[Intocycling]

Will be purchasing a new 2017 Mazda3 GT snowflake white pearl mica on Saturday. Two dealerships are vying for my business. The two cars are both manual transmission, black interior and premium package. The differences are that Car1 comes with the $1100 I activesense safety package while Car2 comes with NO activesense safety package but a few add ons : door sill guard, cargo net, bumper guard and wheel locks.... totaling around $330 worth of extras.

Both offers are about the same otd total. There may be still some room for more negotiation but the car1 will probably only end up being $200 more than Car2. Seems to make I-activesense to choose car1. Any input before final decision is welcomed.

And, if I may ask... what types of prices have you new 2017 Mazda3 GT owners negotiated?? This may help me drive a harder bargain if there's one to be had. For reference... Car1 is 26,200 otd and Car2 is 25,978 otd.

Thanks for any input ... peace!

 

[Road Trip]

Glad you asked, and I recommend tomorrow you call your insurance agent and ask him/her how much less your monthly insurance will be due to iACTIVSENSE. Our insurance for the car will be 5% less than if it did not have that option. 5% reduction per month, times the number of months you think you will keep the car = ? And I also look at it one other way, what is your deductible and if that option results in your avoiding just one accident (let alone injury or worse, stress of your car needing to be repaired, etc), could also be a factor to "go for it." As I posted earlier in this forum, and many chimed in and agreed, even those of us who are great drivers, occasionally make a driving mistake. 98% of the time we get away with it, no consequences except a huge adrenaline shock. But the other 2%???

Separately regarding car 2, if the above did not convince you, tell that dealer that you are reading to buy it right now if he throws in the those smaller options (you care less how he does it, price reduction, etc). He probably won't do that, but maybe negotiate half of them for free through a $165 further price reduction.

Best of luck and let us know how this turns out please.

 

[303uru]

Glad you asked, and I recommend tomorrow you call your insurance agent and ask him/her how much less your monthly insurance will be due to iACTIVSENSE. Our insurance for the car will be 5% less than if it did not have that option. 5% reduction per month, times the number of months you think you will keep the car = ? And I also look at it one other way, what is your deductible and if that option results in your avoiding just one accident (let alone injury or worse, stress of your car needing to be repaired, etc), could also be a factor to "go for it." As I posted earlier in this forum, and many chimed in and agreed, even those of us who are great drivers, occasionally make a driving mistake. 98% of the time we get away with it, no consequences except a huge adrenaline shock. But the other 2%???

Separately regarding car 2, if the above did not convince you, tell that dealer that you are reading to buy it right now if he throws in the those smaller options (you care less how he does it, price reduction, etc). He probably won't do that, but maybe negotiate half of them for free through a $165 further price reduction.

Best of luck and let us know how this turns out please.

I had no clue that insurers factored this new safety tech into their calculations. I'm still in the camp that these features make drivers less safe and overly reliant on it to catch dangers for them, regardless good to know.

 

[Studum]

What to consider:

I activesense package on car 1 can't be added down the road - at least not easily.

All of the other extras on car 2 can be added easily at a later time if you go with car 1, or added only as you feel you need them over time. In addition you can wait for them to go on sale or source from other places to bring the costs below dealer retail value.

You may also be able to negotiate a discount on getting a couple of the key extra bits you like that are on car 2 built into the car 1 deal - if you value the i activesense in car 1 but really want something that's installed on car 2.

I know we're all difference but FWIW I recommend the cargo mat instead of the cargo net unless you regularly carry round things that roll around. The rubber surface protects and stops things from sliding and it also has a lip to help contain small spills and makes cleaning a breeze.

 

[louisbosco]

you can buy cargo net/mat etc bumper guards at some random store but you certainly cannot buy iactivesense at a random store. the features may make someone complacent about their driving and hence less safe but no harm having it there., If for whatever reason you decide to sell the car next time to any average joe, it can be on the list of "features". and heck, it can even be about bragging rights. hahaha.

 

[stevenvillatoro]

I use the i-Activsense features constantly and, having use them for four months now, wouldn't even consider getting a car without them. They are a bargain.

 

[dpawlak]

What to consider:

I activesense package on car 1 can't be added down the road - at least not easily.

All of the other extras on car 2 can be added easily at a later time if you go with car 1, or added only as you feel you need them over time. In addition you can wait for them to go on sale or source from other places to bring the costs below dealer retail value.

You may also be able to negotiate a discount on getting a couple of the key extra bits you like that are on car 2 built into the car 1 deal - if you value the i activesense in car 1 but really want something that's installed on car 2.

I know we're all difference but FWIW I recommend the cargo mat instead of the cargo net unless you regularly carry round things that roll around. The rubber surface protects and stops things from sliding and it also has a lip to help contain small spills and makes cleaning a breeze.

This... If you do want the i-Activsense.. I would probably be easier and possibly cheaper to just trade in the car to get that feature. I will also add more value to the car when you are finally ready to part with the car.

 

[EadzaM]

I use the i-Activsense features constantly and, having use them for four months now, wouldn't even consider getting a car without them. They are a bargain.

How do you use it constantly? You text and pay less attention while driving more often than if you had a car without it?

 

[stevenvillatoro]

How do you use it constantly?

Most of my driving is on busy SoCal freeways, where I always use the i-Activsense's radar-sensing cruise control. Every time I get on the freeway, I enable that system. It keeps me from having to adjust my speed when traffic slows or speeds up. This feature alone is worth it to me, and has made freeway driving infinitely more tolerable..

The remainder of my driving tends to be at night on dark and curvy/hilly local backroads in my area. I keep the auto-dim and adaptive headlight features enabled.

And yes, there are the occasional lane-departure alerts! Hey, why lie?

http://www.mazda.com/en/innovation/technology/safety/i-activsense/

 

[ElNino77]

How do you use it constantly? You text and pay less attention while driving more often than if you had a car without it?

Could be wrong but doesnt Radar Cruise fall under this suite? If so, that's the one thing i really would have liked to have had out of this package - and could see it being used often.

 

[Studum]

Most of my driving is on busy SoCal freeways, where I always use the i-Activsense's radar-sensing cruise control. Every time I get on the freeway, I enable that system. It keeps me from having to adjust my speed when traffic slows or speeds up. This feature alone is worth it to me, and has made freeway driving infinitely more tolerable..

The remainder of my driving tends to be at night on dark and curvy/hilly local backroads in my area. I keep the auto-dim and adaptive headlight features enabled.

And yes, there are the occasional lane-departure alerts! Hey, why lie?

MAZDA: i-ACTIVSENSE | Safety Technology

Ditto for me, but I'm in the Toronto (Ontario, Canada) area. Can't forget the blind spot warning which I will forever recommend after having it on this car. No, it doesn't eliminate the need for shoulder checking, but it's there to beep at you if some asshat pops out of nowhere at twice your rate of speed between the time you shoulder check and start your lane change.


Bottom line is they're driver aids. If the driver uses them as such to augment reasonable driving practices then they are nothing but helpful and no one should ever be shamed or accused of being a bad driver for choosing to equip their vehicle with them.

 

[Matt22]

Plus 1 for option 1

 

[Road Trip]

Who among us is can claim that we have never made a driving mistake? I have yet to see one post to that effect. I sure have made way more than one in my 2,000,000 miles. Thankfully 98+% of our mistakes we catch before a crash occurs.. I have not been in an accident I have caused in over 40 years. However...

I celebrate these driving aids, and if the ones on Mazda 3 save me or my wife from actually making a real mistake, crashing into something, hooray. And if just one crash is avoided, our insurance deductible is saved, the stress of having our car fixed is avoided, and at best we have avoided injury to ourselves and/or others, And along the way, and we intend to keep our Mazda 3 for a L O N G time, we will be saving 5% on our car insurance.

 

[dradernh]

Most of my driving is on busy SoCal freeways, where I always use the i-Activsense's radar-sensing cruise control. Every time I get on the freeway, I enable that system.

Ditto for me, but I'm in the Toronto (Ontario, Canada) area. Can't forget the blind spot warning which I will forever recommend after having it on this car. No, it doesn't eliminate the need for shoulder checking, but it's there to beep at you if some asshat pops out of nowhere at twice your rate of speed between the time you shoulder check and start your lane change.

I'm familiar with both your regions and how intense the traffic is you have to deal with there. For the reasons you guys have outlined, if we were living with similar traffic we would have gone with the GT to get those driver aids.

 

[stevenvillatoro]

Can't forget the blind spot warning which I will forever recommend after having it on this car.

Completely agree about the blind spot warning system for lane warnings, but also including the rear cross-traffic alert for when pulling out of parking spaces next to behemoth pickup trucks and SUVs.

 

[BearlyHere]

Thanks for the thread. I have only had my new 3 for a few days and just realized it came with MAZDA: i-ACTIVSENSE | Safety Technology. I didn't ask for it, but now I'm glad I have it! When I bought my 2014 sGT, the safety features were only available on the 3. All the other cars on the market that had the features were much more expensive (Lexus, Accura, etc...).

 

[EadzaM]

Everybody's reasons make perfect sense, especially the active cruise and lighting controls. It just struck me as amusing when it was stated that iActive was used everyday, as I was mostly just thinking of the braking capabilities of the system - just picturing people texting with "impunity" because they knew their car would stop for them if they got too close. I'm sure that mindset isn't completely non-existent however. It's one of the reasons manual transmissions aren't as popular.

I do love the blind spot and rear traffic monitors, especially with the poor rear and blind spot visibility of our cars. But those are both standard features on higher trims. I had a Nissan Rogue rental recently and they put their blind spot warning lights on the inside of the car, right at the A-pillar where the side mirrors attach. I thought that was a nice touch as the visibility of the lights were much improved.

 

[lilbenz230]

My 2014 has the package, I believe called 3TE, with the radar cruise and all. I use it almost daily. I think the only feature added in the refresh was Smart Brake Support, which is high speed automatic emergency braking.

I highly recommend getting it. When I was buying used, I wouldn't buy one without it.

 

[thisthat]

is there any info on the new car? guide?

 

[selfassembled]

iActiveSense is really the bare minimum level of safety features I'd want if buying a new car at full cost. I dealt with not having it because I got my mazda 3 a bit used at half price.