Greetings, new to the forum, not to Mazda. Have owned 2 Miata and one Rx7 since 1984. I have to admit I am brand loyal. To date nothing with Mazda has ever broken so bad that i would never buy again, fortunate I guess. I am in the market for a new car and am looking at a CX5.

Hoping to gleen some information from the forum to help me make an informed buying decision. Here is where I am at; I own 2 vehicles outright, a 2003 Nissan Xterra with 125K on the clock that I have kept well maintained, it is my year round car and winter beater. It has been getting some new parts and work done these last few years and I realize it will not last forever so I am thinking it is getting time to part ways with it( think i would be lucky to get about $4K for it). Car #2 is a 2006 MX5 with 84K on the clock. I am getting to the age where it is time to step away from the 2 seat roller skate and maybe get down to 1 do all vehicle. Enter the CX5.

What I had been looking at up till about a week ago was an AWD sport sedan, sell the MX5, and keep the Xterra for a winter beater. Those choices were either a Ford Fusion Sport (19" wheels, AWD, 2.7L V6 twin turbo, leather, hole in the roof) and a Subaru WRX or something in the Roo lineup (with leather and a hole in the roof). The Ford is out because i just can not bring myself to buy something that is almost what I want and I distrust it's reliability, that and the 2017 prices for a year old car are not dropping and the value of the car is plummeting fast. No thanks. The Subaru is out because I don't look good in a flat brimmed ball cap pulled over my ears at 58 y/o. That and the Impreza is an econo box cars with a bunch of parts hung on it that make it a fast econo box car. It is stiff riding, noisy, and not what I am looking for. The CUV Subarus.....I think it might have gender issues and is expensive for what it is and I'm not a tree hugging granola chewer. Nissan Rogue? Got that snow mobile tranny, hate those. I have owned Mazda a long time, I like their road manners, styling, etc.

I have not had a lot of time to plow thru the CX5 forum but have seen a few threads about issues with the GT and the T. I have been considering a 2016 GT with under 20K miles and under $25K. I can live with a price between $25-$28K on a 20017 GT if I can find one at that price. I saw some discussion about options on the GT, cracking windshields, headlight failures, tranny failures etc. Some of these issues seem to have been ironed out, BUT I do not know enough about models and options to figure out my best for me car in a 2017 CX5.

These are my MUST HAVE items on the next Mazda....leather with heated seats, hole in the roof, 19" wheels, AWD, would like the LED lighting. do not need all the whiz bang electronic gizmo commander gear. I may get out to a dealership and take a look at the 2017s and figure out the packages. It seems that on OCT 3, incentives expire and the so called fire sale begins. But just as a preliminary, Touring or Grand Touring based upon what I described as my must havers? The more I think about it, a new leftover 2017 might be the smarter of the 2 options and privately sell off my 2 other cars as time permits, have enough in savings to make a down payment that can be replaced with selling the other 2.

Thanks in advance for imput!

PS: a little about me, commercial bus driver that does about 60K a year commercially and 17K personal vehicle. Hence the name Road Warrior.

 

Do yourself a favor and post this here:https://www.mazdas247.com/forum/foru...549-Mazda-CX-5
Much more active forum; you'll get tons of responses (not all good, but that's forum life!)