2nd gen Mazda 3 five door trim levels

I am shopping these as a possible replacement for my daughter's Jetta TDI wagon. Can someone educate me on the various trim levels? I've found the following in my search so far and haven't found a reliable source of information regarding which package contains which items.

• i
• i Grand Touring
• i Sport
• i Touring
• s
• s Grand Touring
• s Sport
• s Touring

i = Skyactiv (2.0 skyactiv engine, these will be 2012 or 2013 model years only)

s = not Skyactiv (so either the old 2.0 or 2.5)

Other than that, as far as I know the trim levels are the same except for maybe the auto climate control?. Grand Touring is the top level and should have "leather", power driver's seat, etc. I have a 2012 i Grand Touring and it has leather, power seat, moonroof, and Bose radio. My recollection is that the options were upgraded headlights and blind spot monitoring. It does have traction control.

Also the i trim levels come with a 6-speed auto (or manual). Not sure about the s.

Sport = low trim level
Touring = mid trim level
Grand Touring = top trim level

For the second gen until the Skyactive engine came out (2012+) you could only get the 5 door in S with the 2.5L engine.

For the 5 door you have less option packages and depending on the year it could be Sport and Grand Touring or Touring and Grand Touring.

In general the order of options packages from Mazda is SV(may just be called s or i), Sport, Touring, Grand Touring.

If you want all the gadgets the Grand Touring is the one to look for. It has the heated seats, mirrors, moonroof, fancy audio system, blind spot monitoring all standard. The Moonroof and blind spot monitoring could be had on the lower trim level with the right option package.

What are your need to have options?

For 2010-11, there were only two trims for the 5-door: Touring and Grand Touring. Both came with the 2.5L MZR, and either a 5-speed auto or 6-speed manual. All 2010+ 5-door cars got Bluetooth standard.

Touring: 17" wheels, info center on the upper level of the dash, 6-speaker stereo w/aux-in port, leather wrapped wheel

Grand Touring: moon roof, leather, heated seats and mirrors, Bose 10-speaker stereo w/subwoofer (in the spare tire!!!)

The Technology Package was optional on the Grand Touring, and includes: HID's, rain sensing wipers, navigation in place of the info center

In 2012, they did a mid-cycle refresh and also introduced the Skyactiv cars. They shuffled the option packages as well. Now, you could get the "i" trim (Skyactiv engines) in a 5 door, as well as the "S" trim (2.5L MZR engines). Skyactiv cars got a different 6-speed auto or 6-speed manual, and the MZR cars got the same 5-speed auto or 6-speed manual from the 2010-2011 cars.

For the Skyactiv, there was the i Touring and the i Grand Touring, and there was the S Touring and S Grand Touring for the MZR cars.

i Touring: 16" alloy wheels, info center, leather wheel, 6-speed, optional fog lights

i Grand Touring: leather, heated seats and mirrors, moon roof, HID's, Bose 10 speaker stereo

S Touring: 17" wheels, aero kit with ground effects and dual outlet muffler, leather wheel, info center, moon roof, Bose 10 speaker stereo, fog lights

S Grand Touring: Leather, heated seats and mirrors, HID's

You could get the Technology Package with either the i Grand Touring or the S Grand Touring. It still had rain sensing wipers, nav, etc.

I have a 2012 S Touring 6MT. It's been a great car. Gas mileage is a lot better with the Skyactiv cars though.

Thank you all for the help! The information provided is a perfect overview. I'm thinking a 2012+ i Grand Touring is what I'm after.

Just a clarification, heated mirrors and HIDs were optional on the i Grand Touring. Or at least for 2012 they were.

So I've found a 2013 i Grand Touring with the tech package. 33k miles, red over black. Asking price is $13.5k. From the shopping, I've been doing, that seems like a decent price to me. Thoughts?

In reply to dyintorace:

That sounds fair, especially with the tech package. Go for it!

Sounds like a decent price. A couple things to note:

Tires may need replacing, mine were done by 30K

There is a current recall for the rear hatch struts (I'm assuming this is a 5-door). I got a letter from Mazda saying they don't have parts yet. Note that not all cars are affected

One thing to check is if the headlights flicker when coasting or braking. There is an ECU update that fixes this but it costs $67 out of warranty.

I'm negotiating as we speak. We'll see. $550 to ship from MD to FL.

@slowride - I can't touch the car (distance based transaction) so I'll have to role the dice on the headlight flicker. Carfax notes the open recall for this VIN.

I would not classify the headlight flicker as a dealbreaker anyway. Good luck!