In January the lease is up on my car and I have NO idea what I am going to get.  I would love to get something with a third row set of seats so I can take  more people in my car (or shove my k ids in the far back so they aren’t right behind my head screaming), but with the way gas prices are, I doubt that will be something I get.  I need something that will have good gas mileage.  A lot of my driving is city driving and an SUV just doesn’t get the greatest gas mileage.

Last week I had the opportunity to test drive the 2013 Mazda3 for the entire week!  Now this car is much smaller than what I am used to, but boy did I like it!  Zachary and Bella fit in OK…now Dan…he was cramped.  He had to open the sunroof cover to have a couple extra inches for his head! <–that made the kids laugh real hard!

Check out how nice it is!!!

About the Mazda3

Gas Mileage 

The Mazda3 is equipped with Skyactiv Technology.  Now if you don’t know what that is (and I didn’t before driving this car), Skyactiv Technology was invented by Mazda to increase fuel efficiency and engine output.  Now I already told you that the majority of my driving is city driving and let me tell you, this little care got the best gas mileage ever!  I don’t have the exact amount of miles I drove (thank you Zachary for testing out how to reset the trip meter!), but when I turned the car in after driving for 7 days, it had over 1/4 of a tank left and I am pretty certain I drove over 300 miles!

Interior Features

A few of my favorite interior features:

• Advanced keyless entry with push button start
• 5 passenger seating
• Tilt & telescopic steering column (which I liked a lot!)
• Power windows and door locks
• 8-way power drivers seat
• Heated front seats with 5 settings (if it wasn’t so darn hot, I would have loved to try this out!)
• 60/40 split fold down rear seat
• Full color touch screen navigation

Safety and Security Features

• 36 month/36,000 mile bumper-to-bumper warranty
• 60 month/60,000 mile powertrain warranty
• Anti-lock brake system (ABS) with EBD & Brake Assist
• Crashable brake pedal
• E911 Auto Emergency notification
• Dynamic Stability control
• Traction Control system
• Advanced dual front and front side impact  air bags
• Front & rear side air curtains
• Tire pressure monitoring system
• Anti-theft engine immobilizer
• Blind spot monitoring system

 My Thoughts

I love this car!  When it first arrived at my house, my very first thought was “oooh a red car”!  I’ve never driven a red car before, but I’ve always wanted one.  My kids thought it looked like a race car and they were very excited to go for a ride in it.  The gas mileage was amazing.  For the amount of driving I do, taking the kids from one sport to another, I need something like the Mazda3.  One of my other favorite features was the Advanced Keyless Entry and Push Button Start.  I liked that I could walk up to the car, push a button on the door handle and unlock the car!

I also liked that the car said “hello” and “goodbye” to me (yes…I know…the small things!).

I was very surprised how large the trunk is on this car!  When you look at the car, you would think the trunk was going to be really small, but it was quite large.  My husband has a Buick LaCrosse and it is a much larger car than the Mazda3, but the trunk on the Mazda3 was significantly larger than his trunk.  Overall, I was very happy with this car and Mazda in general.  I’ve never driven a Mazda before, but I can honestly say, Mazda is on my list of cars to check out in January when I am in need of a new car.  Maybe not this particular car because I do need a little more room, but I do like the brand a lot.

What kind of car do you drive?

*I was provided with a Mazda3 to borrow for one week to test drive.  No compensation was received.  All opinions are 100% my own.