The Mazda2 (Touring)
courtesy of MazdaUSA
Well, due to some unfortunate set of happenings, our family is possibly in search of a couple of vehicles. One that I’ve had my eye on is the Mazda2 (and to an extent, the Ford Fiesta). It is arguably the perfect commuter car for me, and relatively cheap. So how does it stack up coming from a Mazda3 owner (and occasional Mazda6 driver)? Not too bad actually.
First off, the quality of the interior was not quite that of my 2005 3, but close. I’d like to make an adjustment. At first glance, it is not bad, but I sat in another 2 that seemingly had more people pass through it. I am not confident in the longevity (as in, 5+yrs) of the cloth. Not for the 15k+ miles I drive a year. *edit over* I noticed the current generation 3 is better than mine, though. The 6 tops them all except for the cloth seats (I personally hate the fabric choice). The 2 just looks bare and basic, understandably so. However, the big question is longevity, which I can’t obviously answer. To be honest, I can’t reasonably judge interior quality unless it’s been driven for a while. But everything I’ve sat in in the compact class outside of luxury brands has been roughly the same, give or take, at first glance.
Space-wise, my only real life comparison is a Scion xD. The 2 felt a bit more cramped, especially in rear. So if you’re regularly carrying rear passengers taller than 5’6″, it’s not going to be fun. But the rear seats are a 60/40 spilt and fold down for a good bit of cargo room.
The drive was an unexpected surprise (I drove the slush box, wanted to get a feel for it). City driving was not a chore. The car felt nimble and agile. Don’t get me wrong-it’s no Atom and it does take a while when you floor it. However, it was enjoyable to just drive around. On the highway, it was less fun. You really had to stomp on it if you want to pass and there was hesitation in dropping gears to go. But it’s a 1.5L engine on 4 wheels, you can’t have everything. I suspect the manual would be a bit better (and I may be biased because my 3 is stick).
The bottom line, if I were to buy a new car today, I would seriously consider the 2. My concerns are it’s a first year/generation car in the US (2nd or 3rd year worldwide) and the sticker price they tried to sell me on ($17k pre-negotiation) is bull. Ideally, I could wait a year or two and find something on the used market. Or if Mazda debuted they Sky-G engine on this. I’d gamble on it.
*edit* I did seriously consider this car, but I declined. Don’t get me wrong, I wanted to love it. I did love driving it. But passenger seating was a hair too cramped, and cost seemed too high combined with the lackluster interior. My goals are to drive the car into the ground, and I think the interior of the Mazda2 would not hold up to my liking for 5, 6, 7+ years. I ended up going with the Mazda3 hatch.
