This car was pretty reliable until about 220,000km, after which it began to exhibit a ton of problems. It was cheap but very dangerous on the road and I cannot recommend this to anyone (at least at higher mileage, but 220,000km is not high in my opinion). I kept this car for a significant amount of time due to my own frugality, though I did grow a sick attachment to it and partially wanted to ride it until it was in the ground. I do not know if these other reviewers actually drove their 3's to high mileage, or if mine was just cursed. But here are some of the major issues: 1. At 250,000km the ABS pump had a significant leak, and after replacing the entire brake system, the brakes were still soft and didn't function properly (needed to be double tapped in a hard brake and were soft). This was a several thousand dollar job/s and the brakes never functioned properly after. E-Brake never worked after the brake systems were fixed for some reason. 2. Engine revved several thousand RPM higher than it should have, and was unable to accelerate efficiently (to the point where it was dangerous making lane changes on highways, etc). Sometimes switching to the shifter was mandatory to get the car into higher gear because the car would stay in gear 2 or 3 on the highway. 3. The car had some sort of leak in the trunk around 240,000km and several mechanics could not find and plug it. Before keeping it out with consistent hydro vacuuming, water seeped into the rear seats and floor mats. The water inside the car would evaporate when it was warm enough and get into the doors and windows, freezing during winter. The car was parked outside for a year and it would rain, then freeze, and the entire inside of the car (windows/windshields) would be covered with ice. Needed to ice-scrape it to get it off every morning before work. 4. There was significant rust on the exterior, particularly the rear wheel wells. I worked in a garage for a bit while owning it, and got it on a hoist. The majority of the chassis never seemed to rust too bad, but the body kit and edges of the frame were absolutely destroyed. You would think the car was parked in a salt mine because lightly touching it would cause huge pieces of the body, which had rusted out, to fall off 5. A/C stopped working around 220,000km. xxx car, didn't bother to fix. Just rolled down the windows, opened the sunroof, and stayed resilient in heavy summer traffic. 6. Engine Thermostat went out at 240,000km. Cold starting the car always had the thermostat read to the very bottom of "C" (cold, obviously), and it took driving 10-15 mins to get the thermostat to read the engine's actual temperature. Didn't matter if it was an arctic tundra or a desert. It always started cold. 7. At 280,000, one of the rear struts just popped out on a well paved road. Car was able to be driven very very slowly to the mechanic, where it was repaired. The car always seemed to have a constant rattle in the rear when it hit any bumps, but it didn't seem to be fixable. Still, it had suspension issues. More than 4 people in the car would cause it to drag. On certain bumps the front end would always drag on the ground regardless of how much weight/people were inside. 8. At 305,000, the front axle caved into the driver side rim while taking a slow, normal turn, in an above ground apartment roundabout. Decided the car was scrap at this point.

Nice car handles great but I am a big guy so a little cramped. But i bought this for my son he fits and really enjoys driving it . Even though the over all rating for me would be4 stars my son gives it five stars so we are both very happy with the Mazda 3

Great car. Highly recommended. Very dependable car. Would make a great first car. This was my first car after school and i still have it.