Mazda 3 BP (Sedan) G20 Evolve Automatic (2019-2026)

An example of Great Quality for Money – You really cant go wrong with Mazda Brand particularly the Mazda 3 which has dominated in quality and value for money the past decade and beyond. The new models are very appealing to any car lovers eye and the motor build is second to none for this price range- hightly recommended

Great small car with the best GPS and 360 degree vision technology – We usually purchase new cars, keep them for no more than 90,000k's or nine years and buy a new one. Our previous car was a 2010 Honda Civic VTI-L which was a great little car but did not have the high tech gear that the newer cars have. I did a tremendous amount of research and my "must haves" were a four door sedan with five year warranty,… Read more

10,000k or twelve months service intervals and a conventional gearbox, not constant variable transmission (CVT). I was not interested in turbo charged. Initially I wanted five star safety rating but my research showed every vehicle I was interested in had this.

It was a close finish between the Honda Civic and the Mazda 3. The Mazda won out because it was not turbo charged and it did not have a CVT transmission.

Overall, we are very happy with our choice, we did get the optional 360 degree vision technology which is absolutely amazing, it makes parking or entering traffic so easy as it removes blind spots. At $1,600 it was expensive but worth it. We also love the GPS as it is built in and works off voice activation. It doesn't update immediately like Google Maps but you also don't have to plug a phone in to make it work.

The paintwork is sensational, we purchased the Soul Red colour and two years later it is still in immaculate condition. Another option we added was floor mats and again we have no regrets, possibly the best floor mats I have ever seen in a car.

The fuel economy is reasonable for a 2.0 litre engine, we get 6.6 litre per 100k on the highway and about 8.5 to 9.0 around town. There are more economical cars out there but as we only do 5,000k per year this is not an issue.

Servicing is not cheap, just under $500 for the last annual service. The car has low profile tyres which probably have a life span up to 30,000k but a benefit here is the handling. It is superb and definitely the best handling front wheel drive car I have ever driven.

The resale value seems to be holding up quite well. I did a check on Carsales.com.au and the selling price for a similar car with very low k's is $29,990. as we only paid $31,500 I am quite happy with this.

I have given the car a five star review but if the rating was in numbers I would give it 9.5 out of 10.