The Day I Picked Up My 8Th Mazda

[dillongt]

I had been driving Mazda's for 17 years but I must say this is the best fuel saving car I have ever owned. Right now I’m pushing near 800km driving 80% city & I’m pretty sure if I drive long distance highway I can get 1000km for my full tank of gas (55L).

Price under $25000 Tax Including.

Standard features: 2.0L Skyactiv Engine. 155HP, 6MT, PW,PM ,PL, DCS/TCS, ABS/EBFD, 4wheel Disk brakes, Keyless Entry, Rain Sensing Wipers, Automatic light control, Bluetooth Phone Answering system with caller ID, Wireless i-Pod Connectivity, Heated seats, MP3/WMA Readable CD with info Digital Display, Alloy wheels, 2 Phone Chargers, Aux input for MP3 players, Anit-theft alarm, Etc….

Option : Sunroof



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741 KM still have two bars left....

[VVTi]

Congrats machang, I have owned 2 Interplays and an old 1982 626 in the past and they are rock solid cars. One of the most underrated brands of cars.

[dillongt]

thanks bro....

[zerocool]

Congratz on your new ride. This might be my next car. I've got the 2008 Axela as my first car and I couldn’t be happier about my decision. It handles like a beast and I’ve heard this handles better and the extra features makes this a great value for money car. Look is a bit of a downer for me compared with the 2008 version though.

[vishkid]

Congrats bro .. sorely tempted by the CarMart offer of 2012 SkyActive 3 for 4.2 M (permit owners).

What are your previous 7 Mazda's (I know the Rx-8 and the earlier M3)?

[Shanjeev]

Congratz on your new car!! Cool ride mate.

[Dragonfly]

That's a nice ride.

I have to spend 35000K to buy a used 2007 model Mazda 3 in SL

[chan5]

That's a nice ride.

I have to spend 35000K to buy a used 2007 model Mazda 3 in SL

35k $.?

[Dragonfly]

35k $.?

yah, 35000$.

My mistake on above

[dillongt]

To Vishkid. My Mazda History

1. 1992 Mazda AZ-3

2. 1993 Mazda RX-7 FD3S Type R

3. 2006 Mazda 3 GT ( trade in for Mazda CX-7 )

4. 2007 Mazda CX-7 GT

5. 1993 Mazda RX-7 FD3S Type R

6. 2008 Mazda 3 GT LP

7. 2011 Mazda CX-7 GX LP

8. 2012 Mazda 3 GS Sky

[Skyline R33]

Amen Dillon. Never owned a Mazda untill early this year when we bought my wife a Mazda 2. Really economical car, it actually does only 4km/l less than my Bike (Yamaha R6). When I had a recent crash it was very safe hence me and my wife walked away without a scratch where the car was a write off. Looks and drives great as well.

[vishkid]

To Vishkid. My Mazda History

1. 1992 Mazda AZ-3

2. 1993 Mazda RX-7 FD3S Type R

3. 2006 Mazda 3 GT ( trade in for Mazda CX-7 )

4. 2007 Mazda CX-7 GT

5. 1993 Mazda RX-7 FD3S Type R

6. 2008 Mazda 3 GT LP

7. 2011 Mazda CX-7 GX LP

8. 2012 Mazda 3 GS Sky

Wow .. Fantastic cars to own and drive! Cheers to you mate!!

[razordj]

741 KM still have two bars left....

Wow.. thats impressive. Nice ride!!!

[vishkid]

Certainly is impressive as I can only do 460 km max on a full tank of my 2005 Mazda Axela.

[GTAm]

I have been having a soft spot for Mazda as I may have mentioned before. Our first ever family car was a 808! It was a very rare sight on SL roads way back then. It had factory fitted AC, a great stereo and dash dimming lights which was cool in a 70's car. Since then we owned many Mazdas and I had two memorable cars.

One was an Interplay which was very quick and had a very short throw gear shift compared with other Interplays I had driven. The only gripe I had was that it did not handle the properly given that performance. Under-steered too much I thought. Then I had a BH TDI. Decent performance for a early TDI not refined but what a reliable car it was! Easily the car I have spent the least amount of money in 3 years of high mileage use. Btw that car had an AC that could freeze your balls stiff even at the 1st setting. Never experienced such a cold Air con. Regret selling it as it was such a great work horse. Handling again not the strong point though.

Then I got a black BJ Hatch with a body kit. Looked great but it was my first auto. Handling was the best out of the lot and comfy ride too. Then I test drove an Alfa 156 and my loyalties changed forever.

But still Mazda is my favourite Japanese brand. One of my most unforgettable drives is in a MX5 1st gen. Truly awesome car! Regret not buying it then.

Mazda has been a silent achiever - Rotary engines and RX series, Best selling and handling Sports car in the world - MX5, Only Japanese Le Mans 24h winner despite Toyota and Nissan attempting it with much bigger budgets!

Sadly now the company is in dire straits financially. Their long term survival is questionable given their small size. They will need many joint ventures or a merger to survive in the long term.

[The Don]

I have been having a soft spot for Mazda as I may have mentioned before. Our first ever family car was a 808! It was a very rare sight on SL roads way back then. It had factory fitted AC, a great stereo and dash dimming lights which was cool in a 70's car. Since then we owned many Mazdas and I had two memorable cars.

One was an Interplay which was very quick and had a very short throw gear shift compared with other Interplays I had driven. The only gripe I had was that it did not handle the properly given that performance. Under-steered too much I thought. Then I had a BH TDI. Decent performance for a early TDI not refined but what a reliable car it was! Easily the car I have spent the least amount of money in 3 years of high mileage use. Btw that car had an AC that could freeze your balls stiff even at the 1st setting. Never experienced such a cold Air con. Regret selling it as it was such a great work horse. Handling again not the strong point though.

Then I got a black BJ Hatch with a body kit. Looked great but it was my first auto. Handling was the best out of the lot and comfy ride too. Then I test drove an Alfa 156 and my loyalties changed forever.

But still Mazda is my favourite Japanese brand. One of my most unforgettable drives is in a MX5 1st gen. Truly awesome car! Regret not buying it then.

Mazda has been a silent achiever - Rotary engines and RX series, Best selling and handling Sports car in the world - MX5, Only Japanese Le Mans 24h winner despite Toyota and Nissan attempting it with much bigger budgets!

Sadly now the company is in dire straits financially. Their long term survival is questionable given their small size. They will need many joint ventures or a merger to survive in the long term.

Possibly look beyond Ford ownership as well........ The Americans have a habit of running many marques to the ground, SAAB being a good example....

[GTAm]

Possibly look beyond Ford ownership as well........ The Americans have a habit of running many marques to the ground, SAAB being a good example....

The Ford era is well and truly over. They have sold most of their holding and don't wield any power over Mazda anymore. Mazda is in advanced talks with Fiat-Chrysler on platform sharing, joint production etc.

[The Don]

The Ford era is well and truly over. They have sold most of their holding and don't wield any power over Mazda anymore. Mazda is in advanced talks with Fiat-Chrysler on platform sharing, joint production etc.

I am not entirely sure whether that marriage will yield better results for them either. I read today that Fiat in particular is suspending production (temporally) in some of their plants in response to a massive reduction in demand for many of their models particularly in Europe. Nissan seem to have benefited from the Renault tie up as they were in dire straits as well (though I lament the loss of Nissan's own Diesel engines in particular now replaced with Renault DCis) so you never know. And I hope a tie up with Fiat would not mean that we will get Fiat group cars with Mazda badges on (which is somewhat the case with Chrysler whose small car line up in Europe are re badged Lancias)

[Clark's son]

But this will be a good market stratergy as some one who will never buy a fiat linea will buy a Mazda linea(would be better than the mazda2 sedan and belta)

And the same story is there for the punto.

[GTAm]

I am not entirely sure whether that marriage will yield better results for them either. I read today that Fiat in particular is suspending production (temporally) in some of their plants in response to a massive reduction in demand for many of their models particularly in Europe. Nissan seem to have benefited from the Renault tie up as they were in dire straits as well (though I lament the loss of Nissan's own Diesel engines in particular now replaced with Renault DCis) so you never know. And I hope a tie up with Fiat would not mean that we will get Fiat group cars with Mazda badges on (which is somewhat the case with Chrysler whose small car line up in Europe are re badged Lancias)

Actually if they can agree and make it work it could be a perfect tie up.

Fiat and all European manufacturers except the Germans are facing massive problems in their home continent because of the current crisis, however the bigger issue is that they've been facing over capacity for too long with thin margins and poor productivity. Italy also has the unique undesirable situation with a very militant labor union that Fiat is battling with. All the other unions have fallen in line except this one.

The Italian market has plummeted in the last few months and is down to 1979 levels. Fiat has taken a brave but risky stance of freezing most new models for the past few years in Europe, saving cash and investing in the US (Chrysler) and South America which is profitable (They are market leaders in Brazil). Those two markets are cash cows. And now thanks to the Chrysler takeover they are bigger than Honda.

In contrast Peugeot is bleeding badly and had to sell a stake to GM, sell many assets and are now trying to shut down plants. They have no cash to tide the storm.

Renault is staying alive because of the Nissan connection and the success of Dacia.

Many analysts who study, watch and advise on the auto industry say that in order for long term survival companies need to produce 6million units a year. All to do with economies of scale. GM, Toyota, VW, Hyundai are on safe ground. Renault-Nissan and Fiat-Chrysler have a great chance of are getting there. All the others are on thin ground. The most vulnerable are, Mistubishi, Suzuki and Mazda. Many have said that they face certain death or takeovers and alliances.

Most of Mazda's manufacturing comes from Japan and the high Yen is enlarging losses. They don't have plants in Europe like Toyota, Nissan and Honda. Therefore it would make perfect sense for them to transfer some production to Fiat's under utilized Italian plants.

Secondly for the replacement of the Mazda 2 and 3 they would not have the funds required to develop new platforms. They could easily share with Fiat's next Punto and C-segment car both of which are ready. Mazda could also benefit from Chrysler's plants in the us US and NAFTA region.

In contrast Fiat can gain access to some Asian markets where Madza is present - Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia and even Japan.

Apart from which is Mazda's excellent RWD MX-5 platform. I'm not sure if you are aware that they've already signed an MoU to develop the next MX-5 and the Alfa Duetto will share the same platform. The Alfa junior Spider will be built in Hiroshima. They will differ in exterior and interior, suspension and engines and gearbox. But there'll be so much of common components that will benefit both models.

Lancia is a different story. The brand was killed by previous Fiat management and management even before that were short sighted and always running the company to the ground despite ground breaking legendary cars. Lancia has not much appeal outside Europe and it will take a lot of funds to rebuild the brand. So it's low priority, hence the Chrysler badging for now. I guess if not for the success of the Ypsilon, the brand would have been killed already.

Sorry for the long post which takes it OT but I think linking up with Fiat is a great opportunity for Mazda to survive.

Edited July 20, 2012 by GTAm

[The Don]

Actually if they can agree and make it work it could be a perfect tie up.

Fiat and all European manufacturers except the Germans are facing massive problems in their home continent because of the current crisis, however the bigger issue is that they've been facing over capacity for too long with thin margins and poor productivity. Italy also has the unique undesirable situation with a very militant labor union that Fiat is battling with. All the other unions have fallen in line except this one.

The Italian market has plummeted in the last few months and is down to 1979 levels. Fiat has taken a brave but risky stance of freezing most new models for the past few years in Europe, saving cash and investing in the US (Chrysler) and South America which is profitable (They are market leaders in Brazil). Those two markets are cash cows. And now thanks to the Chrysler takeover they are bigger than Honda.

In contrast Peugeot is bleeding badly and had to sell a stake to GM, sell many assets and are now trying to shut down plants. They have no cash to tide the storm.

Renault is staying alive because of the Nissan connection and the success of Dacia.

Many analysts who study, watch and advise on the auto industry say that in order for long term survival companies need to produce 6million units a year. All to do with economies of scale. GM, Toyota, VW, Hyundai are on safe ground. Renault-Nissan and Fiat-Chrysler have a great chance of are getting there. All the others are on thin ground. The most vulnerable are, Mistubishi, Suzuki and Mazda. Many have said that they face certain death or takeovers and alliances.

Most of Mazda's manufacturing comes from Japan and the high Yen is enlarging losses. They don't have plants in Europe like Toyota, Nissan and Honda. Therefore it would make perfect sense for them to transfer some production to Fiat's under utilized Italian plants.

Secondly for the replacement of the Mazda 2 and 3 they would not have the funds required to develop new platforms. They could easily share with Fiat's next Punto and C-segment car both of which are ready. Mazda could also benefit from Chrysler's plants in the us US and NAFTA region.

In contrast Fiat can gain access to some Asian markets where Madza is present - Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia and even Japan.

Apart from which is Mazda's excellent RWD MX-5 platform. I'm not sure if you are aware that they've already signed an MoU to develop the next MX-5 and the Alfa Duetto will share the same platform. The Alfa junior Spider will be built in Hiroshima. They will differ in exterior and interior, suspension and engines and gearbox. But there'll be so much of common components that will benefit both models.

Lancia is a different story. The brand was killed by previous Fiat management and management even before that were short sighted and always running the company to the ground despite ground breaking legendary cars. Lancia has not much appeal outside Europe and it will take a lot of funds to rebuild the brand. So it's low priority, hence the Chrysler badging for now. I guess if not for the success of the Ypsilon, the brand would have been killed already.

Sorry for the long post which takes it OT but I think linking up with Fiat is a great opportunity for Mazda to survive.

Well one would certainly hope so. I think at least in Europe we are probably not too far away from another round of Government incentives to buy new autmobiles to save the auto industry. France cannot afford to let PSA and Renault go under because they employ too many people.

I take your point about the potential cost benefits of sharing a platform with Fiat will benefit Mazda as it will reduce their R&D costs by quite a margin. But I wonder how Mazda will fare if they are then forced to compete with Fiats built on the same platform at very competitive prices. I mean Mazda's USP (this doesn't quite apply to the MX5) is their perceived reliability thanks to their Japanese origins and value for money. But European buyers are quite savvy. When the Citroen C1, Peugeot 108 and the Toyota Aygo was first developed, the Toyota sales outstripped the other 2 even though they were essentially the same car. But of late the tables have turned as the Citroen and the Peugeot are cheaper and people have opted for the cheaper option.

The trick will be to somehow maintain your identity and their own USPs when sharing a platform with another manufacturer. As in the example with Saab this does not always work.

And for everybody's sake, I hope Mitsubishi, Suzuki & Mazda survive without being absorbed by a bigger corporation......

[GTAm]

Yes the French have dug themselves into a large hole and will need a rescue package. The EU Korea FTA has also worked against European manufacturers because the Korean market is essentially close to foreign brands, just like Japan.

Fiat have been a lot smarter and froze all new model launches except the Lancia Ypsilon, Fiat Pand and the 500L. Because of this they are sitting on a large some of cash that they'll use to up their stake in Chrysler ( right now 61.8% soon it should go upto 80%). Then they can use Chrysler's cash flow (Net profit set to exceed $3bn this year), to relaunch a string of new models most of which are fully or partially developed.

Mazda definitely have the reliability card on their side. However to maintain the value for money aspect they need to bring their costs down and cannot do it with the high Yen.

You are absolutely right that the trick is to maintain their distinctive identity and cultural differences. Destroying this is one of many mistakes that GM made with Saab - What a shame. To a lesser extent VW is also doing this with Lamborghini, Bentley and Bugatti. God help Ducati now.

However Fiat has so far managed to find the perfect balance between Turin and Detroit with with all the Chrysler brands. Chrysler group is the biggest market share gainer in the US right now, and have been showing sales increases for something like 27 months. People love the revised 300/Dodge Charger and the revitalized Jeep range. Even the much hated Sebring has found massive sales increases after it was turned into the 200 under Fiat. They seem to understand the cultural differences perfectly unlike previous custodians of Chrysler - Daimler Benz, who milked it dry and left it to die. So hopefully the Mazda tie up will not mess up the two different cultures and identities.

There is also talk of Fiat and Suzuki who is hurridly trying to push through divorce papers from VW (who own 20% of them) after a very unhappy short marriage. Fiat already supplies the diesel engines for Suzuki and well as letting them make some under license. Suzuki is alive only because of their strength in India. Whoever gets Suzuki gets market leadership in that country.

Mitsubishi's situation is probably the worst. They have nothing to offer anyone. In the end to save Japanese pride, it might be pushed under Toyota's umbrella just like Subaru.

The worse options for these three Japanese manufacturers will be Chinese ownership. They happily take all three given the opportunity I'm certain.

[The Don]

Yes the French have dug themselves into a large hole and will need a rescue package. The EU Korea FTA has also worked against European manufacturers because the Korean market is essentially close to foreign brands, just like Japan.

Fiat have been a lot smarter and froze all new model launches except the Lancia Ypsilon, Fiat Pand and the 500L. Because of this they are sitting on a large some of cash that they'll use to up their stake in Chrysler ( right now 61.8% soon it should go upto 80%). Then they can use Chrysler's cash flow (Net profit set to exceed $3bn this year), to relaunch a string of new models most of which are fully or partially developed.

Mazda definitely have the reliability card on their side. However to maintain the value for money aspect they need to bring their costs down and cannot do it with the high Yen.

You are absolutely right that the trick is to maintain their distinctive identity and cultural differences. Destroying this is one of many mistakes that GM made with Saab - What a shame. To a lesser extent VW is also doing this with Lamborghini, Bentley and Bugatti. God help Ducati now.

However Fiat has so far managed to find the perfect balance between Turin and Detroit with with all the Chrysler brands. Chrysler group is the biggest market share gainer in the US right now, and have been showing sales increases for something like 27 months. People love the revised 300/Dodge Charger and the revitalized Jeep range. Even the much hated Sebring has found massive sales increases after it was turned into the 200 under Fiat. They seem to understand the cultural differences perfectly unlike previous custodians of Chrysler - Daimler Benz, who milked it dry and left it to die. So hopefully the Mazda tie up will not mess up the two different cultures and identities.

There is also talk of Fiat and Suzuki who is hurridly trying to push through divorce papers from VW (who own 20% of them) after a very unhappy short marriage. Fiat already supplies the diesel engines for Suzuki and well as letting them make some under license. Suzuki is alive only because of their strength in India. Whoever gets Suzuki gets market leadership in that country.

Mitsubishi's situation is probably the worst. They have nothing to offer anyone. In the end to save Japanese pride, it might be pushed under Toyota's umbrella just like Subaru.

The worse options for these three Japanese manufacturers will be Chinese ownership. They happily take all three given the opportunity I'm certain.

GM certainly didn't do Saab justice. And it was really quite sad because Saabs have a very strong following, though during the economic recession in Europe sales plummeted to about a third of their normal amounts. GM thought Saab could simply build on the vectra platform and turn cars out cheaply, but the Saab buyer (the most educated of any car brand by British stats) is not the same as a Vectra buyer, and Saab understanding this tried to build vehicles which suited their customer base but building on a crap platform in the end proved uneconomical.

They have just been bought by a consortium headed by a Chinese gentleman and will turn their attention to make electric cars. I think the Chinese company Youngman pursued Saab as well but ultimately unsuccessful. I wonder what Geely has done with Volvo.......

VW has done wonders for Skoda though, but aren't they also owned by Porche now?

Just like you love Mazda's I love Mitsubishi's particularly their suspension and handling, plus they have won Paris-Dakars and WRC titles and along with Subaru made super car performance affordable. Like you I have no idea what they can do but given the current scenario either a joint partnership (they have partnerships with Volvo and PSA I think) or a takeover might be in the horizon.

[GTAm]

Yep. Saab was a gem. GM themselves knew that it had a sky high image that other manufactures would kill for. They could have turned it into a viable German alternative where the smart money was spent. But the scale of GM's mismanagement of their whole group meant that they had not enough will and time to focus on Saab. Their last attempt was to use the "Premium Platform" that underpinned the Alfa 159/Brera/Spider. It was supposed to be used by Saab, Opel and other GM marques. But GM pulled out due to lack of funds and because the premium platform became too expensive and heavy. Then they fell out with Fiat who took them to court and GM had to pay $2bn. Then soon GM arrived at chapter 11 bankruptcy. And Saab was unloaded to Victor Muller which was a total non-starter and must have been some money washing exercise for him. Saab was well and truly dead. Only a large European manufacturer could have revived it imho. The Chinese ownership isn't promising at all.

Geely "seems" to be doing slightly better with Volvo at least for now, having cars developed in Europe which is essential to preserve their European identity. Or else it will become another MG Rover. They will produce in China for Asia and are looking for manufacturing capacity in the US.

VW own Porsche now. It was a complex deal where Porsche tried to buy VW initially and ended up under them finally.

Mitsubishi's Nedcar plant was recently sold to a bus manufacturer in Holland (for One Euro!!!) who will use it as a subcontract plant for a variant of BMW's Mini.

They have a partnership with PSA but now with GM taking 10% of PSA and the turmoil they are faced with things might get complicated. So the outlook is quite bleak. Usually for two companies to get into partnerships there has to be mutual benefits. The thing is Mitsu have nothing to offer at all, which is the sad result of years of poor management. Funny enough, I think Sri Lanka is one of the only markets they have a sizable market share in and that says a lot.

[The Don]

Yep. Saab was a gem. GM themselves knew that it had a sky high image that other manufactures would kill for. They could have turned it into a viable German alternative where the smart money was spent. But the scale of GM's mismanagement of their whole group meant that they had not enough will and time to focus on Saab. Their last attempt was to use the "Premium Platform" that underpinned the Alfa 159/Brera/Spider. It was supposed to be used by Saab, Opel and other GM marques. But GM pulled out due to lack of funds and because the premium platform became too expensive and heavy. Then they fell out with Fiat who took them to court and GM had to pay $2bn. Then soon GM arrived at chapter 11 bankruptcy. And Saab was unloaded to Victor Muller which was a total non-starter and must have been some money washing exercise for him. Saab was well and truly dead. Only a large European manufacturer could have revived it imho. The Chinese ownership isn't promising at all.

Geely "seems" to be doing slightly better with Volvo at least for now, having cars developed in Europe which is essential to preserve their European identity. Or else it will become another MG Rover. They will produce in China for Asia and are looking for manufacturing capacity in the US.

VW own Porsche now. It was a complex deal where Porsche tried to buy VW initially and ended up under them finally.

Mitsubishi's Nedcar plant was recently sold to a bus manufacturer in Holland (for One Euro!!!) who will use it as a subcontract plant for a variant of BMW's Mini.

They have a partnership with PSA but now with GM taking 10% of PSA and the turmoil they are faced with things might get complicated. So the outlook is quite bleak. Usually for two companies to get into partnerships there has to be mutual benefits. The thing is Mitsu have nothing to offer at all, which is the sad result of years of poor management. Funny enough, I think Sri Lanka is one of the only markets they have a sizable market share in and that says a lot.

Well there is a distinct lack of big European manufacturers with deep pockets at the moment apart from the Germans and they wouldn't quite understand the soul of a company like Saab. They were quirky customer focused unique cars which lost some of their edge under GM. I see a lot of Saab 900s around still today in a country which prefers to scrap cars.

Most Saab fans wanted Mahindra to take over Saab, because Indians by large have chosen to revive bands rather than rob them dry of technology.

I am not entirely sure building electric cars is the way to go either at least for the moment as they need to somehow retain their loyal customer base and EVs are still only practical in a few cities. Charging points are springing up but they are few and far apart.

Not so long ago Mitsubishi had a lot to offer. PSA licensed their GDi technology while on the light 4x4 front they had a stellar reputation and the L200s and Shoguns (sold as Pajeros and Monteros in other markets) sold by the bucket load. But its been a little while since they've done something truly unique, but they did win the Paris Dakar rally in 2007 beating the highly fancied Touaregs. But like you say I'm not entirely sure what they can offer to any other major manufacturer apart from the Chinese and possibly Indians.