[bluntman]

I would like to thank the members and moderators of this forum for their support of one another and all of the useful information that they've all shared.

I am happy to say that I've just ordered my Titanium Grey GT Sport with leather, auto, air conditioning and a moonroof. Unfortunately, the estimated time of delivery is February to March. Thanks to the thread in this forum, I was able to avoid the right dealers and pick one of the better ones, Avante Mazda of Toronto. As stated in that thread the sales people were a joy to deal with. I took out a Sport for a test drive in the morning and I literally had goosebumps all over my arms while behind the wheel and a smile that I just couldn't get off of my face! After returning the demo and speaking to the saleman (Alex Mow) and Eddie the sales manager I found out that out of their allotment for the month a very small percentage (3 cars) came equipped with leather. After talking it over with my family I returned to Avante a couple of hours later where to my shock the dealership was full of people looking at the Mazda 3, where in the morning there were none! Luckily, I was able to get my name on one of their leather clad 3s, the Titianium Grey! My first choice was orange, but that was the first of the February shipment to go, the grey was mine and the last one was a silver.

Again, I would just like to thank the people who frequent this forum and make it a great source of information and support for other Mazda 3 owners! Now the hard part begins, the waiting.

At least it will give me time to think about the mods that I would like to do to the car. Already on the list are new summer rims and rubber, a nice (premium) tint from FX Auto (again, thanks for the suggestion from this forum) and hopefully a new Alpine headunit (one of the newly announced ones that integrate with my iPod).

EDIT: Thread title :twisted:

 

[2k1_bug]

WTTB!

Hope you will get your car soon.. it's a great car.. sure you will love it.

As for mods.. tint is a must! but you gonna have to wait for the springs to be available before putting on the bigger wheels.. and for the aftermarket steore HU.. it will be a challenge coz you'll have to custom make a faceplate for the console. But a lot of the ppl on this board are trying it... so you can check for info in the future.

I've yet to see an Orange Sport GT on the street.. it's nice.. but.. not for me

Post pics of your ride once you get it! :wink:

 

[dinu01]

bluntman: You're welcome! Glad to see we could help (and tat we have another TO memner onboard)

I will move this thread to the "I just got my Mazda3" section and we can continue there.

Congrats!

 

[bluntman]

Thanks for the warm welcomes! I was debating which forum to post my message in, either the "I Just Got My Mazda 3" forum or the "Canada" forum. Seeing that I only ordered my 3, I chose on the side of caution and chose "Canada".

I was just so impressed on how the car drove. I loved how quiet the interior was and was really surprised how well the suspension handled. I was expecting a rather harsh ride because of the sporty nature of the 3, but minor potholes were barely distinguishable.

The only things I have to get used to are the position of the speedometer needle and the somewhat lack of room around the accelerator. I've never been in a car where the 0 km/h mark is at 6 o'clock, usually it's at the 9 o'clock position. Because of this difference I found myself going over the speed limit quite often.

The toe room around the accelerator was kind of tight; maybe it was due to the boots that I was wearing at the time. Hopefully with more time I can find a more comfortable position.

It's going to be tough giving up my previous vehicle, a loaded 97 Toyota RAV4; it can be seen here:
http://rav4world.com/gallery/gallery0text/f2.html

will be a challenge coz you'll have to custom make a faceplate for the console.

Hopefully, by the time Alpine releases the iPod compatible HUs a company would have released a nice looking faceplate for OUR 3s.

 

[dinu01]

The only things I have to get used to are the position of the speedometer needle and the somewhat lack of room around the accelerator. I've never been in a car where the 0 km/h mark is at 6 o'clock, usually it's at the 9 o'clock position. Because of this difference I found myself going over the speed limit quite often.

I had the same issue while test driving it. That and the fact that it's so quiet compared to the PRO!

 

[dakaye]

Is that deal still on where you get an XBox if you buy a car?

 

[cowtown]

Yeah you gotta avoid big boots to be sure.

 

[bluntman]

Unfortunately, the XBox promo ended January 3rd or 5th.

Fortunately, the dealer just called me this afternoon and told me that an orange (my second colour choice) HB with all of the options that I wanted was available locally and that I can pick it up in 7 to 10 business days if I was interested.

Hell yeah!

 

[Absinthe]

Congrats! Post some pics when you pick it up

 

[bluntman]

This car is awesome. Since I picked it up Saturday afternoon I've already put 325km on the odometer, about half of which was on the highway.

I took in today to have the windows tinted at FX Auto (as suggested people in this forum) with their premium film @ 35% all around.

I also picked up a stubby antenna for the Honda Element/S2000, again, as suggested by people in this forum. What's nice about this antenna is that it is a thick, somewhat, flexible rubber antenna (no inuendos please) instead of the thinner ones that I've been used to seeing.

My last purchase of the day was the cargo net, which I could have used on the weekend on my visit to Costco.

Also visited a couple of stores for some possible future purchases (rims and tires and some audio upgrades). One word, expensive!

 

[dinu01]

Glad to hear we helped you out.

How much did FX charge?

 

[bluntman]

They gave me the "Protege Club" discount and charged me $287.50 (taxes included) for the Premium 35% tint.

 

[dinu01]

Ok price - they charge extra for HBs b/c of the triangular rear window

 

[spicoli]

Congrats Bluntman.....you'll be happy to know you got yours before me, the dealer screwed up getting my plates on time, so I am stuck waiting until tomorrow(Tuesday).
BTW, where is FX located? and how do you get the protege discount? I'm definately going with the tint.
Cheers

 

[jintegra]

BTW, where is FX located?

Thought I would post the link to FX Auto (used to bring my old car there for rust proofing).
http://www.fxauto.com/contact.htm
This would be something I'll be looking into as well after I get my car later this year.

bluntman,
Any pics? Also any price on the stubby, & where did you get it?

 

[bluntman]

BTW, where is FX located? and how do you get the protege discount?

FX is right across from the Markville Town Centre (11 Heritage Road). They apply rustproofing, leather and vinyl protection and paint protection (sound familiar?) as well sell tints for residential/commercial windows. It's strange, because Wayne Terranova (the owner, I think) said:

"What price did I quote you? The club price right?"

I said yes and knocked off a few dollars. So tell him you were quoted the Protege Club price. :wink:

Any pics? Also any price on the stubby, & where did you get it?

None just yet, I'm waiting for a nice day. However, I bought the (Element / S2000) stubby from Number 7 Honda in Woodbridge for $35 -ish. If I remember correctly, it's about 6" long.

 

[bluntman]

FWIW, here are a couple of photos of the antennas that I've bought. The first one is the 3.5" black aluminum antenna that I bought off of eBay.

The second one is a 7" antenna I bought from Honda for an Element / S2000.

 

[bluntman]

 

[bluntman]

Surprisingly the tires are the same size as stock tires (205/50r17) on 17x7 rims. I couldn't tell a difference in ride quality or comfort.

 

[n1smo]

Nice rims! What is the offset? +48?