I am considering buying a mazda 5 2.0d sport 2006 model with 37000 on the clock. I feel a bit concerned when i read reviews about tyre wear. Some cars are only getting 10000 miles out of a set of tyres. Can anyone inform me if all mazda 5 models have the same problem and is it worth buying one of these cars.

 

Hi,

I can't consider myself an expert in the Mazda 5 in any way, having only actually owned one for a week.

However, when I raised the tyre wear issue with my local dealer I was told that it only affected diesel models with 17" wheels - so sport derivatives in the UK. Also, there was no general recall but modifications were made to vehicles and new tyres were supplied under warranty. I guess the issue is with the 06 plate ones you will soon be out of warranty and from what I have seen the recommended SP2050 tyres are quite expensive at £160 a piece from blackcircles.com unfitted.

From looking on honestjohn.co.uk there seems to have been an admission by Mazda about the problem because the 08 model year had some improvements which included a different toe angle for the rear axle and stronger alloys which according to Mazda are for better handling, but also seem to cure the tyre problem. They also fitted extra sound proofing in the 08 models.

I have seen evidence on mine - only 3,500 miles, that the front tyres wear quite heavily on the shoulders, as if the weight of the engine is scrubbing the tyres over and wearing the sidewalls. This is noted in other posts on here - but it could be because ours was an ex-mazda fleet car and had been driven like it was stolen!

The 08's are still quite expensive - around £13k upwards, so if going earlier I'd look in the dealer network for the zoom-zoom cars which will have a warranty on them or looking to see if any mods to the rear suspension have been done and possibly looking for an aftermarket warranty.

Overall though - for an MPV it's a great car, much better than I would expect from a tall van with no cross bracing to keep it stiff.

Good luck

Garry