Can't decide between two completely different cars. Any help would be welcome!

[KenAdams]

They are the Mazda 3 and the BMW i3. Both used, will be post 2018 reg.

I'm a hybrid worker and travel about 45 mins to work twice a week and the usual school drop offs, pick ups. My workplace doesn't have an electrical charging point. One DC and a dog. We use DH 4x4 at the weekend (we live semi rurally so it does get used as an actual 4x4 a lot).

I drive a Ford Focus sized car at the moment so I'm used to decentish boot space but I don't really transport a lot in it.

Does anyone have either of these cars or have any opinions on them good or bad please? Really struggling to make a decision.

A friend just bought a new mazda 3 and got a great deal on a pre-registered 21 plate. She's very pleased with it. It might be worth looking at pre-reg deals too.

Given how many men who feel inadequate about their manhood who drive BMWs, were you to choose a Mazda I expect other road users would be more respectful of you.

Rare to read of someone whose family actually have grounds for a 4x4, incidentally.

Ooh, Mazda 3! They are bomb-proof!

I had a 2003 model for my first car; drove it like it was a tank, showed the poor beast no respect - and it just kept trucking, never any issues with it, sailed through every MOT without any work whatsoever.

When I finally traded it it - with a heavy heart and a guilty conscience - I got a decent wedge from the dealer on the grounds he reckoned it still had a few more years left in it.

If you live so rurally that you are using a 4x4 (ie off road on a track) then a BMW won't get you anywhere. Rear wheel drive

It will depend whether the low range of the I3 is a problem. A used one will probably do no more than 100miles on a cold day

Ha @newnortherner111 I only like this one because it doesn't look like a BMW!

Work is about a 45 mile round trip so I should be OK with range. I'd really love an electric car but I'm quite worried that with where I live, the infrastructure just isn't there yet.

We're semi rural - one direction takes you to a proper A road (how I get to work), the other...doesn't. If the weather is very bad I won't be getting out of our street anyway as I don't drive DH's car. 4 x 4's are very common around here for that reason. Not the nice shiny kind though!

The Mazda 3 is just so beautiful and practical though.

Mazda any day