New Family Truckster

[onewhippedpuppy]

The wife and I picked up a 2013 Mazda5 on Friday as our new family car, replacing a 2012 F150 Supercrew. We are keeping the F150 for home projects, summer boating trips, etc, but wanted something where we could better separate the kids and give them their own space. Honestly this thing really feels like a hidden gem in the minivan world - it seats 6 easily, gets excellent MPG, is sporty and fun to drive, looks good, and is CHEAP. We picked up a brand new 2013 Grand Touring (top package) with leather, heated seats, Bluetooth, HIDs, etc for $21,200. A comparable Honda Odyssey would have been $35k. Not as big, but perfect for our family of five.

[azasadny]

I hope you guys enjoy it!

[herr_oberst]

Good gosh, you sample more cars from a wider spectrum than anyone I know.

Keep the reviews comin'!

[flatbutt]

That's less than my Taco! Drive in safety.

[Seahawk]

I rented one for a week a few months ago, no doubt one of the lesser packages.

It did everything just dandy. Good to good plus human factors, plenty of room and all the expected clever design traits in today's mini vans. This segment of car have come a long way.

While we had only two kids, we went the mini van route after a few long trips in my Bronco II.

We bought a Mazda MPV in 4wd and the van never looked back.

Good luck!

[onewhippedpuppy]

Thanks guys. This is for my wife, her car variety is more "stable".. We have almost two years of F150 and don't plan on selling it, that would be a new record for me.

[LeeH]

I'm a big fan of the platform. Bought a 2006 when they were first imported. Got an invitation to get a $20 Blockbusters gift card for a test drive. Went to the dealership to collect my card and was hooked. I came back for the car a couple of days later.

1st generation (2006, 2007) lacked a few things that were added in model year 2008. Namely, rear a/c, aux. input for the stereo, quite a few armrests, and a 5 speed tranny. Many 2006-2010 models had issues with noisy rear sway bars (big clunks over bumps or on rough roads) and many cars have terrible tire wear problems. Lots of owners report wearing out a set of tires in 15K miles or less despite religious rotations. Rear camber is extremely aggressive and not adjustable without adding an aftermarket camber kit, which I did on my current 5.

I put 80K miles on my 2006 and then bought a used 2009 Grand Touring with 47K. It now has around 72K miles. My '09 has a slight intermittent shimmy that I've just accepted will never go away. After reading about some owners replacing virtually every part in the front and still having some shimmy, I decided to not go down that path.

It's extremely practical, hauling 6 people, a lot of stuff, but not both at the same time. I'm always surprised that on road trips where I'm driving 75-80mph, I tend to get 28 mpg. I keep thinking about getting the newer body style, but prefer the high tail lights of the earlier cars and still haven't warmed up to the swoosh on the side. Mine is also a GT and would have to have the same trim level in the replacement. I recently drove a Touring model and found the seats way to soft for my liking. The leather of the GT seems to fix that.

One of my favorite features is that there still aren't a huge number of Mazda5s on the road. People still come up to me and ask about it. Just a couple of weeks ago someone stopped me at a garage sale and said they'd never seen one before and wanted a closer look. Pretty interesting for a car that's been out going on eight years. I know two people driving Mazda5s who bought them after seeing mine. Keep waiting on Mazda to send me a commission check.

[NYPorsche]

The wife had a 2009 - great car. Sadly, we had to upsize the the Odyssey with additional children. The Ody's got far more bells and whistles, but I still miss the 5. It did everything well. I also enjoy that they make them available with a stick. Find me another minvan that does that.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Lee, I totally agree about them not being common. Like I said earlier, I feel like I stumbled upon a secret car that nobody knows about. People that see it seem to like it, I don't know why Mazda doesn't invest more money into advertising it here in the USA.

As for being available with a stick, that pretty much says it all. Sadly you can't get a stick with the top Grand Touring package, otherwise my wife was willing to consider it.

[ZOO]

I hope the newest one comes with both a diesel and a stick! That would be the ultimate DD combo for me.

[LeeH]

Originally Posted by ZOO

I hope the newest one comes with both a diesel and a stick! That would be the ultimate DD combo for me.

That would be a shocker. Mazda IS going to be selling a diesel Mazda6 soon. Now if we can just get them to import a diesel Mazda6 wagon.

What color is your Mazda5, Matt?

[onewhippedpuppy]

Lee, it is Liquid Silver with black leather.

Like most models, I think the Mazda5 in Europe has an optional turbo diesel. But this is an entire market segment over there, not just one lonely offering.

[petrolhead611]

Most cars in Europe have a diesel option, or rather it seems now that you have a choice of diesel engine in a few power ratings, and the lower cost option of petrol engines. Diesel/auto trans combinations are common here too.

[LeeH]

I've seriously thought about getting a Premacy badge for mine, just to confuse people! Can't find a real one... guy has one on Ebay, but his stuff has received some marginal reviews for quality.

[LakeCleElum]

Good choice Matt....

Mazdas are truly under-rated and under valuved. I'm on my 4th Mazda PU (B4000 4x4 extended cab)....Years ago, had the 1200 sedan and wife had an RX7 when I met her.......Would buy another tomorrow.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Bob this is Mazda #4 for me, I've previously owned an MPV, RX8, and Protege5. On my recommendation my in-laws have thus far purchased two Mazda3s and one Mazda6 for kids, and are probably going to buy the next teen driver a new Mazda3 next year. I will never understand why they don't get the hype of a Toyota or Nissan, in my opinion they are frequently better cars and definitely more fun to drive.

[gacook]

I hate minivans. My wife traded in her Mazda Cx-9 for a Dodge minivan while I was in Hawaii last year. While I'm not thrilled, and absolutely hate driving it, I couldn't really say much since she makes her own car payments...

[onewhippedpuppy]

I hate minivans. My wife traded in her Mazda Cx-9 for a Dodge minivan while I was in Hawaii last year. While I'm not thrilled, and absolutely hate driving it, I couldn't really say much since she makes her own car payments...

Yup. We looked at the CX-9 as well, but here's the issue. The 5 has a more convenient seating configuration with captains chairs in the 2nd row. It has equal seating space. It doesn't require flipping the 2nd row to access the 3rd row. It gets about 5 mpg better. It was close to $20k cheaper than a Grand Touring CX9. It is easier to maneuver and more fun to drive. Pretty tough to argue with all that.

[Seahawk]

I bought my first Mazda in 1983.

I had driven my BMW 2002 for years but it was 11 years old with no a/c...and I was starting Navy flight school in Florida in the summer. Hot and humid at 0500.

So I sold the 2002 and bought a Mazda GLC. The best decision I could have made. I owned it for two years; board, bike and kayak rack on the roof, four doors and all my athletic stuff in the trunk...plus a/c. Not a seconds worth of trouble.

I wanted something cheap and reasonable if I gooned flight school. I of course got a 911 when I sold the GLC. San Diego in the '80's, it was out of my hands.

Edit: Minivans are the best thing that every happened to traveling with kids.

[Tim Hancock]

All I can say is that I HATE minivans.... never owned one never will.
Fortunately Matt won't have it for long.