CD Article: Mazda3, 2004-2008

[CD_Editor]

Used Vehicle Review:


The Mazda3's reliability has been good, reports Contributing Editor Chris Chase, "but the car has not proven as trouble-free as some of its Japanese competitors."  
A 2006-or-newer model is your best bet, he says.
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[2hondas]

Definitely one of my favorite small cars. I was in the market for a used one, but I wanted to avoid the 04-05 models...newer ones were too $$. So Protege it was.

[vdk]

i've also heard about problem regarding bent valves or something like that.. 

[carcrazy]

I think most of the problems, although there weren't too many, were with the 04. I remember brake rotors wrapping.
Mine is 05 and it has been very reliable so far; save for a fried horn, but my wife had some fault for that. I had few TSBs done over time, but nothing major.
I only replaced a light bulb apart from the horn and the glove box for rattles, alll under warranty.

I think the side/curtain airbags, trip computer, heated mirrors became standard in 06, at least on the GT models.

The rough 1-2 shift when cold, has been addressed by a software update long time ago (TSB).

Mazda is fixing the corrosion issue as well. I got lucky since I barely had any rust (so far), but still, the dealer fixed it. Most of the cars affected are 04s.

If I was shopping used, I'd take a 06 GT for the extra stuff.

[Blueprint]

These days you can get a base GX for 13,495$, or one with a/c for 13,995$, and these are advertised prices.  Add aftermarket alloys, and you have terrific value.

Durability is a concern with Mazda.  My 2004 MPV, bought in 11-'04, needed new front doors in '08 because of rust perforation.  The rear fenders were also rusting; both issues were taken care of by the warranty, but all MPVs had these problems.  Other than that : failed coil, fail IAC valve (both stranding me and not covered beyond 3 years), failed front sway bar bushings (ditto), warped front rotors, cupped oem tires, wiper arms broken because of galvanitic corrosion, and on and on.

The Mz3 looks terrific, is fun to drive and has good value.  I should know, as I put at least 2,000 km on various units lent while the MPV was being repaired.  I just hope it doesn't age as fast as MPVs (or Mz6, for that matter).

[Thinking Out Loud]

When we were out shopping for a minivan we chose the 06 MPV GT based on the reliability we'd heard about after some prety extensive research.  After 6 years of production we figured all the bugs have been worked out. 

Rust wise, we have first gen RWD/4WD MPVs running around rust free here in the GTA, and when our MPV was in for a regular service call we were shuttled in a 2003 MPV with 200,000 kms on it that was rust and rattle free.  Given the way these dealer's mule-vehicles get treated, that pretty much resold me.  The model year of yours (2004), it likely could be another paint failure situation as noted in the article for 3's of this era.

That all said, I'm still RustCheck-ing it annually since it's The Family Transport.    Better safe than sorry!

The 5GT we have has been great, given the underpinings of the platform are 3.  We have five people that are various make 3 owners in my company including a MazdaSpeed if I recall.  They thought I was nuts at looking at a Sentra SE-R over a 3.