RIP Kizashi :-(

cocos3 · Sat Feb 08, 2014 4:45 am

Hey again CLLee, it's always a shame to see someone move away from the cars that brought us together...having said that, I have owned 3 Mazdas (and still have one now), so I can allow you to make that choice...Haha...Let us know what you think of the 3...

~tc~ · Sat Feb 08, 2014 4:52 am

Actually, the shitty diesels from the 70's are the main reason diesel passenger cars are not popular in the US. I remain convinced that if people would test drive a modern diesel, their popularity would soar - urea or not.

Sat Feb 08, 2014 5:01 am

~tc~ wrote:Actually, the shitty diesels from the 70's are the main reason diesel passenger cars are not popular in the US. I remain convinced that if people would test drive a modern diesel, their popularity would soar - urea or not.

You have a point, but there are many old Mercedes turbodiesels from the 70's still running on American roads today. That's a testament to diesel engine durability.
Diesel is gaining popularity again slowly, but the US gov't has made it very hard for auto companies to bring them. That's why they are not commonly offered, especially by US and Japanese brands despite they have many diesel products in foreign markets.

sx4rocious · Sat Feb 08, 2014 5:14 am

I was thrilled at the prospect of the Diesel Cruise that's supposed to be gracing us this fall. I'm interested to see how it does here.

murcod · Sat Feb 08, 2014 8:00 am

CLLee wrote:
murcod wrote:I know how well you care for your cars (it makes me feel guilty at times!) Good luck with the hunt for something new.
You know what? The lady, the cop and the tow truck driver thought the car was brand new.

I think I'm leaning back to where we first met murcod... Mazda lol.
The new Mazda 3 SP25GT is at the same price point as the Kizashi Prestige, and same size pretty much. But with so much more tech. I'm going for a test drive tomorrow.

I was looking at the specs on the new 3 sedans only last week, they certainly seem to have a lot in them. There's only about 7cm difference in length to the Kizashi too. The pricing seems a lot sharper than the old SP25?

I haven't seen one in the flesh yet.

There's a pretty good write up here: http://www.themotorreport.com.au/58114/ ... -road-test

(One thing I did notice is there's no face level aircon vents in the rear on any spec level

. A minor point, but here in Australia you need that sort of thing if you regularly carry passengers in the rear.)

I assume you'd be after the auto trans? At least they've stuck with a proper auto.

I read somewhere recently Mazda are changing their service intervals from the previous 6mth period to 12mths? It was very annoying to take our old 6 in every 6mths when it had covered very little distance. I found a bit on it here: http://www.caradvice.com.au/266928/mazd ... g-program/ (Note Suzuki have done the opposite and gone from 12mths back to 6mths....

.... money rort...)

CLLee · Sat Feb 08, 2014 2:43 pm

Yes... looking at the specs, the new Mazda3 is about the same size as our 1st Gen Mazda6.
Very close to the Kizashi too.

Coming from the 1st gen Mazda6, I've had the opportunity to drive all 1st and 2nd gen Mazda 2, 3 and 6 for a day as service courtesy cars. I've never been a fan of the past Mazda3, but I'm excited about the new one. The new Mazda6 is way too big for me. I'm alone in the car 80% of the time. Passenger is usually just my wife.

The new service interval is interesting... and prices are sort-of capped... although it can still go up to $560 @ 150,000km.
http://www.mazda.com.au/owners/servicin ... ce-select/

I'm glad I'm not hurt. No whiplash so far... have been working all day too.
But, despite the excitement of a new car, financially I'm still at a lost.
Hopefully the insurance (RACV) will give me a reasonable market value, and after paying out the finance, I'll still have something to put down as a deposit without digging too deep into my pockets.

CLLee · Mon Feb 10, 2014 12:16 pm

After the test drive and checking out the car up close, I bought the new Mazda3 SP25GT. The fit and finish, and equipment level is very impressive for a price similar to the Kizashi Prestige. As much as I love (still) the Kizashi, it's aged quite a fair bit.

To my pleasant surprise, the Mazda salesman's wife was the one who sold me the Kizashi.
Price was very firm (only been launched a week and very limited stock), but he managed to get me free SP25 mats, tint, extra 2 years extended warranty, and 10% off parts/labour over the capped price servicing.

On the way home today, I saw a white Kizashi drove past... emotional moment.

I'll still be checking out this forum and see where this amazing car is heading.

All the best guys!!!

cocos3 · Mon Feb 10, 2014 9:03 pm

So...send us some pics of the new baby....we can cope....

Mon Feb 10, 2014 9:25 pm

The Mazda3 is a pretty solid compact. The new ones are especially good. I consider them the best compact car available.

SamirD · Mon Feb 10, 2014 9:33 pm

Sorry for you loss, but I'm glad you weren't hurt. It was amazing to see all that damage and to hear that everything on the interior still worked--now that's built right.

Hate that we lost you to another marque, but I love the Zoom Zoom cars too.

Glad to hear it worked out okay for your in the end.