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Mazda 5 vs Kia Rondo

803 messages,  Last post on Nov 16, 2009 at 3:25 PM

You are in the Mazda Mazda5 Forum. Your Host is Karens

What is this discussion about? Mazda MAZDA5, Kia Rondo, Car Comparisons, Car Buying, Wagon


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#291 of 803
Re: Snap Judgements [mrbwa1] by coolmazda5
Feb 07, 2008 (4:43 pm)
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Replying to: mrbwa1 (Feb 07, 2008 2:41 pm)

Question mrbw1a. What car seat and stroller do you have? Those things are massive. I have seated 5 adults and a baby on car seat with a large stroller in the back of the 3rd row and yes is packed, but my car seat is much wider than the width of a regular adult, so the captain chairs of the 2nd row are much better in my case as they provide the extra space needed for the car seat. A 2nd row full "bench" would not have been able to let me sit 2 adults and a baby seat. If you see the pics, I actually managed to fit the large stroller in the back of the 3rd row. In summary, I would not have seen a difference with a 7-seater with my big baby car seat .
 
Purely commuting with adults, yes, I agree, 7-seater > 6-seater. For babies, it is funny how those small sized troublemakers can need more gear than 2 adults all together
 
And yes, I agree, I'm also able to load/unload (including baby of course) my Mazda5s inside the garage in a cold Winter morning. The space is tight, so with no sliding doors, I would not have been able to do so.
 

 
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#292 of 803
Re: 2008 Mazda 5 Canadian model [conwelpic] by becp
Feb 07, 2008 (10:25 pm)
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Replying to: conwelpic (Dec 06, 2007 5:54 am)

First off .. I'm mid 40's.. no kids drive lots and a gadget freak ... so a basic model is just not me. I just spent a few weeks test driving the M5, Rondo, Legacy Wagon, and looked at the Tuscon, Outlander, Compass, Rav4, Matrix and countless others that did not seem to fit my criteria.
 
Although I really wanted an AWD vehicle my thought was to get the most features within my budget of $500.00 / mo all in... including warranty beyond my payments term.
   
Features I was used to not going to do without were leather, nav, stereo and sunroof... and enough room to sleep in the back (no its not intended to be my home lol)
 
This took Honda and Toyota out of the picture unless I wanted a smaller Fit size vehicle... I have owned the 92 Accord EX Wagon (My fav vehicle so far .. I sold it still in great running condition with 498,600 Kms ) and 95 - 4Runner that had everything but leather which convinced me I wanted leather
 
Tuscon just didn't so anything for me .. not sure why, it just didn't...
 
Jeep kind of scares me as it is a domestic vehicle... living in Windsor for 20 years taught me that some of us just dont care enough about making a good vehicle every day we go to work ... BTW Never buy one made on a Friday or Monday of a long weekend was the word of caution from workers ... NOT kidding .. but calm down patriots, I just traded in my Eddie Bauer Explorer.
 
The Rondo was my first test drive on the first day of my Ï want to buy a new vehicle excursion... It had it all .. includiung the warranty ... ok so the sunroof was more for the back seat .. so what , I took it out and I really loved the way it handles (even on hwy) and loved everything about it .. untill i noticed I was starting to feel uncomfortable .. my arms had no place to rest ... I am used to that centre console and side arm rest... I started thinking of what I liked in the Explorer so I turned on the stereo .. and it was poor .. not even fair .. I would consider it poor ... when back at the dealership .. I asked about arm rests and stereo upgrade and told no to armrests and that was the upgraded stereo ...
 
Next door was the Subaru dealership ..Legacy was my dream vehicle ... I absolutely LOVED that vehicle ... but to get most of the top features on my list it had to be the GT model or after market products (sunroof and nav) which again scares me ... hmmm do I scare too easy ... perhaps lol)
 
So I went to see about the Mazda .. and I too only seen them on the road ... I loved the sliding doors ... rode pretty darn good... lots of room ... and wow I can get it fully loaded within my budget ... 6 year financing and 7 year warranty ... I bought the black one out of the showroom with 8km on it ...
 
Never did get into the Outlander .. ohh well
#293 of 803
Re: smooth on the highway [conwelpic] by medicineman
Feb 07, 2008 (11:44 pm)
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Replying to: conwelpic (Feb 07, 2008 8:15 am)

Thanks for the compliment, conwelpic. I'm never sure how people will react to my posts because I usually say what's on my mind unfiltered and I'll go on about it (and sometimes regret it later). I often focus on the emotional and subjective aspects of vehicle ownership rather than on mere facts and figures. To me, if you don't discuss that stuff, you're missing half of the picture. I don't think people are used to that style of writing, maybe on a blog, but not on a forum.
 
I always enjoy your posts, mrbwa1. Sometimes, people try to be balanced but you can often sense that they're holding back what they really think. I don't sense that in you.
 
Coolmazda5, for my own situation, I've utilized all seven seats in my Rondo on the rare occasion with a mix of adults, kids and up to two child seats with an umbrella stroller behind the third row (a larger stroller will not fit). With six occupants, a larger stroller can fit by folding down one of the third-row seats. I've had no problems seating two adults and a child seat (maybe not your child seat) in the second row. It's a given that sliding doors would make loading even easier, but I've had no major difficulties loading the vehicle with adults, kids or child seats in my rather thin two-car garage.
 
becp, welcome to the forum. The Rondo does have armrests up front, one on each of the doors and a shared armrest (more like an elbow rest, really) on the center console. I'm sure you must have noticed them, but perhaps your height is a factor? I'm over six feet tall and my arms rest quite comfortably on the armrests. I have no real opinion about the stereo because I'm one of those rare individuals who mostly drive with the sound system turned off.
#294 of 803
Re: Snap Judgements [coolmazda5] by bobw3
Feb 08, 2008 (9:15 am)
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Replying to: coolmazda5 (Feb 07, 2008 4:43 pm)

Can't see the photos.
#295 of 803
Re: smooth on the highway [medicineman] by coolmazda5
Feb 08, 2008 (1:05 pm)
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Replying to: medicineman (Feb 07, 2008 11:44 pm)

Do you have any pics of actual people seating or things fitting in the Rondo? I think I have asked this earlier, but just in case. Pictures give more sense to the discussion... "A picture is worth more than 1000 words"
#296 of 803
Re: Snap Judgements [bobw3] by coolmazda5
Feb 08, 2008 (1:13 pm)
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Replying to: bobw3 (Feb 08, 2008 9:15 am)

Weird. I uploaded them here in CarSpace to avoid any non-compatibility issues. What about the links?
 
http://www.carspace.com/coolmazda5/Albums/mazda5%20cargo/mazda5_stroller_001.jpg- - - /photo/v./photo.jpg
 
http://www.carspace.com/coolmazda5/Albums/mazda5%20cargo/mazda5_stroller_003.jpg- - - /photo/v./photo.jpg
 
And I have added the ones with the car seat. Captain chairs just make it work well, the baby seats are extremely wide
 

 
#297 of 803
Re: Snap Judgements [coolmazda5] by mrbwa1
Feb 08, 2008 (2:05 pm)
Reply

Replying to: coolmazda5 (Feb 07, 2008 4:43 pm)

coolmazda5: thanks for the photos. I remember seeing them a while back and they look like a similar stroller. Our son was born Jan 24th (Our 1st), so we really haven't had too many outings. I'm still getting the hang or fatherhood right now. We have also have my 2 1/2 yr old nephew in a booster seat in the 5 a few times and the 6-seat configuration is very nice there. He also loves the 5 because he can operate the sliding doors due to their low effort! Surprisingly, with a toddler in the middle row and the seat all the way up, he had a nice foot rest on the back of the passenger seat and I had decent room back in the 3rd row "economy class" section. (The wife is usually driving "her" car).
 
  I'll also second the amazing amount of space that baby "stuff" takes up in a car! Another nice thing about the 5 is the shallow tray in the back. I just checked and ours is filled with extra wipes, diapers, etc.
 
All and all, I think the 5 has some very kid-friendly features that helped sway opur decision. BUT, if I were putting in a bunch of adults, or perhaps needing to tow, than the Rondo has some advantages there.
#298 of 803
'08 Rondo EX 5-seater, CDN by conwelpic
Feb 08, 2008 (4:22 pm)
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becp - congratulations on the purchase of the '08 Mazda 5, I'm sure you will enjoy it very much.
However I was extremely surpised regarding your comment
"my arms had no place to rest ... I am used to that centre console and side arm rest... I started thinking of what I liked in the Explorer so I turned on the stereo .. and it was poor .. not even fair .. I would consider it poor ... when back at the dealership .. I asked about arm rests and stereo upgrade and told no to armrests and that was the upgraded stereo ... "
 
this is totally opposite to my findings, the combination of the door rest and the centre console armrest makes it very confortable and just at the right height and I also find that if you are using the transmission manually, that resting your arm on the console armrest to shift is the ideal height - couldn't be more perfect set up. I have the seat all the way back and I'm 5'-11".
Regarding the stereo - I find it outstanding and listening to my CD's through the six speakers, I couldn't ask for a better sound. It's so easy to operature, maybe it wasn't set up right? Very puzzling comments, almost like you are not driving the same vehicle I own.
 
some pictures
carrying a large item in the back of my Rondo
 

 
possible storage capacity in the 5-seater model
 
#299 of 803
Re: '08 Rondo EX 5-seater, CDN [conwelpic] by coolmazda5
Feb 08, 2008 (4:40 pm)
Reply

Replying to: conwelpic (Feb 08, 2008 4:22 pm)

Finally some pics. That gives a better "picture" to potential buyers. What is in the box? I think I posted these long time ago, but here we go again, I'm not tracking where all my old posts are:
 
Here is a swing set (2 seater). The store did not think it would fit . I just had to tie the liftgate and drive through back roads.
 

 

 
And here is trip day (4 seater):
 
#300 of 803
Re: '08 Rondo EX 5-seater, CDN [coolmazda5] by conwelpic
Feb 08, 2008 (5:13 pm)
Reply

Replying to: coolmazda5 (Feb 08, 2008 4:40 pm)

don't see your pictures in this last post, I see mine. The pictures on your early one with the stroller came out fine.
 
The box weighed nearly 200lbs and was 56" long, 33" wide and 25" high, I had quite a bit of room to the back of the front seats when it was in place.

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