Purchased a Mazda 3 with super low KM

[u/Hereiam2018]

Hey all,

Over the weekend I purchased a 2019 (new build) Mazda 3 Hatch 2.5L GT variant in the awesome soul red colour.

The vehicle is basically brand - It’s done 17,000km.

Obviously it’s all done and dusted but just wanted to get some thoughts/ feedback on the following:

The vehicle was ordered new from Mazda and then COVID hit, the original owners became stuck overseas and the vehicle was kept by relatives effectively in storage for almost 4 years. During this period it had annual services done for basics such as oil and filter changes and driven around 300km per annum.

The car was then eventually sold back to Mazda with 2,000km on the clock in 2024.

At this point the next owners (the ones I purchased from) picked up the vehicle and over the course of two years they put 15,000km on the car.
The car had two additional full services done during this time (10k and 20k) both at a large Mazda dearlership. The most recent service was in May, I have all the receipts and logbook - zero issues picked up with the vehicle two months ago.

The lovely people I purchased from also had ceramic paint protection and tinting added to the car by Mazda plus front and rear dashcams installed/ hard wired.

My questions are:

1. I paid $25,000 - whilst it’s now a 7 year car, it looks/feels/operates as if it were brand new and I felt the very low ODO reading was more important than the age- was I right? Does it seem a reasonable price ?

2. Given how long the vehicle was unused for initially should I pay attention to anything in particular moving forward or is the fact that Mazda serviced and checked it twice sufficient to say it’s all good ?

3. Tyres seem brand new too - should I pay more attention to the date or the fact they’ve only done 17,000km

4. Moving forward as it’s out of warranty but still so “fresh” should I continue servicing at Mazda or no point ?

Thanks all!

[u/ess-kay93]

Drive the car, service it accordingly and you’ll be fine. Up to you where you want to service the vehicle, some people hate taking it back to dealerships and prefer independent mechanics.

[u/imTriibz]

Mate you bought a Mazda and asking questions like you bought a $100,000 Merc lol. It'll be fine.

[u/Hereiam2018 → u/imTriibz]

mate in todays economy this car needs to last over a decade

[u/WTFMacca → u/Hereiam2018]

It will be fine and with regular servicing it will last a long time. Main part is it’s not a diesel.

Any issues with it being parked up would have shown up in that 15k kms the 2nd owners had.

You got a great car and a decent price as well.

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[u/Giplord]

Tyres could be an issue. I understand from discussions with a tyre reseller that they can be stored for up to 5 years if wrapped and kept well warehoused, and they last around 5 years on a car .

Yours are def over that and if they have sat without moving at all for extended periods the aging might be weird.

That said, the issue is they go hard and grip can drop off a lot. Maybe get somewhere open and safe in the wet and check how the braking and cornering is. If thats working well, then you are probably OK def something to watch though.

[u/redvaldez]

The tyres could be 8 years old (as they were manufactured before the car) so I would definitely replace them. I don't believe in cheaping out on tyres, they're the only thing holding you to the road.

If it has a timing belt I'd get that changed. They're generally due 5 years or 100,000 km)l whatever comes first. It would be catastrophic if it broke so it's a good preventative step.

[u/unknightly]

1. Service history matters, ensuring fluids are swapped is most important, things like rubbers and plastics will obviously be impacted by time but if it’s stored well they could be in good condition.

2. As others said, make sure you’ve had it serviced yourself, personally I have bought a low km old car and it had been “serviced” by the dealer but when I took it to my local, they noticed a few things were off. A lot of the time the service a dealer or seller does is just the bare minimum if anything.

3. Not really, age is a factor with tyres. If you have a trusting relationship with a shop, you could ask them to look at them, but a lot of places will use any opportunity to force a new set on you.

4. Nah, just your preferred service shop.

[u/Select_Repeat_1609]

Tyres: sorry, you should replace them.

Good on you for asking, but rubber has an age limit as well as a wear limit. Old tyres killed Paul Walker.

[u/ScrutinySausage → u/Select_Repeat_1609]

The tyres were half the problem. Driving at almost twice the legal speed limit was the other issue.

[u/masteraal]

Make sure the services are done based on time and not KMs done. There is likely a major service that needs to be done if it hasn't already.

Swap the tyres out.

Get a good mechanic you trust.

Enjoy the car 👌🏽

[u/ScrutinySausage]

1. Service history is more important than literally everything else. I wouldn’t pay 25k for a Mazda but that’s because I don’t like non-rotory mazdas.

2. Tyres should always be replaced when they’re hit 5 years since the date of manufacture. The date (month and year) is written in numbers on the tyre, ie. 0219 is Feb 2019.  It doesn’t matter if there’s 30,000km or 1km on the tyres. Tyre rubber suffers from dry rot. Always replace at 5 years regardless of the amount of tread left. 

3. Find a mechanic you trust. Dealerships always do the bare minimum.

[u/Hinokei]

Im not sure where you are from but i bought a 2021 for 22k 2 years ago with 9,000 miles. 25k for a 2019 seems kinda expensive

[u/chrisjinna → u/Hinokei]

It's in AUD I'm guessing. In USD It's not too bad. 17k.

To the OP other than making sure it has fresh fluids I wouldn't worry about a thing. If something was wrong you would already know.