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Vans & Minivans Mazda Mazda5 Mazda 5 vs Kia Rondo
801 messages, Last post on Nov 10, 2009 at 8:34 PM
You are in the Mazda Mazda5 Forum. Your Host is Karens
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Replying to: bowserh (Dec 01, 2007 4:07 am) Anyways, where was I? Oh, yeah, car enthusiasts buying Rondos. It's probably true that they wouldn't have bought the Rondo if it were their only vehicle, but their reasoning seems to be pretty much the same as yours--the Rondo is their family car and they have another car that is their "fun" car. Yeah, I know that's a backhanded compliment to the Rondo, but it also shows that they were most likely attracted by the Rondo's biggest selling point, its versatility and configurability. There might also be the impression that, due to comparisons to the Mazda5, the Rondo must have poor performance and handling. In my personal experience, my 4-cylinder Rondo performs and handles just fine. In Canada (not sure about the States), the Rondo is advertised as an "urban utility vehicle." That's just another useless advertising slogan, but it happens to aptly describe how I use the Rondo. I use the Rondo almost entirely in the city to move people and/or cargo in short jaunts. The Rondo has more than enough power for this kind of task and is surprisingly nimble in negotiating the urban nightmare. As nimble as the Mazda5? According to the reviews, I would say No. But this doesn't necessarily mean that its handling is poor--just not as good as the Mazda5. I've read about one hundred reviews of the Rondo (I kid you not) and according to my subjective meta-analysis, the vast majority of reviews state that the Rondo's performance/handling is good or adequate. Yeah, not impressive, but not bad, either. For me, not being a real "driver," good or adequate is good enough. "Good enough" wouldn't be good enough if we were talking about sports cars, but we're talking about mini people movers here. The vast majority of Rondo reviews have been positive and I'm assuming just a few of those reviewers must be car enthusiasts, eh? If these guys can give the Rondo a thumbs up, there must be something to owning a vehicle that is all about practicality with no sports car aspirations. Believe it or not, there is a certain beauty to practicality done well, without flash and panache. None of this really matters, of course, if the Rondo is too fugly and dorky in one's eyes for one to even consider it. In that case, I'll just continue to drive around in my doofus-mobile (because I'm just too damned clued out to realize how intrinsically butt-ugly it is), scaring the wits out of every decent, God-loving woman and child, and causing every adult male to wet himself due to uncontrollable gaiety. Didn't Jesus once saith, "Greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the Rondo"? A real man would be driving a real car, a real hot and sporty number, right? Well, I'm not lacking so I don't need to compensate, ya know. (Yes, I'm joking--who said this had to be funny in order for it to be a joke?) BTW, if you're American, you should probably know that all vehicles in the States will eventually have ESC. If a functional seven-seater Mazda5 ever shows up in North America, that along with the inclusion of ESC would pretty much make it the definitive mini hauler (on paper, at least). Of course, by then, Honda, Toyota and everyone else will have one of these type of vehicles available in North America and it will be a different ball game. |
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looks like Mazda Canada is starting to get the 2008 info set (looks like its not all complete at this time) the base GS model has increased by $800 and the GT now include a/c as standard but is reflected in the price. The new 5-speed auto is now an $1100 option up from $1000 for the 2007 4-speed version.
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Replying to: conwelpic (Dec 05, 2007 2:51 pm) Mazda 5 sales in Canada for November 2007 - 711, Rondo - 670 Mazda 5 sales in USA for Nov - 468, Rondo - 3570
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Replying to: conwelpic (Dec 06, 2007 5:54 am) http://www.kia-world.net/index.php/2007/12/04/kia-canada-november-sales/ |
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Replying to: conwelpic (Dec 06, 2007 5:54 am) Mazda 5 sales in USA for Nov - 468, Rondo - 3570 Assuming these numbers are correct, they show a few things: (1) Canadians bought about a third of this class of cars as the Americans, although the population is much smaller. (2) Americans prefer the Rondo much more that the Mazda, while the Canadians show only a slight preference to the Mazda. while #1 is probably due to the American culture ("I want my car big!"), I wonder what is the reason for #2. Is it better Mazda marketing or pricing in Canada? (I live in the Boston area, and a Kia Rondo EX V6 owner)
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Replying to: zklopman (Dec 12, 2007 2:32 pm)
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Replying to: kivo (Dec 13, 2007 7:16 am)  I believe that we may need more trending numbers to draw the conclusion that zklopman is posting, although yes, I see a preference for the Rondo over the Mazda5 here in the US. Possibly one of the top attributes of the Mazda5 is scaring off Americans: the sliding door as it "resembles" a Minivan (just see how the Mazda5 is classified within this forum  ). In Europe and Asia minivans are not well known so it doesn't fall into that classification (and they are hot items there)
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Replying to: coolmazda5 (Dec 13, 2007 8:35 am) I think that the Rondo's big advantage in the US is the dealer network/setup, along with the advertising. The MZ5 is a relative unknown to shoppers because of the lack of advertising. So if a person comes in looking at say a Mazda3, the sell-up is either to a 3 hatchback, a 6 or the CX-7 CUV. Even if the 5 is presented as an alternative, all the uneducated buyer will see is MINIVAN sliding doors! I don't know why, but Americans seem to have a dislike for sliding doors, even while complaining about tight parking spots. The Rondo slots in at a different point. Kia advertises heavily, and especially in my area, there is a constant ad along the lines of: "Need a Car? Have $99? Come see Kia." This may bring people in for the basic Rio. Also, due to Kia's ever-increasing quality, I believe that the repeat buyer numbers are probably pretty high. So you either have someone coming in looking at a new Rio/Optima, or maybe a previous owner looking for a bigger car. For Kia, the Rondo is that bigger car. The Sportage CUV is there, but the Rondo can be presented as a cheap bigger car.The the uneducated buyer, the Rondo is a car (4 doors) and is styled vaguely crossover-ish. I don't think that most people research and analyze several alternatives as much as those here on the forums. For those that don't, I think Kia has a better up-sell/cross-sell path to the Rondo than Mazda does to the 5. For those the take the time to get educated, both the 5 and Rondo come out a great cars in different ways. That is the think about competition, in it's true form, competition tends to bring out several good alternatives. |
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Anyone with experience with the temperature in the 3rd row for either the Rondo or Mazda5? I'm wondering how any heat gets to the feet of 3rd row passengers. Can heat flow under the 2nd row seats to the floor of the 3rd row?
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Replying to: bobw3 (Dec 14, 2007 7:30 am)  . I'll have to wait until Summer to try it out I guess. Regardless, the front seats have ducts underneath to make the air circulate around. Now that I think, 6 people seating in a Mazda5 sounds like a lot of human heat to me, who needs a powerful heater for that? 
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