Thanks SLO for all the feedback. Would you consider buying a 14k mile 2.0 Se from Motorpoint for 12999 with 20 months warranty. Or are there any drawbacks compared with a Main Dealer ?

As long as it has a full main dealer service history then there’s no reason why not. But don’t let them service it or your warranty will be gone, despite what they tell you! Often there’s no negotiation at these sites either while money can be knocked off approved main dealer stock so give the dealer a chance to compete. Plus carefully check for poor paint repairs as many ex-lease cars that end up bypassing main dealers and at supermarkets have had poor paintwork.

Couldn't agree more. I had no problems sourcing my Mazda3 from Motorpoint 12.5 years ago (though you could argue that that's more than enough time for the company to change), although my car was an unused (i.e. delivery miles only) RHD import hire car from Cyprus, so I obviously had no reservations as regards its service history and concentrated on its condition when I picked it up/paid for it.

They did make an error in describing it as having a CD player (Euro-spec cars are different and back then many mid-spec models only came with a radio factory-fitted) but it did have front fog lamps (which weren't on their spec sheet), so I accepted a reduction in the price of £150 (the CD player would cost £175, but I didn't bother haggling over £25 - I was saving £1200 over a lower spec TS model from a broker anyway) which cost me an extra 10 minutes.

I found them to be fine across the whole process. I would insist on a car still under warranty being serviced ONLY at main dealers and on time if I were to go for a used car there though - and would've said so if I had gone for a low mileage 1yo Scirocco from them last year (I decided not to change, but for other reasons).

One last question Is the 160 only available in the sport form? And are the sports the ones with the dreadful suspension and 18inch wheels

The 165 is only available on the 3 Sport (there's a Sport [120PS] and a Sport 165 [165PS]). The Mazda6 Sport is only available in 165 PS form for the petrol (145PS form for lower spec models, roughly similar performance as the 3's 120PS).

I don't think there's much, if any, difference in the suspension set up between models as far as I'm aware - its just that the combo of the larger 18in wheels and lower profile tyres (same overall diameter of the 16in tyre, but a bit wider) on ALL Sport models means that the ride is firmer, especially on poorly surfaced roads, over speed humps, etc, particularly after the newness of the car and its tyres starts to fade after the first 6-12 months/5k miles or so. As regards the brakes, I'm not sure if they are any different and thus may only be able to accommodate 18in wheels on the Sport/Sport 165 - best to check with your local dealer.

The ride quality is always going to be a matter of contention, as its very subjective (unless its absolutely terrible, which is isn't) because it depends on a) the view of what is a decent ride and what isn't by the person testing the car (often affected by what they have been driving before, whether they have back problems, their style of driving, etc) and b) the conditions of the road surface they are testing it on, as well as the age/mileage of the car tested.

This is why I always try and test drive both a new car and a used one to see how it will fair after a year or two (or so) as the suspension and tyres begin to wear. I always try and test drive the car on the type of roads (condition and configuration) that I will be mainly driving on should I buy it, and will take it out for at least 45 mins, and likely more than once as I would never buy after just one look. As far as possible, test cars on your list (including from different makes) on the same 'representative' roads so they can be more easily compared.

Besides the firm ride, I also prefer the non-Sport (or range-topping GTi-type) models as they often offer far better value for money with decent specs and often very good handling and acceptable perfomance. I looked at the Golf GT 1.4 (now 1.5) TSi and its SEAT Leon equivalent (FR - better value) as both are quicker than the Mazda (even in 165 form) in everyday driving without the need to thrash the pants of it to make progress. Unfortunately, that Golf (especially in the far rarer 3rd form) doesn't come with climate control as standard for UK spec cars (it does in the Leon, including the 3dr SC).

As such, I couldn't source a cheaper showroom car for the Golf and wasn't prepared to pay for a new one (little in the way of discounts - about £6k more expensive than the equivalent 3 after discounts). The Leon was a good all-rounder and I was tempted, as they were priced (after discounts) similarly to the Mazda, but in the end my work situation changed and I still have some reservations about VAG engineering quality (reliability as I keep my cars a LONG time). Those cars now come on 18in rims too.

Sometimes, if you have the money, you can downspec the wheels and tyres to smaller ones, but only if the brakes haven't been uprated to ones that only fit the OEM wheel size. My Mazda3 (mk1 from 2005) has 15in brakes and thus when one of my alloys needed changing (corroded and the tyre leaked) and my tyres were a year away from needing replacement, I decided to change from 16in alloys to (still OEM type) 15in alloys and tyres all around.

The difference was only £100 and I'd be getting four, not one new alloy wheels (the other old ones would likely go the same way as the mishapen/corroded one soon and thus need repacling anyway) as the 15in OEM alloys were only 60% of the price of the 16in ones, and the tyres were about 20% cheaper. The other good things were a more cushioned ride, the tyres would last longer and they and the (smaller) alloys would be less susceptible to kerbing type damage, with a small (not very noticeable) reduction in handling ability (more than acceptable for a car that already handles very well - and I'd already driven a TS model with the 15in tyres before and that drove fine).

Changing out wheels and tyres on a new car, unless you have money to burn, isn't that sensible, as you'll never make back the money they cost by flogging the OEMs on Ebay etc. You might get 50-60% back on a ordinary car, which is what the 3 is. That likely means it'll cost you (if its actually possible) best part of £500 - £600 overall to do so. Like me, it might be worth doing that (if you can stomach the 18in's ride for a few years) after 3-5 years for the same reasons I did, as the smaller wheels and tyres will be significantly cheaper than just changing the 18in tyres for some more - Mazda's alloys are unfortunately not renowned for their corrosion resistance, at least those of the mk1 an 2, hence why I changed mine.

The last gen cars alloys may be better, so its worth checking if you are considering this at any stage by checking out early examples of the latest Mazda3 (from 2014) to see if their alloys are not corroding or that much. Bear in mind all large alloys coupled with lower profile tyres are far more susceptable to damage than more 'standard' sized ones like Mazda's 205/60 R16 (or my old 205/55 R16s and replacement 195/65 R15)

I think for you, it'll be whether you, on the Mazda3, find the performance of the Sport 165 (which is hard to get hold of - not many sold/on forecourts) that much different than the 120PS version in the SE, SE-L (including Nav variants) and standard Sport Nav - are you prepared to really give it some welly to get the performance out of either, or do you want a more 'comfortable' car (ride wise) that still has a decent amount of poke for overtaking and the occasional spirited driving.

To me, the test drives (for the 3 and any others you may consider) are the key - numbers on paper/a screen often don't mean much. Just don't go over what you can afford (including longer term running/maintenance costs) - unless you have to change your car, then saying no now means (if you save up for a while longer) saying yes to an affordable one you REALLY like later on.

Excellent Advice Andy as she needs to decide this week as the contract car goes back . The best of the non main dealer cars seem to be at Motorpoint which have the balance of manufacturers warranty

That's where I got mine from, but mine was a delivery mileage only car. You won't find many Mazdas there though nowadays - numbers sold in the UK/EU more generally is significantly smaller than when Ford owned them when I bought mine in early 2006, so there's little over supply.

I just looked on their website and they only have two Mazda3s for sale - a diesel (no), and a standard 2.0 petrol SE-L Nav that's 17 months old. You may find, as there's no many on offer, that local main dealers can get very near or even match that price, and you have slightly more peace of mind that the car will be their problem should something go wrong, rather than Motorpoint's (even if its a warranty issue). You'd need to confirm that any service/maintenance work done on the Motorpoint car was done at a Mazda dealership (it probably was, but worth checking).

As you don't have much time to go (you really should've done this exercise weeks ago and decided by now but hey, you are where you are), you may need to scale back your aspirations as regards performance, make sure your budget is air tight and get a car that is comfortable, reliable and cheap to run. Very few cars these days will be terrible, even in the handling dept - most of the 'less good' ones tend to be 'safe' - which really means you can't chuck them around like you're going rallying or make some iffy overtakes.

You may find, as its coming up to the next reg change on 1st Sept, that dealerships of most makes are offering better deals in order to shift current reg stock to achieve their monthly and quarterly/6 month sales figures for their bonus. Motorpoint isn't really affected as much, and most of their cars like mine (including del miles only imports from RHD EU nations) tend to arrive on their forecourts in the months AFTER the reg change. I saw back in 2016 some very nice Golf GT 1.4 150PS cars imported from the EU and going for £17k (with climate control as standard, unlike UK spec cars) and was sorely tempted, even if they were 5dr models (17in alloy versions).

Motorpoint currently has about 10% less cars in stock at present than back then (about a year ago) as many of the brand new car oversupply from the rest of the RHD EU market has disappeared, so most cars on their website are back to the normal ex-hire 1-2 yo variety.

I still think its worth her, other than the Mazda 2 (1.5 90PS) or 3 (120PS SE/SE-L Nav), looking at SEATs and Skodas in 1.0T and 1.4T form with more sensible 55 and above profile tyres. Get out there test driving, and make sure the driving mosition is as good as they can get it for a long test drive (on a variety of roads, including twisty and poorly surfaced ones, especially if they form part of the ones often used) so the experience is as close to living with it as is possible.

Make sure the car's space is sufficient as well (boot included) for all needs and drivers/passengers - you'd be surprised at how many people fail to check both these issues when looking to buy a car. Too many people buy on looks and performance alone, which is you see so many cars on sale that have obviously been PXed after just a few months at a rival make's dealership. That must cost them a fortune in depreciation, or if on a PCP type deal penalties or having to endure a car they hate for 3 years.

It is, after all, the largest purchase you'll ever make outside of buying a home.

No problem - just make sure she doesn't leave it so late next time. Start a preliminary search a good 6 months (at least, more if you can) before you need to hand a car back or when you intend to change (ordinary buyers), then you have sufficient time to be able to make the purchase when its most beneficial to you financially as well as hopefully getting the exact (or at least the best within reason) car you can that meets your requirements.

At the very least, doing so early enough knocks off many possibles from the initial list, narrowing it down to 2 or 3 (say), and even if a new model appears on the scene, at least you only have to look into that one rather than 6 or more within a few days or weeks, especially if you're busy with other things as most people are.

When I bought my Mazda3 back in Jan 2006, I also looked at a Ford Focus, Honda Jazz and Civic, and looked into alternative (quite new back then) ways of buying, including via brokers. The most the local Mazda dealers would go to was £12k (list price about £13k or so) for a 1.6 N/A petrol TS (I always wanted the 4dr saloon) - but spending that extra time researching meant I cam up with the same car via a reputable broker for £11.4k.

I kept an eye on Motorpoint for del miles cars at low prices (most were RHD imports from the EU) as there were lots around back then (the industry as a whole was way oversupplied), and lo and behold my luck was in that a TS2 EU spec model (Climate control [not on the TS], plus front fog lamps in lieu of no TC/SC and CD player [just a radio] - EU spec difference - weird) but in the colour (silver) and seat trim (black with red dots) I wanted for only £10299 + prep charge (£65 if I recall). 15 miles (del), unregistered on the clock and built in Oct 2005, so nearly all the warranty intact. Needless to say I bit their hand off, and got another £150 off when I found on inspection the car only had a radio - they described it as having a CD player.

I saved a whopping £1100 (not counting their error) off the lowest other price and got a better specced car to boot (I've not missed the TC/SC and ironically [and luckily] that's the only part that has required a recall on that model) - £1700 off the dealer lowest price - so I spent £500 or so on optional extras (CD with MP3 facility [disc], cassette player [I'm a 1980s man], boot line, mud flaps and floor mats) and still had enough left over to spend on a nice holiday. Loved the car and its still going strong today. It pays to get ahead of the game.