New Mazda 3 – Strong residuals

We’ve banged on a bit about the New Mazda 3. We think it’s the best car Mazda has made, and it’s very much the equal of sector leading competition like the Ford Focus and the Vauxhall Astra, as we said in our review of the new Mazda 3 back in April.  But a big part of the cost of car ownership is depreciation, and Mazda has just issued figures showing that in the UK the new Mazda 3 is out-performing not just its direct competitors, but also a number of premium marques.

Mazda has had a scout round 30 of the UK’s top car leasing and contract hire companies to find out what figures they are putting on residual values for the new Mazda 3. And, you’ll not be surprised to learn (as Mazda has put this information out), that they stack up extremely well. They are returning values of around 35% after three years, putting the Mazda 3 ahead of the Ford Focus, Renault Megane, Toyota Auris and Vauxhall Astra. They are also up there with the BMW 1 Series and the VW Golf.

Which all means that you get a better deal if you Lease or contract hire a car (which a lot of individuals, and most businesses, now do). But there is no point the car being cost-effective if it’s not a good car. But the Mazda 3 really is. We think it’s one of the best looking in its class and, in this new Mazda 3, one of the best to drive. If you’re looking for something in this sector you should give it a drive before you decide.

It does make a change to see cars we rave about not just being good cars but also cost effective. We really rated the Alfa Romeo MiTo in our review, and it was good to see the MiTo also getting good residuals. The same applies to the Mazda 3. We rated it very highly and, with these residuals, it is proving to be not just a very good car, but a cost-effective one too.

As you would expect, Mazda has stuck out a press release detailing their findings on Residual values. Lot’s of detail.