[Kavik79]

thought I'd go ahead and say hi now lol
been lurking around here for months while eying the new Mazda3 Hatchbacks.....well, a couple of weeks ago some car trouble prompted me to go ahead and pull the trigger on getting one :cheesy:

2014 Mazda3 sGT in Titanium Flash Mica with Almond interior

I've been in various Subaru WRX's for the past decade, so this is quite a change for me...
I'm loving the better mileage on the cheaper gas, of course, but it's taking some getting used to on the lower power, FWD and automatic transmission.

Will definitely be looking to improve the handling, get better tires and a rear swaybar. Also looking at the CorkSport exhaust, this car is just too quiet lol
Aside from that, just planning a few cosmetic changes, turn the chrome accents into black chrome, decide on a new set of wheels, get some tint.....maybe do something about those damn piano black accents on the inside, but need to give that some thought first
Would love to squeeze a little more power out of it, but will wait patiently until the cars have been out long enough for a more solid baseline for aftermarket parts and tuning


And a few pics :thumbup 1:

Don't mind the rims, was trying to decide if I like gold against the brown, debating on the OZ Ultraleggerra 18x8 in gold, but this is a photoshop of what I'm thinking of doing with the chrome trim

 

[herBs]

Welcome aboard !

Enjoy the forums. I particularly like the third picture from the bottom. I need to take some decent shots of my car soon.

Happy modding.

 

[Kavik79]

thanks herBs :blush 1:
The purchase just before finding out I needed a new car sooner than expected was a whole new camera setup.....so, new gear, new car...seemed like a no brainer what to practice my photography skills on lol

That particular pic was an HDR blend of 3 different exposures, 1 step apart. Exposures adjusted with Adobe Lightroom, images combined using Corel Paintshop. Vignetting added because my lens hood got in the pic at the corner :rolleyes 1:
I personally think it's a bit overdone, but it saved me a composition I liked that had poor lighting to start, and was good practice in the various programs

 

[BlueHaloGirl]

Welcome, the car looks nice. Can't wait to see what you do with her.

 

[denrama]

OP, how much you paid for the car. For me there is no haggling. We have very few dealers in the Rochester, NY area and all of them that have limited hatchbacks with s grand touring. Mine is Titanium flash mica with black leather.

 

[Kavik79]

thanks BlueHaloGirl

denrama,
I hate to say it, but I paid list price. I have 2 dealers near me, neither wanted to haggle at all a couple months ago when I was window shopping, but when it came down to it I had to pick the car at 8 o'clock at night and have it bought and delivered before noon the next day, since my current car was dead and I had plans I couldn't cancel that next afternoon. It didn't leave me an time to play one dealer against the other, and for reasons that are too detailed to go into, the dealer knew I was in a pinch and didn't really have an option of walking away and shopping around......so I just bit the bullet and signed on the line :wacko:

 

[denrama]

Thanks, kavik79. I guess you paid around 26454 plus destination charges before tax.

 

[steelrain]

welcome to the forum

 

[Btm]

Welcome! Very nice

 

[Kavik79]

thanks for the welcome guys

did anyone get the paint sealant/scratch and dent/rust add on warranty?
I'm a little embarrassed to say I let them talk me into it....not because I expected the paint sealant to be great, but because I live in NY and the winter salt sucks, so I thought lifetime rust free guaranty would be nice....
However, I just noticed when I washed her the other day that they did a worse job than expected and actually sealed in a bunch of water spots!

I'm pretty pissed and considering telling them I want the money back on the sealant and to cancel the warranty, but I still haven't received the paperwork for that in the mail yet, so I have no idea what the terms are for cancelling it....anyone know?