Preowned Car Advice? Mazda 3 or Veloster?

[crazymama]

Long time lurker here! Test drove a 2015 Mazda 3 and Hyundai Veloster. Both drove so well but looking for any opinions. We have other Hyundais in the family right now and are not "dissatisfied" but worry about engine issues (Husbands 2014 Tucson engine died). Any strong opinions out there in DIS Land? Thanks in advance!!!!

 

[amcnj]

I know two people who own Mazda 3’s and are very happy with them. Sorry, but I don’t have any personal experience with either vehicle.

 

[crazymama]

Thanks for your input!!

 

[shelemm]

I worked with a guy who is a Mazda devotee. He got all of his family to buy Mazdas. Personally, I had never even known someone to own a Mazda. I wound up buying a used Mazda 6. I researched it thoroughly, and in fact there are many Mazdas that make great used cars.

I used the NHTSA website to look up by VIN number to see if there are any recalls on the car. Many foreign cars have the Takata airbag problem that you can get fixed for free, but be aware that many preowned cars have not had this done yet. Also, you can find somewhat about car owner complaints.

I also used autocheck.com to look up the car by VIN number, and they will give you report about ownership history and recorded problems. This is a pay service, but well worth it in my opinion. It can save you big time.

For general information about what cars make good used cars by make, model and year (including registered complaints) then carcomplaints.com is an excellent resource that will go over most common complaints. Especially important are which cars develop serious problems with their computer, as this manifests itself as sudden revving of the engine and other unpredictable problems. They also rate generaly, but drilling down to the specifics will give you more detail. The year can make a big difference.

I hope this helps.

 

[4Mickeys]

My son has a 2008 Mazda 3 his first car bought preowned - still going great.

 

[cvjw]

My son has a 2014 Mazda 6 that is still going strong - purchased new in 2014. We have had to replace the battery multiple times - he keeps leaving the lights on overnight.

It had a lot of recalls within the first couple years, so I did not think it would hold up long term. But it has.

 

[CarolAnn856]

We have a 2016 Mazda 3 that was mine and is now my daughter’s, and I replaced it with a 2018 Mazda 3 that I bought from the dealer last year with only 3,000 miles on it (was a courtesy car). Got our son a 2016 CX3 last year. Very happy with all three of them.

 

[tvguy]

Hyundai-Kia have had engine issues, although my mechanic seems to think pretty highly of them.

My neighbor across the street has had a Mazda MX6, RX7 and Miata and says they are wonderful driving cars, but odd stuff starts failing about 50,000 miles.

 

[shelemm]

I will also add that edmunds.com will tell you what a car is worth by plugging in year, make, model, and condition.

 

[kdonnel]

I have only seen the Veloster from the outside, like the looks but it does seem a little quirky with having only a single rear door.

I own a Hyundai Sonata that has been flawless in its first year and a KIA that has now provided 10 years of equally flawless service.

 

[Darcy03231]

DS has a 2014 Mazda 3 and loves it. No issues so far.

 

[RamblingMad]

In my experience the best maintained vehicles are pickup trucks. If I was buying used, I’d get a pickup. I feel less confident in sedans.

Also, Mazda vehicles are cheap new. I’d check out buying programs liked offered by Costco. You can get a new Mazda pretty cheap.