My first car. 2011 Mazda 3. GX

Hi everyone,
I just bought my first car. I test drove a bunch of cars. (Focus, Elantra, Forte, Cruise, Corolla, Scion xD) but as soon as I test drove the mazda 3 I fell in love. Im a total noob for cars. I really want to keep my car in pristine shape. Im from St. Catharines and the snow will be here soon. Im planning on washing it every wednesday. I also want to get my windows tinted. Will the dealership do that or do you reccomend going somewhere else?
Thanks,
I'm glad to be part of the mazda 3 family.

hey whats up, welcome to the forum. Good choice on the mazda (the cruze is garbage lol, i feel bad you had to drive it). make sure to wash then wax, as wax creates the protective coating (if your manually washing). I suggest first you get the car undercoated and oil-sprayed ASAP, so your metal doesnt start to rust.

what are the specs on the car?

Do what the man said, rustproof it before every winter and wash/wax it every summer.
Take care of your baby and it will take care of you. This is a really great car!

Welcome to the boards :welcome smiley & congrats on the purchase of your new car.

As krimsalt suggested the first thing you should do is undercoat & rust proof ASAP! Tint is a must, it will make the car look that much better. Check out some of the sponsors, not sure if any of them are in the St. Catharines area. Winter tires should also be considered. Enjoy the ride!

:welcome smiley

Welcome

Welcome to TM3
congrats with your new zoom-zoom

Welcome!

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Originally Posted by krimsalt

hey whats up, welcome to the forum. Good choice on the mazda (the cruze is garbage lol, i feel bad you had to drive it). make sure to wash then wax, as wax creates the protective coating (if your manually washing). I suggest first you get the car undercoated and oil-sprayed ASAP, so your metal doesnt start to rust.

what are the specs on the car?

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I got the all season tires put on(Will they hold up in the winter?). I got the comfort package as well. Do I need the undercoating done if I have the Electronic Rust Module? How much will tinting run me at? What wax do you use? For christmas, Im asking for Canadian Tire gift cards so I can load up on solid cleaning stuff lol.

:welcome smiley

weclome. get tinting done at audio heaven. give you warranty plus around 200$ all windows as dark as you want. :D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SRC84

I got the all season tires put on(Will they hold up in the winter?). I got the comfort package as well. Do I need the undercoating done if I have the Electronic Rust Module? How much will tinting run me at? What wax do you use? For christmas, Im asking for Canadian Tire gift cards so I can load up on solid cleaning stuff lol.

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:welcome smiley

sorry to have to say this but that rust proof module is useless (unless your car is going to be submerged in salt water lol). you will need to get an oil based rust proof done like krown etc.

you should definitely get winter tires, the stock turanzas aren't that great in summer or winter. sell them and put the cash towards some used winter tires (save money). get some 17" or 18" rims with summer tires in the spring.

for tint its better to get it done from a tint shop as the dealer will overcharge you (they send it to 3rd part as well, but take a cut).

check out eshine (sponsor section) for good deals on cleaning supplies.

:welcome smiley
Congrats and welcome to TM3

Welcome to TM3 & Congratulations on the purchase!
Rust proof & winter tires is a must. I would put Tints as lower priority.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SRC84

I got the all season tires put on(Will they hold up in the winter?). I got the comfort package as well. Do I need the undercoating done if I have the Electronic Rust Module?

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for winter tires, it depends your confidence. i personally have never used winter tires, my previous car had almost no tread on the tires either lol... but again it matters on your skill. you do need undercoating, because the ERM doesnt prevent rust. all it does is negatively charges the metal so the iron does not ionize with oxygen to form ironoxide. the metal though cannot be completely negatively charged tho, so it still rusts.

(forgive my terminology if some is off, chemistry was not my strong point)

How much does an undercoating usually cost?

:welcome smiley