What to get...

Hate to agree with everyone else here and not you, as I am also 19...

But how you drive is only a part of it. I think at this point (and well before you posted), you've already made up your mind. But it's not the LOGICAL choice. I'm buying a Mazda3sGT in about a month, and my 'rents MIGHT cover like a quarter of it for me, but other than that (and if even that...) I'll be paying for the rest myself. To be honest, the Speed3 is not out of my price range. But I'm still getting the regular anyway. I've test driven the regular 3 a couple of times and the salesman let me push it a bit, and I quickly found myself going 60 in a 45, without even noticing or meaning to. If you think you're going to get a Speed3 and and push it hard just until 45 and then obey the limit, you're only kidding yourself.
Insurance is going to be ridiculous, and you know that. Yes, you may have a clean record, but you're 19, and you're interested in a MazdaSpeed3. So you say you can drive responsibly... And??? You're just going to tell that to your (parents...) insurance agent and expect him to give you a deal? HA! Makes me giggle a little inside...
Furthermore, gas prices stay the same regardless of if you drive responsibly or not. With regular fuel at over $3 a gallon, and premium tacking on another 30 cents per gallon, you might just happen to regret your choice down the road, as gas prices continue to rise. Unless of course Mommy and Daddy are paying for that too.
I'm not trying to be a smart-ass (ok well maybe kinda..) but think about it buddy, I'm in pretty much the same boat you are, and buying a Speed3 right now just doesn't make sense! Take this approach instead, do what I'm doing.

Buy a Mazda3sGT. = less money than a base Speed3, more features, looks just as bad-ass.
Put some money into it. = insurance stays the same, car goes faster, and you can surprise more people 'cause they would less expect a non-speed3 to be fast.
Enjoy your saved money, and buy you parents a nice fcuking dinner for giving your spoiled ass such a nice car.

-Regards,
Fellow 19 year old

Well I gotta disagree with you on about 3 things, maybe 5.
First i'm 17 going on 18 in the summer, which of course will only lead to a more biased opinion against me. Second, I just found out that I won't even be insured on the car that I get, but rather on my mom's navigator(speed3 would be a helluva lot less for her anyway). Third, i'm paying for my own gas bro, this "spoiled ass" happens to have a pretty good job for someone my age and the speed3 beats the hell out of the mileage i'm getting now(even if I did have to pay for premium). Lastly, if you read my last post I say absolutely nothing about getting a speed3. Thats what I started the thread on, but I only replied because I find it irritating that every adult considers kids in the same light. When will I be old enough to actually be considered a good driver. 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, etc, etc. When do you get to the point when you can walk around proudly displaying a fast piece of machinery and people will go, "Yep, he's just the right age, he definitely won't do anything stupid." So heres a question to people who think they know at what age one becomes a good driver... Most people will say that five minutes isn't a very long time. Add a minute to the five and you get six. Most would just say "who cares six is only one more than five, whats the big deal." Add another minute and you get seven, most people would say "pfft, its only one more than six, who cares, its only one minute." So if you consider five minutes a short time, and six minutes a short time, and seven minutes a short time, in essence there is no difference between them. So the question is, when do you get to the point that a short time becomes a long time if your always just adding a minute?

Eh, I guess I got confused with all the other 19 year olds posting, thought you were too--

The insurance thing seems confusing to me, I guess I can only say good luck and I hope not being insured on the car you're driving does not land you any headaches in the future.

By spoiled ass, I was referring to the fact that your parents are buying you a car in the first place, which, as negative as "spoiled ass" sounds, believe me, it was being said more out of jealousy than anything. If my 'rents came up to me tomorrow and said that they were going to go ahead and take all the payments on my car, well of course I would let them, lol. And I would surely buy them a dinner or two as well, haha.

Your last post also did not say anything about getting a regular3, and I guess I assumed. Well you know what happens when you ass-u-me...

And I cant argue much with your logic on the age thing either. Again--same shoes, you and I. There is no magic age, and that certainly gets annoying from time to time, with many things well beyond just automobiles. "Adults" treating "Young Adults" like "Kids"...
I was at Red Lobster with my girlfriend once, and we were being waited on by this older lady... We watched as she went to her other tables and politely and enthusiastically recited off the specials for the day, and took people's orders. When she came to us, she was VERY short with us and rude, and was clearly not going to give us the time of day, because she assumed of course that we were "Kids", and that we weren't going to leave a good tip. So based off her service quality, well of course I left a pathetic tip. And believe me, I usually tip on the higher side of the scale if I feel they deserve it.

A bit off topic, but nonetheless. You are more intelligent than I originally gave you credit for, and it appears you have at least thought this through a few times. I still stand behind that you should get a regular3 and have some good old fashioned fun with some mods, and if that's the road you take, I'm quite sure you won't regret it. If you do choose the Speed3, then good luck to ya, and I hope everything works out. It would certainly be a fun car to drive.

Well, it's finals week at my University, and I have a couple today that I still need to study for. Good luck with your auto!

(p.s. - for the best-of-both-worlds-approach, you could always get a regular3 and then do nothing to it except the HiBoost turbo kit and an exhaust, and then you'd have a faster car than the Speed3 anyway! (correct me if I'm wrong here guys...I know it's close...) And you'd still have low insurance, though I think getting the turbo kit would make you have to use premium, but actually I haven't even looked deep enough into that to know for sure. Just throwing it out there!)

Some insurance companies in some states do not change rates depending on the type of motor; they only care the type of car. You really should look into the insurance rates to get a verbal quote from your current provider.

For example, going from 2.0L Mazda3i to 2.3L Mazda3S was about $80 every 6 months for me in Kansas with State Farm. When I went to Michigan with State Farm, my insurance went up $100 every 6 months on the same Mazda3S.

If I went from Mazda3S to a 3.5L V6 Charger my Insurance drops $80 every 6 months. If I go to a 5.7L V8 Charger It goes up about $10 (that is a $10 increase off of the V6 Charger) every six months. If I go to 5.7L Daytona Wacky Charger there is no change from a regular Charger. Going up to 6.1L SRT adds about $150 every six months on top of the 5.7L.

So in summary, 5.7L Charger is cheaper for me to insure than 2.3L Mazda3. But I found out in other states you could insure a SRT8 for the same price as a 3.5L V6 Charger; and it seems some members saw no difference going from 2.0 or 2.3L Mazda3 in their states. Insurance sucks.

Well that is just splendid for you. Hmmm... where to start... Well I guess my first question would be... If you're parents offered to buy your first car for you, would you say no? Don't even think about saying no because that would just make you a fucking liar. I'm sorry, but people like you really piss me off. It's like you don't even realize that everyone is in a different situation. Let's take mine for instance... I live in the thousand oaks area about 40 minutes from L.A. There is NO public transportation anywhere near me. The closest bus stop is miles away from me, and I assure you that there ain't no taxis either. And why is it my fault that I have great parents that can and will and did buy me a car? Besides, where I live a mazda3 is considered low class. I got kids at my school driving brand new infiniti's, audi's, bmw's, acura's, lexus', evo's, sti's, rx8's, and there is at least one porche, and m3. And I DO NOT look down on those who do not have cars. I don't hang out with that rich crowd, I have a lot of friends that don't have cars. And then of course there is the FACT that I have never nor will I ever say that it was I who payed for my car. I don't really know where you got that from, I didn't know it was cool to claim you paid for your car. And LASTLY, the only thing that I want dropped in my lap is a hot blonde, but if a car just happens to land BESIDE me, then that is just fine too.



And thanks for the compliment sketchhawk.



And why won't this tread DIE!!!! I started it like 3 and a half months ago.