And wow, was that thing a nice driving, nice riding vehicle. I think somebody posted recently how great all these new Mazda's drive, and based on our experience with these, I can see why. We drove a base model 2.0, and a "Touring" (next up from base...) with a 2.5 in it. That 2.5 got along nearly as quick as our L300 (the ol' Sat is supposed to be only 180hp, but man that thing boogies), and I'm pretty sure that SUV body is a little heavier that the Saturn. Nope, looked up weight, within a couple hundred pounds even on the tarted up version.
The seats were great, they road really nice, pretty quiet. We had recently test driven the Volvo smaller SUV thingy (C-60?), and honestly, we liked the Mazda a LOT better.
I'm selling the '12 Focus, and while we were going to put the cash back in the bank, it might go to Mazda if we start thinking about it too much.
Mazda does have some very nice new vehicles.
We pre-ordered a '14 GT in January of '13. First one off the boat. They are good cars. We have 50k miles on it now, with nothing but routine maintenance. Second set of tires, first set of brake pads. Easier to list what's bad, because most of the car is excellent:
The storage pockets on the back of the seats will tear at the corners if you have kids with legs. The carpet is made of fuzz glued onto cardboard. As great looking as the interior is, I overlooked this at first. Very cut rate for a not-inexpensive vehicle. Weak seat heaters...no really, they're almost academic. Side view mirrors are large and a little fluttery. There was a period of production where they left off the felt NVH washers where the dash mounts to the chassis near the windshield. I occasionally get a rattle -- but I'm not getting it fixed because the hamfisted techs will tear up more crap getting the dashboard out. There's a TSB.
On the plus side, the leather has held up very well. Hasn't started cracking or creasing, even on bolsters. Suspension remains tight, and it's still a lot of fun to drive. After getting rid of the stock 19" Toyos (which are low rolling resistance and run >$1k a set, the Yokohamas I put on netted 2.5mpg less. We get 25.5 or so, instead of 28+mph.
