I had that problem with my 2004 Mazda3. I traded it in on a 2014 Mazda3 5-door. I’ve been very happy with it - I’ve always been pleased with how they drive. The styling on the new one is much more sedate, though. I say it’s my first ‘grown-up’ car.
Then maybe you shouldn’t let the cats have access to the EJECT button.
I’ve had three, I had a 1973 Mazda 808 which was a rotary. It was my first car and I bought it used for $400 in the mid80s. I could never get parts and it was always overheating. Lemon.
I had a Protege 5 which was a great little car for city driving and weekend fun; I sold it to a friend when I moved overseas.
Now, I have a CX-5 and it’s the best car I’ve ever had.
Better that than the machine guns.
My neighbor got the small SUV a few years ago and had a tinge of regret in that it was under-powered but likes it otherwise. I guess they have since added some additional HP to that particular model.
I have a 2009 Mazda 6. It has done 39,000 kilometres - approx 25,000 miles. I put $50 worth of petrol (gas) in every three months. It costs me more in servicing than it does to drive.
Lovely car to drive and really has hardly been used at all. I had it serviced during the week and the guy told me I needed to take it for a long drive to give the battery a full charge.
I’m onto my second Mazda 3. I’d still be driving my first if it hadn’t been rear ended by someone not paying enough attention to the fact that I was stopped. Those brake lights should’ve given her a hint I think.
I still miss that little car. It was less than four years old and I cried when I had to say goodbye to it.
I’ve rented a lot of cars, and a lot of luxury cars and a lot of SUV’s. My favorite recent rental was a Mazda CX5 - just a perfect small SUV. After driving it, I really wanted to buy one. Maybe I need to start a Flagon’s Go Fund Me page. 
Anyway, back in the 90’s I ran a busy independent auto repair shop for a couple years. It was in a college town, and we saw a lot of cars with high mileage. After being there a year or so, I was smacked in the face with a realization: among our customers’ cars with Really Freakin’ High Mileage, Mazdas seem to be way overrepresented.
So one night I combed through our database, and sure enough, the higher the mileage of the car, the more likely it was to be a Mazda.
Sampling error? Maybe. OK, undoubtedly - the only Mercedes we ever saw belonged to the landlord, for instance - but still.
Thanks for that. The only reason I’m even considering a Hyundai is that they’ve apparently taken a quantum leap this year in interior finishes. I happened to see a woman in the parking lot of a local grocery sitting in her CX-5, and after assuring her I wasn’t a mugger, she rolled down the window and then spent five minutes gushing over the vehicle. It’s a strong contender.
That’s exactly what I went through before buying my first Mazda3 – talking to a woman in a parking lot with one who was happy to take all the time I wanted to explain what a wonderful car it is. She had a hatch, though I went with the sedan.
A heads up for CX-5 owners–there’s a recall out (Mazda Recall# 9216B) for an issue with the fuel filler pipe–possible rupture due to a collision. According to my dealership they’re in the process of notifying owners. They didn’t provide a date as to when repairs will become available.
The recall notice or the collision?
We’re under the wire on this one. The recall applies to CX-5s “manufactured June 27, 2013, to February 2, 2016.” We bought ours on June 23, 2013 (though I have no idea how long before that it was manufactured).
Of course, this probably means there’s something else that will go horribly, horribly wrong that doesn’t impact anyone else.
I’ve had several RX7s over the years, both first and second generations. Loved them. Owned a Protégé, had it for 8 years and it never have me a single problem. I currently own a 1985 RX7 gsl-se that runs and looks perfect and our daily driver is a Mazda 9, which is perhaps the best vehicle I’ve ever owned. It seats 7 and will flat out get out of its own way. Zoom zoom zoom
A 2008 RX-8 broke my heart. I loved that car, which I’d bought new, but I had to get rid of it with both time and mileage left on the original warranty because it started randomly stalling…in gear, at speed, for no apparent reason. It seems that it was a known issue to everyone except Mazda, who repeatedly threw their hands up in the air because they couldn’t reproduce the problem. When they said, “there’s something you can try, but it’s not covered under the warranty and will cost you $200” – after the third time I’d had to tow it to a dealership – I got rid of it.
I believe that Mazdas are generally very good cars, and I think my problems were directly related to the rotary engine, but it’s been almost 5 years and I’m still not sure if I’d buy another one. Not because I got one bad car, but because of Mazda’s attitude about the whole thing.
(Although I recently had a frustrating experience with Nissan, so I’m starting to wonder if maybe all car manufacturers are simply cheap assholes who don’t want to take responsibility for anything…)
One of my first go fast rides was in my neighbor’s 85 RX-7. Wine red leather interior, and red exterior. Loved that car.
I came within a hair’s breadth of buying a loaded 2006 Mazda 6 wagon but ended up with the Subaru Legacy. AWD beat leather seats, barely.
I bought a 2004 Mazda3 5-door w/65kmiles on Ebay in about 2008 or 2009 for a hair under $10k. I put down a deposit, bought a one-way ticket to Florida, inspected the car and completed the transaction. While driving it home, I ran out of gas. Ahem.
That was the only time it left me stranded on the roadside. Once, a couple years ago and on one of the five coldest days of the year, the battery died. I don’t count that as a stranding since I was at home and it really was brutally cold and the previous owner had installed an aftermarket batt anyhow. I bought and installed the new battery and no problems there since.
Sure, I’ve had to replace a motor mount and some suspension stuff but, overall, this has been a great little car during the 7 years and 60k miles I’ve owned it. I would set off on a cross-country trip tomorrow without question if the need came up. I’ll be getting something newer in the next year and the CX5 is way up there on the shortlist. However, I am not ruling out another '3.
Another Mazda to love. Their newest concept car, the RX-Vision. Gorgeous, IMO.
I’ve got a Mazda 2*, bought new about eight years ago. I don’t think it’s available in the States, which is a pity, as it’s a wonderful small car. I was sold as soon as I slipped into it. Everything fell to hand immediately, from the shift knob to the HVAC controls. I’m a touch over six foot, and I fit into the driver’s seat like it was made for me. There have been no maintenance problems - all I’ve done is changed worn tires, oil changes, that sort of thing. It’s still got the original light bulbs!
My wife has an MX-5/Miata hardtop; it was her dream car, and the car didn’t disappoint. It’s a little tight for me, and I should look into the mods mentioned upthread.
*That’s a newer version than what I’ve got, but mine looks substantially the same.
It’s rebadged as the Scion iA.