The car is in excellent shape for a four year old car. It is an ideal car for a couple or with one small child. Forty mpg on the highway and around 25 mpg in the city. The color is an interesting silver/gray green color they call "Dolphin Grey". The interior is composed of a two-tone cloth. It is very durable material, and it seems to be somewhat hydrophobic. If you attend to a small spill quickly enough, zero liquid will seep into the fabric of the seat. The back seats contains three seatbelts. I would say you could fit 1.5 full grown adults, two teenagers, or three very small children. The car also has ample trunk space for a car that is trying very hard to maximize space in a small entry level vehicle. The steering and handling is crisp and responsive. Because it wears the SKYACTIV badge, the car possesses very high engine compression, as well as a stripped down body for weight. Both of these factors help the Mazda3 achieve staggering gas mileage for a car that has no battery assist or hybrid capabilities.

I only have 6,000 miles on my Mazda 3, but I'll go over what I've experienced so far. The handling of the vehicle is very good, something typical of the Mazda "Zoom-Zoom" brand. I find the exterior styling very appealing and aerodynamic. The interior materials are very nice as well. They are of a higher quality than most cars in its price point. The interior space is also very good for a vehicle of its size. The fuel economy with this vehicle is fantastic. The sky active engineering Mazda uses to achieve such high mpgs definitely works. I was an automotive technician for twelve years and can also appreciate that the company does not use a turbocharger or a supercharger to achieve this. Most of the time, those added components cause reliability issues later in the vehicle's life. Speaking of reliability, the car has been very reliable. Granted it is not that old, but I have not had a single issue with it. As for the negatives, they are mostly due to the compromises between efficiency and performance. The cabin noise is a little high due to the vehicles light weight. The engine could use a little more power, but as a car enthusiast, I could say that about any vehicle. The radio/infotainment controls require some getting used to, but most brands have similar issues. Overall, this vehicle does everything well with very few compromises.