I’m looking to buy a new car. I’ve narrowed it down to either the 2007 Civic EX or the 2007 Mazda3 i Touring. From everything I’ve read, both cars are very comparable to each other (which makes my decision so much harder). Does anyone have any tips about either car or if they love/hate their Civic or Mazda3? If it helps, I’m a grad student with 1.5 more years in Bloomington, IN. This car is more for the purpose of getting weekly groceries and errands, and the occassional weekend trip out of town. I plan on having the car for many many many years to come. In order of importance to me: safety, fuel efficiency, and reliability. Any suggestions are appreciated. Thanks.
I recently had the opportunity to drive the new Mazda 3 as a rental. Wow, was it fun to drive! This is, of course, compared to my 97 Civic, which by comparison seemed a little boring. It even made me consider switching to Mazda when I finally do replace my beloved civic.
My suggestion is to choose the one which is the most fun to drive. You won’t be sorry!
I have to go with sesames here. Test drive them both and go with the one that you enjoy driving the most. Why be stuck for “many, many, many” years with something you don’t enjoy?
I sort of question you need to buy a new car, but that’s not the question you asked, so we’ll let that go for now.
I have to go with both Ranck and Sesames here. You can read the reviews. Everyone who test drives the Mazda3 reports it is fun to drive. And the only real complaint I’ve ever heard about the Civic is that it’s boring.
I haven’t test drove any Mazdas, but I have test drove a new Civic. If the salesman hadn’t kept talking, I would have fallen asleep, literally. I wasn’t tired, but the drive almost put me to sleep.
Drove both they are decent cars, you choose.
Since you are a graduate student and I assume that your time is valuable, you might want to make the choice based on the reputation of the dealer. I assume that there is a dealer for the Honda and the Mazda. If there is not a dealer for one make or the other, do you have time to go to Indianapolis for warranty service? I was once a graduate student at Indiana University. I had a Rambler at the time and there was no Rambler dealer in Bloomington. Although I found a good independent mechanic, when a part had to be replaced that was specific to the Rambler, the part had to be sent down from a Rambler agency in Indianapolis by bus. The car was out of service for the better part of a week. At that point in time, I wished that I had a Ford or Chevrolet where the parts were more easily obtained.
Well, they are both good choices. The Civic definitely has the edge in terms of safety (according to crash test results), reliability (according to Consumer Reports), and resale value. The Mazda3 has better styling IMO and is more fun to drive, especially with the manual.
I’m glad I’m not in the market for a new car right now because it would come down to those two, and it would be a very hard decision to make. The Mazda is torquier than the Civic, but on the other hand the Civic is extremely reasonably priced. For around 25 grand I could get a fully loaded Si with nav system and leather. That’s hard to pass up.
In the end I’d probably end up going with the Civic simply because Honda has a better reliability history than Mazda, and I tend to keep my cars until they’re well and truly dead.
The Mazda is a little better for injuries, but both are poor. The Civic is a bit worse than average for collision damage; the Mazda is again poor.
Read about it here:
http://www.iihs.org/brochures/ictl/ictl_4dr.html
jtsanders, who was ostricized again. Bad Cartalk!