Podcast Episode 2: Choosing Between a Mazda3 or Mazda6

Amy 00:01

Hi everyone, it's Amy Riley, as I'm about to tell you, I am desperate for a new car. I'm here with my friend John, he is a blogger and a Mazda enthusiast, and I love Mazdas. I see them on the road and I think, "That is a gorgeous car, I want to drive one," so I'm finally in the place in my life where I think I can take the plunge, get that new car, and so I thought, "Why just sit there and daydream about it in my head when I can make a podcast and talk to my good friend John about Mazdas."

John 00:36

Right?

Amy 00:37

Right. John, how are you today?

John 00:40

I'm doing well Amy, how's it going?

Amy 00:42

I am always good. Always good. So tell me, what is it about Mazda-- I can tell you what draws me to Mazda. That's like, it's a nice looking car, it's sharp, I only hear good things about it. But what drew you to Mazdas to begin with? How did your interest start?

John 01:04

Man, so my interest started I guess maybe five years back. And I think it really started with the Miata. I was-- via my uncle actually, he was huge on cars. There was a ton of different roadsters out there. There was one from BMW that-- it looked sharp, it was kind of nice. They had another nice one from Honda that was really, pretty sporty. It gained a lot of popularity in the young street racing world. It was even featured in some movies like Fast and Furious and stuff. And then, none of them were just-- they couldn't really match up to what Mazda was producing, because they were putting out this roadster called the Miata for years. And I really got to tell you, I feel like they perfected the roadster. I think to this day there's not another roadster out there that can compete. And I don't know if I'm being biased, but that's what drew me to Mazda as a company, and I always see them getting better with every year.

Amy 02:15

Oh wow, well that's quite the story. So I don't think that I'm going to get a Miata this time.

John 02:22

Oh, what you going to get?

Amy 02:22

It may be on my radar for the future, but right now I'm thinking-- I'm trying to decide is if the Mazda3 or the Mazda6 is the better vehicle for me. What do you think?

John 02:35

Okay, well both of them are pretty cool, I like them both. I think-- have you looked at each trim? For the Mazda3 for example, it comes in the hatchback style or the sedan style. Did you already figure out which one you liked?

Amy 02:50

Probably, I'd go with the sedan.

John 02:52

Sedan? Okay.

Amy 02:53

Yeah.

John 02:53

Yeah, I can see you in a sedan. Alright [laughter]. A nice little blue one. Yeah, so the real cool things about Mazda-- I don't know if you've been inside one of the recent ones. The 2018 models, they have a real nice-- what's the word they're using now-- infotainment area. You have this little screen. I want to say it's maybe I don't know, five to seven inches in length, touchscreen, and it also has a little knob so you can just go to your selection whether you want to listen to your MP3s, the radio, CD player, even navigation. You can just choose what you want to look at. So that's always a cool little tool. It's right there in the-- you know, right next to you where you're steering wheel would be at-- it's to your right-hand side so you don't have to look far away to see it. The color's very bright, vivid colors, so that way you don't have a hard time looking at it. I know I'm one of those drivers-- man, I used to drive with one of those little Garmin navigations and I used to-- I could never tell exactly what lane I was supposed to be in or if I'm on the right path. I had to look real close and that used to just throw me off. So you won't have that problem here.

Amy 04:08

Good, good. All good.

John 04:10

It's a 4-cylinder car, so if you're going to be driving around-- obviously gas is a problem nowadays, especially in the summer-- everybody's traveling and everybody's worried about their gas. On this little 4-cylinder man, you're going to be sitting good. You could be on that car for hundreds of miles and not have to worry about making another stop.

Amy 04:29

Okay, that sounds great. That sounds like a plus. You know, Mazda3, it's good. It sounds good, but maybe I want to go just for that little bit more with the Mazda6. What do you think?

John 04:42

I like the Mazda6 actually. I think it's-- for one, it has a little more room. So if that's something that you're concerned about, obviously it's a comfortable ride. And you can really feel-- the thing is, with these Mazdas, is that when you step on that gas pedal you can really feel like you're going. You don't feel too much of a lag or anything. You will never feel like you don't have enough power. We're starting at-- we'll give you like 155 horses. That's just the start. That's the base model, is a 2.0 liter engine. So you're going to feel like you could conquer any road. And a Mazda6, I'm going to tell you, I'm going to be honest man, you can hit the road in a Mazda6, you're hitting the road in style. Comfort, we already talked about that. It's just, I can't see you going wrong with a Mazda6.

Amy 05:33

Okay. So you're really not giving me a lot of guidance here [laughter].

John 05:40

Well what is that you're really concerned about?

Amy 05:40

It's okay, it's okay, it's okay. Do you think that the Mazda3 or the Mazda6 is the right choice for me right now? Or do you think that maybe I want to try a small crossover like the CX-3?

John 06:00

Well, I mean-- obviously that's going to depend on what you prefer. If you're comparing a Mazda3 to one of those crossovers, it's not really fair--

Amy 06:16

A fair comparison?

John 06:17

Yeah. I mean, each of them are going to give you that, like I said, that infotainment area. You're going to be able to do that Apple CarPlay, the Android auto capabilities are all there for each of those cars. One of the best things that I could tell you about each one-- especially the Mazda3 though because they really stepped their game up-- was safety. The Mazda3 was actually picked in 2018 as one of the top safety picks by the IIHS. So it scored good on every single crash test. I mean every single one. And in their front crash prevention, the technology there actually earned a rare score of superior. Not a lot of cars get superior ratings when it comes to head-on collision. So you know, safety is one of those things that Mazda wanted to keep on innovating. And so I think they really nailed it with this technology that they've been introducing as of late. So with you being my friend, being on the road, obviously I would care about your safety first. And I think if you're in the right space to pick up a Mazda3, it looks sporty, it drives well, it's comfortable. You won't have to worry about gas. And safety is superior. Come on.

Amy 07:43

Yeah, I do think I'm leaning towards the Mazda3, maybe even before this conversation. Just wanted to make sure I wasn't going to be missing out on anything by making a choice, so.

John 07:56

Yeah. I mean you're going to look good regardless, man. Like--

Amy 07:59

It's Mazda.

John 08:00

--the alloy wheels. I mean, you really can't go wrong. I'm telling you this because it's just the truth. Even if I didn't know you, I couldn't lie about this. This stuff is amazing, man. You're probably going to be-- you know they have different styles that we mentioned before. They have the hatchback, touring, hatchback, you're more into the sedan so that's great. You'll probably be looking at maybe what, 22 for that car. And if that's something that you can afford by all means, I'd get it.

Amy 08:39

So I'm going to head into-- I'm thinking about going to Puente Hills Mazda. It seems like a good place. I kind of did my research, it had pretty good reviews and stuff. Before I go in and once I'm there, what do you think I should-- what should my approach be?

John 08:56

Well I think you definitely want to make sure that you include all your expenses for this car. So definitely work out your payment, how much you can afford on the car payment itself. And also get a quote from insurance before you actually get the car, because a lot of people tend to overlook that. Let's just say they're going to be spending 250 on a car payment each month and they think, "Oh great, I'm good, I can afford that." But then they don't take into account "Oh I have to be paying another, whatever, 200 dollars a month on insurance that goes with it." So you're expecting this 250 a month payment, all the sudden you're looking at 450. So definitely don't forget about that. If it's something that you might have to hold off on, then fine. But also, if you have a little bit of a down payment that you can kind of play with, then definitely. I think going in there having a back-up plan-- I always like to tell people "Have a plan B and a plan C." If that car is just not working for you, if you can't get the payment right, I don't think it's worth stressing over every month, "Am I going to be able to make the car payment?" Obviously you're going to have fun in this car. You're going to be safe in this car. So you really want to take your time, make the right decision because it's one of those investments that you're on for the long haul. So if you could do that. Also, you can even check to see if you qualify for any type of rebates. You can just go onto the website, PHMazda.com, check out any specials on there, if they do have any specials coming up, any rebates. A lot of times they'll have some-- when it gets towards the end of the month. I'm sorry, the end of the year-- they'll have some specials there. So if you can hold off a little bit and wait until around December, maybe even early January, to pick up your new ride, then why not?

Amy 10:55

Seems like good, solid advice.

John 10:56

Mm-hmm

Amy 11:00

So what's the last Mazda that you got?

John 11:04

[laughter] The Mazda 3 hatchback.

Amy 11:07

Yeah, right. Okay.

John 11:09

Yeah, I got a nice little grey one. I think it started with 184 horsepower. It's a 2.5 liter engine, [4-cylinder]. I have a lot of fun driving it. I still have it. I did a lot of-- maybe not a lot, but I did a few little modifications on it. Give it a little bit more horsepower. It looks good, I love driving it. It was my daily driver for a long time. And I really like to go over the Ortegas and everything. I like those windy roads. It's fun, man. I'll go to the beach with this thing and put the little sunroof down, and just have a blast.

Amy 11:55

Yeah, woo, Mazda. [laughter] Alright, well what do you think? Do you have any last words, tips, advice you want to share with us, John, about Mazda?

John 12:15

Oh yeah, yeah. You know what, I'm the type of guy, man, I like to keep up with the company as a whole, not just the particular car. So I would follow Mazda, I'd follow Puente Hills Mazda. Follow them on social media to find out where they're headed. A lot of times they'll give you a sneak peek on what's coming in the near future, maybe the upcoming year. 2019 is almost here guys. I know that kind of sucks to hear but almost here. A lot of people dread that but car enthusiasts, we kind of look forward to it because we're anxious to see what's coming down the pipe. Mazda, they went from-- Mazda used to be one of those cars that maybe your grandmother owned, a 626 or something like that. And then you just see the transition where a lot of millennials are starting to get into the cars. And there's a reason for that. It's a smart buy. It really is. It's really one of those things you cannot go wrong, you will not go wrong. Sofollow them on social media. You'll start to see some articles, they'll always point you in the right direction. And my personal experience with Puente Hills Mazda especially, they've been there. I've actually tweeted them just a question and they got back to me pretty quickly. And it actually made me come in there. Their service department is great. You could do pretty much anything that you need-- service on your car-- you could do it right there. So definitely follow them on social media, keep up with whatever they're doing on the news, read their blogs. Their blogs have a lot of good information in them too. Yeah, I'd say just do that, you'll be good to go.

Amy 14:05

Alright, sounds good.

John 14:08

Yeah I can't wait until you get your car.

Amy 14:10

Me neither. I'm ready to take it for a drive and you know, show it off. I think that's the whole point [laughter].

John 14:19

Alright, well good luck. If there's anything else I can help you with, let me know.

Amy 14:22

Yeah. Maybe I'll ask you to come with me to get the car, John!

John 14:28

[laughter] Yeah, you're going to be there for a while. I might do some test driving myself.

Amy 14:32

You should. Alright well thanks so much.

John 14:33

Alright. Mm-hmm. Bye.