What are your experiences with buying a brand new car?

You shouldn’t have any trouble with warranty repairs with the dealer (especially since they are doing the maintenance on the first 30K).

If you have set aside a repair fund, you might not want an extended warranty, but you might consider getting one for after the warranty goes if you plan to keep the car. One AC compressor and you are out S2,000.

@marinelife Doing actual repair work I have no concerns with. Short of replacing the engine or tranny, I can handle it myself. Dealer isn’t covering maintenance on my car (was extra). Honestly I’d rather do it myself, have had some bad experiences with other people even just changing my oil.

Thicker oil will reduce your gas mileage, no need to use heavier oil. Go with a synthetic or synthetic blend. Dealer maintenance will find and repair any recalls. On Board Diagnostics ODB’s have to done on dealer ( separate ) laptop with programs.

I can’t actually answer your question about new cars, but I bought a used Mazda 3 (2005) and I absolutely love it. I bought it with about 35,000 miles and it’s up to nearly 120,000 and I’ve never had any real problems with it. A few months ago the thermostat got stuck open and I had to have it fixed, but it was cheap and easy and the only issue I’ve ever had with it. I totally love this car and would buy another one in a heartbeat. It’s a ton of fun to drive. So, good choice :)

@Tropical_Willie Yep always use synth. Aware there’s no need but I bought 5w30 without thinking at the store, only to read later its supposed to be 0w20 after I already had 2 qt’s in. Obviously the heavier won’t hurt it though so I figured (and so far have been correct) that the loss of a mpg or two would equal out and probably be a bit less than just buying new oil. Not worried about ODB either, I have access to that stuff.

I prefer buying new cars and that’s mostly for the warranty and because I don’t want to buy someone else’s problem.

1989 – Honda CRX Si – Never had a problem with it until late in the game (I don’t remember the mileage) when the water pump went out. Aside from the tremendous lack of horsepower and torque it was a fun car and I never had to deal with dealership. Oh, except it was the worst car I’ve ever had in the snow. I managed to get the frame bent twice due to snow related accidents, both of which involved me hitting a curb.

1997 – Pontiac Trans-Am – Despite everyone telling me that I was stupid for buying an American car (it was Canadian), it was trouble-free until I went to the 150K mile point, There was one recall for the headlight motors. Dealership was all right, except they bent a corner of my hood. Mechanically, it was sound. It did manage to pick up some electrical problems. I miss that car.

2004 Mercury Mountaineer – Six years with four kids and a drunk wife the thing is still going strong, although the battery is dead at the moment. The dealership was kind of shady and I tried to avoid them whenever possible. It’s right under the 100K mark and it’s made a round trip from Texas to New Jersey once, and many round trips from Texas to Louisiana. Never had a problem with except that the AC doesn’t extend past the front seats.

2008 Dodge Challenger – Technically, it’s not new since I got it last year, but the mileage was so low when I got it I’m going to include it anyway. There were issues right away, such as the fuel detection system going out but it’s the first year for the new Challenger and I assumed there would be some bugs in the system. In this case, the fuel system was a known issue and it was fixed and I was told they did a bunch of upgrading to other electronic systems and computer firmware. It has the “keyless go” system and there was a short time when the car would sometimes not recognize my key, but that turned out to be a system update, also. I didn’t buy it from the dealership I bring it to but they’ve been… all right when it comes to fixing the issues. They’re not so all right when it comes to simple things, like upgrading the radio firmware (I hate the radio). They refuse to do it and tell me they don’t have anyone that can do it when I ask. Updating the radio involves putting a CD with the updated system in the radio and then waiting until it’s done. I’ve done it myself once. They also have a hard time remembering to reset the oil change warning counter. But if something major happened to it, I would trust the dealer to fix it and everything that’s been done so far as been under warranty and I haven’t had to pay a dime and they’ve never given me an issue.
As far as the car itself goes, since all the electronics updates have been done the thing is Hell on wheels.

We bought a brand new car a few years back because the dealer was having a close out, end of the season sale, and the car on the lot was loaded with extras, which we got included for the basic price. We went in prepared with computer printouts of comparable cars and got our price.

We drove it to death, so to speak, and donated it to charity after 125,000 miles.

Mazda builds a pretty good automobile. I, like you, would only buy a new car and not somebody else ‘s trouble in a used car. Used cars are almost as high in cost as a new one. I only am puzzled as to why you went to a higher grade motor oil, than what is recommended in your book? You seem to have everything else in order.

I change motor oil every 7,000 miles as recommended by Toyota. The dealers want to change your oil every 3,000 miles just for the money and its not necessary.

Did you follow your booklets directions on the break-in period? This is very important for the engine to seat the rings and no trouble down the road. I drove my Solara to Mississippi at 55 mph on the interstate as stated in the book. It has paid off for me in the long run.

Tires: keep an eye on the factory installed tires. They will not give you much mileage. I bought a set of Mastercraft 40,000 mile tires and I love them. Buy only from a tire dealer. I am on my 5th set of tires and rolling strong with 276,000 miles.

@john65pennington All of the cars I’ve had prior to this one used 5w30, so without thinking to look I assumed the Mazda 3 was as well, come to find when I was checking to make sure on the # of quarts its actually 0w20. But it shouldn’t hurt the motor, just cost me a mile or two a gallon while I have it in the car (which I’m probably going to change it out early anyways). I wouldn’t say i’m purposely following the break in period… But for the most part I’ve been babying it since day one… I think i’ve gone over 5k like 3 times.

The one new-ish car I ever had was a 2-year-old Saturn that had a decent engine and great handling but a weak transmission. The first one went just after the warranty went up, and it cost us quite a bit to replace. There is no repairing a cracked bell housing! After it blew the second transmission we let the bank have the car; we could either pay for another transmission or make the car payments, not both.

As for cars that actually had my name on the title and registration, most of them have been 12–15 years old with 150–200K miles and have generally performed as expected for the price I paid; you don’t expect greatness for $500 or less.
The two exceptions were both Toyota Corolla’s (an ‘85 and an ‘87) which are also the only ones to last more than 16 months. However, given the way a 4A-LC is, it is hard for me to go too thick on the oil. 5W30 is not recommended at all, and 10W30 is to be avoided unless you don’t expect temperatures of >60F. I run 10W40 in the winter and 20W50 in the summer, and the owners manual agrees.

BTW, no real need to baby it any longer. It is broken in by now ;)

The only brand new car I ever bought was a superseded 1994 Mitsubishi Magna. Never had any problems with the car, except at 60,000km the synchromesh on third gear failed. The dealer refused to fix it, so I complained to the factory in Adelaide, and next thing I knew the dealer fixed it. Had the car for six years until it was involved in an accident that totalled it (I wasn’t driving…). I won’t buy another new car- waste too much money. My current one I bought at two years old, with 31,000 km on it, and nine years and 277,000kms later, still going strong. Cost half the price of a new one. It is a 1999 Magna.

Excellent. I don’t have to worry about previous drivers mistreating the car.

My new Ford Fiesta gives me 65 miles a gallon.

No doom or gloom

When you zoom, zoom,zoom

With a Mazda,

@john65pennington… unless it use a Ford transmission. I lost a good 626 that way.

@jerv For the moment, Mazda pretty much = Ford. (Though they are cutting back their ties).

@tedd It goes in cycles. Back when that particular car was made, they used Mazda frames and engines but a Ford CD-4E tranny; something originally designed for a smaller, lighter car and prone to blowing every 40k miles in a 626 or Probe.