Mazda 5 - What Do I Need To Know?

I found a 2010 with the options I think I want with 90k on the clock. Looks to be a well maintained vehical and the price is very nice.

What do I need to know about these?

Here is the 19 page long Mazda5 thread

There's no luggage room with the rearmost seats up.

My wife loves hers.

Oil changes are a pita.

They're a Mazda3 wearing a minivan body. Which means they're minivan awesomeness. Wish I had bought one.

They have absolutely terrible side impact ratings if that's something you worry about.

We have a 2012 which has been flawless for over 130K miles. Would buy another one with out any hesitation.

For easier oil changes you can cut a big hole in the splash guard under the oil filter. Another option it to add an adapter from a 3 then it will have a spin on filter that is located where the access hole already is.

145k on ours so far, my wife doesn't like the seats or how loud it is on the highway. I think she is picky and the continental tires are causing some of the noise.

Other than shocks and brakes and one lower a arm bushing it has been perfectly reliable and easy on gas.

I have an 07 with an auto, its underpowered, but thats not what it was bought for. Kinda handles like crap to me, but again, not what it was bought for (plus, I dont really FWD and the tires are older). The power locks on the sliding door need to be replaced, but otherwise no real issues.

I enjoyed my 5-speed 2008, but gas mileage was really no better than the larger minivans. I averaged 25mpg in mixed, mostly highway driving. It's basically more fun to drive than a regular minivan in the twisties, but more tiring on the freeway. The difference in interior space is massive.

Rust is an issue at the rear corners in salt states, the rear suspension bushings tend to go bad early and squeak a lot, and accelerate rear tire wear.

I had to replace rear suspension bushings, rear dampers, tires, replace both sliding door lock actuators, and one front wheel bearing on mine. I think I sold it with about 80,000 miles on it. I liked it but didn't love it.

Resale value is not great, especially with the manual.

Ours was tiny step up size-wise from the Fit. But yeah, gutless, and not "great" fuel economy. And now that the kids are getting bigger (it happens,) we're looking to step up to a "real" van.

No complaints on reliability. Tires, brakes, oil changes so far.

Also: The side impact thing doesn't surprise me. A guy backed into us in a parking lot a couple weeks ago...so like a 1mph impact. Completely destroyed the front fender/bumper/fog-light assembly.

Anyway, I kind of look at it as a slightly larger honda fit that doesn't handle anywhere near as well and gets way worse fuel economy. Sliding doors are nice with the kids, but I wish we'd gone straight for a "real van."

SOMEBODY just HAD to have something that didn't "look like a van" though

In reply to akylekoz:

I tend to agree on the seats. I just can't get comfortable in them. They destroy my back on a long road trip.

As a former Mazda5 owner and current Fit owner I'd agree entirely with poop's hovel above.

The Fit has been a much better car in every way - fun to drive, better mileage, more reliable. You could fit one more person in the Mazda5 technically, but you wouldn't want to.

My wife used to have a 2008 touring with the automatic, not a bad car was good until it wasn't. Ours had the powersteering issue that was taken care of at the dealer but only after I went to Mazda North america to bitch about it..... The rear shocks went totally south after about 50k miles or so. As in completely blown, and leaking oil out. I replaced them with some KYB gas shocks and had no other problems with them. This car went through brakes alot too, especially if the rears are not adjusted correctly. The car got pretty good milage we used to get around 29-30mpg on the highway with it. The transmission acted up at around 120k miles the dealer offered a junkyard replacement for $1500 or a new one for $4500 I opted to have AAMCO rebuilt it for $3k We traded it in about 2 months later and only got about $3200 for it....like I said it was a good car until it wasn't.

My younger brother had an auto Mazda 5 and hated it. Said it was gutless and didn't get very good MPG. His wife doesn't like driving "big" cars, so it was a compromise.

Ours has about 230,000km on it now. It's an 09 5spd auto we bought new. I think the trans works pretty well, ratios are good. I've had the fluid changed every 60,000-80,000 km since new and it still shifts like it did the day we brought it home. The manual mode is fairly responsive and I find I use it fairly often as the engine is fun to rev and is short on torques.

Fully loaded with "leather" and nav etc. I've done brakes once (fronts need to be done again)rear shocks, some sway bar bushings and a climate control sensor on warranty, and the drivers side seat heater packed it in last winter. That's it.

It has been great. The interior has held up excellently to our family of 4 plus doggo.

We don't live where it's particularly salty, and rust has not been an issue for us.

It's been so good that I still think of it as "our new car".

The Mrs. loves ours. I think Road and Track described them as "an automotive platypus", which is a pretty apt description. They aren't a great car and they aren't a great van, but do a decent job of incorporating at little bit of both. Mileage is a little lower than some of the "advertised" numbers, but so was our old Odyssey. Overall, I'd say we're getting 15-20% better MPG's than the Honda, but the Honda was an 04 and I know Honda claims to have squeezed a few more miles per gallon out of the newer models. They are definitely underpowered. Not dramatically so, but sometimes I miss the "point and shoot" on-ramp capability of the Honda V6. Where it really shines is for a family, like ours, that just barely needs a van. The kids like the captain's chairs vs. a bench seat. The sliding doors are way easier and cause fewer garage dents in the side of my Miata, which makes me happy. The footprint of the car is way smaller than the Odyssey and freed up a lot of space in our garage. With the seats down, it has roughly 80% of the cargo capacity of the old van. There are a few loads (mostly furniture) that haven't fit, but 90+% of the time it's sufficient. One thing I've really grow to love is the fact that it isn't a van. Its much easier to park, drive and especially to back up. Back up? Not a big deal, you say. Except that it is a big deal for us. My wife is relatively short, with perhaps less than stellar depth perception, and had extreme difficulty backing our Honda. It was big, wide, long and the sight lines were terrible. The Mazda, on the other hand is small, narrow and short . . . and the sight lines are terrible (3 out of 4 ain't bad). So far (knocks on wood), she hasn't backed into anything with the Mazda. She also likes the height adjustable seats and feels like it gives her a much better view of the road. (I, on the other hand, am not crazy about having to crank them down to the floor to get comfortable) I do feel like, handling wise, it's a much more enjoyable drive. In comparison, the Honda felt like a delivery truck.

YMMV

bought an 08 a couple years ago with 78k on it, 128k on it now.

lowered it on megan springs, replaced rear shocks with koni yellows, have done rear brakes and a rear caliper. did a custom alignment and still get some cupping on the rear but with 5k mile tire rotations tire wear balances out and life overall is fine.

I have driven underpowered cars my entire life, I dont find the 5 to be inadequate which seems to be everyones common complaint. My driving is pretty much 100% stop and go short distances now and im getting around 23-24 mpg. It should be noted that I kind of drive like a bat out of hell everywhere, like taking turns pretty quickly and the 5 is engaging to drive for what it is. Lowering helped and I am running 225 width tires now on the stock wheels. Would love to add an oem mazdaspeed3 rear swaybar, but for now its just fix stuff as needed.

I do have an occasional knock/clunk when I shift from park to reverse, I think its motor mount related. I have all the motor mounts in the garage including a Focus ST rear mount, Been too hot and super busy with work I have not gotten around to swapping the parts.

I approve failboats message. Ours is an 09 GT. Bought at 60k and has 131K now. We have takeout shocks and struts from a Speed car and RX8 wheels with Michelins. It was loud before the Michelins. It is one of the happiest cars I have ever owned. Replaced the oil cooler and sway bar end links. A perfect car? No. A great car that does many things well and that I would buy again. Absolutely.

I'm on Mazda5 #2. First was an 06 Sport MT5, bought at 70k, totaled at 100k by a new Exploder running a red light, and not a scratch on me. It needed the updated valve cover gasket, a power door lock actuator, and the oe pads/rotors replaced over my tenure. The suspension on that one was tight with no noises but the stereo was awful. The cd changer even failed.

Now I have an 08 Touring AT5. Bought at 73k, has 88k on it now. Needed a fuel cap and a rear camber arm so far. I've been chasing a suspension clunk so I put all new strut mounts, KYB's, and H&R springs on it. It has weird tire wear and is noisy, but I think it's just a crappy tire. I think the factory suspension arms are just very susceptible to damage and bend easily, which whacks out the alignment.

Overall though, I love them. They are the "right" size for my family (2 adults, 2 kids, no dog) and are so versatile. SWMBO and her friend loaded up 4 kids and the 2 of them and went to the beach multiple times, I've hauled home 12 foot long lumber, and it will swallow 4 wheels/tires of the 275 size while transporting 2 car seats. I track mileage religously and average 25 mixed, 27 highway (the manual one did better by 2ish) and oil changes are every 7500 with Mobil 1/Wix Platinum.

They aren't perfect, and they aren't for everyone, but they ride and handle like a sport compact and are dirt cheap to buy and maintain. My screwed up neck/back really appreciates the sliding doors, too.

I'll jump in again, I bought my '12 sport in 2011 after totaling my E39 Touring. I have 183,000 miles on it and will list repairs here:

Transmission syncros 1/2 and gears (warranty @55,000)

Sway bar end links: 5 times on the rear, never on the front

Hub bearings: twice on the right front, once on the left front (warranty one each side)

Rear motor mount

Brakes all around, rear twice

Timing chain, tensioner, cam phaser (at 155,000 miles)

Spark plugs

I modified it a bit which caused some of the above wear:

Lowered on H&R sports (stock from struts still, Koni rears @100,000)

JBR shift plate shortener ( may have caused the synchro issue due to misalignment)

JBR tubular rear sway bar (probably causes the end link issues)

Porsch Cayenne 17x7.5 wheels on adaptors (may cause the hubbbearing issue due to offsets)

Now on Volk Racing 17x8/9 GRC

Tinted windows.

It is a good do everything platform, it doesn't get the best mileage (28 lifetime), it isn't the quietest, not the smoothest, fastest or nimblest. It will fit a 2.0 16v VW motor and trans in the back, I've had four 11r24.5 semi tires in it, I've hauled thirty two cases of rotella. If I put the seats up I can haul my family (5) and if I leave them down there is a great working platform. It has sliding doors so it is good in parking lots, parking garages and other tight areas; it looks OK but isn't flamboyant. It's the Swiss Army knife of small car ownership.