I love the car. Would definitely recommend buying a Mazda. Servicing is more expensive than Toyota but I can't go past my Mazda and I will definitely buy a Mazda again.
I love my Mazda 3. It drives very nicely. Great turning circle. Air con is works well. Petrol consumption I find is good, much better than my last car.
I have a 3 year old son so there is not a lot of room when you have a baby seat in there, but its not often the car has 5 people in it so its not a problem for us.

I bought the car 8 months ago and think its really good for value. Great on fuel. The only problem is that you have to take it for a service every 6 months
Cost

I purchased my Mazda3 SP25 in April 2010 and it has been the best car I have owned in my 24 years of driving, I upgraded to the premium package which includes leather seats and 10 speaker Bose stereo system and it rides like a mini limo. The 2.5ltr motor is very responsive and the paddle shift on the steering wheel can be a bit of fun also, my only beef if there is one, is that I should of picked another colour other than black, very hard to keep clean.
The quality
Services around the 40k mark can be alittle expensive.

A bit noisier than the sedan but has the space of a small wagon with the back seats down. Very zippy and responsive, especially considering it's only a 4 cylinder auto. Can cruise at 100-110 km/hr all day with no effort. Effortless to drive and has a great sounding stereo system. Lots of standard features such as cruise control and anti skid functions
Easy to drive and lots of power
Cabin storage space is poor and no sun glasses holder. Passenger seat feels closed in by the shape of the dash

The first new car I have bought, and I certainly won't be in the market for another car for years to come. During the two years I have owned it, I have not had a single problem with it. The 6-speed manual came as standard, and I certainly appreciate the extra gear when cruising along the highway.
Great stereo, and I love the extra features like the fuel usage and range
Not the most spacious of a mid-sized car, but it's certainly something I can live with
The people at the Mazda dealership were a pleasure to deal with.
reliable, fuel efficient, great design, good features

Great Car. No match for the Focus. Loads of character and good looks. Big boot easy to fold seats down and fit lots in it.
My Grandparents have the SP25 with leather. The seats are lovely quality and with lots of support. Great finish on interior. Great lighting around speedo and tacho. Great value, the sat nav is right in your eye view with great graphics and can be all controlled from the steering wheel. Bluetooth great and easy to use. Best sound iv'e ever heard in a car with that thumping 247 watt 10 speaker bose audio. Easy to connect mp3 to car. Love the 5 speed auto with the padels on the steering wheel. GHreat 2.5 l engine with a lovely sound when reved. Surprisingly fast.

Great car, 2010 hatch, lovely drive, happy with it so far, good follow up service post buy. Bit concerned about number of services required, at least 6 monthly to keep warrenty
Sporty look, drives very smoothly, good name, reliable
Dashboard lights up with red/orange lights at night, very busy looking, alarm bell sounds when something placed on passenger seat and no seat belt plugged in

I have a 2009 Mazda 3 Maxx hatch. Initially I was not too fussed about replacing my old Toyota, but I absolutely love this Mazda. This is the first time I have had a car that I really look forward to driving. My husband who is a large man (hates cars, likes utes and trucks), fits easily into it and also likes driving it.
There is a lot of room in this car. I am a carer for my father and can easily fit his rollator walker behind the front seat. I like the way the boot can be opened by pressing a button, I don't mind not being able to open the boot from inside the car.
Looks very sporty, goes well, fuel economy, safety features.
Air conditioner does not put out enough cold air

We bought it new as we wanted a reliable family car for our young family. It is spacious enough for the moment but we may need to upgrade when baby number 2 will come along. You feel very save in this car and the comfort is excellent. We would highly recommend it to a small family (1 to 2 kids max).
Comfortable, easy to park, great for a small family
The main drawback is the boot, we can not put the baby pram and the family dog! But hey, we should have bought the CX7 then! Not much bad things to say about this Mazda 3 Maxx sport :)

We recently purchased a Mazda 3 and love it. It's such a great car. It's stylish, looks good. It's really economical, well over 500kms a tank of petrol.
And not too expensive either to buy and insure.
Style and shape. Comfort. Economical.
I can't think of anything I dislike about it. Apart from lots of people have them perhaps.

This is a really nice car to drive. I prefer it over the Golfs we test drove. It's attractive inside and out and doesn't feel too cheap and plasticky for a car in this price range.
Cheap to service, zippy, good handling, quiet, smooth, nice size for a couple, nice size for driving and parking, Comfortable seat position for average size women

I love my Mazda it looks great. handles well, great up hill power, comfortable to drive and sit in passenger seat. Would recommend a Mazda 3 to anyone.
Everything, the look, handling, fuel consumption and the constant great service from the mazda service team
Reversing lights not very bright at night, needs a keyless boot opening remote

Got my Mazda from garry warren smith mulgrave, excellent service, great follow up. No I don't work there it's just good to get quality service. I get a loan vehicle at service times and fuel is excellent. My last car was a Ford Teritory. It has a little road noise but for under 25k it's not to bad. If you are getting one make sure you get the 16inch alloys it looks better. I also got the safety side air bag pack, an extra $500.00 and it was still 25k.
Great value for money, goes like the wind.
Seats are a bit hard and a bit of road noise

Best car - great looks, handling, fuel consumption and reliability. Would recommend to anyone. Worth every cent but shop around for the best deal.