Thursday, April 20, 2006

So here's where I stand on new car



So, I'm very close to actually buying a new car, and while it doesn't wear a Blue Oval, it's at least in the Ford family of cars. As you know if you read on a regular basis, I had been lured by the Dodge Caliber, but after a test drive I was not impressed. Now on same day, I test drove a Mazda3 that many people had suggested to me, and I know is built on the C1 platform shared with the Euro Focus. And as expected the test drive left a very good impression on me. But the Mazda3 is just a little more expensive than the Dodge. And of course I'm cheap, but I want all the options I've mentioned before.

Well, I had almost forgotten about my Ford X-Plan enrollment, that was sponsored by a reader who works in Dearborn. A very kind reader who has been reading my page since almost day one, and offered me this great opportunity. And of course Ford owns a controlling interest in Mazda, so it can be translated easilly into an S-Plan pin.

I've contacted the salesman, informed him of the S-Plan situation and am waiting for him to get back to me. They don't have the exact car I want, but I was able to locate it in an area dealership and forward that information as well. I've never been very loyal to any salesperson or dealership over the years, but this salesman has put in the effort so I'll see if we can do this.

The picture above is like the car I'm interested in a Mazda3 s Grand Touring in Black Mica. I have a back up dealer closer to my house, in case this dealer isn't interested, but my brother has confidence in them, seeing that he's bought multiple cars from them, including his recent purchase of the MazdaSpeed6.

4 comments:

Brian Vermette said...

I got to say, not bad, the Mazda3 looks good and at least it is in the Ford family. What about a hybrid, a pre-owned Ford Escape with either FWD or 4WD with a 4cyl.

What the hay, you have been shopping for a new car, not a pre-owned, go get the Mazda3, it gets 26/32 MPG, just make sure you get the options that you want and don't settle or less.

See Yeah!

Big Ford Fan said...

Hey Brian, yeah trying to avoid the "Pre-Owned" situation. Another advantage to the Mazda is the 4 year/50,000 mile bumper to bumper as oposed to 3yr/36,000 miles from Ford.

I'm not getting rid of my truck, so all wheel drive isn't needed. Besides if I go nuts I can autocross the Mazda3 against my friend's GTI or RX8.

The 32 mpg highway is a much anticipated feature, as we sometimes drive to Cape Cod and other long drives, and the Ranger's 20 mpg just doesn't cut it. Hell, even if I beat the piss out of the 3 I should be able to get 25 mpg on the highway.

And parking a small car instead of a truck is going to be a releif. But of course, for those bad winter days and home improvement projects, there really isn't anything like a pickup.

Big Ford Fan said...

JD, thanks, I think this time I've made up my mind, just have to get the ball rolling. But it's going to be easier with the discount that I've been offered.

Anonymous said...

Joe

Heads up.. my top mileage is 35mpg .. and I never dipped under 20mpg..

some members on mazda3forums.com have mileage issues (as do 06 Civic owners) but most of them are not from MTX crowd..

overall... this car does very close and above EPA mileage with the stick.. you will be pleasantly surprised.

BTW I bought my car used, so it is well broken in.

Igor