My one year Mazda 3 anniversary

[rwatt]

One year ago today, I picked up my brand new '08 Mazda 3 Sport GT w/luxury package in Crystal White Pearl and manual transmission from Jeff at Mazda of Toronto. A great guy to deal with, 0% financing, a great price, and grad rebate sealed the deal. I also considered the Saturn Astra (good car, but smaller, was more expensive at the time and had less features), or a used Subaru Forester. I drove a Honda Fit as well...and it was simply crap.
The Mazda 3 replaced a 2002 Chevy Cavalier Z24 sedan which was still in great shape, but I wanted a hatchback, and I wanted to get rid of the Cavalier while it was still worth more than 2 cents.

(Click thumbnails for bigger image)

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v37/rmwatt/th_IMG_7570.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v37/rmwatt/IMG_7570.jpg) http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v37/rmwatt/th_IMG_7574.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v37/rmwatt/IMG_7574.jpg)

I picked up my car during what was probably the WORST snowstorm of that winter. Driving home, we could only go about 30kph on the highways, I didn't have snow tires (the Goodyear RS-A's are TERRIBLE in the snow), and the wipers kept freezing up. I was coming down with a bad cold to top it all off. On Sunday, I needed to go pick a few things up. The Mazda could not make it out of my driveway because of all the snow, so I had to climb back into my Cavalier...even though it sat much lower, that thing was impossible to get stuck.

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v37/rmwatt/th_IMG_7143.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v37/rmwatt/IMG_7143.jpg) http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v37/rmwatt/th_IMG_7144.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v37/rmwatt/IMG_7144.jpg)

Here are some pictures from today, completely different weather compared to last year, and I'm not sick!! Yes it is dirty, the winter wheels are not pretty, but as you can see, those Weathertech floormats sure do their job well!

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v37/rmwatt/mazdapics/th_IMG_0855.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v37/rmwatt/mazdapics/IMG_0855.jpg) http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v37/rmwatt/mazdapics/th_IMG_0844.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v37/rmwatt/mazdapics/IMG_0844.jpg) http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v37/rmwatt/mazdapics/th_IMG_0858.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v37/rmwatt/mazdapics/IMG_0858.jpg) http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v37/rmwatt/mazdapics/th_IMG_0849.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v37/rmwatt/mazdapics/IMG_0849.jpg)

Of course, some super clean pictures from the summer.

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v37/rmwatt/mazdapics/th_IMG_8656-1.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v37/rmwatt/mazdapics/IMG_8656-1.jpg) http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v37/rmwatt/mazdapics/th_IMG_8657.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v37/rmwatt/mazdapics/IMG_8657.jpg) http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v37/rmwatt/mazdapics/th_IMG_7623a.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v37/rmwatt/mazdapics/IMG_7623a.jpg) http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v37/rmwatt/mazdapics/th_IMG_8636healed.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v37/rmwatt/mazdapics/IMG_8636healed.jpg)
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v37/rmwatt/mazdapics/th_IMG_0202.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v37/rmwatt/mazdapics/IMG_0202.jpg) http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v37/rmwatt/mazdapics/th_IMG_7634a.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v37/rmwatt/mazdapics/IMG_7634a.jpg) http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v37/rmwatt/th_IMG_7599.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v37/rmwatt/IMG_7599.jpg) http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v37/rmwatt/th_IMG_7605.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v37/rmwatt/IMG_7605.jpg)

So, in review:

Current mileage - 25,130km
Service costs - $377.09 (all scheduled maintenance)
Extras:
Winter tires/wheels - $644.10
Weathertech floor mats - $118.65
'Axela' badge and cargo tray - $82.14
Removal of side moundings - $0
Number of times towed - 1 (Oil filter housing was not installed properly, 3.3L of oil lost. Repair costs of $221.02 covered by responsible dealer)
Warranty issues - 0
Longest road trip - 870km to Port Loring and back
Best fuel mileage - 6.6 L/100km on the trip above (with A/C on)

Do I love my Mazda 3? Absolutely :bana2

[Slav4ik]

ice car, Nice colour, Nice post, Happy BD zoom zoom! :)

[Thrizzl3]

nice looking car you got there..way to keep it looking hot! Happy Birthday to your 3:)

[DumpInfo]

Looking good! I like how you posted up the pictures in a clean manner. Maybe everyone should learn it and stick by it as some here post massive 1600 x 1200 pictures. :loco

[b.rabbit]

Great summary of your year rwatt! :) Sounds like you're having fun with your car! :)

[aris]

Looking good

[andyh921]

nice, keep it clean

[rwatt]

Looking good! I like how you posted up the pictures in a clean manner. Maybe everyone should learn it and stick by it as some here post massive 1600 x 1200 pictures. :loco

Thanks...I still code HTML the old fashioned way (ie. with notepad) so it kind of comes natural :chuckle


Thanks for the comments from everyone else as well, and yes, as soon as the temperatures become more reasonable, my car will be super shiny again! I wish I had a garage!