I have had this car since it had 6 miles on it. The only issues i had in the begining was a belt that broke and ignition coils. This car is very fun to drive. However be aware that after 100k the engine starts to burn oil. I wasn't aware of this and didn't feel the need to check my oil on the regular. Hence i now need a new motor. Just a word of advice check your oil levels regularly at … least once a week when you go over 100k in miles. Enjoy zoomzoom. Hence i bought a 2013 MSP3. love my Mazda's....
2.3L Engine Prone to Failure
3.5 out of 5 stars
mazdaharp, 09/07/2013
2004 Mazda 3 s 4dr Sedan (2.3L 4cyl 5M)
I've owned this car since day one. It is 9-1/2 years old and 103,000 miles on it. I've done all scheduled maintenance at the dealer. I've had a problem for a few years where this car has been chewing through oil but no one could out where it was going (no leaks, no visible burning, no blown head gasket). I'm adding about a quart every 750 miles. Insane. I finally took it to another … dealer with a better service department when the first failed to identify the problem. The piston rings have failed. The only solution... a new engine for $7,200. The more research I do, the more I see this is a common problem but Mazda is refusing to acknowledge it.
No regrets!
5 out of 5 stars
gwen, 07/12/2015
2004 Mazda 3 s 4dr Hatchback (2.3L 4cyl 5M)
Bought my 2004 in 2006 while still under warranty, and 9 years and 138000 miles later am only now thinking of upgrading. Longest I've ever driven one particular vehicle. The most cost comes with replacing the low profile tires so frequently but otherwise has been essentially maintenance free with giving it regular oil changes and routine checkups. I absolutely love this solid little … car. I even discovered I could camp in it. As I age I need slightly better front seats for comfort and therefore am also looking to upgrade to maybe a Mazda CX-5. I love hatchbacks, I don't like SUVs, vans and sedans and this car is perfect.
Bet Car Purchase Ever
4.75 out of 5 stars
pagzzz, 12/23/2011
2004 Mazda 3 s 4dr Hatchback (2.3L 4cyl 5M)
Bought this car new in 2004 and approaching 90k miles. Every mile has been enjoyable. Thought about getting a newer car with better performance and luxury, but decided that this car so perfectly meets my needs, I'm going to drive it into the ground.
No major problems (aside from nasty pothole related suspension stuff) and has maintained high 20's combined mileage while remaining fun to … drive. Won't win a drag race, but can slalom with many "performance" cars.
Definitely recommend upgrading stock rubber to slightly wider, stickier set. On my third set of BFG's 215/45R17 rubber. Great tires for this car.
![](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="1200" height="588" fill="none" preserveAspectRatio="none"%3E%3Cmask id="b" width="1200" height="588" x="0" y="0" maskUnits="userSpaceOnUse" style="mask-type:alpha"%3E%3Cpath fill="url(%23a)" d="M896 513c116 45.015 222 64 304 75V0H0v501c40 36.024 154 76 340 76s344-146.269 556-64Z"/%3E%3C/mask%3E%3Cg mask="url(%23b)"%3E%3Cpath fill="url(%23c)" d="M896 513c116 45.015 222 64 304 75V0H0v501c40 36.024 154 76 340 76s344-146.269 556-64Z"/%3E%3Cpath fill="url(%23d)" fill-opacity=".15" d="M581.718 62.893c42.993 1.53 86.281 5.888 129.704 13.204 311.828 52.485 552.538 242.016 657.698 483.656-149.97-147.971-450.891-226.33-789.375-232.079-338.534.839-640.434 74.572-792.746 220.292 108.75-240.047 352.255-425.97 664.832-473.803a1041.548 1041.548 0 0 1 129.887-11.27Z"/%3E%3Cpath fill="url(%23e)" fill-opacity=".5" d="M611.247 209.93a1458.84 1458.84 0 0 1 139.573 27.692c333.61 83.239 577.16 267.208 668.67 475.188-148.93-138.63-468.279-241.218-835.209-290.421-367.6-43.915-702.265-24.445-881.281 72.561 140.567-178.524 422.355-295.817 766.181-293.074 47.867.484 95.274 3.212 142.066 8.054Z"/%3E%3Cpath fill="url(%23f)" d="M735.039 879.394c48.524-6.62 97.023-16.967 145.3-31.2C1227.03 746.059 1475.76 472.327 1564.28 145c-151.17 209.633-482.23 344.436-865.05 388.31C315.515 568.571-35.93 504.564-227 330.342-73.333 632.61 226.169 849.617 586.429 878.604c50.15 3.871 99.74 4.07 148.61.79Z" opacity=".3"/%3E%3Cpath fill="url(%23g)" d="M694.222 783.712c50.956 12 103.317 20.27 156.946 24.578 385.102 31.013 738.232-146.76 952.062-439.434-231.22 151.216-613.24 158.795-1012.047 55.796C394.784 312.716 68.643 114.101-55.211-133c37.44 360.528 253.087 691.895 601.449 858.946 48.557 23.091 97.963 42.302 147.984 57.766Z" opacity=".9"/%3E%3Cpath fill="url(%23h)" fill-opacity=".5" d="M896 513c116 45.015 222 64 304 75V0H0v501c40 36.024 154 76 340 76s344-146.269 556-64Z"/%3E%3C/g%3E%3Cdefs%3E%3ClinearGradient id="a" x1="1005" x2="989.087" y1="23" y2="552.522" gradientUnits="userSpaceOnUse"%3E%3Cstop stop-color="%23007EE5"/%3E%3Cstop offset=".333" stop-color="%231561D4"/%3E%3Cstop offset="1" stop-color="%230A4AAB"/%3E%3C/linearGradient%3E%3ClinearGradient id="c" x1="1005" x2="989.087" y1="23" y2="552.522" gradientUnits="userSpaceOnUse"%3E%3Cstop stop-color="%23007EE5"/%3E%3Cstop offset=".334" stop-color="%231561D4"/%3E%3C/linearGradient%3E%3ClinearGradient id="d" x1="675.999" x2="879.999" y1="648.999" y2="120.999" gradientUnits="userSpaceOnUse"%3E%3Cstop stop-color="%23fff"/%3E%3Cstop offset="1" stop-color="%23fff" stop-opacity="0"/%3E%3C/linearGradient%3E%3ClinearGradient id="e" x1="656.5" x2="637.602" y1="213" y2="622.259" gradientUnits="userSpaceOnUse"%3E%3Cstop offset=".115" stop-color="%23fff" stop-opacity="0"/%3E%3Cstop offset=".944" stop-color="%23017D8D"/%3E%3C/linearGradient%3E%3ClinearGradient id="f" x1="398" x2="737" y1="599" y2="387" gradientUnits="userSpaceOnUse"%3E%3Cstop stop-color="%2300ABB5"/%3E%3Cstop offset="1" stop-color="%2300A0B5" stop-opacity="0"/%3E%3C/linearGradient%3E%3ClinearGradient id="g" x1="1051.5" x2="271" y1="567" y2="575" gradientUnits="userSpaceOnUse"%3E%3Cstop stop-color="%230098C2"/%3E%3Cstop offset="1" stop-color="%23033E96" stop-opacity="0"/%3E%3C/linearGradient%3E%3ClinearGradient id="h" x1="1005" x2="986.038" y1="23" y2="587.43" gradientUnits="userSpaceOnUse"%3E%3Cstop offset=".813" stop-opacity="0"/%3E%3Cstop offset=".972"/%3E%3C/linearGradient%3E%3C/defs%3E%3C/svg%3E)
