Huge Markdowns on Mazda Near You!

It’s been a few years since Mazda dropped its famous “zoom-zoom” slogan, but it’s still hard to imagine a better way to sum up this small, independent Japanese carmaker. Mazda fills its cars and crossovers with an extra bit of driving zest, with livelier steering responses and more agile handling. While not every Mazda is the runaway most-fun-to-drive winner in its respective class, we’d say each one of them is — at a minimum — above-average.

This philosophy starts with Mazda’s most iconic vehicle: the MX-5 Miata two-seat roadster. This little rear-wheel drive convertible is a pure delight, but too raw and impractical for most buyers. That’s where Mazda’s other cars come in, bringing beautiful designs inside and out, generous luxury equipment, and greater functionality to go with their dose of driving fun. Vehicles like the compact Mazda3, mid-size Mazda6, CX-5 compact crossover, and seven-passenger CX-9 crossover can also be value-priced alternatives to luxury-brand vehicles.

Mazda has been in the U.S. market since 1970, and it’s sold a mix of mainstream and performance cars for nearly all that time. In addition to the Miata (now more than three decades old), a longtime Mazda staple was the rotary-engined RX-7 and its RX-8 successor. They’re no longer on sale, but the brand’s enthusiasts always hold onto hope that these high-revving performance coupes will return.

The brand has two sets of trim levels. Most models have a hierarchy of a base Sport, mid-level Tourin,g, luxury Grand Touring, and, in some cases, extra-swanky Grand Touring Reserve and Signature models. (The Miata slots in mid-level higher-performance model called Club.) The two newest Mazdas, though — the redesigned Mazda3 and the all-new CX-30 subcompact crossover — have brought a new set of trims: base, ,Select, Preferred, and the top Pre,mium.