Is the 1st gen mazda3 just a ford in a japanese dress or are

>>16724172
S grand touring with a manual or dont bother.

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>>16724172
Good shitbox to dd

get manuel though, makes it more enjoyable

And try to find a 2.3, a bit more powerful

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>>16724172
The 3 is a mazda.
Excellent car.

>>16724186
Any common problems? Seen a few things on non taiwanese cartoon porn forums about engine mounts and wonky suspensions

Element car but keeping it over 4k drain the tank. Using as dd for about two years already.

>>16724172
Oh yeah, 2007.5+ model years were given revised suspension tuning to minimise understeer and you can tell.

>>16724204
My sister had a 09 for 100k miles and had zero issues.

>>16724172
It's basically a "premium" econobox, definitely better than the equivalent Civics, Camrys and so on.

>>16724204
Engine mounts will go eventually, but theres no serious achilles heels to these cars aside from rust, which is very visible and doesn't just pop up in a moment.

Mines been perfectly rleiable so far, 2007.5 2.3L manual @ ~180,000km's

>>16724204
The rear engine mount goes bad quick. I replaced mine with a poly insert. $30 and 5 minutes of work. Problem solved.
So far ive replaced: alternator, struts, thermostat, coolant sensor, and fixed a wiring issues for the maf.
All of which are normal for my milage (166k).
The wiring is an issue with the bend just before the maf. IF it happens, you just peel back the insulation and reconnect the wire. Easy fix.

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The first gen 3 has absolutely awful rust problems. I don't know how it is if you live in a warm climate, but all the ones I see here look close to pic related.

>>16724253
Just stop moron.
This was only an issue in a few of the first 2 years.
And only an issue in rust prone places

>>16724253
Live in texas so not too much of a concern. Only rusty vehicles i ever see are 20 yeard old jeeps that spent alot of time on the beach or yankee immigrants cars

>>16724172
just got rid of my 2004 w/ 176k mi
still ran ok, but had rust problems

>>16724253
>same filename again

Why do you hate mazda so much?

>>16724274
Because a Mazda 3 driver splashed waster on me while I was waiting for my bus

>>16724262

Ok so they corrected the problem after the first two years? I didn't know that. No need to get triggered, queerlord.

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>>16724284

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>>16724296

>>16724292

>He said something negative about my favorite shitbox, he must ride the bus

So much asshurt in this thread.

>>16724311

>>16724284
Meant to quote this nigga. My bad.

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>>16724317
/o/ gets very defensive over shitboxes

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I had a purple one, 08, first car. I loved that car, had a autobox transmission, had some pep to it, never had and real problems with, then on night on my drive home. The highway was pitch black and i run over a fucking metal bumber. Goes through the rad, and messed up front suspention and possibly into the block

>>16724323
It's a two-sided coin honestly. Shitbox owners get hyper-defensive, others get unnecessarily aggressive

>>16724172
it's the other way round brah.

>>16724193
is that miles or km?

>>16724472
Miles

>>16724193
Bretty gud. Did you put the majority of those miles on?

>>16724502
Not me. Guy on the forums did it

>>16724186
>>16724193
>>16724213
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>>16724253
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>>16724330
Thanks brahs first time i got a non shitpost response on /o/

>>16724262
>This was only an issue in a few of the first 2 years.
i wish

I'm going to wash all the salt residue off my 2009 soon then I'm going to take a bunch of pictures for advice on how to fix it (rust underneath and especially on suspension)

>>16724204
My buddy has an 07, we've replaced the ac blower motor and the thermostat

>>16724801
Salt will get ANY car.
Thats not a mazda specific issue.
We are talking about the ones that rusted without salt. Which was the first couple years

>>16724292
Maybe after facelift, because my 2006 got rusty rear wheel arches

>>16726766
My dealer told me it got fixed with 2008-2009 when they stopped using recycled materials or whatever for the steel but I can't find a legit source online about it.

people saying that it got fixed after only a couple years are just being really hopeful or lucky because there's no way Mazda could have noticed AND adjusted their production that quickly.

2nd gen and above would be the safe bet since that's when Mazda extended their rust protection warranty (at least here in Canada)