will do. May take time though. G/f travels every Mon to Fri. She can get grumpy on the weekends. LOL!

 

Well ours is an 08 and none of your links describe a problem with the 08's.
Fine by me.

 

OP: hope you find the car you and you G/F like.

1kcls: I like the Mazda's myself. They're pretty solid, but very much the underdog over here. And C&D just did a transplant of a Mazdapeed6 engine into a wagon. You should check it out.

 

Well, if the 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007 has terrible A/C, what do you think is going to be the answer for the 2008?

2008 Mazda3

Pros*This car is very nice and confortable.

Cons*MPG not as good as predicted, A/C is very weak.
Confortable ride, and interior, but a lot of exterior noise when in the expressway, cheap carpet, A/c is not strong on a hot day,problems with motor mounts,and front struts, other than that this car is nice and fun to drive.

Probably could find more feedback, but this will do for now.

 

Where are you getting this from?

 

Google is my friend.

 

Link?

 

Like I said, our 08 3 hatch will freeze ya out of the car. On a recent trip to Atlanta I got 32 mpg going 80 mph just about the whole way there.

 

If you're pleased with the HVAC system in the Mazda 3, that's all that matters.

 

You think that these are major problems because you find a few reports on internet forums? Do you realize that you can find complaints about every model of car online? People are much more likely to make posts about reliability when their car has problems than when it does not. Both Consumer Reports and JD Power rate the Mazda 3 as having very good to excellent reliability and I believe the 3 owners in this forum have had a good experience as well.

 

^ True Dat!

 

My boss has had zero issues with his 07 M3 hatch besides being robbed on a brake job, but it was a shady mechanic, not the car.

 

First, no one has questioned the reliability, and 3 non mechanical minded owners certainly don't qualify in my book.

I've been trying to be nice in my replies and use others as examples, but I've been the auto business for years, and have serviced many HVAC systems, and the Mazda 3 A/C system is terrible. Try running the A/C on outside air, low to medium fan speed when it's 90 and humid, it's not going to work without recirculate/high.

 

Well 100°F+ heat in Arizona and his air is always nice and cool.

 

...and the only complaints I've heard of with Mazda products in general (re: reliability) concerns the RX8, with some sporadic CX-7 complaints.

 

I wasn't discussing HVAC system, as that debate is going nowhere, but I was curious where you heard that the Mazda 3 has problems with the motor mounts and front struts.

 

The front sturt problem was contained in a quote with the weak A/C which is somewhere on the net. The following isn't the site that I found the original post, but it's for the motor mount problem:
http://www.justanswer.com/questions/...passenger-side
http://forums.13x.com/showthread.php?t=212949

 

I am a Mechanical Engineer. (BSME)
Like most all cars.

You are fighting a losing battle here man.

 

what about an "E"?

 

Explain por favor.

 

Yup, nothing wrong with the Mazda 3 A/C or motor mounts.

None so blind as those that cannot see!

 

I guess "limited funds" means different things to many posters. If funds are really limited fix the Subi. My daughter-in-law has over 150k on a mid-90s Subi Legend and it is still running strong.

How about a turbo PT Cruiser if you are looking for a deal? ; >

THD

 

I found out her Subi has 135k miles on it and it is really time to change. She has champagne taste and definitely beer money. And so, I am trying real hard to either find her a trade with a $10-12k loan or find her a new with a $14-16k loan. I keep telling her she needs to decide as she is the one making the payments but she keeps procrastinating as she is so busy with work & home.

 

https://acurazine.com/forums/car-talk-5/pics-my-e-729398/

 

I do not care what kind of car you are driving. If it is 90 and humid, there is not one AC system out there that will cool that car off fast if it is not on high...

Moot point.

Besides, anyone who lives where it is hot. First thing you do after starting the car is rolling down the windows..

 

Another voice-No one said cool the car off. I said run the car on outside low/medium. You cannot run the Mazda 3 on outside low/medium and maintain a cool environment in the cabin. In our household, the Maxima, Acura TL, Jeep Grand Cherokees, Kia Optima, RX7 can all be run on the above setting with no problem. The Mazda 3 on recirculate and high won't cool the car off in 15 minutes in a hot/humid environment. Today on the way home in the '08 Kia Optima, after setting in the sun for 3 hours, 91 and humid, we never used recirculate to cool off the car, no need to, but in a Mazda 3 I'd be wearing a sweatband to keep the sweat from my eyes. Of course the Kia outsells the Mazda.

It's not rocket science. Google Mazda 3 weak, then poor A/C and you'll have reading for hours.
IT STINKS!

 

 

UPDATE:

1st off, thanks all for the input and help.

So, I went on Craigslist to look for Foresters and found a 2007 listed at a local dealer for $14,995 with 19k miles. So, we went in and it did not take long to spot the car as it was white. But the price on it was $15,995. So, he checked and confirmed they made a mistake on the price in CL but would honor it. It was a no Dicker dealer. My g/f's 99 Forester had 135k miles and a leaking engine gasket... Cleaned it up for her, polished the hood so it would stick out and they came back with a $3k trade in value. Smoking deal. And the icing on the cake. The car is a 1 owner car and is Certified, which means that there is a 100k warranty on the drivetrain. In the end, out the door for $13k and $255 payments for 60 months.

Could not have gone easier.

Woot!

 

NICE! 19k miles is nothing

 

yeah! I told her she has a practically new car for $250 payments (60 months) and the warranty is excellent. I saw another couple take out a 05 Forester with 30k miles and that was selling for $13,995. She was second guessing for a while and thinking she should get a cheaper car, but in the end, she realized she could save money but get a car that was nowhere near as new or reliable.

I am real excited as it all went so smoothely, it wasn't funny. I told her we would spend 3 hrs at most and we wound up spending 2.5 hrs in all.

 

It sounds like you got a great deal. A Very good price for an almost new car and even a good amount on the trade-in..

 

just for the record my CLS has an awesome ac unit never had to put it above medium even when it was 100+ outside........lol my 94 honda on the other hand had a suck ass ac system.....

one thing that DOES work without a doubt with keepin ur car cool is some form of heat rejecting tint as it allows the A/C to be more effective since you do not have a lot of heat pouring in the side and rear windows

 

Maybe that is why ours works so well here in Florida...we have dark window tint.