Considering buying a Mazda5
 

My wife and I are sick of her unreliable Saab 9-5 Wagon and we want to get a Mazda5

what should I look out for on a test drive and inspection?
What years are best and which to avoid?

I know that 2008+ models had a 5 speed auto instead of the 4 speed. Is it worth the extra money to go that route?

Thanks in advance

If you are comfortable driving a stick, definately DEFINATELY go with a manual transmission. We did, and are we ever glad. Makes the van feel more like a car and less like a soccer-mom vehicle.

Note that if you ever plan on towing anything, this car may not work for you - everywhere I look they recommend against it, however, a small utility trailer with not too much weight is probably safe?

It's for my wife. She is more than capable of driving stick, however she doesn't WANT to with her next car.
While I'd love for her to get a 5 speed, she wants the automatic
I was wondering if it's really worth it to get the 5 speed over the 4 speed.

Great Car - Test Drive On Bad Roads
 

Love everything about my new 2010 Mazda 5 - - excpet for the ride! Have not yet taken it into the dealership to complain yet - but I will! I've heard they won't do anything about it anyway.

It handles great on curves and turns. Really grips the road. This car does go Zoom-Zoom just as the commercials say.

But it also goes BANG-BANG as well. If you run over a rough spot over 2 inches high - - the car feels like it will bottom out. I have lowered my speed to 25 MPH on side streets and this helps. You feel every single pimple on the road. If you have your teeth clenched and hit something larger than a pimple - - you could crack a tooth.

People on other blogs mention new struts and/or shock absorbers. Replacing all rims and tires is much too expensive. People have replaced the 17" rims with 16" rims and a tire with more tread than the low profiles that come with the car and get a better ride. But the larger rims look really nice. Hummmm. Will try the new shock absorbers first.

Getting automatic steering in California traffic is a must! Or you could get carpal tunnel in your right ankle. Well worth the extra $1k.

It is a crying shame that we do not get many options in this country as well. I've heard outside of US there are many more options. Hope the Mazda 5 works out all the kinks - - because - - otherwise it's a great car.

A couple of questions:

• What is "automatic steering"?
• How does one get carpal tunnel in your ankle? As far as I know, the carpal tunnel only exists in the human wrist. Yes, no?

I meant AUTOMATIC TRANNY
 

Was in a rush to get to lunch with a friend and neglected to do the "Preview Post". Next time I will be more careful.

I meant Automatic Transmission - - not Automatic Steering. Turns out Chapel was really only wondering about the 5 speed over the 4 speed anyway.

QUESTION:
Does anyone else have the problem with the really rough ride in the 2010 model Mazda 5? It is simply horrible. I wonder if I just got a lemon. I do not remember the two Mazda 5 2009 models that I test drove as being this bad.

You are right - - -
 

:) Yes Shipo

Carpel Tunnel SYNDROME is only found in the wrist.

Carpel Tunnel in the ankle was a joke.

Hard to tell in text - - I suppose.

Ahhh, that's when you use the semi-colon/right parenthesis to create a winky-face like this ;)

Understood - - BAD RIDE HELP !
 

Thanks Shipo - I will stay away from jokes as to avoid the need to use icons in the future.

Might you have any insight or answers to why my brand new Mazda 5 has such a horrible ride?

I understand a "sport" ride is much stiffer than usual and this must be what Mazda is trying to achieve.

My husband paid a premium price for his “Sporty” suspension on his BMW. I never liked the way you feel every bump on the road - - but at least it does NOT feel like you may lose something from underneath the car when you hit a slight bump.

The Mazda 5 feels like you might have bent the rim or something when going over a small bump.

Wonder if I should just sell this new car and find another?

Prior to becoming "poor" and driving a "poor man's BMW", I drove BMWs with and without the Sport Package so I can speak to what you're talking about. One thing that BMW does better than pretty much any other car maker in the world is make an extremely good handling suspension that doesn't knock the fillings out of your teeth when you hit a bump. My Mazda3 (the same suspension and tires as your Mazda5) handles well, nearly as well as say a non-SP equipped BMW 3-Series, however, its ride is no where near as refined as pretty much any BMW one would care to mention from the last twenty year or so.

Long story short, these cars handle well due to Mazda screwing the suspension down pretty tightly; that said, your words imply that your car is even stiffer than that. Is your car brand-new? If so, it could be that there are spacers in the springs that should have been removed before your car was delivered to you. FWIW, many manufacturers (possibly including Mazda) use spring spacers to stiffen the suspensions of cars while they're in transit so that they won't bounce on the various intermodal modes of transportation between the factory and your dealership. Another thing that manufacturers do to inhibit transit bounce is to put lots of pressure in the tires (like double or triple what is recommended for driving on roads); one of my BMWs was delivered to me with something like 80 PSI in the tires and it was almost impossible to keep in a straight line on the freeway. I took it back, complained, they discovered the "final prep" mistake and reduced the pressure and presto-chango, the car was a pussycat to drive.

Keep us posted. :)