Why a Lancer?

its up to u man get what u like but if u get the gts get it in 5 speed

 

aggressive look,

 

cheap looking interior though

 

I was torn between the two as well.

Here's what won me over.

1. Warranty. Mitsu's is 10 years/5years, Mazda only has 2 unless you buy more warranty.

2. Though they're similar priced, somehow the Lancer had cheaper payments (guess it depends on the financial company though)

3. Everyone in my city has a Mazda3... they're WAY too popular. I call them "Bellybutton Cars" cuz everyone has one! There's like 5 '08/'09 Lancers in my city.

4. Lots of fun mods to do! If you're into that stuff, you can get lots of neat things to "trick out your whip"

5. Better features. The GTS had the subwoofer, paddle shifters, knee airbags, automatic headlights. But the Mazda3 had autowipers lol.

Hope that helps

 

LOL

 

My wife has a 2007 Mazda 3 sport and i have a 2009 Lancer GTS.

To me:

- The lancer's look is waaayyy better than the 3
- The lancer feels alot sportier when your inside
- The lancer suspension is alot sportier than the 3 and is more aggressive
- The lancer drinks less gas than my wifes 3
- The 3 has more leg rooms for the driver and rear passengers. But the 3 has more leg room for the copilot
- Here in canada, mitsubishi has an unbeatable warranty like LuvMyLancer said

- The 3 has the automatic wipers
- The 3 steering audio controls are better because of the preset scan instead of the channel scan on the lancer
- The 3 has better rear view because it does not have that big spoiler in the back blockin the rear view like the lancer... but then again, the spoiler on the lancer gives the car a nicer look
- The 3 has automatic lights at night

If you are comparing the Speed 3 with the Lancer, to me, the Speed 3 wins, but overall will cost you more because of super gas and brakes etc..

But if you are comparing a fully equiped regular 3 to a Fully equiped Lancer GTS, to me, the GTS wins hands down...

my 2 cents... Hope it helps.

 

I was between the Mazda6 and the Lancer GTS when making my purchase. I choose the GTS because the standard warranty is far better than the Mazda. I liked the dual exhaust look on the Mazda6 but the GTS won the rest of the exterior. Price wasn't a factor because they were the same. The tech package (Sun/Sound, paddle shifters, etc.) won me over on the GTS. It's a very fun and easy car to customize. I definitely got a lot of head turns and compliments when I bought the car. One regret though, I bought the CVT version instead of the M/T. I wanted the M/T but I'm in a crowded city and didn't feel like shifting every 4 seconds because of traffic. That being said, the CVT is still lots of fun to drive =)

 

lancer all the way, no regrets on mine

 

Naturally on a Lancer forum, you will see a bias toward the Mitsu!! But I must say these 2 cars are remarkably close. I bought my 08 Lancer GTS in July of 07. I had only seen them on the lot or the web. So, since I like new and original; this car was screaming at me! I chose the Lancer without even considering the Mazda. I looked at the VW Jetta and Golf GTI, the Honda Civic Si, and the Mitsu. I knew enough about the Mazda to know I didn't want one. Many reasons for choosing the Lancer: 1) the styling, I loved the look of car from all angles. 2)features; a 6-speed trans with paddle shift on a car less than $25K sticker price, the 650-watt stereo with GPS, the fact the Mitsu overall is a quality manufacturer; no re-calls on cars in 10 years! I liked the styling inside as well, simple yet cool looking. And even though it didnt have leather as a option, I liked the look of the cloth interior. 3)Custom aftermarket parts. I had a couple of Ford Mustangs in the past, and its parts aplenty for these cars. I researched the after market for Lancers, and found a ton of places that had parts. At the time, none were for the new Lancer, but now, a year after getting my car, I have found a lot of places making parts for the car. (If you are like me, and want to customize your car, this fact alone, should sway you.) I did not research the Mazda after market parts companies. But I would assume they are out there and as easy to find. Additionally like Luvmylancer said: The Mazda 3 is everywhere. My brother-in-law had one, and he liked it, but to me it just felt unfinished, and cheap.

To me the Lancer was the best car for the money; most features, good warranty, coolest looks, tons of mods available. Unique car; not many on the roads.

Good luck with your decision! Choose wisely.

 

To me the lancer is freaking sexy,youll get comments from everyone about how nice it is.the cabin is based off there SUV model,lots of leg room for front and rear passengers,i let my buddy drive it one time,hes about 350lbs.there was still plenty of leg room in the back.its an all around nice car,with a nice warranty.

the 3 is smaller inside,they drive nice too but if you need room for kids or whatever,the lancer is the right car for you.my woman has a mazda 6 S,hatchback.thatd be the one to look at than the 3,imo.the lancers trunk is mid,but the opening is too small,

look at a mazda 5 S,its a sedan/hatchaback,we fit a 47" lcd tv through the back of it,theres you go getter there.

 

this is what got me... the room inside.. not only on the front seats but also in the rear... and plus i was lookin for a car to mod and whats better than a freakin lancer! lol

o and plus.. the people at the mazda dealership werent very helpful when went while the people at the mitsu place let me take the car for a test drive without giving them my drives license lol

o and since ur in the houston area i recommend going to HUB mitsubishi... much better service than Gillman... personal experience thats all

 

Well Like most of us have said, the car looks damn sexy. The warranty can not be beat, and its easy to mod (if your into that thing.). I myself really didnt have much time to research our car had been rear ended and we had only 2 days to find something. I picked ours because of the safety features and I also have always loved Mitsubishi. Hell my next purchase i think will be a twin turboed stealth. The engine and most of the components where made by mitsubishi. LOL the windows on the stealth have our same little mitsu logo except its in red. But back on topic. In the end its really what you want to what you want to pay. AND, AND where else can you find such a bunch of swell people lol. Man thats sounds corny. But best of luck and in the end youll will be happy with what ever you purchace.

 

Ditto!! Heck, last couple of times my dealership is like "Wanna take the EvoX for a spin?" hahaha

Mitsu rocks, IMO

 

Damn.. both Mitsubishi dealerships in my city won't let you drive one until you've pretty much already bought one. You have to show considerable commitment to purchasing it (down payment, etc) before they'll hand over the keys. It's freaking retarded.

Yet you can walk across the grass to the Chevrolet dealer and take a Z06 out, which is even more expensive, powerful, and deadly.

Or the BMW dealer
Or the Mercedes dealer
etc etc etc.

 

hey! another houston lancer owner here!

a. yes, i recommend HUB also, Talk to Josh, tell him <edited out my name, lol> sent you Even the conroe dealership sent me to Hub, haha. I talked to Gillman, they were trying to be shady. they tried to sell me a car they didn't even have on the lot. I also heard that after you agree to a price wich will be lower than everyone else, they will make up the difference by charging you for tinting, pinstriping, etc. whether you ask for it or not and overcharging what you co$uld get done elsewhere for cheaper. i sent an email to mcginnis asking for a quote. the guy replied that i should come into the dealership to see what he had. i told him i know what i want already and with these options, did he have it or not and what pricew is he willing to sell for. i never heard back from him.

b. i had a 3 before i got my lancer. an 07 mazda3 s 'sport' hatchback. i loved my lil car. i still kinda miss it. but after it was totaled and i went car shopping again i fell in love with the lancer. if you want a hatch, nothing out there beats a 3. or if your going for power, but cant afford an EVO, get the speed3. otherwise if your looking at sedans the lancer gts is the one you need hands down. you can get the same options on a civic SI for about the same price with more HP. but again, your driving a 'me too' car that has no sexy lines. the sentra SE-R spec-V again has more power, but you cant get options on it, not even steering wheel controls. idk about the v-dubs. i didn't even consider them.

c. i did get the S&S package and the Navigation which is pretty cool. but honestly in retrospect, i would take the something like 2g's you'd spend for that package and go aftermarket. the MMCS is a nice system and is a step in the right direction, but it's uncanny main drawback is it's inability to store MP3's directly to the HDD. it WILL play mp3 CD's but it will only store music from a normal Audio CD or CD-R (i.e. you can burn an audio CD from your MP3 collection, but itsw a time consuming process having to burn a CD with 20 songs then have the car rip to its hard drive. not very feasable doing 20 songs at a time when you have a couple of thousand or your computer.). not so with aftermarket devices. infact, many devices have a USB port that will read files off your thumbdrive or mp3 player. There's even a double-din sized car-puter that crutchfeild sells for about a grand that runs windows, has wi-fi, etc.

edit: removed my full name