Yippee !!! 2012 Mazda 3 !!!!

[VectorZ]

See ya!

[JohnH]

Fellow kart racer has given me a full walk around sales job and let me sit in his 2012 hatch skyactive. He loves it and has me sold on it. On the other hand, another guy at our track had a 2012 Focus with 25,000 miles, hated it and had rattles and was looking to transit in on a new ToyoBuru Ft86.

[revhigh]

My FOCUS rattled, squeaked, clunked, had air leaks on 2 doors, and was in general a car that was just not enjoyable to drive because of those things.

I won't miss anything about it.

The 3 is in a totally different higher quality class. You can feel it after driving it a few miles. Absolutely no wind noise.

REV

[erato]

The more I see posts like these and compare it to European experiences - at least as far as my impressions go, the more I become convinced that Ford have serious Quality Control issues at their US plant(s). I'm disregarding DCT and MFT issues here, as these are far less common options in Europe - I don't know if European built Foci with the DCT have transmissions from the same source. Thankfully my Focus was built in Saarbrucken, is without the MFT and have a 6 MT. It also is completely without problems and quirks so far, simply a superb ride.

[mac.mogul]

Mazda is a great car for sure, but that interior is something I cannot get over. Its terrible lol.

Good luck with your new ride.

[valmundo]

Originally Posted by erato

The more I see posts like these and compare it to European experiences - at least as far as my impressions go, the more I become convinced that Ford have serious Quality Control issues at their US plant(s). I'm disregarding DCT and MFT issues here, as these are far less common options in Europe - I don't know if European built Foci with the DCT have transmissions from the same source. Thankfully my Focus was built in Saarbrucken, is without the MFT and have a 6 MT. It also is completely without problems and quirks so far, simply a superb ride.

The problem is that Americans tend to bitch more.

[snowfool]

we test drove a '12 grand touring mazda and although it was a nice driving car, the styling and options don't compare to the '13 titanium we bought.....for over 1000 less. i liked its simplicity inside, but it was just too cheap looking. the mazda hatch also had more road noise at highway speeds compared to the focus hatch we drove. i have no desire to connect my phone to the MFT but my wife's is and she has no complaints so far. if they would've moved more on price we might have given the mazda3 more thought. it did have the bi-xenon headlights ...but was missing 18" wheels, remote start, push button start, 8" touch screen, climate control, etc. etc.....

[JimsterG]

I looked at the Mazda 3 also before I bought the my Focus. It lost out to the Focus because the interior lets in way too much road noise and even the dealer demo had obvious signs of misaligned panels in the interior and it was overpriced for what you get. You'll learn.....

[unclebrud]

....you'll learn that, generally, Mazdas are very solid long-term. It is true that the 3 is pretty noisy, but the whole package is great. I have more (long-term) confidence in my 6-year-old gen 1 M3 than in my 1.5 year-old Focus. Plus, Mazdas are more driver-oriented (and are not so into electro-trickery). Before you guys get mad...I own 2 Mazdas and 2 Foci...

Don't get me wrong, I like the Mk3 Focus a lot, but I think that erato hit the nail on the head about U.S. assembly quality. I can't picture a European putting up with misaligned panels, DCT issues, average paint quality, etc.

[revhigh]

Originally Posted by JimsterG

I looked at the Mazda 3 also before I bought the my Focus. It lost out to the Focus because the interior lets in way too much road noise and even the dealer demo had obvious signs of misaligned panels in the interior and it was overpriced for what you get. You'll learn.....

I already learned quite enough about the Ford Focus. Things I never wated to know, so I'm quite pleased to learn about the M3.

One thing I learned is I'll never own another Ford.

REV