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Hi guys !!

Am new to this forum. I felt this is a good place to post my question in regards to buying my first ever car ( new one ) lol .

Iv been looking for something small (sedan) , reliable , economical on fuel , and good in looks ( interior / exterior ).

Just been interested in Mazda 3 - MAXX , the new Honda Civic Vti - L and the Kia Magentis .

Could you guys please suggest me a good one , which is good in reliability and quality for price !!

Thanx in advance !!

Sandy

Hi guys !!

Am new to this forum. I felt this is a good place to post my question in regards to buying my first ever car ( new one ) lol .

Iv been looking for something small (sedan) , reliable , economical on fuel , and good in looks ( interior / exterior ).

Just been interested in Mazda 3 - MAXX , the new Honda Civic Vti - L and the Kia Magentis .

Could you guys please suggest me a good one , which is good in reliability and quality for price !!

Thanx in advance !!

Sandy

Hey Sandy. and welcome to the site. Unless your talkling skylines or hi po cars of other persuaisions your not going to get too many replies... However, i used to sell both Mazda and Kia and know a fair bit about the honda.

In my humble opinion there is a clear cut winner for value, looks, performance, resale......the list goes on. The winner is........the Mazda 3. It won't matter what spec you get be it a Neo, Maxx, SP etc etc it will still be better than the other 2. And also i assume your under 50, which i also think makes you more suited to the 3. Mostly poppies and grandmas buy the others.

Hope this helps in some small way.

Cheers :D

Edited by DRAGTS
go test drive all of them. well thats what I would do. your the one who will be driving it....

While your at it.. if your not interested in a Skyline.

Try out the N/A Subaru Liberty // Imprez RX //RS etc..

Great bang for the buck and more features then you can poke a stick at

I was looking at the 3 Maxx and the Civic as well recently.. I ended up getting a Tiida ST-L Hatch and pocketing a massive amount of change. I really liked the 3 alot but couldn't justify the extra purchase cost + extra insurance cost compared with the Tiida.

I did prefer the Mazda 3's styling ten fold though but the Tiida is quite functional, I fit 4 adults without anybody being squashed the slightest, or 5 if the person in the rear middle doesnt mind being squashed a little. It still feels torquey and is fine to drive with 5 adults in the car also.

ST-L Tiida had everything I wanted -- A/C, Power Steer, Power Windows + Mirrors, ABS, Plenty of Airbags, Alloy Wheels, etc.... I've got the 6sp manual version and well, the gearbox isn't the greatest in the world as it lacks feedback but the car serves its purpose very well, it's a cheap, functional little city car. The best part of all is it's costing me sweet fcuk all to run, I get about 550km or so from a tank (~$45-48 depending on fuel price) and that's driving around with the a/c on 99% of the time, and mostly city driving in traffic, and I don't nurse it 24/7 either. I'll see how much better it is in Winter when I'm not driving around with the a/c on etc..

Anyhow, that's my 2c.

If you've got your heart set only on the 3, Civic or Kia I would go with the Mazda 3.

Edited by d0p3y

Mazda 3

We have the sp23 hatch as a daily and its a fantastic car - loads of room, can fit 5 adults easily, nice smooth ride.

We have racked up 20,000ks in it so far and have had no issues at all

dop3y - how much was the tiida??

we had a look and were not very impressed by it - we owned a n14 2L pulsar before buying the mazda

The Mazda 3's are a beautiful car to drive.

I saw one at the drags last time I was there and it was turbocharged(NO it wasnt an MPS as they werent out at that time) and it was running in the 13's.

Food for thought. I dont like FWD though.

Mazda 3

We have the sp23 hatch as a daily and its a fantastic car - loads of room, can fit 5 adults easily, nice smooth ride.

We have racked up 20,000ks in it so far and have had no issues at all

dop3y - how much was the tiida??

we had a look and were not very impressed by it - we owned a n14 2L pulsar before buying the mazda

I got mine on road for basically the RRP Price ($20k) with some freebies thrown in.

The Mazda is a nicer car, yes, but like I said, I couldn't justify the extra costs given my needs.

I got mine on road for basically the RRP Price ($20k) with some freebies thrown in.

The Mazda is a nicer car, yes, but like I said, I couldn't justify the extra costs given my needs.

Not a bad, deal.

Did you get the '06 runout? Or is it a series 2 that have cruise control & are assembled in thailand?

Tiida is a very nice car for what it is

I got mine on road for basically the RRP Price ($20k) with some freebies thrown in.

The Mazda is a nicer car, yes, but like I said, I couldn't justify the extra costs given my needs.

Yeah thats fair enough - coming from the pulsar i thought they were a little dissapointing, whereas the sp23 was a progression - handled better (and we had done some suspension work), quicker, roomier etc

Ours came to just under 30k on road (ex demo with 1200k's) - but we will be keeping this car till it dies and it eventually will be the family car, so i wanted something that was going to last and that had a nice interior etc

I'd go the Civic, although when I was in a similar situation to yourself I ended up going a category smaller and walked away with a Toyota Yaris and a stack of spare cash. Don't let anyone tell you they're too small - I'm 6ft4 120kg and fit no worries. In fact, I fit in the back seat when the front seat is set up for me to drive.

Don't buy a Kia. Don't buy a Proton. Don't buy a Daewoo (Holden). They're all getting better with time, but the quality isn't quite there yet.

Not a bad, deal.

Did you get the '06 runout? Or is it a series 2 that have cruise control & are assembled in thailand?

Tiida is a very nice car for what it is

Mine is a series 1 which I bought back in October.

Thailand?!? eww.. looks like I bought at a good time then.

The colour combo I got can't be bought any more either it seems (Sapphire black paint, beige/tan interior)

Mine is a series 1 which I bought back in October.

Thailand?!? eww.. looks like I bought at a good time then.

The colour combo I got can't be bought any more either it seems (Sapphire black paint, beige/tan interior)

Yep Thailand hehe.

Time will tell whether the quality control will be up to par.

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