Mazda 3 vs Hyundai i30 vs Mitsi Lancer

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#1317362 4-Jun-2015 12:52

jonb: I found that when I looked at the Mazda 2 at North Shore, the guy there seemed uninterested in selling a manual at all. Only had automatics on the forecourt and would be a special order.

June is good time to buy with Fieldays specials everywhere.

Funny, we test drove a manual Mazda 2 last week there...

jonb

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#1317367 4-Jun-2015 13:11

After reading this thread Mazda 2 manual was top of our list of new car, and we were there the week before last - strange. Got the feeling he did not want to sell anything except an automatic.

Ended up with a Polo manual for $20k, inside it feels like the next class size up, and most fuel efficient of any. With more knowledge would now probably have got the Skoda Fabia, basically the same car and price but with more gadgets and currently 5yr free servicing. Polo feels nippy enough, but anything does compared to the old 1999 Mazda Demio.

nzkiwiman

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#1317380 4-Jun-2015 13:43

Interesting to know what kind of deal you got on the Mazda 3 - and if it was a demo or new.

MikeAqua

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#1335124 1-Jul-2015 15:23

Went with a brand new SP25 Auto. Needed to finance it and Mazda had a field days special with finance at such a low rate, a used vehicle would have been more expensive overall. I decided to treat myself.

Ended up shaking hands on a little below list price with three years free service, 5 year warranty, 5 year roadside assist, waiver of ORC and waiver of extra charge for 'soul red' colour.

It is a honey of car. Plenty of power, comfortable at sensible - moderate speeds and drives like it is on rails. It has gear paddles which I don't remember on the test drive version.

I haven't driven it quickly yet. But I have had to emergency brake once and pulls up impressively fast

Looks great too.

nzkiwiman: Interesting to know what kind of deal you got on the Mazda 3 - and if it was a demo or new.

Mike

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#1335135 1-Jul-2015 15:37

have fun!

mattwnz

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#1335139 1-Jul-2015 15:41

MikeAqua: Went with a brand new SP25 Auto. Needed to finance it and Mazda had a field days special with finance at such a low rate, a used vehicle would have been more expensive overall. I decided to treat myself.

Ended up shaking hands on a little below list price with three years free service, 5 year warranty, 5 year roadside assist, waiver of ORC and waiver of extra charge for 'soul red' colour.

It is a honey of car. Plenty of power, comfortable at sensible - moderate speeds and drives like it is on rails. It has gear paddles which I don't remember on the test drive version.

I haven't driven it quickly yet. But I have had to emergency brake once and pulls up impressively fast

Looks great too.

nzkiwiman: Interesting to know what kind of deal you got on the Mazda 3 - and if it was a demo or new.

The SP25 is a very nice car to drive, especially for hill driving, as lots of power to overtake. Also has that cool heads up display. Personally I would prefer the manual, but it seems that they mainly come in autos, and the manual is also nowhere near as fuel efficient as the manual, and the autos do have the paddles for some manual control.

wasabi2k

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#1335141 1-Jul-2015 15:43

Very jealous Mike. Maybe in a few years.

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Shop now for Lenovo laptops and other devices (affiliate link).

nzkiwiman

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#1336412 3-Jul-2015 13:28

MikeAqua: Went with a brand new SP25 Auto. Needed to finance it and Mazda had a field days special with finance at such a low rate, a used vehicle would have been more expensive overall. I decided to treat myself.

Ended up shaking hands on a little below list price with three years free service, 5 year warranty, 5 year roadside assist, waiver of ORC and waiver of extra charge for 'soul red' colour.

It is a honey of car. Plenty of power, comfortable at sensible - moderate speeds and drives like it is on rails. It has gear paddles which I don't remember on the test drive version.

I haven't driven it quickly yet. But I have had to emergency brake once and pulls up impressively fast

Looks great too.

nzkiwiman: Interesting to know what kind of deal you got on the Mazda 3 - and if it was a demo or new.

Thanks for the reply
I got a GLX on the 6th, and love it

The only issues I have are that I really can't see the front of the car, so I don't really know how close I am to things.

linw

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#1336468 3-Jul-2015 14:37

nzkiwiman:
MikeAqua: Went with a brand new SP25 Auto. Needed to finance it and Mazda had a field days special with finance at such a low rate, a used vehicle would have been more expensive overall. I decided to treat myself.

Ended up shaking hands on a little below list price with three years free service, 5 year warranty, 5 year roadside assist, waiver of ORC and waiver of extra charge for 'soul red' colour.

It is a honey of car. Plenty of power, comfortable at sensible - moderate speeds and drives like it is on rails. It has gear paddles which I don't remember on the test drive version.

I haven't driven it quickly yet. But I have had to emergency brake once and pulls up impressively fast

Looks great too.

nzkiwiman: Interesting to know what kind of deal you got on the Mazda 3 - and if it was a demo or new.

Thanks for the reply
I got a GLX on the 6th, and love it

The only issues I have are that I really can't see the front of the car, so I don't really know how close I am to things.

That's what god gave you ears for!!

Actually, it is a lot worse trying to figure out how close your back bumper is to something, unless you have ultrasonic sensors of course.

lxsw20

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#1336504 3-Jul-2015 15:09

nzkiwiman:
MikeAqua: Went with a brand new SP25 Auto. Needed to finance it and Mazda had a field days special with finance at such a low rate, a used vehicle would have been more expensive overall. I decided to treat myself.

Ended up shaking hands on a little below list price with three years free service, 5 year warranty, 5 year roadside assist, waiver of ORC and waiver of extra charge for 'soul red' colour.

It is a honey of car. Plenty of power, comfortable at sensible - moderate speeds and drives like it is on rails. It has gear paddles which I don't remember on the test drive version.

I haven't driven it quickly yet. But I have had to emergency brake once and pulls up impressively fast

Looks great too.

nzkiwiman: Interesting to know what kind of deal you got on the Mazda 3 - and if it was a demo or new.

Thanks for the reply
I got a GLX on the 6th, and love it

The only issues I have are that I really can't see the front of the car, so I don't really know how close I am to things.

I had the previous Mazda 3 and had the same issue. I just turned my headlights and judged from that how close I was.

mattwnz

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#1336513 3-Jul-2015 15:29

linw:
nzkiwiman:
MikeAqua: Went with a brand new SP25 Auto. Needed to finance it and Mazda had a field days special with finance at such a low rate, a used vehicle would have been more expensive overall. I decided to treat myself.

Ended up shaking hands on a little below list price with three years free service, 5 year warranty, 5 year roadside assist, waiver of ORC and waiver of extra charge for 'soul red' colour.

It is a honey of car. Plenty of power, comfortable at sensible - moderate speeds and drives like it is on rails. It has gear paddles which I don't remember on the test drive version.

I haven't driven it quickly yet. But I have had to emergency brake once and pulls up impressively fast

Looks great too.

nzkiwiman: Interesting to know what kind of deal you got on the Mazda 3 - and if it was a demo or new.

Thanks for the reply
I got a GLX on the 6th, and love it

The only issues I have are that I really can't see the front of the car, so I don't really know how close I am to things.

That's what god gave you ears for!!

Actually, it is a lot worse trying to figure out how close your back bumper is to something, unless you have ultrasonic sensors of course.

The mazda 3 (at least the sp25 does) has rear parking sensors and a backing camera, so it is quite good for backing. Although could do with front ones. It dies have a visability probelm when seeing the front of the car, but many cars these days do. You can improve it by having the seat higher.
My big issue though with the mazda 3 is the rearview mirror, it just seems too low and obstructs the view out the left side of the widescreen. Although it can be adjusted, it can't be adjusted enough. Also only have a shared screen for radio and navigation etc is a pain, and switching between radio stations and bands is a PITA. To have to go to a menu and then a submenu isn't great to switch to AM, FM, bluetooth etc. They should really have a dedicated radio screen. Possibily part of the problem is they have tried to simplify things by removing all the buttons, and the only physical buttons for the radio frequency switching are on the steering wheel. I guess you eventually get used to it.

nzkiwiman

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#1337669 6-Jul-2015 10:24

Glad to hear its not just me who has an issue judging where the front of the car is
I find it especially hard in car parks

wasabi2k

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#1337672 6-Jul-2015 10:27

nzkiwiman: Glad to hear its not just me who has an issue judging where the front of the car is
I find it especially hard in car parks

beg/borrow some cardboard boxes and setup in a car park - then practice. Repeat.

Only way to really learn your tolerances - and much safer/less stressful than the real thing.

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#1337696 6-Jul-2015 10:51

I thought the existence of bumpers was so that you knew when to stop

Inphinity

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#1337744 6-Jul-2015 12:09

joker97: I thought the existence of bumpers was so that you knew when to stop

LOL :)

Wait... you're kidding, right?

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