Waiting for my new BMW M340i to get detailed, and I’m feeling surprisingly sad about saying goodbye to my Mazda 3 hatchback CE.

I bought it for practical reasons after coming from a BMW SUV. Wanted something smaller and easier to live with. Never expected to fall in love with it, but here we are.

The steering is sooo precise, the road feedback is fantastic, and body roll through corners is practically nonexistent. It goes exactly where you point it. It’s not fast, but Sport mode wakes it up quite a bit and I was on sport honestly 80% of the time, and it’s more than enough to make daily driving fun.

I loved my daily commute, cruising Highway 1, and especially those twisty backcountry roads. And you know you love a car when you’re willing to drive 100 miles to a dealer for a color-matched spoiler 😂 or spend hours on YouTube comparing exhaust options. I did both!

The interior feels surprisingly premium, and honestly, I still prefer its looks over the M340i.

I’m moving on because I got a great deal on the BMW and wanted to get back to the B58’s power. Excited for what’s next, but I’ll genuinely miss this little hatchback.

Mazda, if you’re reading this: give us a 350 hp Mazda 3 hatchback, and I’ll be back! Keep the looks, steering, and chassis. Just add power—and please make Auto Hold persistent across starts and the gas tank a bit bigger!

Thanks for the memories, Mazda. What a year. ❤️

Bought this car about a month ago and couldn’t be happier. I love it!!

Nearly 14.000km and 20 months down. Still love looking at her like on day 1.

And fighting one rattle at a time lol

If you are still rocking a gen 3.. how has it been treating you so far? How many miles do you have on it? Average mpg? Any quirks you’ve been experiencing? Anything cool you found out about the car after you purchased it?

I’ll go first:

2018 Mazda 3 Sport Sedan
70k miles
34 AVG MPG
Oil change every 5k miles. Transmission fluid between every 60-75k. Brake fluid every 2-4 years. Coolant (manual says 10 years?)
One weird thing I noticed about it. The rotors seem to rust very easily with any amount of moisture. As a result brakes always squeak when coming to a stop
Recently found out about Mazda’s G vectoring or whatever they call it after I was driving a friends ford fusion. Just not as sharp in the turns felt more like a boat than a car.

Well joined the mazda family. 2026 mazda 3 gs awd. Such a great ride and incredible interior. Sound seems a little lacking tho

It's coming up on a quarter million miles

Two friends and I made the trip to Townsend TN again and ran US129, NC28, and the Cherohala Skyway among some less exciting but incredibly beautiful routes. Sharing some pics because why not. One of my favorite areas to drive, even if you aren't sending it, especially at this time of year.

Stupid corporate minimalism

Was driving on the highway this morning around 5:00 AM and hit a stationary object in the middle of the highway, the car behind me also hit it. I feel like I got off pretty lucky damage wise. Called 911 to report the object in the road and when they transferred me to the state police, the original dispatcher literally said “we have a another call about an object in the road southbound” 🤦🏿 Already filed a claim and thankfully insurance will cover it after I pay my deductible. Still bummed out, I’ve literally never had an accident in any of my old cheap cars.

Just got a 2026 preferred with 3k miles today!

It sucks to get the 3 clean, only to drive up a long, dirt driveway lol

My car was making a noise when turning right and it progressively got worse quickly so I took it to a dealership to see if it’s under warranty and it’s not, it’s from a wreck from the previous owner apparently they didn’t repair the car properly the transfer case is bad (saw ring hanging on cv axle with my own 2 eyes )is it worth putting $6000 into a car I paid $22,000 for less than a year ago? The mechanic says there’s nothing wrong else with the car but I was also told that by the dealership I bought the car from and it’s had an oil change since I bought it and someone was under the car and didn’t notice obvious damage? The sleeve was completely off a part under the car

Just curious if any of y'all love your Mazda 3 Hatchback so much that you went ahead and joined the cx-30 subreddit so you can mingle/discuss/learn/etc. with our cx-30 cousins?

Sure, they're different models, but, in more ways than not, they're very closely related vehicles.

I just finalized a mazda3 (Charlotte,NC) OTD price 25.5k.

Im a first time buyer and have been in the states for ~2 years. The best interest rate that I could negotiate was 6.24% for a 60m duration. What do you think of this deal?

hey all! i’m new to the club. i bought a 2016 mazda3 i grand touring 3 weeks ago now and love it!

i noticed its been shifting hard for the last couple weeks. at first i chocked it up to not being used to an automatic, since my last car was a 0spd cvt. i checked the fluid level and noticed it was a bit high, and came back the next day to do it again to check the color with a white paper towel and its brown.

this was done at a mazda dealer in seattle for the 60k mile service. i’m assuming it was “compatible” red fluid. it had been driven 2k miles by the previous owner and 1.5k miles by me since service. i’m going to mazda today to get aft fz and do a drain and fill and am planning to do another one in about 10k miles

do you guys think i’ll be fine? or am i screwed?

UPDATE: i just did the drain and fill and it felt so much better. last test will be a cold reverse to drive, which is where my biggest problem was. i’m guessing either the fluid wasn’t changed during the 60k service or they indeed put the wrong fluid in it. it was pretty reddish brown. i’m gonna check the level again monday and feel out when to do another drain and fill. i probably won’t have time for about 3 weeks or so. thank you all for your input

I got one of the remote starter kits the other day and after setting it up, plugging in everything and programming it (my version required a pc), it shows up as a 2019 Mazda cx-3 instead of a 2018 Mazda 3.
It flashed all the LEDs like it was supposed to when setting up too. Very confused honestly, and I’m gonna call customer support on Monday but for the time being, does anyone have any suggestions? Did anyone else have trouble getting theirs to work or am I just an idiot?

I just did all 4 doors and a trunk on 2017 sedan. Road noise is a bit better. Did anyone do the floor? Or front wheels deadening? Any tips? How to rwmove the floor is it tricky?