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Vans & Minivans Mazda Mazda5 Mazda5 Owners - Give Us Your Report
226 messages, Last post on Nov 02, 2009 at 9:08 AM
You are in the Mazda Mazda5 Forum. Your Host is Karens
I test drove a sport automatic today and drove it down my quarter mile dirt/gravel road. When stopped at the stop sign and starting, the tires seemed to lose traction for a couple of seconds. When I asked the salesman, he said that's b/c the tires are new. I currently drive a toyota corolla wagon and didn't experience this on my road, even with new tires. Is this how a minivan drives? Any comments on the tires that come with this car? Any experience driving it on dirt/gravel ? Thanks.
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Replying to: dlilly (Dec 27, 2007 9:00 pm) |
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I just realized that I could have posted my message here at the "New Owners" section, so I'm going to copy and paste it here. OK, so I have it! I am the proud owner of a new 2008, Sunlight Stellar Silver, Mazda 5 Grand Touring since 12/20/07. I immediately took it on a family road trip to North Carolina and have already put over 2,000 miles on it. So, it's broken in. And, I'm in LOVE with the car! Positives: I have to say that the car looks much better in person than in the pictures provided online - though the ones in the brochure are magnificent and do the car justice. The car looks especially striking at night with the lights on. It really is a great looking car and it makes me turn back to look at it every time I get out of it - as did my old 06, but this one even more so. I LOVE the leather seats! They really are of high quality, and they're soft and comfortable. I was afraid they were going to feel cheap, but I was, thankfully, wrong. I LOVE the HID headlights. They really do make a huge difference in lighting, and in the looks of the car. LOVE the new taillights! At first, I was iffy about them, but, again, they look so much better in person, and the fact that they're LED just adds to the "pizzaz" factor. The same is true for the new rims. At first, I didn't like them judging from the pictures, but they look much better in person. I don't know if I'm crazy, but the car also feels more refined than it used to. It feels more buttoned down, and the ride feels nicer, as does the build quality. It just feels richer, more expensive than it used to. Call me crazy. I LOVE the new 5 speed automatic - it really DOES make a difference in fuel economy. My best tank so far has been 425 miles of pure highway - though I could have gone more if I wasn't so nervous. I filled up with 14 gallons, which equals 30.36 MPG! That's GREAT economy and significantly higher than the 27 highway that is estimated for it. Also, as the car ages more, the economy should get a bit better. As you may recall, I had a previous issue with the fact that the center console now doesn't have any covers for the cupholders and other cubbies. I no longer have issues with that. The center console, on a whole, looks and feels better than before. Did I mention that I LOOOVE the new heated seats? So delicious in these butt cold days we've been having in NY. Did I also mention that I LOOOOVE the new automatic headlights and rain-sensing wipers?!?!? SO convenient. Love it! The new front styling, the rear taillights and the new improvements to the interior really make a huge difference. And the step up to the Grand Touring is really worthwhile in my opinion, too. I'm glad I made the trade-in, even though I miss my old Max (06 Touring) since it was my first car ever. But, the fact that it's the same car really made the adjustment period a lot easier and quicker BTW, I like the rear A/C vents and the true iPod/Aux port, too - very convenient and useful. I love the fact that the charger port is right next to it, too, and that the little covers STAY open when you open them. The ones that keep flipping down, which are prevalent in other cars (like my mom's Honda CRV) are annoying. Just thought I'd add that. The negatives will be on another posting and won't be as long as this one. |
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Replying to: nissmazlover (Jan 04, 2008 11:45 am) My cupholder issue still holds true, though it's not a biggie. Being that you lose the two rear cupholders that the center console used to have, in favor of the new a/c vents in the rear, you are forced to use the flip out center tray table almost all of the time in order to provide cupholders for middle row passengers. It's slightly annoying, but no big deal. The annoying windshield/seemingly dashboard rattle/tapping sound is STILL there! So, now I am confirmed that it's a Mazda 5 issue, and not solely an issue with my old 06. The colder it gets, the more pronounced the rattle is. It's slightly annoying - especially in a brand spanking new car in which everything else is muted - but it's still liveable. (btw, THE CRUNCH IS GONE!!!!!!!!! I know this is supposed to be about negatives, but I just remembered this HUGE factor. The suspension crunch that plagued my old 06 in the cold is GONE! It's so great to have a quiet suspension. I don't know if this will last and if it just SEEMS gone since it's so new, but so far I have not heard it and we have gone down to 15 degrees here in NYC, so I'm excited about that!. But, this brings me to one other slight negative...) There is this barely noticeable, right rear suspension squeak. I didn't notice it while driving it around the city before I left for North Carolina and before the butt-cold weather arrived, and I didn't notice it in N.C., either. So, I am attributing it to the cold weather. I guess that, instead of the crunch, the new noise is a barely noticeable squeak. It actually sounds kind of cute, though! It just goes "beep, squeak" whenever the rear, right suspension goes over a bump. No big deal, but we'll see if it progresses. Again, I think it's because of the cold weather, and most of us now that the 5 really isn't a happy car in the cold weather - although the new 08 seems to be better at that. My rear trunk door/tailgate is slightly misaligned. I noticed that it felt slightly weird when opening it - made a slightly strange noise, and felt different than my old 06. At close inspection, I noticed that the left side of the door goes further in when closed than the right side. As a consequence, and, again, at close inspection, the left taillight seems to protrude more than the right one, but it's because of the door going in more than it's supposed to. So, this causes it to feel a little strange when opening it. It's not immediately noticeable or obvious, but I'm anal and I notice things like that. I'm gonna see if I feel up to taking it to the dealer to fix it - but, I'm worried since they might just make it worse. So, those are the negatives. I said this post wouldn't be as long as the other one and it probably is. So, I'm sorry. But, rest assured, the car STILL has been nicely improved and the slight negatives really aren't a big deal. Enjoy your 08's!
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I know this is not the best way, but here is the thread to present it unfortunately. Can somebody in Edmunds.com check why the Mazda5 Review on the right of the screen does not work? I cannot submit anything, not even through the Contact Us form. I have also sent 2 e-mails to Edmunds with the issue, but the response is just an automated one and there no solution yet. Here is the problem (I'm reposting from my e-mail sent to Edmunds help): "I was not able to submit a "Contact Us" issue at all via your site. Once the form was completed I was pressing "Submit/Send" and it was sending me illogical errors, that is why I went through this e-mail address Please verify: 1. As a Mazda5 owner I cannot submit a review 2. Ironically I'm not able to submit a "Contact Us" issue! I tried 3 different browsers: IE, Firefox and Netscape (all of them recent releases)" Reference: Feedback for Answer ID 113 (Rated Helpfulness: 0%) [Incident: 071215-000005] sent to: help  edmunds.com Thank you
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Replying to: nissmazlover (Jan 04, 2008 11:45 am)
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Replying to: jeobandof (Jan 04, 2008 8:32 pm) jeobandof, in the meanwhile here are some 2008 Sport ones. Not as fancy as the Grand Touring, but should give you a good start  : http://www.carspace.com/coolmazda5/Albums/2008_mz5_stormy_blue/ |
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Replying to: nissmazlover (Jan 04, 2008 11:47 am)  . I have a 07 touring I got last september. So far so good. I don't think I have noticed the crunch everyone has been complaining about. I did notice my lights on the radio have flickerd a couple of nights I have been using it. It goes away though if I use the dimmer or turn it off and on. My real problem right now is where to bring it for it's oil change. I bought it from NJ and don't want to go all the way there for just that, don't want to bring it to a dealer at all. Can't change it myself as I live in a building. Thinking of just bringing it to a reputable quick lube place if they have the filter and all. I have to make a decision soon!  Nice to see some people owning the 5 here at NY. It's always fun to spot them on the road, it feels nice to be part of it. 
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Replying to: coolmazda5 (Jan 04, 2008 2:06 pm) |
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Hi folks! I bought a 2008 Mazda5 Sport (manual transmission) a couple of weeks ago, right before new year's day. Thanks everyone here in the forum for the information. I followed the forum for a couple of months before my wife and I made our purchase. I had a lot of vehicles on the consider list: Mazda3, Honda Odyssey, Accord, Civic, Fit, Toyota Sienna, Yaris, Corolla, Matrix, and several others. The Mazda5 is a tweener, slotting between but not with those vehicles. One concern I had was whether the engine & transmission would be strong enough: Opinions on forums and blogs seemed mixed. I feel the engine/tranny are strong enough that I feel comfortable starting at green lights and accelerating onto the freeway. I suppose the mixed opinions depend on expectations and perspective. My Mazda5 is replacing a minivan, not a sports car, and it is doing a fine job performance-wise. Interior space will be tight in the Mazda5 for those times when I have to transport 5 or 6 people. But those times will be rare. I can rent a van or attach a cargo carrier on top as needed. Interior space will be fine for transporting 2 parents + 2 kids. . . but it is nice to know that we can have 5 or 6 people in the vehicle in a pinch. I'd write more, but nissmazlover and others already gave a pretty extensive description of the 2008 Mazda5. . .
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