Car Chat General discussion about Lexus, other auto manufacturers and automotive news.

2014 Mazda3

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old 03-10-15, 01:42 PM
  #106  
chikoo
Lexus Champion
 
chikoo's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: TX
Posts: 3,763
Likes: 0
Received 6 Likes on 6 Posts
Default

the Mazda3 has hard plastics. But it is done right. Look at the aesthetics, the flow. As a driver you are going to be looking at this part of the car the longest during your entire ownership - not the exterior, not the trunk, but the dash.









Mazda3 interior





Corolla interior





328i interior
chikoo is offline  
Old 03-10-15, 02:17 PM
  #107  
spwolf
Lexus Champion
 
spwolf's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Posts: 19,841
Received 110 Likes on 81 Posts
Default

Originally Posted by FastTags
who cares, the car simply not worth $20K sticker IMO. Went to see 2015 Corolla, whoever designed the interior is a complete Moron. My wife kept asking me, why does it look like this. All, I could say, is I DUNNO.

There were other customers inside the Corolla, who were just as much disgusted with the look as we were. You cant tell that it looks bad from the pictures, you really have to see it.
The interior looked like hideous ,like a shriveled *****.

What is going ON, why are they making these cars look worse and worse every year!
so basically you dislike both #1 best seller as well as #1 magazine/fan favourite. Maybe you simply dont like new cars?

I have been in both Corolla and Mazda, and they have nice interiors IMHO, at least European ones.
spwolf is offline  
Old 03-10-15, 03:20 PM
  #108  
tex2670
Lexus Test Driver
 
tex2670's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Southeastern PA
Posts: 9,958
Received 9 Likes on 8 Posts
Default

Originally Posted by chikoo
the Mazda3 has hard plastics. But it is done right. Look at the aesthetics, the flow. As a driver you are going to be looking at this part of the car the longest during your entire ownership - not the exterior, not the trunk, but the dash.









Mazda3 interior





Corolla interior





328i interior
To be fair, I don't think that pix of the Mazda 3 is the $20,000 version. But I'd be interested in what car FastTags thinks has a high quality interior at the $20,000 price point.
tex2670 is offline  
Old 03-10-15, 04:07 PM
  #109  
cino
Lexus Champion
iTrader: (1)
 
cino's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: WA
Posts: 1,746
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Default

Originally Posted by tex2670
To be fair, I don't think that pix of the Mazda 3 is the $20,000 version. But I'd be interested in what car FastTags thinks has a high quality interior at the $20,000 price point.
Lada. Just kidding.

I'm curious as well because Ford Focus is comparable to the 3 and Golf/Jetta interior-wise. If top 3 pick cars in the segment aren't worth 20K, I think we should protest.
cino is offline  
Old 03-10-15, 06:53 PM
  #110  
Sulu
Lexus Champion
 
Sulu's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Canada
Posts: 3,309
Likes: 0
Received 30 Likes on 23 Posts
Default

Originally Posted by FastTags
who cares, the car simply not worth $20K sticker IMO. Went to see 2015 Corolla, whoever designed the interior is a complete Moron. My wife kept asking me, why does it look like this. All, I could say, is I DUNNO.

There were other customers inside the Corolla, who were just as much disgusted with the look as we were. You cant tell that it looks bad from the pictures, you really have to see it.
The interior looked like hideous ,like a shriveled *****.

What is going ON, why are they making these cars look worse and worse every year!

FastTags: Help me out here. What about the Mazda3 and the Toyota Corolla do you NOT like? What features (or lack of features or poor quality of features) make you believe that these 2 cars are not worth $20,000?

What about the Honda Civic? I believe you were also looking at the Civic, in addition to the 3 and the Corolla? Is it also over-priced, in your opinion? What about it do you not like, or like?

I have not driven any of these 3 top-sellers and have only had significant seat time in the 2014 / 2015 Corolla. In comparison with my 2010 Corolla (itself known for its hard plastics), I did not like the black wall that is the dashboard, and the centre console (gearshift lever, handbrake lever, cupholders, centre console bin) materials and design seemed even cheaper (poorer quality).

What do you not like (specifics, please and not generalities)?
Sulu is offline  
Old 03-10-15, 07:35 PM
  #111  
spwolf
Lexus Champion
 
spwolf's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Posts: 19,841
Received 110 Likes on 81 Posts
Default

Originally Posted by Sulu
FastTags: Help me out here. What about the Mazda3 and the Toyota Corolla do you NOT like? What features (or lack of features or poor quality of features) make you believe that these 2 cars are not worth $20,000?

What about the Honda Civic? I believe you were also looking at the Civic, in addition to the 3 and the Corolla? Is it also over-priced, in your opinion? What about it do you not like, or like?

I have not driven any of these 3 top-sellers and have only had significant seat time in the 2014 / 2015 Corolla. In comparison with my 2010 Corolla (itself known for its hard plastics), I did not like the black wall that is the dashboard, and the centre console (gearshift lever, handbrake lever, cupholders, centre console bin) materials and design seemed even cheaper (poorer quality).

What do you not like (specifics, please and not generalities)?
you know what the opinions are like :-).

IMHO, new Corolla is 2 steps above old one.. not only materials are better, it feels like a tank... vs old one that was much flimsier feeling inside. At least for our European version, which has soft plastics everywhere you touch and anove the knee level.
spwolf is offline  
Old 03-10-15, 10:12 PM
  #112  
Toys4RJill
Lexus Fanatic
 
Toys4RJill's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: ON/NY
Posts: 30,484
Received 62 Likes on 53 Posts
Default

Originally Posted by spwolf
you know what the opinions are like :-).

IMHO, new Corolla is 2 steps above old one.. not only materials are better, it feels like a tank... vs old one that was much flimsier feeling inside. At least for our European version, which has soft plastics everywhere you touch and anove the knee level.
The new Corolla interior is far nicer than the previous model. I think it is the same car underneath for the most part.

Where the new Corolla really excels in is the design of the interior. Materials are pretty decent for the class but are much better from the last version.

Compared to other cars, its fine. There has to be something right about the interior of the Corolla for it to be the best selling car in the world.
Toys4RJill is offline  
Old 03-11-15, 08:36 AM
  #113  
chikoo
Lexus Champion
 
chikoo's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: TX
Posts: 3,763
Likes: 0
Received 6 Likes on 6 Posts
Default

^ Sadly, the answer is no. The only reason Corolla sells so well is the same reason the dollar retains its value in the world market. Plenty of vested customers who do not want their investment / resale value drop.
chikoo is offline  
Old 03-11-15, 08:40 AM
  #114  
Allen K
-0----0-

iTrader: (4)
 
Allen K's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: NJ
Posts: 9,184
Received 582 Likes on 401 Posts
Default

Only thing I didn't like about the Mazda 3 is how small the instrument cluster is on the car. I had one as a loaner when I took my wife's CX-5 in for service and aside from that I thought it was pretty sharp.
Allen K is offline  
Old 03-11-15, 11:54 AM
  #115  
bitkahuna
Lexus Fanatic
iTrader: (20)
 
bitkahuna's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: Present
Posts: 73,762
Received 2,126 Likes on 1,378 Posts
Default

Originally Posted by LexsCTJill
The new Corolla interior is far nicer than the previous model.
may be the case but it's still awful. weird lines and angles, and the rising ridge along the door toward the front while the window is in a 'valley' outside it. shiny black plastic fail too.
bitkahuna is offline  
Old 03-11-15, 04:01 PM
  #116  
mmarshall
Lexus Fanatic
 
mmarshall's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Virginia/D.C. suburbs
Posts: 90,577
Received 83 Likes on 82 Posts
Default

Originally Posted by chikoo
^ Sadly, the answer is no. The only reason Corolla sells so well is the same reason the dollar retains its value in the world market. Plenty of vested customers who do not want their investment / resale value drop.
Those "vested" customers are not the ones primarily determining a car's residual value. Resale/residual values on a car, after a couple of years, are not determined by the number of new-car shoppers buying that model, but how popular it is as a used car. Corollas hold their value because they also sell well as used cars. Same goes for some of the Corolla's competitors, especially the Civic, Impreza, and, more recently, the thread topic...Mazda3.

Last edited by mmarshall; 03-11-15 at 04:06 PM.
mmarshall is offline  
Old 03-11-15, 04:06 PM
  #117  
sick21
Lexus Test Driver
 
sick21's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: NM
Posts: 1,081
Received 8 Likes on 8 Posts
Default

It's safe to say, ALL CARS AT THAT PRICE POINT SUCK. Sorry but I had to say. I'm so thankful that I'm young and able to afford nice ****. The price of vehicles has risen so much in the last 10 years. And even though entry level cars are more refined than ever, it would still suck to have to drive one.
sick21 is offline  
Old 03-11-15, 04:32 PM
  #118  
spwolf
Lexus Champion
 
spwolf's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Posts: 19,841
Received 110 Likes on 81 Posts
Default

Originally Posted by chikoo
^ Sadly, the answer is no. The only reason Corolla sells so well is the same reason the dollar retains its value in the world market. Plenty of vested customers who do not want their investment / resale value drop.
that makes no sense at all... people are buying new corollas since they dont want their used value to drop? :-).
spwolf is offline  
Old 03-11-15, 05:48 PM
  #119  
chikoo
Lexus Champion
 
chikoo's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: TX
Posts: 3,763
Likes: 0
Received 6 Likes on 6 Posts
Default

Originally Posted by mmarshall
Those "vested" customers are not the ones primarily determining a car's residual value. Resale/residual values on a car, after a couple of years, are not determined by the number of new-car shoppers buying that model, but how popular it is as a used car. Corollas hold their value because they also sell well as used cars. Same goes for some of the Corolla's competitors, especially the Civic, Impreza, and, more recently, the thread topic...Mazda3.
if you step back couple of steps, you will see what I am saying.
Even those used car buyers want max resale value. Even legendary. I know somebody who sold his Honda accord for more than what he had paid for. Used.
chikoo is offline  
Old 03-11-15, 05:54 PM
  #120  
chikoo
Lexus Champion
 
chikoo's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: TX
Posts: 3,763
Likes: 0
Received 6 Likes on 6 Posts
Default

Originally Posted by spwolf
that makes no sense at all... people are buying new corollas since they dont want their used value to drop? :-).
Yes. For example:
Mom drives a corolla. When daughter turns 16, she hands her down the Corolla and buys a new one for herself. When daughter wants a new car, she can now sell her used Corolla for max value so she can then buy the newest Corolla with the least money out of pocket.
It is called having your cake and eating it too!
chikoo is offline  


Quick Reply: 2014 Mazda3



All times are GMT -7. The time now is 03:21 AM.