[Kazbaeden]

So... why exactly is it that cheap? Any thoughts?

 

[vartex]

i have no idea...well first off that dealership is in champions, a very prestigous neighborhood in spring, tx. thats where they play the shell houston open. so pretty much, everyone is rich and maybe they go out and buy the more expensive cars. i guess they just want to attract those kids right out of college who live there, and what better way then to put a decent car at a cheap price. (this way they still look a little classy)

another reason is because toyota is the number 1 selling car here. cant compete with the corolla. (i still have no clue why people would chose that crap over 3 or 6)

another reason...the dealer knows its a good car and just wants to be a nice guy and let people own luxury for cheap.

btw, that price i listed also includes automatic transmission...

 

[cowtown]

It's probably the competition as vartex said. Some areas will be more agressive than others if they're trying to increase market share. Or they could just be overstocked.

 

[mz6zoomzoom]

I paid $23,000 for a fully loaded (BEFORE rebates) MZ6 with 1.7 miles on it... can't get much better of a deal than that. After rebates it was $22,500 (The only rebate I was eligible for was college). Dropping sport package alone would have brought it down to about $21,000 (with Leather, Bose, SAB, V6, ABS/TCS, etc).

Anyway, to me the big differences between the 3 and the 6 are these:
The 6 is bigger (a plus for me... but maybe not for some people)
The 6 has a better rear suspension.

 

[98LX]

(i still have no clue why people would chose that crap over 3 or 6)

Me either. Every time I see a new Corolla owner, I go up to them and ask if they actually did any car research at all before buying.

 

[lmp180psu]

(i still have no clue why people would chose that crap over 3 or 6)

Me either. Every time I see a new Corolla owner, I go up to them and ask if they actually did any car research at all before buying.

What kind of reaction do you get? I might be insulted by the question, but I guess that is the reaction I might want if I asked the question as I showed them the SUPERIOR Mazda3

 

[dinu01]

You can say that again. Corollas are ridiculously priced

Actually the Civic LX A/C, power, 15" alloys IIRC is cheaper than the 3GS+PWR+A/C+AT or Sport in Canada...

 

[vartex]

when you say the 6 is bigger, it really isnt. it might be bigger length wise (the drunk) but space wise, the 3, IMO, is actually bigger because it has more front leg room, more front head room, but a little less back leg room. i only care about the front, and really these numbers dont make a significance because its only like .5 inch or something. i think the 3 looks a little better because if i was going for a sedan like a 6 id actually go for the whole damn thing and get G35 or the TL, heck maybe even the LS430

 

[BuffaloZoom]

why i chose 3

I'd been looking at buying a 6s (never even test drove the 6i) since summer when i finally ended up buying a 3s hb. Two main reasons.

1.) Xenon with the 3. I would have forgot about reason 2 if it wern't for this

2.) with leather & xenon i could get the 3 for under 20k OTD. I negotiated the same deal (relative to invoice) i could manage on a 6s with leather & manual. the difference was about 100 bucks a month...

there are other trivial things too. I love the looks of both, prefer the 3 dash, but the 6 had a nice bose option & the auto-climate is nice. if i went cloth the stuff in the 3 was nicer than the 6, which had a wierd "if lady's underwear were made of cheap polyester" feel to it.

It would have been nice if the 3 offered traction control.

If a reputable company like quaife make a limited slip after market i will buy one. The 6 didn't have this either.

 

[98LX]

[...] if i was going for a sedan like a 6 id actually go for the whole damn thing and get G35 or the TL, heck maybe even the LS430

You've flown right out of the 6's class. The G35 is $27,950, the TL is $32,650, and the LS430 is $55,125, that's almost 3 6's.

 

[mz6zoomzoom]

Someone here hit on something that would be a deal breaker for me on the 3, that I forgot: TCS. After having TCS in the 6, I'd never buy a car without it. It's so amazing in the snow.

 

[scorp76]

I sat in the 6 and it is not half as impressive as the 3. The interior of the 6 looks cheap compared to the 3, especially that center console with the 3 circle air vents with everything painted silver that is trying-to-be-upscale-but-too-cheap-to-use-aluminum. The fit and finish is not as good as the 3. I personally would never buy a Mazda 6 because of the interior, also, the V-6 is just weak and it is a b1tch to mod. Nice suspension though....

BTW.. Which 6 do you have?

Whatever. To each their own. The 3's interior may be nice RELATIVE TO ITS COMPETITION but it didn't impress ME one bit. I'd take the 6 any day of the week over the 3, due in large part to its cheesy two tone seat color, way out of place knobs and goofy red volume lights. The whole thing reminds me of something a high-school freshman would design.

I didn't know we were talking about engines, but since you brought up the V6, it beats the 3, so if it's "weak" what does that make YOUR car? :roll:

 

[SBTanMan]

Just a little note on the previous post. You can turn off the volume change lights very easily, so don't use that as the basis for your decision.

 

[cowtown]

Someone here hit on something that would be a deal breaker for me on the 3, that I forgot: TCS. After having TCS in the 6, I'd never buy a car without it. It's so amazing in the snow.

Blah, no offense but anyone with half decent driving skills can live without this IMO.

It's getting to the point methinks that there are so many systems in a car that keep people from driving stupid that all we're doing is developing stupid drivers.

And...

Way out of the place knobs? What car were you driving scorp76? Based on your comments it doesn't sound like you've actually looked at any other interiors in cars that match up with the 3 because the 3 stomps all over them.

 

[Jizoshula]

I preferred the 3S over the 6I. I didn't need all the crazy options you could get with the 6 and the added weight made the 6 seem more sluggish than the 3. I prefer the instrument panel on the 3 and the stereo & a/c controls are pretty much a wash for me. Plus, I just think the 3 looks better than the 6.

 

[n1smo]

I didn't know we were talking about engines, but since you brought up the V6, it beats the 3, so if it's "weak" what does that make YOUR car? :roll:

The Mazda6's V6 is weak compared to other cars it is supposed to be market against. Heck, even the Accord has more HP than the MZ6. A 2000 Maxima puts out 222hp, that was 4 yrs ago... The MZ6 is still putting out 225hp.

BTW... Don't worry about my MZ3, once I get it turbo'ed :wink: But for now... my other car will eat a MZ6 for lunch since we are talking about V6's.

 

[Bombadil]

Worse yet, the Mazda 3.0L V-6 doesn't hit its claimed power. Mazda has occasionally exaggerated their engine power output over the years and has done it again with this engine. On a real good day, it might put out 210hp. I've seen several dyno measurements and the average is around 205hp, with some of them being in the high 190's.

 

[DJ Spencer]

I know this is probably for another thread, but do you think the new Mazda 6 models will have any true comparison to the Mazda3?

They have both a hatch version, and the wagon coming out this year. I didn't know of the hatch version (although it looks more like older Honduh hatch models, maybe SAAB).

I would have waited for the 6 wagon, if I'd thought it really would come out on time..

 

[rpc180]

They really shouldn't, both are designed for different classes. The 6 is supposed to be a mid-size sedan while the 3 is in the compact class. The only reason that this thread started anyway was cause of price overlapping between the base 6 and the top line 3 simply because of the 3's "newness". Comparing these cars based on similiar prices doesn't really reveal much about the car's characteristics themselves (power to weight, handling to weight, acceleration, space, creature comforts, etc...) IMO I still think the 6 is designed to be more of a passanger's car than a driver's car, and vice versa for the 3. The 6 outclasses the 3 in amenities especially in the US market while the 3 may have the 6 in handling and performance cause of the weight.

 

[DJ Spencer]

Okay, that makes sense.

I'd of waited for the wagon, only because I use the cargo (hence the reason I drive the hatch). Plus, the hatch 3 doesn't really look like a station wagon, where the new 6 will. It's going to be very soccer mom-like.... In which case, I need to start looking for that kind of soccer mom - cuz the 6 has got powah!!