Needin' a new DD

[Perfectlap]

^ As a Boxster driver I found the GTI (loaner with paddles forget which model this was a year and half ago) to be almost too top heavy for me and the rather stiff suspension made it feel like I was driving a wooden bread box. The steering and braking were nice though. I guess you get kind of spoiled in these cars.

[Frodo]

Drove (among others) a couple of WRXs yesterday---pretty neat cars. One was a '07 Wagon, the other a '08 Sedan. Liked 'em both--a lot.

Anybody out there ever own, or otherwise have experience with, any Mazdaspeed 3s? I have found some pretty reasonably-priced ones close by with low mileage (one under 20k, others under 40k). (The WRXs in my price range---trying to keep this somewhat under $20k if possible---seem to have mileages in the 40-55k range, and are pretty much at that $20k asking price. Don't know how flexible they'd be on that---those cars are fairly few and far between.) The Mazdas were in the $16-17k range. Zoom zoom?

[blue2000s]

Originally Posted by Frodo

Drove (among others) a couple of WRXs yesterday---pretty neat cars. One was a '07 Wagon, the other a '08 Sedan. Liked 'em both--a lot.

Anybody out there ever own, or otherwise have experience with, any Mazdaspeed 3s? I have found some pretty reasonably-priced ones close by with low mileage (one under 20k, others under 40k). (The WRXs in my price range---trying to keep this somewhat under $20k if possible---seem to have mileages in the 40-55k range, and are pretty much at that $20k asking price. Don't know how flexible they'd be on that---those cars are fairly few and far between.) The Mazdas were in the $16-17k range. Zoom zoom?

Like I said, people hold on to their Imprezas. Resale is great, both getting in and getting out. I have had a couple of Rx7s and a 626. Rented a Mazda3. They are all great cars. Very driver focused. But they seem to be a little fragile as far as Japanese cars go. Look at the Mazdaspeed6 before making a decision.