Same. I picked up a 2015 in August and got a $1000 incentive plus a very generous trade on the piece of shit I traded in. No regrets whatsoever. Manual transmission was a requirement for me and I really like Mazda’s gearbox. It’s okay in the 2.0 L but really fun with the 2.5 L.
Not mine. 2015 Mazda3 S 5-Door GT. Hofu, Japan.
I bought a new Mazda Protege in 2002. At the time, it was top choice in its class, great on fuel efficiency and reliability, and was basically a Honda without paying extra just for the Honda name.
It was a great car… Until it was parked and totaled by a drunk driver in 2015.
In 2015, Toyota sold the most new cars in Australia, with Mazda coming second–206,000 to 114,000, something like 27 per cent of new car sales between the two.
A few years back, I* was looking to buy a car: I’d enjoyed driving a little Toyota Echo (little, zippy, a big change from the previous car), so we started off looking at a Toyota Yaris, which was the Echo’s replacement in the Toyota line.
Booooooring. Nearly fell asleep driving it. And it felt cheap too–all plastic and rattly.
So we moved on to the Mazda dealership, and test drove a 2. Immediately fell in love with it; bright and lively, and the build quality felt much better. About $1000 more than the Yaris, but it came with things as standard that the Yaris would have charged extra for.
I kept it for a few years and, when my perfect dream MX-5 (Miata) came along, I traded it in on that, and that’s what I’m driving now. Meanwhile my husband bought a 2 of his own, so we’re entirely Mazda.
At times I’ve had to drive the work vehicles–first, a Toyota Aurion and then a Toyota Corolla. They were both as bland as the Yaris, just bigger and heavier. Especially the Aurion–that thing handled like a sedated manatee.
I’m honestly surprised that Mazda doesn’t have more of a share of the Australian market. Our three cars have all been ultra-reliable, the fittings are still in great shape, no niggling rattles or squeaks to annoy when you’re driving, good fuel economy… and, five years after buying it, I still love driving my MX-5.
*My car really but, in theory at least, one that both of us would be comfortable driving.
Got a CX-5 back in October and love it. My 1st Mazda.
However I was, and still am, very annoyed to discover the recommended oil change frequency is 5,000 miles. This is not 1985, and I think this is way out of whack.
Repost of one that just disappeared in midpost:
The '67 was totaled after 4 months in a rear end crash in which a Pontiac pushed me into a Lincoln which suffered a scratched trunk ornament. My aunt was my insurance agent and she made sure it was “totaled”.
The '68 served me well and got me to most of the states east of the Mississippi but the '69 included several (Federally-required) safety features such as whiplash restraints, so I ate the depreciation and traded for a pillarless hardtop, vs. the 4-door sedan.
The '70 was my last Toyota (a 4dr sedan), had more new safety features, and cost $2800.(I’m in traffic safety.) I covered more of eastern USA in that and kept it for 85k miles, until its timing chain broke. I sold it to a neighbor (car parts/mechanic) for $500. Prices for new ones had risen over those 10 years and I got “patriotic” and bought the used '81 Ford Escort wagon, then the '95 Escort wagon and the '89 Dodge K sedan, then the 2000 Focus wagon, trading the latter 2 in on the Mazda 5.
I know when I bought my 87 323 a lot of people asked me about the rotary engine it supposedly had. And that continued for several years.
That Mazda = rotary engines (which are unreliable, gas guzzlers, etc.) perception really hurt the brand. And based on the above, it still does.
The CR reviews I check (for sub to compact models) generally rate them a notch below the equivalent Toyotas and such. And since they aren’t significantly cheaper to make the loss in quality a good trade-off, there’s not much market interest in them. (Hyundai manages to fill that niche.)
(But apparently Toyota is happy enough with Mazdas. The new Scion iA and Yaris are rebranded Mazda 2s.)