The Mazda 3 iTouring is a great starter car for people. Mine is a 5 speed manual shift with a 1.8 liter, 4 cylinder engine. The interior is cloth. This car has been remarkably dependable and low on maintenance costs during my ownership. For a small car, it accelerates nicely and handles very well. The fuel efficiency is very good getting more than 30 MPG on highway driving and about 25 MPG in the city. Besides the fact that it's dependable, it came at a very affordable price range at under $16K for a new car. The only drawbacks to the car so far have been size of the interior, which is a little on the small side, and the fact that road noise is fairly significant while driving. Additionally, this is not a great car to drive in the snow. Low traction environments like snow cause spinouts quite frequently. Other than that, this car has been a great, dependable, entry level car.

This was actually the first vehicle I owned. I was driving around my parent's Corollas before then, and I can definitely say that I prefer the Mazda3 for the same price range. It handled pretty well in most cases (although, not so well in the snow), it is really "fun" to drive. You hear a lot of people say that with Mazdas, and I think that they are just have very responsive handling. If I could change something, it would be that the dashboard lining has started to come off a bit... I think that, over the years, the interior is going to diminish, so I'm enjoying my ride while I can now. I've noticed that the headlights are also starting to become a bit foggy. No rust or anything yet, and it's been everywhere, from the snow to the sand. As far as driving performance goes... well, it's not that powerful. And I don't think it really needs to be for most people. I say that if you need power, you should get the Speed3 instead. I've heard people say good things about that. I have really had no problems with it though, and I have driven it across the country and gone on road trips a ton of times. What helps is that the stock audio quality is actually pretty decent, and the electronics inside, although basic, are really nice touches.