Q&A: How can a new car be better than my old one?
If you still think replacing your old car with a new one is a flawed exercise and you want DIY servicing, it’s time for a reality check…
QUESTION
I was originally looking to replace my 1997 Camry V6 manual, but no such configuration exists anymore.
Everything is smaller in engine size, they’re all autos or CVTs, and offer less power.
The Mazda 3 G25 Evolve seems to come close in specs (according to RedBook) and is going for about $33K (from what I found). I'm not sure how much lower I can realistically get that price.
The servicing costs are unrealistic in my opinion, at over $300 per service just to change the oil and filter, and then look at a few things.
Is it realistic to ‘twist their arm’ into throwing free servicing for the life of the warranty into the deal?
Looking beyond the warranty period I would rather do the oil service myself, as I have been doing for the old Camry for many years.
With all the computer integration of newer cars I hear you have to plug them in and reset service settings otherwise things go pear-shaped, potentially compromising the running gear.
Is there a way of DIY-ing this step and how? I don't want to keep paying hundreds for someone to do an oil change and "look at stuff", when I can do that for much cheaper.
Grant F
ANSWER
Grant,
I call it as I see it mate, and my advice to you is: I respectfully disagree with both points you raised here.
Your Camry is the best part of a quarter of a century old. It has a four-speed auto, and an old-tech 3.0 V6.
The current generation Mazda3 is a particularly good new car. It has a six-speed auto - allowing it to be in the right gear to match the driving demand in a far less compromised way than the Camry, as well as being lighter - so it’s going to go significantly better in every single way.
The Mazda also has variable valve timing (not sure the Camry V6 had that), so mid-range power delivery on the 2.5 SKYACTIV engine is going to be substantially better.
The Mazda does this with 17 per cent less swept volume, and is also 27 per cent more fuel efficient. Plus it’s significantly cheaper in real terms, factoring in average weekly earnings growth over the intervening 23 years.
So basically I don’t agree that it “comes closest” - the new Mazda3 is objectively superior in every conceivable way. I can’t think of a single reason in which the Camry is superior without getting into trivialities and personal sentiment.
As for servicing, if you service the car yourself, you will void the warranty. It’s that simple. End of story.
The Mazda 3 only needs one service annually, so if you’re an average distance driver, that’s about $6 a week mate. That’s a glass of house wine in a decent restaurant every fortnight. If you have $33k to drop on a car, you can afford $6 a week. Therefore servicing it and thereby maintaining your five-year factory warranty is cheap.
If you want free servicing for 5 years, just negotiate $1500 off the purchase price - same thing; easier to do. And you can probably get a half-decent free cup of coffee in the service department while you wait, so you might even come out on top, cost-wise.
Plus, plugging in the car is a normal part of servicing in the world today - if you can’t do that, you can’t effectively service the car, reset the service indicator, check for fault codes, generally health check the car, etc.
(Actually, you might even be interested to know there’s a plug-in reciprocal in your old Camry, called an OBD port. So there’s that.)
Sorry, I know this probably was not what you wanted from me. I do call it like I see it - I know this is a character flaw.
