So my answer is: CARGO!!!! CARGO!!!

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Just sit in the back seat of both...the Mazda3 is cramped in legroom and headroom, the Fit has plenty of both.

With two teenagers just getting bigger, there was no way I would force them to squeeze into the back seat of the Mazda3...

Didn't have to see how it drove or anything else...was looking for a four passenger car that would fit my family...

 

Beware, Mazdas have serious rust problems after 5 years of ownership. Just Google it. There tons of complaints of the 1st gen Mazda 3 rusting already.
Compare the Fit with other brands like Scion, Nissan, VW or Toyota.

 

They are both nice cars. I love the look of the new Mazda3. I seriously considered the Mazda 3S 2.5 HB 6MT before I bough the Fit.
Here in the US, I chose the fit because of less initial purchase price, lower insurance, better MPG and lower insurance. Plus I needed to be able to load two road bicycles upright in the back.
If I was in Canada and the 3 was overall cheaper... I'd buy the Mazda3.

 

i've owned 3 honda's myself, g/f has had 2....guess you could say i'm a honda guy. a mazda didn't even cross my mind when i bought my fit. mazda won't cross my mind when i go to buy my next car either. honda hands down.

 

After re-evaluating both the Mazdaspeed 3 and the Mazda 3 hatch, I am back at the Fit. You just can't beat the Fit on so many levels!

I did see some 2012 Mazda 3's and they have modified the smiley front grille, looks way better than it did. It is a nice looking car.

 

You can't really compare them. The Mazda is bigger, the interior is a bit nicer, it has way more power, but you don't get the same mileage, the resale is probably less, and the price is more. The cargo is way more than I will ever need in all honesty. I love my 3. Just differences in what you need I guess.

 

Not a fair comparison in the USA. Mazda 2 is a better comparison. Nuff said.

 

What my main point here is,,just take a close look at all these imports after five to seven years,Mazdas,Hyundais,Mitsubishis even some of the Nissans ( they tend to hold up pretty good) then examine a Honda with the same years,mileage ,etc.You will notice right away which car has retained its features,condition in general as when they were new.So you get one of these feature laden mazdas or whatever and after several months things start to break, their value drops.This is my fifth honda, 2011 sport FIT, it is not fast, it is even a bit ugly, but I know,it will retain its value cause it is well built. JJ

 

I would rather put my $ into the basic car being solid and well built, any day, than into a bunch of doodads and "features" which do nothing but break anyway.

 

why? cause the mazda 3 is ugly and it's a mazda.

if you're getting those ugly grinning things, at least get the mazdaspeed 3 instead.

 

I LOVED the last gen Mazda 3 especially the speed but the new one has to be one of the worst looking vehicles out there IMO....Aztec anyone? Jk

 

The front is still f-ugly.

 

I totally agree with Mr. SParckle! Old model and Protegé were nice looking cars. New ones... not so much. If you're thinking of a Mazda 3 you should think seriously about an Impreza or new Focus. The impreza is built in Japan, has AWD and is built like a tank these days. Rear room is fairly impressive too. Cargo is a bit low compared to Fit. Ford Focus is a very decent car.
I totally understand this cross comparison though. When looking for cars I was cross shopping corolla, civic, prius, insight, mazda 3, golf, and a couple others. (The family already had an Impreza) The Fit just felt like the right car. Financing deals helped.

 

I also cross shopped the Mazda3 5 door, it was on my short list of a few cars when I bought the Fit. I actually took a day off work and drove all of them back to back over a few hours to decide what I wanted.

-The Mazda had more power, was a nicer driver, but the mpg was not close.

-The Mazda had less room in the back seat, actually felt a little tigher than the Fit everywhere on the inside, and it was difficult to fit my mountain bikes in the back which was one of my criteria.

But, all that said, the biggest thing was the concern over quality. Honestly after owning a "modern" era Mazda (2006 Mazda5) and seeing first hand how quickly it deteriorates and how many things didn't work within 3-4 years, and the terrible customer service on warranty issues, I couldn't bring myself to reward Mazda with another sale.
I have a 2006 Mazda5 in the driveway that we bought new, serviced at the dealership, and its a piece of crap. We had issues within the warranty period that they could never figure out and suddenly when its out of warranty they have fixes for the items but I have to pay for them. Fuck Mazda, I will never own another Mazda, ever.
The cars are great for about the first year but they just fall to pieces after that. My wifes car was in the shop more than the BMW M3's I drove the first 3 years she had it, thats just ridiculous. And no, I'm not an isolated case, google search Mazda5 tire wear, its insane. I shouldn't have ot put 8 sets of tires on a car with under 100k miles on it. It was so bad that over in the UK the govt forced Mazda to come up with a fix and replace allot of tires under warranty, and the whole time I'm pleading my case with Mazda USA and e-mail them links to their own company statements overseas they continued to tell me they were within specs and I was on my own. then in 2010, after the warranty expired on the 2006 models, they do a TSB to sell a $300 kit (the UK govt mandated fix) to "correct" excessive tire wear issues, unbelievable.

Fuck Mazda, Fuck Mazda, and Fuck Mazda.

 

my question to you is, is it considered trolling if you go to a vehicle specific forum and compare it to another car in its segment? if you say no then, then why does your arguement sound so one sided by only pointing out good points on 1 car. it seems you know how to use google to find info on the mazda 3, what happened? google broke when you searched honda fit?

 

For me, I only considered the top ten most reliable cars per warranty direct:

Home - Car Reliability Index | Reliability Index | How reliable is your car?

Then I used Consumer Reports to further narrow it down. The Fit was a car with the most consumer satisfaction.

I can say from experience that I average about 30 mpg which is better then the Mazda, the Honda is cheaper by a few thousand dollars and its shorter so its easier to park and handle in tight traffic. I also know that Mazdas do not hold up nearly as well as Hondas. Hondas do keep their value longer.

For me, the Fit was the perfect car for my needs.

 

Very helpful (and sometimes funny) replies! Thank you everyone!

Even though I don't even own one yet (but getting close), what i keep seeing over and over, and not only on FitFreak, is that the Fit is more than the sum of its parts...Honda got it right.

 

i'm Canadian too and was close to that 3 5 door as well

both manual transmissions

had a protege 5 5speed in the past & a 93 si civic hatch 5speed

nice drive with the 3 - liked the seating and equipment - but took a fit instead

- cheaper on gas
- resale
- know about the mazda rust
- reminded me of the civic
- don't see many of them on the road
- lower insurance rates
- shifter is great
- over all less work maintence wise
- total cost of ownership would be less in the long run
- easier to park

just my 2 cents - and i do like the 3 hatch

 

I had a baby boy a few months ago which is why I had to get rid of the two-door hatch, we looked at both of these and after test driving I actually found that the fit had considerably more room in front and back seats, which is good for a car seat and someone 6'5'' like me. I've been happy with the throttle response in the fit and definately with the handling, the compression (which is right around 10.6ish) and weight tie good together and I think that's what puts the fit ahead of everything for me. 09 fit L15