Ordered this today, will be here in a week. Could I have done

>>16385275
Good purchase

It's not a bad car just a little boring to drive
one thing I noticed is that the paint is really, really thin so it scratches if something even thinks about touching the body

Depends. What options did you check?
Mazdas really take a shit in resale value even though they are really good. The general problem is rust but that shouldn't affect a new car.

The 2.0L engine is pretty boring, and I don't like the tiny tach. The 2.5L is a quite a bit beefier and has a center tach which I like.

If you just want a nice A to B car, it's perfectly fine.

>>16385275
Looks like a clownshoe, should have bought manual Impreza that isn't FWD

>>16385275
>spending 20k on an econobox
>not getting the bigger engine
shiggy diggy. should've just bought a civic for 4-5k (cad, same as our 3k civic). could've gotten a much nicer used car for the same price.

>>16385860
But those are ugly.

I assume people buy econoboxes to save money... this begs the question, why the fuck would you buy one new from the dealer? You're literally wasting thousands of dollars.

>>16385867
>should have just bough a used civic

Every. Fucking. Thread...

>Could I have done better for a new 20k econobox?
New? no. But you could have gotten a 1 or 2 year old Acura or Buick with about 10,000 miles for the same price.

>>16385892
Because everyone who buys a new econobox is an idiot.

>>16385847
>The general problem is rust
I hear this all the time, is it not enough to undercoat/rustproof and making sure to give it a good carwash when spring comes?

Not OP, but I was considering a used mazda 3 myself. Seems like a great value considering how many are out there, but I also live in Canada so it's salt everywhere.

>>16386437
Rust hasnt been an issue since like 2004
People are just spouting memes (a lot) in this thread.
Mazda3 is a great car. Even with the 2.0 its fun to drive

>>16386548
sounds great, I've pretty much narrowed down my econobox to be the mazda 3 and it really was just that "rust" issue that was holding me back.

anything's going to be better than the Elantra I occasionally borrow right now

>>16386617
just get a 3k civic.

>>16386548
>>16386437

Rust issues still show up on 2nd gen Mazda 3s, same areas. IMO, the rust issue was 1000% worse on the 1st gens.

>>16385275
Should have bought something slightly better and a couple years older for the same price.

>>16387126
Not OP
But c'mon.