I'm getting the impression that a domestic (or at least, a Ford) is a no-no. 
As for Mazda, I had a Protoge once. It was nice and zippy, and I liked driving it, though there were a couple small complaints I had with it. Since it's not a Mazda 3, I doubt many of them will matter. The one big problem I had, though, was... parts thieves.
According to the police, Mazda is high up there on the list of cars targeted for stripping. And boy howdy, did they strip mine. Right in my own driveway. I came out in the morning, tried to start the car, got a dull click... popped the hood and oh, hey, where'd my throttle assembly go?
To add insult to injury, after the police came and looked at it and basically said "We'll add it to the list but don't expect much", they hit it *again* the next weekend. That time they took pretty much everything out of the engine save the engine itself, as well as the headlights (as in, the entire thing) and front bumper.
Police (on second call): "Oh, yeah, Mazdas are hit pretty often like this. I'd never buy one." Thanks, that helps, really.
--sofaspud
--"Listening to your kid is the audio equivalent of a Salvador Dali painting, Spud." --OpMegs
As for Mazda, I had a Protoge once. It was nice and zippy, and I liked driving it, though there were a couple small complaints I had with it. Since it's not a Mazda 3, I doubt many of them will matter. The one big problem I had, though, was... parts thieves.
According to the police, Mazda is high up there on the list of cars targeted for stripping. And boy howdy, did they strip mine. Right in my own driveway. I came out in the morning, tried to start the car, got a dull click... popped the hood and oh, hey, where'd my throttle assembly go?
To add insult to injury, after the police came and looked at it and basically said "We'll add it to the list but don't expect much", they hit it *again* the next weekend. That time they took pretty much everything out of the engine save the engine itself, as well as the headlights (as in, the entire thing) and front bumper.
Police (on second call): "Oh, yeah, Mazdas are hit pretty often like this. I'd never buy one." Thanks, that helps, really.
--sofaspud
--"Listening to your kid is the audio equivalent of a Salvador Dali painting, Spud." --OpMegs