Introduction

Mazda 3 -- 2004 Review: Conventional wisdom: You get what you pay for. Conventional wisdom: Small, affordable cars are a necessary evil to be sloughed off as soon as you move up a tax bracket or two. Conventional wisdom: The average new car sells for about $25,000. The Mazda 3: Unconventionally wise.

A hit with the neighbors

As automotive journalists, our jobs are a little more readily apparent to neighbors than, say, serving society as an accountant or librarian. With a steady stream of new cars taking up street parking in our own little corner of Los Angeles, the folks living nearby have gotten used to seeing the latest and greatest automotive machinery to roll off the assembly lines parked outside of our abodes. Most who bother to enquire have assumed that we’re A.) in the automotive business or B.) up to no good. In any case, we chat with the inquisitive for a bit if we happen to pull up while they’re outside. When we were driving the Mazda 3, they lay in wait for us like a snake stalking a skink, pouncing with enthusiastic questions as soon as we pulled curbside in a Winning Blue Mazda 3s five-door. “Can we sit in it?” “How does it drive?” “This is so great!” “It’s how much?”

Unusual options for the class

The answer to the question about price, at least for our slickly outfitted test Mazda 3, was 22 grand and some change. This included highfalutin’ options like a DVD-based navigation system, side curtain airbags, leather upholstery and Xenon headlamps. Pretty darn impressed, those neighbors were, when we told them that the Mazda 3’s base price was just above $17,000. So were we, after a week spent zipping about sunny Southern California.