When contrasted with the Elantra, the Mazda 3 perform in only an adequate manner. Not nearly as responsive or as tight a feel.
Given that I drive over 19,401 miles per year, I would have burned through the standard warranties in fairly short order.
While not bad, when stacked against the Elantra, the Mazda 3 falls short in the major categories for the IIHS and NHTSA crash tests.
The price difference between this and the Elantra is a few thousand dollars when looking at features. When adding extended warranties, the gap widens.
