A dealers offered me a 2012 MazdaSpeed3 (Non-R) for about 22,800 OTD.

I just discovered these forums and after reading through this thread that seems like a pretty good price. And the price is certainly better than the other places in the area.

I'm a little apprehensive about getting the car (especially after feeling super rusty on the manual during the test drive since my last stick was 6 years ago) and was wondering if anyone here cared to give me a little pep talk into joining the MazdaSpeed3 club! :scratchchin:

To give you some more idea I started out looking at econ mpg cars but realized I don't have a daily commute and this is going to be more of a weekend car anyways. I love the price, style, torque, and the turbo but still a bit scared of getting sub 20mpg. I'm also a bit concerned about the Life Span/resell value of the car since I haven't really been able to find much info on it.

As far as the resell, they DO hold their value very well. That's why I'm getting a brand new one.

the car is badass. also, i average +20mpg city no problem (unless i am driving it hard). find two other similar cars you are interested in, get price quotes on those and see which is the most car for your buck. i bet you'll decide on the MS3.

I think it was Edmunds, but it was said to hold it's value better then any other car in its class.

I see mpg stuff like this and I scratch my head. In 3K so far the best I've gotten was 25 on a highway trip and usually 21-22 in mixed driving (25% city/ 75% hwy). Maybe the gas here in California sucks? I know they blend it with ethanol (10%) which would reduce mileage.

To potential buyer, don't let the mileage scare you. The car is a hoot and anything under $23K is a good deal in my book.

DISCLAIMER: Not a MS3 owner yet, so it's not like I've been driving the car and don't know the answer.

Does the GenPu run regular fuel?! I had just assumed it ran Premium like most Turbo cars, but I just read the Owner's manual and saw it only lists 87-octane. However, since the manual is shared with the Regular 3i and 3s, I was wondering if it's an omission or of it appears elsewhere in the manual.

Thanks.

TIS

i just drove to FL and averaged 31mpg. and that was on gas from VA, NC, SC, GA and/or FL. 93 octane.

@ANITIX87 you absolutely need to use 91 or higher. i actually think 89 is ok depending on location. but 91 or 93 is the general rule.

I can average 25mpg ALL DAY EVERY DAY in safe mode. GO FOR IT
I also can get about 31mpg on the highway at a steady 65mph.
Mazda really screwed up on the MPG numbers. 18/25 lol. I think it should be like 24/29 or so.

you should really run it on 91 or better in my area the best gas here is 93 so i also saw that i put 87 in for one tank and got crappy gas mileage only 15pg once i put in 93 i got around 18-19 mpg higher octane is a win-win. better mpg and better power :)

i average 15-18mpg depending on what octane i use

I'm no expert, however technically I don't think octane should effect mileage all that much, but here in CA the highest one can find at regular service stations is 91. So maybe that's why I don't get the higher figures I've seen quoted. I'll never use anything below 91, but I'd sure like to try some pure unblended 93. We used to be able to buy it some years back at 76 stations, but alas no more...highest gas prices in the nation for sh!t gas and a refinery not 40 miles away WTF.

You must run premium, but it's only a few bucks more a tank.

Also, the mileage display is known to be about 1 mpg too high.

Yeah 1.5mpg optimistic in my case. I'm still averaging with mixed driving 23.5mpg with shitty winter has.

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Thank you guys for the input! I'm really looking forward to picking it up soon. I'll certainly post back about how I like it and maybe a few photos. Is it bad I already started planning out future mods before I own it? haha

the BEST car for your money period. performs as good as cars 2x the price. If you REALLY care about awd look at the wrx even for the price difference. But the wrx is plain imo and interior sucks ass. This isn't one of those cars you buy and think to yourself "i could have bought (blank) for this much money" you will love it. Also I never drove a standard before I bough the car, it comes pretty quick and its alot funner.

Traction (or as the media calls it, torque steer lol) is a serious problem with these cars once you start to mod them. That's either a good or bad thing depending on your point of view :-). I realized this after driving Will's 12 second MS6, which goes dead straight with what close to 400lb/ft... Putting all of a big turbo's power to the ground in 1st and 2nd gear is something you will never have with a MS3.

absolutely not. but you should break the car in stock and get use to it (since you said it's been 6 years since you had a manual). then just follow the advice on the millions of threads on the proper order/way to mod your car. be smart and patient otherwise you could regret it.

Yeah. I don't have mine yet either, and I started a thread asking questions (See Mod List). I'll have the suspension and stereo parts before I have the car.

once you swap out the garbage stock MMs putting "traction" down isn't as difficult with the ko4. @phate is putting down over 400lbs tq on the stock k04. Sure 1st and 2nd are useless but being so short they are useless anyway although 60 mph in second is kinda nice!

ya putting power down is the thing with fwd. Like mentioned above a rmm will help. That is also why I mentioned the wrx if you are so concerned with spinning your tires lol. I don't find the tq steer all that bad. hold on to the wheel when you stomp on it and u shld be fine. the tq steer was actually a concern I had because everyone who reviews the car cries about it, but It wasnt anywhere near as bad as they make it sound.

Got my car just a few hours ago!

Good advice. I'll certainly break it in stock and use the time to re-familiarize myself with manual, I am going to need the time.... I Drove for about 2 hours tonight but can't quite get all the transitions smooth (1st to 2nd is really jumpy? maybe shifting too slow?). I also managed to go from 4th to 3rd gear instead of 5th, luckily I wasn't going too fast. This is certainly a different type of beast compared to my old 5speed CRX.

That being said I couldn't be happier with my choice and cant wait to drive it more!

I say look for a 30,000 mile 2008.5 GT Should be able to pick one up for 16,000 or so...thats almost 10,000.00 dollars off the price of a new one. I wont be buying a new car again...ever...I will let someone else take the 5,000 dollar plus hit when it leaves the lot.

Bought my 2008.5 with 13,000 miles on it for 17,600 in 2010. Saved me at least 6000 dollars.

Just a thought...unless you hate the gen 1's?

Ken

It takes a while to get used to driving. It's my 3rd manual transmission car, and by far the hardest I've ever driven. But you'll get better in the next couple weeks.

Congrats on the new car, you will love it. I miss my MS3 right now... I have a Chrysler 200 rental car for work yesterday and today... What a pos.

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It's not really you, these cars are harder then most manuals to drive smooth. A nice RMM, some rev matching and seat time will help though. This is my 6th manual and it is the only one that I can't drive glass smooth if I want to. But all the others were/are RWD.

Good luck, enjoy the car.

Man, I can't wait to get mine! You guys are getting me that much more excited about it.

Congrats. If this is a brand new car, the shifting action will loosen up over time. It might seem a bit "stiff" right now and that makes shifting more deliberate. It will feel better after a few thousand miles.:masked:

Test Driving 2012 MS3 in Dallas TX area this Saturday
 

Hi All, new member first time poster. We are looking at test driving a 2012 MS3 this weekend in the Dallas TX area. I prefer the MS3 but the boss wants to also test drive a CT200h, I know I know ... no comparison. I have seen the Base MS3 sticker here at 24,750 but I am hoping the have some kind of $1,500 dealer incentive. Classic Mazda in Denton Tx is saying they have red tag MS3's. I don't think they will budge off of the 32k for the Lexus. Bottom line I want the MS3 .. she wants the CT200h. wish me luck. Any advice, price haggling strategies are most appreciated. Thanks!

Advice?
Give your wife $200 to go blow at the mall. In the meantime "accidentally" go to the dealer and buy the MS3.
CT200h ? omfg. It's a PRIUS!

I know right.. it is a prius. May look fast but S L O W!
She would not fall for the Mall trick. We will see.

Thx!

Congrats. If you want smoother shifts for very little money, go buy a good 75 - 88duro rear motor mount and a heavy shift knob. The RMM helps to drastically reduce the amount of slop in the drivetrain, and the heavy shift knob improves shifter feel. I recommend either CP-E rear motor mount (there's two types) in 75 duro, or JBarone rear motor mount, and a JBarone heavy shift knob. The heavy shift knob will help very much with the shifter, the stock knob is garbage.

^^^ +1 definately get a rmm it really helps. This is my first manual car but I have a pretty tough time smooth shifting 1 to 2 if im driving fast lol.
Also does a heavier shift knob really make a difference? What is so bad about the stock shifter knob? thanks

OK, guys. Rebirthing an old thread so I don't have to start a new one.

Was offered 2012 Black MS3 with Tech Package, Wheel Locks, and iPod connector cable for 26,650 out-the-door here in NY state. Thoughts on the deal? I feel like it's a great price, but you'll all know better than I will.

TIS

I got my "12 for 22700.... So that is 3k under msrp. Not bad imo

What's up man, just in case you didn't know the last Friday of April is the Nator SA/Austin/Houston get together at Biff's, maybe be as many as 20 speeds there, thinking of having a BBQ after. Hope you can make it sir.

definitely dont get the genesis coupe, theyre slow, maybe not as much the 2nd gens, but eh still MS3 > gen coupe.

And while we're at it Gen WON > Gen PU.

get a used gen 1, much better interior, exterior is subjective i guess (smiley face ftl though), but the interior's on genpu is horrendous, it's watered down and generic. what's with that heinous red pattern anyway? IMO (sorry GenPu lovers)

Got a Gen2, can't disagree about the interior, ugly but easy to fix, the smile, like I always say I can't see it from the drivers seat so I'm cool with it. The Gen1's have a much better interior no doubt but there's a reason there's a Gen2, to improve on the design, we handle better and faster in the 1/4 mile stock but I got no problems with the Gen1's, after all it's a speed isn't it and we're all just one big happy zoom-zoom family. Not trying to start shit just stating the facts from Mazdaspeed.

My white '12 with tech package does not have the 6 disc.

so at first i thought you got screwed. but then i looked it up. the standard MS3 will come with:

So then I checked to see what the tech package includes now (for the 2010, my year, you needed the tech package to get the Bose/6disc/push-to-start/etc.) It comes with:

nothing about a 6 disc changer. i guess they dropped that.

I was give or take 1900-2000 upside down on my trade (2011 XT forester, lease that I broke early)......

After all negotiations they were at a hair under $26k otd including my extra 2k hit for being upside down and breaking lease. This was for non tech 2012 lsm ms3

I gave them an offer of 25.5k otd an they accepted.

In essence I got the car for 23.5 otd, and paid my "fee" for breaking lease early.

Also I got a crazy rate at my credit union. 1.9% for 5 yrs. :)

As I have stated in a couple other posts I contemplated the skyactive 3 and it 40+ mpg, but they were only knocking $900 off sticker, they knocked like 3k off sticker for my 12 ms3. Case closed there. I also asked for and was given a cargo tray and 2 oil changes.

And yes I've owned many stick cars, by far the hardest to drive smoothe. Still fun as fuck. I have a custom muscle cruiser and I have to deliberate with myself which one to ride / drive to work on lol. They are both so much fun.

don't get me wrong, i have love for genpu. like I love the side "flow" or curves it has, the hoodscoop is awesome, and the wheels are great. i had to choose between gen1 and gen2 when i was shopping around, and ultimately went with gen1 because of looks and price. I have seen many gen2s around my area (northwest suburbs of Chicago), that look badass. (blacked out, blue one with black wheels) so ya i guess you genPUers arent so bad =p

the faster 1/4 must be from the slightly taller gears.

ps. I plan to donate one of these days when I stop getting raped by bills.
pps. will work for mods