When I was originally looking for a car a few years ago I was planning on buying a used car. I was looking at cars between 3-6 years old. Time and time again I found the Mazda 3 (and 6) sedans to be in very good shape compared to other brands of the same age/mileage. I eventually decided to give a new car a shot, and quickly liked the Mazda 3's at the dealership. I ended up getting the bare bones model (no power locks, no cruise control, etc). I got the car at list price with a very good interest rate on my auto loan from the dealer (first time car buyer). Frankly I've loved the car since day one. I drive a lot for work (I'm just over 91k miles and the car isn't even 3 years old yet), and I've really had no problems whatsoever with it. It still handles very well, none of the interior has really fallen apart as many lived in cars tend to do, the engine hasn't gotten louder or anything, and the mileage has remained very near the peak (around 32mpg). It's got just a bit of speed behind it for when the moment calls (though this may simply be because of the stick shift and being able to drop it into 2nd or 3rd). I currently plan to drive the car till the day it dies, which from the looks of it is still quite a ways off.