Well my girlfriend and I have been checking out cars for her and while shes finally falling in love with my car and she will always have a love for her truck and big ol diesels, she needs something a bit more economical but somewhat fun to drive right now. We were looking at Civic, Mazda 3, Corolla and are open to suggestions on others.

As of now she has decided on a Type S (2.3 L) Mazda 3 with Electric Blue color and the manumatic tranny. What are y'alls suggestions and experiences? Her budget is 10,000 dollars or close to it and she wants to get around 25 to 30 mpg and have something with less than 60k miles.

 

If you go the mazda route then go with the mazda6. the mazdaspeed 6 is even the cooler model car and sometimes you can find them in that price range. Go check them out they look good for a mazda.

 

I own a 2007 Mazda3 Grand touring edition 2.3 and love it. I have a manual and for a 4cylinder it is surprising quick. It holds it own on curves too,very nice handling. Of course my itch for a Z28 still comes along every now and then.

 

My wife has an 2008 Mazda 3 and its nice, I have an 2008 matrix which is based on the corolla the 3 is nicer and sportier.

 

awesome...thanks for the input! those are the exact things i was wanting to hear

 

i looked at them at the 6s to. thought they were both nice, ended getting what i wanted originally though with the RSX Type S, and i Love it.

 

dude get a jetta. I bought an 03 jetta gls for 12k and it gets around 35 mpg in the city. it does what its told karl

 

my mom has a mazda3. Its a nice drive, gets pretty good gas mileage. Hers is an automatic and im not a big fan of auto's

 

i like the look of those mazda 3 hatchbacks!! just curious how the aftermarket performance parts are for those cars.

 

LS1AGGIE09,

It's not really in your gf's budget, but I'm selling an 07' Mazda 3i w/ only 17k miles. A more detailed description of this vehicle may be found at either of the following links. I live in Houston and can show the car anytime.

http://houston.craigslist.org/car/737137341.html

or

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.jsp?car_id=243584701

I don't really post on this site all to often, but I work with NINEBALL and he can vouch for me. If you're looking for a Mazda 3; its hard for me to believe you'll find one this nice for the price.

If interested, hit me up at 832.434.7276

Mike

 

25 to 30 mpg hwy + fun to drive = stock 6 speed LS1 F-body

 

thanks for the offer mike. shes wanting somethin a lil less expensive though

 

RSX Type S is a good sporty car IMO. and better made then mazda, way better then VW. i put a CAI and it really woke it up, picks up and moves right into traffic, 6 speed, nice interior, ect. I like the style and everything of VW but it seems they arn't made worth a crap.

 

Wow my vw seems to be holding up fairly well, never really heard too many issues with them.

 

some get lucky i guess. but i did reviews on a number of years and it seems 2000 area was horrible. when i got to page 13 it seemed 1-2 people actually had something good to say about them. i asked around w a bunch of people who own them to, they all said they had alot of problems as well... maybe newer ones finally got issues fixed?.... i still like most of the VWs, but i like a car that you don't have to worry about...

 

ya i dont blame ya on that. Sounds like i need to do some research

 

I am very happy with my '08 3 Hatch. Drives great and gets good gas mileage. Very roomy too.

 

all around i think it's just what you feel better with, havn't heard of any real problems with the 3-6 when i did my research. even almost baught it untell i got the deal i was looking for with my RSX. i don't think you can go wrong if you pick it.

 

Check into the G6 & the Saturn Aura, a girl I date has an Aura, I think it's an XR....top of the line model, it's nice damn car, wasn't expecting much & was pleasantly surprised by how nice it was.

 

my first car was a mazda 3s, and I loved it. i think that they are bad *** little cars and make a great daily driver, especially for a girl.