Living with the Mazda3 long-term tester: Year-end update

What’s your favorite car you’ve ever owned and why? For me it was a 1985 Nissan Maxima SE. It had the right mix of sporty, practical, reliable, and was just the right size. It even talked! (thank you, 1980s). That Maxima and other midsize cars of the ‘80s have supersized over the past 30 years, moving far beyond my perfect sized car. Today’s Maxima is 10 inches longer, 10 percent wider, and 500 pounds heavier—nothing like that 1985 model that fit me so well.

Along comes the 2014 Mazda3, a compact car by today’s standards but with the same dimensions of my preferred 1980’s midsize. Nothing like the stereotyped “econobox” compact, the Mazda is sporty and upscale with 18” wheels, leather, all the tech, and more performance than my V6 ‘85 Maxima. I’m back in my favorite car again, it even still talks (thank you, navigation).

The Mazda3 is shifting perceptions; it’s no longer a compromise to settle for the compact model in lieu of a midsize. Most people didn’t buy a full size car back in the ‘80s, but today it’s that same size car leading the sales charts, perhaps this is a side effect of the SUV age. Is limo like rear seat legroom really worth the compromise of nimble handling, ease of parking, and fuel economy? The Mazda3 makes an excellent case for compacts to become tomorrow’s volume leaders, even if the Accords and Camrys still dominate the sedan sales charts.

Perceptions can take years to change, and it’s why people buy anemic Corollas over prettier or more enjoyable cars—it’s a bulletproof choice. But as we’ve noticed logging 12,380 miles on the long-term Mazda3 tester, this compact is running as smooth as the day it was delivered to our doorsteps back in March. Fuel cost has totaled to $1513.18 averaging 31.5 mpg, which including the $59.31 for the first tire rotation and oil changes, comes out to a total cost of $1572.49. That equates to 12.7 cents/mile—about what’s expected for a first year of ownership. The maintenance light for tire rotation has come back on, but given that we haven’t even done 7,500 miles since the last rotation, it seems a bit overzealous. The only other flaw we could think of was the Mazda Connect navigation system crashing a handful of times over the nine months, which is actually better than what we’ve experienced with other infotainment systems from short-term tests—some flip out even during a week of driving.

The Mazda will rack up more miles during the holiday season as I trek down to San Diego for the holidays--in greater comfort than an old Nissan--so stay tuned for an update next month.