Hi Scotty and folks,
Looking for a fun manual car for the next 2 years and I found these two cars for $8k in my area: 2015 Mazda6 2.5L Manual and 2012 Audi A3 2.0T FWD, both with 100k miles.
Pros: Mazda6 is bigger and cheaper to maintain while the A3 manual is rare to find.
Cons: Mazda6 has too much mileage given the age (is this concern-able?) while Audi is known for its fuel pump and carbon buildup issues.
What else should I keep an eye out for? I do not plan on owing the car for a long time, only 10k miles top.
Between those two, go with the Mazda6. It’s not even worth rolling the die with the Audi.
If you buy the Audi, buy a set of earplugs because at 100k that turbo could go bang at any time soon.
In all seriousness, Mazda may well be the weaker japanese brand, but it's still infinitely more reliable than that Audi
If the Mazda6 has high miles per year, it's likely seen more highway driving. Scotty equates 10 miles of highway driving with 1 mile of city driving. Pending inspection, it may less engine and tranny wear.
Audi maintenance is going to cost a fortune, even in 10K.
Considering buying Mazda 6 myself so i read and looked some of this model...Between these two absolutely the Mazda 6 is the better choice...The Audi's are endless money pits this 2.0T engine is known to cause problems too costly to maintain and the headlights are weak on the Audi.Giving you wont keep it for many years better get the Mazda its a manual transmission so it will last.This Mazda is also with timing chain.The turbo on the Audi probably wore the engine.The quality of Mazda in recent years are going high while on those german cars quality is going down using cheap parts and electronics.
