't own a car with this drivetrain w/out powertrain warranty.
 
Originally posted by: fbrdphreak
Ignore what most of these people are saying, they don't seem to know anything about the car or how insurance works.

OP - I considered buying a new or used one a couple months back. I looked into some Mazda forums and found most of the people on there were stupid teenagers trying to get more power out of the car and running into reliability problems modding it. Not a good sign.

I test drove it quite a bit as I was serious about buying, they just couldn't get to the price I wanted, and found it to be too boy racer for my tastes. The interior design was just Knight Rider meets Fast & Furious. The handling was great, although I could do with a little more suspension compliance. No leather & heated seats was a downer for me also.
That aside, the drivetrain was one of the best turbo four's I've driven. I was set on Subaru at first, but after driving an 08 WRX I was left unimpressed. The combination of the shorter gears on the MS3 and the faster spooling turbo made for a great driving experience, you didn't feel like you had to always be at 3K+ to get moving. It would pull from the bottom of 4th well, great for driving around in traffic. And the ~3000lb curb weight means you can get decent MPG if you stay out of the boost.

Aside: I'm still set on Subaru, because I don't trust the Mazdaspeed6 for long term reliability and on driving an 06 Legacy GT, I would live with that drivetrain. I'm buying a lightly modded 06 Legacy GT soon, which should be around 250-270wHP & 275-300 wTQ - should be quite the boost over a stock one and will keep me happy for a while. I hope! 🙂

Oh, and to answer your question - I would buy used, as long as it's un-modded and has factory powertrain warranty. I hate paying depreciation on new and I wouldn't own a car with this drivetrain w/out powertrain warranty.
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Insurance company's know the cars that are performance-oriented and also get stolen
the most, if your a 22 yr. old with a crappy driving record getting a turbo car it's still
a good idea to check it with a free quote from an agent to see what it will cost 'ya. I knew
a young girl who bought a V8 camaro and was paying $300/month for full coverage!. Not
saying OP will fall into this category but it's worth finding out now rather than after the sale..
 
Originally posted by: BUTCH1
Insurance company's know the cars that are performance-oriented and also get stolen
the most, if your a 22 yr. old with a crappy driving record getting a turbo car it's still
a good idea to check it with a free quote from an agent to see what it will cost 'ya. I knew
a young girl who bought a V8 camaro and was paying $300/month for full coverage!. Not
saying OP will fall into this category but it's worth finding out now rather than after the sale..
Click to expand...
High performance != high insurance

The insurance rates for a particular vehicle are going to be based on the averages for claims & driving records with those vehicles.

Insurance for a Corvette is relatively reasonable, but arguably one of the highest performance vehicles for the money.

Insurance for my 06 GTO was as much as a Honda Accord or Subaru Legacy. Until the prices dropped such that dumb teenagers were buying them and racing, wrecking, or speeding in them and my insurance rates started going up because of them.

Take the Subaru Impreza WRX and Legacy GT. Both have turbo engines, 227 vs 248 HP, AWD, top safety ratings, four doors. The Legacy is a bit more expensive with more features, and is larger.
Why is the Impreza much more expensive to insure? Because dumbass teenagers buy them by the boatload and race, wreck, or speed in them. Any of the Impreza's, from the 165HP econo-version to the 300HP STI, are very expensive to insure - not because some of them have turbo's or are "high performance," but because of the statistics around claims & driving records for those makes/models.

Insurance rates are also now based a good deal on your credit rating.

My $0.02
 
I'm considering buying a new (08.5) Mazdaspeed3, but insurance prices are the only thing I am unsure about. I have to get a quote from my agent. I got a great quote on it, though, it was a few hundred dollars more than invoice. The interior seemed AGES ahead of the Civic Si's, which screamed "cheap." Double the torque doesn't hurt, either. 😛
 
"Insurance rates are also now based a good deal on your credit rating. "
This is true, and a lot of people don't know about that little fact. Keep a close eye on the GTO though, it may well be one of the last
(affordable) Detroit powerhouses ever made. If I owned one I'd put a kill switch on it somewhere, you may well be driving
a future collectible ..
 
Originally posted by: BUTCH1
"Insurance rates are also now based a good deal on your credit rating. "
This is true, and a lot of people don't know about that little fact. Keep a close eye on the GTO though, it may well be one of the last
(affordable) Detroit powerhouses ever made. If I owned one I'd put a kill switch on it somewhere, you may well be driving
a future collectible ..
Click to expand...

I have the feeling the insurance rates for GTO's are ridiculously high, if he's worried about that. You can pick them up so cheap (used), and teens with 400 HP = lose. I was at a car meet the other day, and all the camaros and GTO's were doing donuts and burnouts and dangerous (in a parking lot) stuff like that.
 
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