We are a few months away from getting a new vehicle and we are looking at the Mazda5. What does everyone think about it ? Never had a Mazda and do not see many on the road but have heard that they are a good car. Is Mazda a good company to work with or not ? Are they good are helping the customers after the sale ? We have had Dodge vehicles in the past and like them. We are looking into the Mazda for the higher gas mileage. SO basically are they any good and is Mazda a good company to purchase from ?

 

I've had three Mazdas so far: A 1992 323, a 2011 Mazda3, and currently, a 2007 Mazda5.

I love them.

They are totally rock-solid dependable vehicles. All you need to do is feed them oil and gas and they'll never, ever break down. I am amazed at the build quality; even my little cheapie college-days 323 didn't squeak, rattle, or break down.

The Mazda5 was the sportiest, most fun-to-drive little car I've ever owned. It was very nimble and spritely on the controls, and drifted like nobody's business. Again, the build quality was just stellar. But because I was extraordinarily rough on the transmission (I had a six-speed manual), I needed it replaced within six months of my purchasing it. But that was my own damn fault. :-)

I just replaced it the other day woth a Mazda5 because, while I absolutely adored the 3, it was far smaller and far less practicall than I expected it to be. But I'd always wanted a 5, and so I picked up a 2007 Mazda5, with 61,000 mikes on it.

The car is in amazing shape. Again, the build quality is absolutely superb--it is as solid a car as any new car I've ever driven; even after five years and 61,000 miles, the doors close solidly, there are no squeaks or rattles, and it drives like it just left Hiroshima (I swear that's not a sleight--that's where the Mazda plant is where they're built). It's just as sporty, responsive, powerful, and fun to drive as my 3 was, even with the four-speed automatic gearbox. Plus, I get the added benefit of an extra seat and acres more cargo room.

Buy a 5. You'll absolutely love it.

 

I bought mine about 3 months ago. I love mine a lot, and always want to take it out on the road. I get about 32 on highway and about 26.4 combined. Got good pickup and just finished upgrading the factory speakers to Focal component up front, and coaxial in the rear. Also added a sub and Dynamat. It drives and feels like a Lexus or more expensive luxury car now. Looking to Dynamt the middle sliding doors and the trunk as well in the next few weeks. I've realized that after having put down Dynamts for the front doors, most of the road noise were coming from there.

 

What year is your 5 and where and what size sub did you install?

 

Mine is a 2012, but installing it is same as with 2006 on. Basically, you run at least a 8 AWG minimum power wire from the battery and run it along the driver's side (there's a square white cover next to the brake pedal in an automatic that you can drill) along the door sill cover to the trunk. I put in a JL JX250/1 mono amp for the sub. I tapped into the rear speaker terminals to get high signal inputs for the amp. Then I bought a 10" Kicker TCVT enclosure and mounted it the driver's side in the trunk. I mounted some Industral Strength Velcro underneath it, just the rough sided one and stuck underneath the amp; the it holds onto the trunk carpeting. Then when you flip the seat down, it goes down with it. I added some additional self tapping screws on front and back to secure it. It took a over a month of regular playing to get them break in. However, if you want your amp / sub to sound nice, you have to change out those cheap factory speakers as if you leave them on, it will cause harmonics and it will sound terrible no matter what you do.

 

We got our 07 Mazda5 new. About 170,000 miles on it. My wife is the primary driver but I drive it too. She loves it, if I was a big guy it would be a tight fit. My wife is v. small and it suits her great. Tires are expensive and you must rotate them every 3000 miles to help make them last. One headlight bulb needs to be replaced each year. For the money its a good 6 seat ride.

 

I think one of the reason why you don't see a lot of Mazda5'a are because I think Honda and Toyota. Peple automatically associate quality when they hear Honda and Toyota. For example, one of my coworker is always knocking Mazdas saying Hondas are better. From experience, I've had several Hondas previously, Civic, Accord, and Odyssey. Latter two I didn't like -- honestly, I think the best Hondas I've owned was the Civic with 16V DOHC engine. Mazdas have good quality like Honda or Toyota, but it has something very important: it's fun to drive. It's also very sporty.

 

I was used to a loaded VW Passat with all the bells and whistles and a V6 30 valve. I am a salesman and drive about 90,000 kms a year up here in Alberta/Sask in Canada. I need reliability, comfort and enjoyability in my ride. More important, I carry a lot of samples, and the fold-down seats on this Mazda gives more flat cargo park than any other vehicle I have seen. Low down, and easy in and out, unlike SUV's. A bit leery at first, being small four, but I gotta tell you, this Van/Car is all I wanted it to be. I get almost 700kms a tank on highway with a full load! Not so bad around town. The heated seats need to be rethought, as they will burn a small hole through your butt. Heated mirrors would be a boon. I've got the leather/sunroof loaded version, and while its not quite the VW, I feel good moving from the old VW to this Mazda.
Problems? Well, the back bounces around when going over rough roads at speeds - a little disconcerting. Had to have a wheel alignment because the indsides of the back tires ripped off - musta been those Sask roads!
Change the oil every 5-6,000 kms and use winter tires for sure, and I am thinking this one's gonna see me through the 5 years I need it to.

 

If you go through the classifieds and car ads in the papers and on-line up here, you hardly ever see a Mazda 3 or 5 in an add or up for sale second hand. They not only give owner satisfaction (people rarely move out of them) but hold their value real good as well. I am seeing a lot of them around.
Hey, one other thing I did see - a lady in Calgary actually rolled her Mazda 5 here the other day - in a subdivision!! I am very leery of rolls (rolled a Sidekick the other year) and I would not take a Mazda 5 fast into a corner. It may be a racy spunky ride, but good at corners - it is not!

 

Why change the oil so often? Modern oil in modern engines can go an easy 7,500 miles or more and still provide exceptional lubrication. In fact, now that my warranty is up on my 2009 Mazda3, I'm switching to ten to twelve thousand mile oil changes (with synthetic of course).