Mazda3 + FoMoCo's Involvement

3242 Views 13 Replies 11 Participants Last post by dinu01, Jan 28, 2004

BETTERBYDESIGN

Discussion Starter · Jan 26, 2004

Hello. In consideration to buy a 3, does any know to what extent the Ford Motor Company has been involved with the Mazda3?

I have heard the 3 uses the P1 platform currently in the Focus and also the Volvo S40 and I am concerned what else Ford has gotten their hands into.

Coming from a VW, I am new to Mazda and know nothing about it, but I do have strong opinions about a company named Ford. The less they are involved, the better the 3 looks to me.

This Mazda3 looks like a winner at any price.

Regards,
BetterbyDesign

EDIT: Thread title :twisted:
NOTE: Please don't use CAPS - it represents shouting/yelling in net language (or so I was told) 8)

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bknauss

· #2 · Jan 26, 2004

Mazda's reputation overall is pretty amazing. Go to carsurvey.org and look at the opinions of people that have owned various models. I am also totally against American cars since I had a bad experience with a Buick a couple years ago. A bad gas guage or a failure of some sort caused me to konk out in the middle of the road... and before the cops got there, a guy didn't see my emergency lights and rammed the read end of me. He wasn't going extremely fast, but the trunk was in the back seat. Crap engineering if you ask me... anyone that would have been sitting there would have been dead.

Anyhoo... back on track... Mazda's are almost totally built in Japan, and based on the press releases, it also looks like it was almost totally (if not totally) designed by Japanese engineers. I am confident that this is a reliable car (aside from some silly bugs that first year production cars experience).

And if you're interested in reliability, I'm glad you're not driving a VW. Those things seem to break every chance they're given.

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SyChO

· #3 · Jan 26, 2004

bknauss said:
...A bad gas guage or a failure of some sort caused me to konk out in the middle of the road... and before the cops got there, a guy didn't see my emergency lights and rammed the read end of me. He wasn't going extremely fast, but the trunk was in the back seat.

Holy Shit!? I though that stuff only happened in movies... Good thing you are okay. Damn... :shock:

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mnemonicj

· #4 · Jan 26, 2004

As I have posted in other threads, here is the envolvement of companies to design the Mazda 3:

Engine and Transmission: Mazda Japan
Chassis: Volvo Europe
Suspension: Ford Europe (Then tuned by Mazda Japan)

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BETTERBYDESIGN

Discussion Starter · #5 · Jan 26, 2004

Mazda3 - Hard to pass this up - Thanks

Thanks for the info, sorry I should've done a site search for Ford....

Actually my VW has 285,000 kilometers on it and no major problems; except water pump and ignition coil at 250,000 kms. I know I am one of the lucky ones...really lucky ones.

I may throw away the Volvo and Audi brocheres and test drive a Mazda3!
But even the Ford "name" still scares the $%*& out of me....

BetterbyDesign

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mz6zoomzoom

· #6 · Jan 26, 2004

Yeah the Mazda3 uses the Ford C1 platform (shared with Volvo S40 and the UPCOMING Ford Focus, not the current one). The engine is built using the Ford Cosworth casting process. Most parts are from the Ford Universal Parts bin.

Oh, and as for the guy who had a problem with Buick - everyone has problems with everything from time to time, but Buick is the 2nd or 3rd highest rated brand on the road today.

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zaimon

· #7 · Jan 26, 2004

I understand where you're coming from BETTERBYDESIGN...

I'd be worried about the Mazda3 if it were built at an American Ford Plant (save for Auto Alliance where the Mz6 is constructed). Ford cars overseas are of better build quality than the clunkers we get here (e.g. Mazda Tribute), as such, the Mazda3 is constructed in Japan along with non-European Mazda3s.

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bknauss

· #8 · Jan 27, 2004

MZ6ZoomZoom said:
Yeah the Mazda3 uses the Ford C1 platform (shared with Volvo S40 and the UPCOMING Ford Focus, not the current one). The engine is built using the Ford Cosworth casting process. Most parts are from the Ford Universal Parts bin.

Oh, and as for the guy who had a problem with Buick - everyone has problems with everything from time to time, but Buick is the 2nd or 3rd highest rated brand on the road today.

Hmm, I could have sworn I saw a recent Consumer Reports for car makers and how many of their cars break down per hundred before a certain amount of mileage (50k miles I believe), and Buick was not in the top 5. Top 3 were Acura, Toyota, and Honda in no particular order. Maybe the ratings you see are for something different.

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Airboy

· #9 · Jan 27, 2004

Think the Buick comment above came from JD Power and Assoc. Dependability study. Details here..towards the bottom of the page.
http://www.jdpa.com/studies/pressrelease.asp?StudyID=749&CatID=1

No comments on the results...just pointing to the source

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USCMazda3

· #10 · Jan 27, 2004

Really, really disheartening to see Mazda that far down...

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Airboy

· #11 · Jan 27, 2004

USCMazda3 said:
Really, really disheartening to see Mazda that far down...

Its all relative...Hyundai is ahead of my VW

but VW is ahead of Kia :wink:

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cowtown

· #12 · Jan 27, 2004

I think the people who should be disheartened are the people who spent the bling on the Rover or the VW's that are at the bottom.

These lists don't necessarily indicate which are unreliable you have to remember, they are just ones where an issue has arisen that needed to be taken care of. This doesn't mean they are all car dead on the side of the road situations.

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roykarolmich

· #13 · Jan 28, 2004

zaimon said:
I'd be worried about the Mazda3 if it were built at an American Ford Plant (save for Auto Alliance where the Mz6 is constructed). Ford cars overseas are of better build quality than the clunkers we get here (e.g. Mazda Tribute), as such, the Mazda3 is constructed in Japan along with non-European Mazda3s.

In the 2003 JD Power assembly plant quality survey, the highest rated Ford plant was Atlanta assembly, one of those "American Ford plants." Chicago and Edison (NJ) were also rated highly, both beating AAI.

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dinu01

· #14 · Jan 28, 2004

With all due respect, JD Powers surveys USUALLY mean nothing. They fall in the same basket as MSN Autos and the Toronto Star's Jill McIntosh as pure automotive nothingness.

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