Verified answer

It will last you at least 10 years.

They are extremely reliable cars up there with Honda and Toyota. The Mazda 3 has been named best compact car for the past 8 years always beating the Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla, and other small cars in comparison tests done by car tv shows and automotive journalists.

Yes. Mazda is a great college car. Make sure the battery is new if used car. Mechanically not much to it which is a good thing, it is simple and a nice care to own and drive. Within five years routine maintenance like oil changes every 3-5k miles, flush the radiator (this keeps the air conditioner and heating working) you may need to change the brake pads depending on how you drive, struts may need replacing, its recommended, not necessarily required. Run it through touchless car wash if you can afford to do so with greater routine in winter months if you live where there is salt on the road. Love your Mazda and it will adore you for as long as you keep her.

Enjoy college this is an exciting time in your life.

Grace

mazdas and fords are the same now, they share components such as the transmission. For instance check the complains on mazdas 626, terrible transmissions, same with ford probe, mazdas blames ford, and ford blames mazdas for their failure. Still like that Mazda 3?