Ford Focus 2006 or Mazda 3 Hatch 2006?

Flashgear

Flashgear

Flashgear
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Ok so I'm in a bit of a struggle here, I'm wanting to buy my son his first car and he's pretty set on either a 2006 Ford Focus or Mazda 3 Hatch 2006. The thing is he can't decide which he wants, neither can I.

This car isn't only going to be his, I'll be using it too for work randomly and what ever, so it'll be a car he can choose but the whole family uses.

So now, I personally prefer the Mazda 3 Hatch looks and interior to the Focus, but a few of my friends said they're more chick cars, is that really true?? It reminds me of shark from the front.

The Focus is also nice, it'll be a SI 1.6(Mazda will also be a 1.6), I know that the Mazda 3 is based on the Focus model. The Focus does look a bit more chunky and muscular and less sporty than the Mazda.

So anyway, I'm in a bit of a deadlock, I like both cars equally but have no experience driving them, what do you guys think?

Is the Mazda 3 Hatch more girly? Which performs better? More economical to run? Lemme know what you all think, would help a lot.
 
They very similarly priced, Both within the R100-R110k mark, I haven't set my sight on any one I've seen yet cause they all roughly the same price I just want to know which is better.

I really can't decide, performance isn't really an issue, it's more for looks and value for money
 
They are so similar that the deciding factor will be the availability of the Full Service History.

I have the exact model Ford... (2006 Focus Si 1.6).
 
True.

Have you had any probs with the Ford at all? Be it technical? Services? Dealer help etc?
 
Probably have to replace the clutch soon, but I think that's more related to the accident my wife had last year... otherwise it has been awesome.

It's also a bit heavy on tyres (I do not do burnouts or race all over the place or leave skid marks). But that should be the same for the Mazda.

Dealer support in PE has been top notch.
 
It is seriously 6 of 1 or a half a dozen of the other!! It will come down to personal preference of appearance... colour, rims, trimmings, internal condition, sound system...
 
Yeah that's true, but I'm still not sure about what my friends have said about the Mazda 3 Hatch being more of a chick car? I don't see how it is, what you think?
 
Tero said:
Yeah that's true, but I'm still not sure about what my friends have said about the Mazda 3 Hatch being more of a chick car? I don't see how it is, what you think?
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Hehehe, I agree with them (so does my wife!). She did the research on issues such as road clearance, boot space and space inside the vehicles.
 
Hmm..ok so my friends aren't the only ones, I just think it looks more sporty than the Focus. Suppose it's up to my son really, he's edging towards the Focus now ever since he heard about the Mazda being a chicks car.
 
Tero said:
Hmm..ok so my friends aren't the only ones, I just think it looks more sporty than the Focus. Suppose it's up to my son really, he's edging towards the Focus now ever since he heard about the Mazda being a chicks car.
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I personally don't think it's a chick's car... but look... at the end of the day, your son will mainly be driving the car. And if he's always got this thing at the back of his mind that he is driving a 'chicks' car, he will never really appreciate driving it properly.
 
Yeah that's exactly what I keep telling him. But you know kids..once someone says something its a change of plan to look cool. I said to him that he should rather take both for a test drive to see which he prefers driving so I'll take him tomorrow to do that. But I doubt now that he's heard it's a "chick" car he'll want it no matter how much he likes it because of that "chick" thing being in the back of his mind.
 
Go for a Focus. I like the look of those cars and they dont perfom badly either. hahaha yes the Mazda look.......
 
Mmmm... you guys are getting me thinking here.... Not to Hijacking the thread, would you guys say that a Ford 2006 model and the Mazda - which both have over 95000km on them - are better than a brand new Polo vivo? They all have the same price at around R110 000.
 
Sly21C said:
Mmmm... you guys are getting me thinking here.... Not to Hijacking the thread, would you guys say that a Ford 2006 model and the Mazda - which both have over 95000km on them - are better than a brand new Polo vivo? They all have the same price at around R110 000.
Click to expand...

No, not really.... These 2 cars that the op is looking at are 1.6 models. And they have all the extras included already. So let's quickly compare that to a 1.6 Vivo with extras:
R136900+R7950(aircon)+R2210(radio) comes to R147060.

And let's not forget the insurance premiums also increase on the polos...
 
Default to the Japanese car....reliable at that milage...

but I think you should buy what your heart wants (or rather what your son's heart wants).....if your heart is happy, you can live with ALL faults and flaws....ask any married man...
 
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