Mazda - never owned one - thoughts please
Discussion
I had a little engined 2 (not sure which) as a courtesy car and was fairly impressed with its handling but not much else. It really was bland.
A 2 is just a current (soon to be last shape) Fiesta in drag but from my experience with Fiestas they're the nicer car to be in so I'd look at them instead.
A 2 is just a current (soon to be last shape) Fiesta in drag but from my experience with Fiestas they're the nicer car to be in so I'd look at them instead.
Over 2 diferent forums - you are the only person to have left any feedback - so for that I thank you very much. I've owned a number of different makes of car - but never a Mazda. I certainly wouldn't reccomend Fiat to anyone. You are right the car does look kinda bland and the reviews I've seen so far this morning on the net seem to suggest that it is quite a bland drive, nothing to exiting...but she has owned this Punto from new so she will be quite used to a bland drive..I just want to buy her a decent make..i.e won't give her the trouble and me the financial headache of continually having to send it to garage. Again I thank you for your thoughts.
Depends which Mazda2 you are talking about, I personally think the older shape is a little bland. We will be buying the latest 1.5 Sport model in the summer, having gone through a pretty exhaustive set of test drives.
We drove the Grande Punto 1.4, Ibiza Sport 1.4, Swift 1.5GLX, Polo 1.4 and a 207. The GP was a close 2nd place, I really liked the blue+me functionality, but I felt the handling was a bit vague/detached.
The Mazda is a nicer design imo, and it drove really well. Good handling, quite pokey, nice interior. Ticked all our boxes.
Plus I prefer the likelihood of reliability of the Mazda when compared to the Punto - I'm on my 2nd Mazda now and think they are top cars.
We drove the Grande Punto 1.4, Ibiza Sport 1.4, Swift 1.5GLX, Polo 1.4 and a 207. The GP was a close 2nd place, I really liked the blue+me functionality, but I felt the handling was a bit vague/detached.
The Mazda is a nicer design imo, and it drove really well. Good handling, quite pokey, nice interior. Ticked all our boxes.
Plus I prefer the likelihood of reliability of the Mazda when compared to the Punto - I'm on my 2nd Mazda now and think they are top cars.
L.A.
The main thing I'm worried about is reliability - she does 80 miles a day roughly 5 days a week, so it would have to be reliable,durable but doesn't need to be anything fast, the Punto got to 34k and the gearbox has now went...this is only a young car and is the last in a long line of problems, so I'm changing it for her..The Mazda2 looks fine..she likes it..its a 54 plate and has 18k on clock - the Mazda2 seems to have a lot of good safety features that the Punto doesnt have ABS,Electronic Brake Distribution etc..and its in my price bracket...just wanted to know how people felt driving them - are they reliable etc...part..expensive or not?? etc etc.
Thanks for any thoughts LA
The main thing I'm worried about is reliability - she does 80 miles a day roughly 5 days a week, so it would have to be reliable,durable but doesn't need to be anything fast, the Punto got to 34k and the gearbox has now went...this is only a young car and is the last in a long line of problems, so I'm changing it for her..The Mazda2 looks fine..she likes it..its a 54 plate and has 18k on clock - the Mazda2 seems to have a lot of good safety features that the Punto doesnt have ABS,Electronic Brake Distribution etc..and its in my price bracket...just wanted to know how people felt driving them - are they reliable etc...part..expensive or not?? etc etc.
Thanks for any thoughts LA
I forgot about the new shape 2, that does look nice but as you say it's the old one you're talking about.
I'd really think about the 2/Fiesta thing - they are the same car underneath.
If you plan to get it serviced by a main dealer it'd be a good idea to compare servicing costs between the two. It'd also be a good idea to work out which is cheaper for an equivalent specification.
Normally I'd suspect Fiestas would be cheaper however the Mazdas have probably taken a big hit on depreciation as not many people seek to buy them.
Although bland, I do think they're good little cars.
There's a bit more information here:
http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/carbycar/index.htm?md=...
Although I do disagree with the bit about it being better to drive than a Fiesta. I think in driving terms they're equal but as a car to be in/look at the Fiesta just pips it.
Have you considered the Honda Jazz and Toyota Yaris?
I'd really think about the 2/Fiesta thing - they are the same car underneath.
If you plan to get it serviced by a main dealer it'd be a good idea to compare servicing costs between the two. It'd also be a good idea to work out which is cheaper for an equivalent specification.
Normally I'd suspect Fiestas would be cheaper however the Mazdas have probably taken a big hit on depreciation as not many people seek to buy them.
Although bland, I do think they're good little cars.
There's a bit more information here:
http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/carbycar/index.htm?md=...
Although I do disagree with the bit about it being better to drive than a Fiesta. I think in driving terms they're equal but as a car to be in/look at the Fiesta just pips it.
Have you considered the Honda Jazz and Toyota Yaris?
Had a Mark 1 MX5 a few years ago, 1.6 on a J plate in silver. Got it cheap due to high miles & fact it was winter. Ran it upto 130,000 miles, passed its MOT without ANY expenditure (whilst a girls MGF in the Office where I work required £800 to get its first MOT) & sold it in the summer for a £750 profit after adding some tasteful chrome details to the interior (& replacing the pitted minilite type alloys).
Beautiful car, handled great & never let me down. Cant recommend them highly enough. If I could afford to, would replace the Celica for an RX8 without a moments hesitation.
Beautiful car, handled great & never let me down. Cant recommend them highly enough. If I could afford to, would replace the Celica for an RX8 without a moments hesitation.
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