Yippee !!! 2012 Mazda 3 !!!!
 

Couldn't take it anymore .... strut clunking drove me crazy and I knew Ford is just blowing us off and has no intentions of fixing the car. To be honest ... even if they do fix it ... I didn't want it.

Picked up a 2012 Mazda 3 i Touring SkyActiv 6A with Bose system and moonroof. MSRP $21,800 for $17,200 with 0% financing for 60 months. Bought it at the very last minute of their huge year-end incentives ... literally .... finished the deal at 9PM yesterday. They needed one more sale (I didn't know until afterward) to hit a milestone for that period and I happened to be there. We were $500 apart in the negotiations at 8:30 and the regional sales manager happened to be there while I was negotiating. I was getting up to walk, and then he offered to throw in the Bose/moonroof package (worth $1400 on the sticker) for free in the exact same, but different car. SOLD !!

http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t...ps53c578f0.jpg

Got $13.5K for the Focus (and was glad for that as I only owed about $11K on it) ... thank God I only paid $16.5K for it.

Ford dealer offered me $11.8K tops ... I guess they have real confidence in their cars ... or more likely they have too much knowledge of their own cars.

Hope you guys get any of your troubles figured out in a positive way. I figured I'd cut my losses as soon as possible, and drive a car for the next 5 years or so that I didn't hate.

I wanted it to work out with the Focus that I had such high hopes for .... but that just didn't happen. I think Ford's corporate problem is trying to do too much with technology, and too much with new releases .... too soon ... and trying to do too much with new releases all at the same time.

Good Luck to all.

REV

Congrats!

The Mazda3 is a great car (and really agile & fun-to-drive). Someone at work has a '12 SkyActiv 6MT and he loves it. I own an '07 3S and it is still a fantastic car.

Congrats on the mazda!

Throw up some pics!

Test drove a few Skyactivs ... on the 3 and the CX-5.

I noticed they ping a lot.

None of the ones I drove pinged at all. I drove 4 different ones from cold start on a 25 degree day.


REV

did you get the hatchback or sedan?

Liquid Silver sedan.

Never really cared for the Mazda hatches.

Nowhere near as good looking as the Focus hatches. They look 'old' to me. Badly in need of a redesign.

REV

Your new Mazda will always be smiling at you...

I was told that people who trade in their Focus at non-Ford dealerships get more $. Here's another story to agree with that.

Have fun with the car and post some pics. :)

That's because they are still based on the "old" previous generation 1C Focus platform, and it shows (I owned one, I traded my 2010 Mazda 3 Hatch for the Focus). Mazda's are generally well built, BUT, they are VERY noisy on the highway (no sound insulation whatsoever to save weight and money), like to drink gas (but, the Skyactiv technology seems to improved that), and feel quite cheap inside. (lots of overuse of hard plastics and cheap interior fabrics and carpeting). I still feel its a "step backwards" going to the Mazda 3 from the MK3 Focus, but, if it feels right to you, then, by all means. I'm sure you will enjoy the car (I did, but, two AC compressors, two driver seats, several motor mounts and an alternator in less than a year, not to mention dismal fuel mileage and I could hear and feel every bump on the highway finally took its toll on me). The new Focus felt worlds apart from the Mazda in every way, the only thing I miss from the 3 was the slick 6 speed manual it had... that is part of the reason I went with the PowerShift 6 speed in the Focus (I couldn't go backwards to the old tech MTX75 manual in the Ford).