Sensible Secondhand Reviews: 2011 Mazda2 1.3 Tamura (DE/DH) - Lloyd Vehicle Consulting

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Welcome to Sensible Secondhand Reviews, the series where we take a sensible secondhand car worth between £1000 and £5000 and put it through its paces in a very straightforward manner! This time, we test a 2011 Mazda2 1.3 Tamura (also known in some markets as the Demio), which is based on one of the perennial favourites of this channel, the Ford Fiesta. Be prepared for a slightly interesting exterior colour, rather a lovely gearchange, mysterious chassis codes, unexpected hat wearing, parking on a closed road and very little of any consequence at all. Nothing untoward, then!

Theme Music "A Song For Humans" by Laurence Callaghan and The Tin Cans
Copyright 2013 Bezalel Records

As an independent vehicle consultant, I take potential buyers through the whole car buying process from choosing a make and model to a vehicle handover and road tax. In addition to information on this service, I also have a selection of written and video reviews of cars that I have owned, hired, borrowed or have somehow come into my possession. Please use the Contact Me page on my website to get in touch, visit my Facebook page for latest updates and share this video if you like it! Thank you for watching.

[jrobertson]

Great little cars, extremely reliable and fun to drive.

[thessie]

Exactly the review I was looking for, thanks for creating this

[LotCARS]

I really rate these as I ran two 1.5 Sports back to back in 2010/2011 (pre and post facelift) as they were the smallest thing I could park near my apartment in Cologne. I loved the fantastic handling and steering but to be fair the interior let it down a little. The first car had lowered suspension (only realised this when I got the second car) and that made a big difference without ruining the handling. I even managed a few longer runs up to Hamburg etc. The diesel weren’t worth the effort to be honest…

[markonmotoring]

I remember these being released and bucking the trend being smaller than its predecessor. Based on the upcoming fiesta the motoring press of the time raved about these little cars with high praise for its handling.

[richardhowlett]

Excellent choice of car, great looking and a superb drive, more people should buy Mazdas.

[captainbimble]

Good unbiased review there. I am currently looking at one of these and now I like it even more!

[williamegler]

In the United States this model was most popular with rental fleets.
In popular vacation spots you would see scores of them with Enterprise and Avis stickers on them.

[alansimpson]

Aha a Mazda 2 in Green. I'm now singing the LV insurance tune to myself :)

I remember having a shot of a brand new one back in 2012. I remember it riding quite hard and needing a bit of a shove to change gear but it did handle really well. Shame the rust gets them as, other than that, Mazda build a cracking car. This one looks very tidy though.

Good to see you looking well and cheery post-op as well sir

[scottishcarenthusiastsandtrain]

Great looking little Mazda, my sister in law had one of these in this shade of green up until a couple of years ago, around the same time has my dad had a mark 7 fiesta and always thought they were quite similar styled from the side, so it makes sense now to learn the platform is shared. Of the two cars if I had to choose it woukd be the Mazda. Stalks remind me off later Nissan like my old Qashqai and K12 micras, chunky and useable.

[roygardiner]

This, in my view, IS a sensible choice. You did well for your client.

[frothe]

I always thought that the Mazda 2 shared its platform with the Toyota Yaris. I do know Ford had controlling interest in Mazda for decades and shared platforms like the MX-6 and others.
WE NEVER FOR FORBIDDEN FUEL VEHICLES FROM MAZDA.
Nicely equipped, handsome, very capable, a win-win!
I also thought the Mazda 2 came with a 3 cylinder engine. I think the Yaris did, but I could be mistaken.
I hope your surgery was successful and that you recover quickly. Thank you very much for the excellent review!

[AsherPiesman]

Same as my old car except mine was the 1.5 sport.

Fun to drive, reliable and great build quality but not very comfortable and I thought the interior plastics felt a bit low rent.

[xxrs]

Omg they still used the zoomzoom tag in 2011? The continious "zoomzoom" song almost did my head in at the Amsterdam AutoRai back in 2000..

[richardhowlett]

The M60 has a roundabout at Simister Island , north of Manchester, where the M60, M62 and M66 meet . One of the most notorious motorway junctions in the country .

[Phuket]

Met you at a Hub Nut social in...? We were in a blue chery lacetti 57 plate. (Horrible car) but interesting design 😂. Now I find myself with a Mazda 2 takuya with a sweet 😋 engine. Well happy. 😊

[mattw]

Back in 2013/2014 I was contemplating getting a Mazda2 to replace my forbidden fuel powered Nissan Almera N16. A 1.5 Sport would have been perfect. I think that idea faded away because I'd have take out a loan to buy one and I hate borrowing money so I just kept the Almera for 7 or 8 more years! I did reconsider the newer generation 2 last year when I finally changed cars but nothing came up within budget.

I really liked the Mazda2 because it seems so different to what the other marques were making. Built exclusively in Japan (I'm a little suspicious of those French built Yarises and Hungarian built Swifts! ) and the engineering behind it. Joseph mentioned the weight savings accomplished with this, as per the MX-5 NC over the NB. I think around 10 kg was saved from the wiring looms alone on the 2.

[Dantianblue]

I had a TS2 in green and a venture in blue. Loved them to bits! So nippy and fun to drive, a joy to own and very well built and designed. Currently drive a mk7 fiesta st which is fantastic but lately I have been getting nostalgic for the green mazda2 for some reason. I think if more people had actually driven these to try them out, there'd be more converts. I don't like the next gen as much though they're obviously well designed cars again. The older ones are a great no frills fun and reliable supermini that goes really well and punches above its weight as a sporty vehicle.

[simonfreeman]

Got one . A sport 1.5 .
Fast enough . Great on fuel . Reliable .
Pisses over a fiesta in my eyes .

[nothingmuch.]

Corrosion is an issue to look out for on these. Boot floor, sills & wheel arches, being the fabric liners

[johnedwards]

I'm looking to acquire a Chrysler Ypsilon 1.2 petrol to supplement or stand in for my Insignia (powered by Unicorns and Pixy dust) whilst it undergoes a bit of paint and alike. If you find yourself in the Midlands again soon maybe you'd like to drive it.