Used 2012 Mazda Mazda3 for sale near Minneapolis, MN

I bought this car brand new in 2012. Paid 17k. Worth every penny. It has 63k miles onit right now. Have never done anything other than change the oil and filter. It runs like it is expected. Slow and easy. You won't win no races with it. But it gets my wife to work with no issues. { 5 miles} Rain or snow. We have taken it on several road trips. Including a couple 1000 plus mile trips. Running wide open the whole way. It has no problem. I am a big guy. Very un comfy in most cars. But this I fall right into it and am able to climb back out with ease. The interior is cloth. Its starting to fade. But still no tears or wear marks. Theres nothing fancy about this car. But my wife loves it.

The salesmen were so kind and helpful. The team was able to communicate well with me throughout the test drive, financing, and full purchase of my new vehicle. The staff in the building were all very kind and welcoming, and everyone was willing and eager to help with any questions I had!

I purchased this car with just under 117K miles in late 2023 and wrote my first review after just 1,000 miles. Currently, it has 141K, so this is more of an ownership review than just first impressions. I haven't done much other than regular maintenance (oil changes, brakes, etc.) although I have replaced the exhaust. It always starts and returns excellent fuel economy. I get about 32 in the city and 42 on the highway, with an overall average of 36. For a small car it is stable but also has very agile handling. My only gripe is that it is very, very slow. It takes anywhere from 8 to 10 seconds to get to 60 MPH and can be scary at times when you really need to step on it and there's barely any power until 4000 RPM, but it's the sacrifice you'll need to make to get those high fuel economy figures. The Mazda3 is a great alternative to a Civic or a Corolla, while also offering a manual transmission on every trim and many available features. On the GT trim you can even get blindspot monitors and adaptive headlights!

Customer service is off the charts at the Walser Polar Mazda! Thank you Ketrell for the incredible first time car buying experience!

I’ve always stuck with Japanese import cars because of their reliability and overall quality. The 2012 Mazda 3 is the first Mazda I’ve ever owned. I bought mine 4 years ago just coming out of a divorce and needed a good reliable vehicle that wasn’t very expensive. I’ve put over 50,000 miles on my 3 and the only thing outside of regular maintenance I’ve had to replace was a serpentine belt. For me, the car is perfect in size because I’m quite petite but if you’re a tall person I could imagine you don’t have much leg room since it would s a compact sedan. If I ever decided to trade my car in, I would definitely buy a much newer Mazda 3. They’re great on gas, gets about similar gas mileage to a Civic or Corolla and it’s a perfect car for daily commuting.

I just bought my first car ever—a 2022 HR-V Sport—from Inver Grove Honda, and let me tell you, it was an adventure from start to finish. I came in solo, barely knew what questions to ask, and just knew I liked Hondas, wanted AWD, and had a budget. Erin greeted me like I was an old friend. As a young woman walking into a dealership alone, that level of kindness and comfort goes a long way. I ended up test driving two cars and while test driving she even asked if I was okay turning across traffic or preferred to go up to the stop light 🥹 (yes, it’s the small things). She stayed well past closing so I could call my parents, and even put together mock loan options for me while I figured out whether I was going to finance or pay in cash. Erin had a whole mock loan sheet with different interest rates made up for me. That night I decided I wanted to put a deposit down (which I learned is refundable, shoutout to Erin for that reassurance). Then I worked with Adrian on all the paperwork and warranties. He again stayed well after close and listened to me talk to 3 family members about my options. Truly told me what he thought about the warranties and if they were worth it. Explained different payment options for paying with cash— there was a lot I didn’t understand. I ended up paying in cash and I wired my money which took a day. Erin was texting me with updates and answering all my dumb questions. I picked the car up 2 days later and drove it home! Everything was perfect…until it wasn’t. Literally the next day after driving to work, I turned it on and some warning lights popped up. I backed it out of my spot—and it wouldn’t move forward. I’d owned the car for less than 24 hours. Absolute panic. I called the dealership. Lisa (I think!) answered and got me transferred to service right away. They arranged a tow. While I was waiting for the tow I called the dealership back and talked to Miriam. She reassured me through tears (I’m literally so dramatic)that I’d get a loaner car at no cost. When I got to the dealership in tears, Joe in service met me with total calm, let me show him what happened, and walked me through everything. I was documenting like a maniac (talking pictures of all the rental records even though Joe told me he would print me a copy) because at that point, I was convinced I had just bought a bad car! I asked to speak with a manager and met Greg—also amazing—and Adrian happened to be at Greg’s desk and remembered me. Im still crying at this point. I told them I wanted to go over my warranties and my rights, I know I just sounded crazy! Greg said, “Whether it’s a $4 fix or a $4 million fix, we’ll take care of it.” AND THEY DID. Now here’s the best part: The next morning, Justin from service calls and gently asks if I’d, by any chance, added a bling ring to my ignition. I sheepishly said “uh… yeah…” and he explained that it interfered with the key chip and triggered the anti-theft system (something like that). The whole breakdown? Totally my doing. And yet—they tested my battery, thought it was a little weak, replaced it for free, ran more diagnostics, got me a free tow,gave me a loaner CR-V (a very nice one, btw), and told me not to worry about gas since I was headed to a wedding in Wisconsin. When I came back to pickup my car, I asked about floor mats that were shown in the listing but didn’t come with the car. Greg couldn’t find the originals, so he handed me brand new all-weather mats instead. Justin offered to personally answer any future “how do I not break my car” questions and told me to call anytime. I left feeling like the most high-maintenance customer ever—but they never made me feel that way. They were patient, generous, and incredibly kind. They paid for the tow, diagnostics, a new battery, and floor mats—all because I got too excited about car accessories. And I know I made them all uncomfortable with my crying, however they didn’t show it and everyone was SO professional and unders

Got this as my first car with 116K miles. It now has 118K and it performs very well for its duties. I use it to get to and from school, visit family, and take joyrides. Although it rides smoothly, the interior feels a bit cheap, as to be expected for an economy car. I love the feel of a 6-speed manual, something I was looking for in a vehicle. I can get up to 37 miles per gallon just driving normally, and when I'm in the city, it's closer to 30. The seats are reasonably supportive and good for multi-hour trips but do not have any lumbar support and could be softer. It's easy to steer the vehicle but that becomes a problem on the highway when it is easy to drift into another lane since there's not much feel in the steering. My grandmother has a Honda CR-V and it has tighter steering, but that also means that it is harder to turn the wheel when moving slow or stopped. I love that it has a quality audio system and steering wheel controls for the radio and Bluetooth system. I never expected a sub-$20K MSRP car from 2012 to have Bluetooth. Sure, my dad's 2008 Highlander had it, but it was not great and did not support music. All in all, I love my car and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a fun, fuel-efficient, reliable little car!