Register a SA Forums Account here!
JOINING THE SA FORUMS WILL REMOVE THIS BIG AD, THE ANNOYING UNDERLINED ADS, AND STUPID INTERSTITIAL ADS!!!

You can: log in, read the tech support FAQ, or request your lost password. This dumb message (and those ads) will appear on every screen until you register! Get rid of this crap by registering your own SA Forums Account and joining roughly 150,000 Goons, for the one-time price of $9.95! We charge money because it costs us money per month for bills, and since we don't believe in showing ads to our users, we try to make the money back through forum registrations.
 
  • Post
  • Reply
Geoj
May 28, 2008

BITTER POOR PERSON
Anyone have anything good or bad to say about CX-3s? Starting to think about buying a 2016/17 in the near future, fully loaded ones are dropping into the $15k price range around me and its a lot of car for the price.

I know they don't have much in the name of cargo space or rear legroom, but at most we'll have our dogs in the back seat and I'll just treat it like an oversize hatchback if I need more cargo room. A CX-5 is bigger than I'd prefer and I'd have to take a few steps down in options for it to be affordable.

Adbot
ADBOT LOVES YOU

eddiewalker
Apr 28, 2004

Arrrr ye landlubber

Geoj posted:

Anyone have anything good or bad to say about CX-3s? Starting to think about buying a 2016/17 in the near future, fully loaded ones are dropping into the $15k price range around me and its a lot of car for the price.

I know they don't have much in the name of cargo space or rear legroom, but at most we'll have our dogs in the back seat and I'll just treat it like an oversize hatchback if I need more cargo room. A CX-5 is bigger than I'd prefer and I'd have to take a few steps down in options for it to be affordable.

I’ve got a 3 hatch and it already feels cozy. I can’t imagine going smaller at this point.

The CX3 is 10 inches skinner and 14 inches shorter than the 3, but only an inch taller.

Russian Bear
Dec 26, 2007


Turbo only on AWD so no manual. Womp womp.

mexecan
Jul 10, 2006

eddiewalker posted:

I’ve got a 3 hatch and it already feels cozy. I can’t imagine going smaller at this point.

The CX3 is 10 inches skinner and 14 inches shorter than the 3, but only an inch taller.

This. The 3 Hatch is a larger car with more usable space than the CX3. Better value all around.

Wibla
Feb 16, 2011

I've driven the CX-3, it's an annoying small car that plays at being a crossover.

Much prefer the 3 hatchback over it.

But of course they had to make the EV version based on the CX-3 (or something similar? I dunno, they call it the the CX-30 anyway).

:sigh:

The Aardvark
Aug 19, 2013


The EV (MX-30) is based on the CX-30, which is supposed to between the CX-3 and CX-5 wrt size.

dissss
Nov 10, 2007

I'm a terrible forums poster with terrible opinions.

Here's a cat fucking a squid.
It's also got a different body to the CX-30.

The other thing with the CX-3 is that it's an older model now whereas the 3 and CX-30 are brand new and get much nicer interiors. Personally I'd take an absolute base 3 over any CX-3

McFlurry Fan #1
Dec 31, 2005

He can't kill me. I'm indestructible. Everybody knows that

I had a good look at a CX-3 and the boot is absolutely tiny, it's very clearly based on the Mazda 2. I ended up getting a 3 ( sadly with the 120ps petrol engine)

Geoj
May 28, 2008

BITTER POOR PERSON
Other than size (again, not a problem - I typically prefer small cars, two person household, no kids in our future, etc) anything bad about it? Horrendous road nosie, alignment problems, known gremlins, tends to rust in certain places, etc.

I'm mostly after LED headlights and adaptive cruise control, and getting that in a CX-5 or 3 quickly puts me well above my budget, into something with too many miles for most banks to touch or with a stick - which I wouldn't be opposed to but my wife refuses to drive a manual.

Geoj fucked around with this message at 19:43 on Jun 14, 2020

dissss
Nov 10, 2007

I'm a terrible forums poster with terrible opinions.

Here's a cat fucking a squid.
Nothing wrong with it, it just isn't as good as Mazda's other offerings.

BTW even the most basic 3 has LED headlights and adaptive cruise nowadays - manual AC and the plastic steering wheel are pretty much the only cheap feeling things on the base car for this gen.

Geoj
May 28, 2008

BITTER POOR PERSON
Went to look at a CX-3, the dealbreaker was having to choose between using the armrest or the cup holders.

Going to see a '17 3 GT hatchback tonight - turns out getting the i-activsense package on a 3 is drat near impossible without making a daytrip across state lines so dropping that as a requirement (and local dealers aggressively dropping prices) moved them back in budget. Assuming there aren't any glaring problems or its a former smoker's car it'll be coming home with me.

Literally Lewis Hamilton
Feb 22, 2005



My man, have you considered leasing a GT-R?

azflyboy
Nov 9, 2005
Has anyone had experience with the tire pressure warning on a Mazda3 coming on at random?

My girlfriend has a 2017 model, and it's taken to randomly turning the tire pressure warning light on when the pressures are all fine. Each time, I'll verify the pressures cold and do the reset procedure, but the light will come on again a couple weeks later.

Since it's previously caught a slow leak in a tire, I'm pretty sure the system can detect an actually low tire, and since the light only seems to come on during or immediately after interstate driving, I'm wondering if the car isn't somehow confusing the pressure increase for a decrease.

silence_kit
Jul 14, 2011

by the sex ghost

azflyboy posted:

Has anyone had experience with the tire pressure warning on a Mazda3 coming on at random?

My girlfriend has a 2017 model, and it's taken to randomly turning the tire pressure warning light on when the pressures are all fine. Each time, I'll verify the pressures cold and do the reset procedure, but the light will come on again a couple weeks later.

Since it's previously caught a slow leak in a tire, I'm pretty sure the system can detect an actually low tire, and since the light only seems to come on during or immediately after interstate driving, I'm wondering if the car isn't somehow confusing the pressure increase for a decrease.

I get the same problem sometimes on my 2016 Mazda3. There are a lot of false alarms for flat tires. It seems to happen more frequently after I get the tires rotated, or a flat patched, or buy new tires, and gradually becomes less frequent.

Kia Soul Enthusias
May 9, 2004

zoom-zoom
Toilet Rascal
Check the manual to see if it will light if the pressure is too high (they usually do). I wonder if it's sensitive enough to get tripped from highway heat.

azflyboy
Nov 9, 2005
The manual doesn't specify whether it triggers off higher pressures, but that's my theory until proven otherwise.

I've got a 2015 Mazda3 that's never had that problem, but since my car has tires with substantially more sidewall than the 2017, that may make the TPMS less sensitive.

Wibla
Feb 16, 2011

I've had that happen on 18"s on my 2015 3, and during cold spells in the winter with 16" winter wheels on. It'll also happen if your tires don't have equal pressure on both sides, or if your brakes are partially stuck, heating up the wheel (and tire) ... that last one wasn't fun.

It's an okay system, but kinda finicky, because it relies on the ABS sensors to work. If they start going out, you'll have all kinds of fun issues.

Fabulousity
Dec 29, 2008

Number One I order you to take a number two.

My 2014 has thrown false tire warnings at least twice. Like Wibla said because the ABS sensors are used to tell if a tire is out of whack the warning can be set off if there's enough of a pressure differential which can be caused by things other than a tire actually being low. It's fun when it happens on the freeway and you get to play the "Is that sound and/or steering pull the lovely pavement or am I currently grinding up a sidewall and am seconds away from potentially losing control?" game.

Did the 4th gen move to actual in tire sensors?

eddiewalker
Apr 28, 2004

Arrrr ye landlubber
I’ve had wheel slip on gravel and ice trigger the abs-tpms on my 3. Seems like an OK trade for not needing sensors in the tires.

got off on a technicality
Feb 7, 2007

oh dear

Fabulousity posted:

My 2014 has thrown false tire warnings at least twice. Like Wibla said because the ABS sensors are used to tell if a tire is out of whack the warning can be set off if there's enough of a pressure differential which can be caused by things other than a tire actually being low. It's fun when it happens on the freeway and you get to play the "Is that sound and/or steering pull the lovely pavement or am I currently grinding up a sidewall and am seconds away from potentially losing control?" game.

Did the 4th gen move to actual in tire sensors?

No idea but my 2019 has done false low pressure warnings twice in 8 months of ownership. Oh well

air-
Sep 24, 2007

Who will win the greatest battle of them all?

Long time no see. I have a 2008 MS3 GT with 140k on the body and 70k on this engine (first engine hydrolocked, replaced with a gen2 engine at 70k)

Noticing lower mpg lately and hesitation at WOT similar to this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2p7TwolhCuo

I know I'm overdue for spark plugs, so that's the first thing I'm doing. Was wondering if I should also be considering the injector seals? Seen that pop up while googling for these symptoms.

e: also not planning on installing one step colder plugs since the only power mod I have is SRI

air- fucked around with this message at 23:11 on Jul 7, 2020

slothrop
Dec 7, 2006

Santa Alpha, Fox One... Gifts Incoming ~~~>===|>

Soiled Meat
cross-posting from the car buying thread, this seemed like a reasonable spot for it

slothrop posted:

Are there any major flaws/dealbreakers to be aware of with BM series Mazda 3's?

Some chump smashed into the better half's car while it was parked out the front of our house, now she has to replace it, and fast.

She's looking at this in particular, which is a little out of her budget. It seems well cared for, I like that it has decent tyres and not cheap Chinese knock-offs and I've read that the ceramic coatings are magic.

https://www.carsales.com.au/cars/details/2016-mazda-3-sp25-astina-bm-series-auto/SSE-AD-6445089/?Cr=4

TheBacon
Feb 8, 2012

#essereFerrari

slothrop posted:

cross-posting from the car buying thread, this seemed like a reasonable spot for it

I bought that one exact model but the 2014 edition. I bought it with about 31k miles 2.5 years ago and have put about 12k on since. It’s been flawless for me and I very much like it other than lacking a stick. I can’t comment too much on the ACC as even though I have the tech package with it I’ve only used it once to test it out. I don’t know of any specific issues to worry about, mine did have its battery die, which due to the tech package is some stupid expensive special battery, otherwise just changed the oil and normal stuff. The 2.5 has enough oomph when I step on it and I love being able to load it up, got my 65” TV in mine.

dissss
Nov 10, 2007

I'm a terrible forums poster with terrible opinions.

Here's a cat fucking a squid.
I've had the facelift version since 2016 and it's been a fantastic car so far. I've had three issues - first was the nav stopped reading the SD card (fixed with an update), second was the reverse camera got distorted and eventually stopped working because of a corroded connection in the tailgate wiring and the third is the clear coat has started flaking off the wheels (I think this is only a problem on the darker finish wheels on the later cars)

The biggest criticism I have is it has lots of tyre noise on coarse chip road surfaces (which is the majority of roads in New Zealand). Apparently different tyres improve things but I'm still on the originals.

regulargonzalez
Aug 18, 2006
UNGH LET ME LICK THOSE BOOTS DADDY HULU ;-* ;-* ;-* YES YES GIVE ME ALL THE CORPORATE CUMMIES :shepspends: :shepspends: :shepspends: ADBLOCK USERS DESERVE THE DEATH PENALTY, DON'T THEY DADDY?
WHEN THE RICH GET RICHER I GET HORNIER :a2m::a2m::a2m::a2m:

dissss posted:

I've had the facelift version since 2016 and it's been a fantastic car so far. I've had three issues - first was the nav stopped reading the SD card (fixed with an update), second was the reverse camera got distorted and eventually stopped working because of a corroded connection in the tailgate wiring and the third is the clear coat has started flaking off the wheels (I think this is only a problem on the darker finish wheels on the later cars)

The biggest criticism I have is it has lots of tyre noise on coarse chip road surfaces (which is the majority of roads in New Zealand). Apparently different tyres improve things but I'm still on the originals.

It'll never be the quietest of cars but yeah the OEM tires are terrible. By far the loudest and fastest wearing tires I've ever used. Dunno if you have them in NZ but the General Max AS-05 tires are much quieter and a good upgrade in rain and snow.

FBS
Apr 27, 2015

The real fun of living wisely is that you get to be smug about it.

I've owned a 2014 2.5L hatch (Touring trim) for six years. Mechanically it's needed a battery, a new HVAC fan, and rear brakes in 80k miles.

The only other problem is the touchscreen has gone wonky, and sometimes gets ghost inputs. I haven't bothered to do anything about it since the touchscreen is locked out over 5 mph, but I think there's a pretty active hacking scene for these infotainments so I could probably fix it (by turning off the touchscreen entirely) if I wanted to.

The biggest flaw is definitely road noise, and that's been true on all three tire brands I've tried.

mexecan
Jul 10, 2006

FBS posted:

I've owned a 2014 2.5L hatch (Touring trim) for six years. Mechanically it's needed a battery, a new HVAC fan, and rear brakes in 80k miles.

The only other problem is the touchscreen has gone wonky, and sometimes gets ghost inputs. I haven't bothered to do anything about it since the touchscreen is locked out over 5 mph, but I think there's a pretty active hacking scene for these infotainments so I could probably fix it (by turning off the touchscreen entirely) if I wanted to.

The biggest flaw is definitely road noise, and that's been true on all three tire brands I've tried.

My screen failed in a similar manner on my in my 2014. It's a pretty common problem and I believe they did a recall or service call of some sort. Mazda Canada replaced it even though the car was well out of warranty and I'm not the original owner of the car. Something to consider.

Would agree on road noise.

dissss
Nov 10, 2007

I'm a terrible forums poster with terrible opinions.

Here's a cat fucking a squid.

regulargonzalez posted:

It'll never be the quietest of cars but yeah the OEM tires are terrible. By far the loudest and fastest wearing tires I've ever used. Dunno if you have them in NZ but the General Max AS-05 tires are much quieter and a good upgrade in rain and snow.

I don't have any wear complaints, these are easily the longest lasting tyres I've ever had on a car (50,000km and still legal). I think I got less than half of that on some fairly sticky Bridgestones on my old Skyline/G35 (dunno maybe I'm just getting old)

Going to be stuck with them a while longer because I've bought set of factory wheels and tyres someone had taken off their 2018 when it was brand new - much cheaper than trying to sort out the curbing and clear coat issues on the current wheels.

E. Apparently the facelift screen isn't as failure prime and can be dropped in to earlier models. Software disable is another option but you'd want to be careful if you take it in to a dealer, at least where I am they update the software each service which might cause issues with the 'jailbreak'

dissss fucked around with this message at 05:56 on Jul 9, 2020

Fingat
May 17, 2004

Shhh. My Common Sense is Tingling


Oh hey, back in another 3. I felt I needed to do some downsizing and traded in my 17 wrx for a 17 GT. I was a bit sad to lose the wrx, but Im pretty impressed with the 3 so far. Black wasn't my first choice but I really ended up liking the two tone parchment interior. Also this one was in really good condition and only 17.8k miles. This is my 3rd 3, had an 07 and a 13 speed. Might be the last one for a while though as I'm not a fan of the interior of the 4th gen.

Fingat fucked around with this message at 07:51 on Jul 9, 2020

silence_kit
Jul 14, 2011

by the sex ghost

Yeah, slothrop, FBS's experience quoted above has been almost the exact same experience I've had with a 2016 2L hatch with the iSport trim level. I've changed the battery, gotten new rear brakes, gotten new tires, and changed the oil when needed over 75k miles, but that has been it.

I too experienced the phantom touchscreen issue, and got a dealership to fix it for free under the 'SSPB6' recall. I've also had to bring the car in for 2 other recalls (one for an emergency brake and one for a fuel tank issue), although I think they just inspected the car, and didn't find the problem listed in the recall in my particular car.

Other Bad things:
Road noise is still pretty loud in the car, even with the nicer Continentals I bought to replace the OEM tires when they became worn. There is a slight rattle somewhere in the driver's side door or dash of my car that becomes noticeable when it gets cold. The interior is extremely nice for an economy car, but there are some really cheap feeling things about it (1. the way the cloth fabric is fastened to a cardboard/plastic bar at the bottom of the driver & passenger seats and 'latched in' to some kind of hook in the bottom of the seat is not great and sometimes falls out 2. the floor of the hatch trunk is just a floppy piece of cardboard covered with a fabric). There are a lot of false alarms with the tire pressure monitoring system.

I don't know what gwrtheyrn is talking about in this post in the other thread, quoted below, about the cigarette lighter plug placement and the climate control system. They're fine, IMO.

silence_kit fucked around with this message at 13:09 on Jul 9, 2020

Fabulousity
Dec 29, 2008

Number One I order you to take a number two.

Checking in with a 2014 3 with 45k miles and I've only had to replace the battery, rear brakes, and tires. Like everyone else has said road noise can be really awful on bad pavement.

TheBacon posted:

I bought that one exact model but the 2014 edition. I bought it with about 31k miles 2.5 years ago and have put about 12k on since. It’s been flawless for me and I very much like it other than lacking a stick. I can’t comment too much on the ACC as even though I have the tech package with it I’ve only used it once to test it out. I don’t know of any specific issues to worry about, mine did have its battery die, which due to the tech package is some stupid expensive special battery, otherwise just changed the oil and normal stuff. The 2.5 has enough oomph when I step on it and I love being able to load it up, got my 65” TV in mine.

If it has iELOOP or a start/stop system then it'll have an Q85 "enhanced" lead acid flooded battery. The short easy solution is: Replace it with a group 35 absorbed glass mat (AGM) battery for about 33% of the cost that the dealership would want for another enhanced lead acid flooded Q85 battery. The AGM is literally better in every way and the group 35 size is so similar in dimensions to the Q85 that you can fit it in and reuse the battery jacket with minimal fuss. A group 35 AGM should be relatively easy to find at any auto parts shop but you can also order them online if need be. If memory serves US dealers want around $600 for one their unicorn batteries (if they even have them on hand) while at the same time you can pop in something like a Bosch Platinum AGM for around $200 that'll perform better and last longer.

FBS posted:

I've owned a 2014 2.5L hatch (Touring trim) for six years. Mechanically it's needed a battery, a new HVAC fan, and rear brakes in 80k miles.

The only other problem is the touchscreen has gone wonky, and sometimes gets ghost inputs. I haven't bothered to do anything about it since the touchscreen is locked out over 5 mph, but I think there's a pretty active hacking scene for these infotainments so I could probably fix it (by turning off the touchscreen entirely) if I wanted to.

The biggest flaw is definitely road noise, and that's been true on all three tire brands I've tried.

I'm pretty sure a year or two ago Mazda did an extended recall across a huge range of models for touch screen delamination issues. One of the symptoms was "ghost" inputs.

Rhyno
Mar 22, 2003
Probation
Can't post for 10 years!
Does Mazda employ in house exorcists or did they outsource?

The Aardvark
Aug 19, 2013


Fabulousity posted:


If it has iELOOP or a start/stop system then it'll have an Q85 "enhanced" lead acid flooded battery. The short easy solution is: Replace it with a group 35 absorbed glass mat (AGM) battery for about 33% of the cost that the dealership would want for another enhanced lead acid flooded Q85 battery. The AGM is literally better in every way and the group 35 size is so similar in dimensions to the Q85 that you can fit it in and reuse the battery jacket with minimal fuss. A group 35 AGM should be relatively easy to find at any auto parts shop but you can also order them online if need be. If memory serves US dealers want around $600 for one their unicorn batteries (if they even have them on hand) while at the same time you can pop in something like a Bosch Platinum AGM for around $200 that'll perform better and last longer.

If you can find a sale with the AGMs, it's even better. I got a Bosch Platinum AGM for $160 a few months ago instead of what the dealership wanted.

MA-Horus
Dec 3, 2006

I'm sorry, I can't hear you over the sound of how awesome I am.

silence_kit posted:

There is a slight rattle somewhere in the driver's side door or dash of my car that becomes noticeable when it gets cold. The interior is extremely nice for an economy car, but there are some really cheap feeling things about it (1. the way the cloth fabric is fastened to a cardboard/plastic bar at the bottom of the driver & passenger seats and 'latched in' to some kind of hook in the bottom of the seat is not great and sometimes falls out

I have the exact same problems on my '18 GT, the side bolster popped out and the leather ripped. It's quite annoying.

The Soul Red paint is a beautiful color but my GOD is the paint fragile. I've had my car for 2 and a half years and the amount of chips and flakes in the paint is truly amazing.

silence_kit
Jul 14, 2011

by the sex ghost

MA-Horus posted:

The Soul Red paint is a beautiful color but my GOD is the paint fragile. I've had my car for 2 and a half years and the amount of chips and flakes in the paint is truly amazing.

Oh yeah, I should have mentioned the paint.

I have noticed small paint chips on the front roof of the car. And there is like a line of paint discoloration between the side mirrors to the bottom of the front doors, where water runs down from the side mirror to the ground. I am not a big car guy, but I assume that this is beginnings of rust formation underneath the paint?

I attributed it to me not waxing my car, but maybe the paint is not that great compared to other cars.

silence_kit fucked around with this message at 18:22 on Jul 9, 2020

got off on a technicality
Feb 7, 2007

oh dear
Are there any good power mods for the 2.5? I thought I'd get used to the engine but it turns out I've been spoiled by modern turbo 4s. I'd be happy with another 20-30hp

regulargonzalez
Aug 18, 2006
UNGH LET ME LICK THOSE BOOTS DADDY HULU ;-* ;-* ;-* YES YES GIVE ME ALL THE CORPORATE CUMMIES :shepspends: :shepspends: :shepspends: ADBLOCK USERS DESERVE THE DEATH PENALTY, DON'T THEY DADDY?
WHEN THE RICH GET RICHER I GET HORNIER :a2m::a2m::a2m::a2m:

got off on a technicality posted:

Are there any good power mods for the 2.5? I thought I'd get used to the engine but it turns out I've been spoiled by modern turbo 4s. I'd be happy with another 20-30hp

Same, and no. There's been an aftermarket turbo in the works and it should come out sometime between a working fusion reactor and widespread availability of graphene.

Rhyno
Mar 22, 2003
Probation
Can't post for 10 years!

regulargonzalez posted:

Same, and no. There's been an aftermarket turbo in the works and it should come out sometime between a working fusion reactor and widespread availability of graphene.

Corksport's been pretty quiet about their turbo systems they were developing for the newer Mazdas. I'd be surprised if they pushed forward with it at this point.

TheBacon
Feb 8, 2012

#essereFerrari
With cold air and a full exhaust and a tune for it maybe you could get that 20-30hp but not a very cost effective way to get there really

Adbot
ADBOT LOVES YOU

got off on a technicality
Feb 7, 2007

oh dear
Argh oh well

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • Post
  • Reply