I bought a lexus GS300 last year. The transmission was trash when I bought it, so put a used transmission in and figured I would get some life out of the car. 20k miles later, the rings decided they are tired too. Well you know what rings, I'm tired too. so the lexus is going to auction so someone else can have misery and regret. I can't in good concious sell it to anyone else.
The replacement search started last week. I didn't have an idea what I wanted. I want something I can drive 50 miles a day without paying for premium and 19mpg. I want something my wife can drive, and we can fit 3 kids in. This popped up in my facebook search, 4 hours from me. payment is made, I pick it up Saturday.
2009 Mazda5. Single owner, clean title, and the very, very best part....
Sadly its a auto. when the 21k mile transmission goes out I'll look into a manual swap :D
Here is a link to a thread started 10 years ago that became the Mazda5 owners thread and is now 22 pages long.
My wife had a 2010 that we bought new and then something like 8 years and 80k miles later, I sold to another GRMer.
Of the 3 kids, is at least one of them old enough for a booster seat? I ask because, the two second row seats have tethers and can accept any age car seat but the third row doesn't have tethers and is best for just use with a booster seat (or no car seat at all, if old enough.) But, no so old, large, to not fit in the small 3rd row.
The 3rd row jump seats are probably best for kids aged 4 to 12 years old. (Big enough kids w/o being too big.)
My wife now drives a Grand Caravan (GC) and just about every time she drives the GC she laments how the GC is so big for everyday travel and the Mazda5 was so right for that same everyday travel. She really liked the Mazda and really misses it.
In reply to John Welsh :
Thats very good to know, thank you! I have 9, 7, and 5 year old girls. the younger 2 are in booster seats, so no car seats needed.
Also know that the 2nd row seats have fore and aft sliders like typical front seats. A slight slide forward of a #2row seat can make life better for the #3row occupant.
Speaking of front seats, a quirk/dislike:
My wife's was the base model. This meant manual front seats but the seats had a manual height adjustment too. The quirk/dislike is that if you raised the seat, it actually moved the seat more forward too. Myself at 6'1" and my wife at 5'2".
My wife's seat placement: all the way back and all the way up/height
My own seat placement: all the way back and all the way down/height
This meant that if i was getting in to drive the car after her, I did not adjust the fore/aft but rather just did a lot of cranking of the lever that lowers the seat. At my own 6'1" and 32 inseam, I could have benefited if the front seat would have had one more notch or rearward travel.
In reply to John Welsh :
Im not actually sure what model it is. I assume base if I was going off of the radio/interior? no badges on the thing. I thought about asking but since I was buying it either way, I dont really care that much.
Ive wanted one of these for years, but sport van or whatever you want to call it, its still a mini van. maybe a mini mini van. either way, Im at the point in my life where I have 3 kids, Im married, and practical beats pretty much everything else. also, I'm excited to not have to do anything to this car.
My wife and I aren't too much different in height, so the only seat adjustment I do is lean the seat back a little.
You have fogs and sunroof so yours is not the base also known as Sport. I think yours is called the Touring. To get leather, then the Grand Touring model. The base meant no sunroof and the base was the only version that could get manual trans. Our was a auto trans but still a base with no sunroof or fogs.
In reply to lnlogauge :
Fog lights, moon roof, and cloth seats = Touring Trim
In reply to John Welsh :
The early (06-07) 5's could be had in Touring with the manual, my silver one was that. That was fairly common. The facelift (08-09) 5's supposedly were all auto with Touring, but I have seen two with my own eyes that were factory manuals, including one original owner with window sticker. I have seen the unsubstantiated number online of 13 Touring manuals being built for 2008.
Note that all of the above is USA only. Canada got different trims and so did everywhere else.
Congrats and welcome to the club! I love my 2012 5 Sport. Bought it about 1.5 years ago. I tend to have serious automotive ADD that causes me to start looking for the next thing after a year or so, but the only thing I'd want to replace the 5 with is a nicer condition one in Grand Touring trim.
I love these. They make so much sense for certain uses. Fun to drive for what it is. Enjoy!
I was just thinking today how reliable the wife's 2013 has been. It's got close to 150,000 miles. Oil, tires, brakes are all it's needed. With a manual it would actually be fun to drive.
poopshovel again said:
I was just thinking today how reliable the wife's 2013 has been. It's got close to 150,000 miles. Oil, tires, brakes are all it's needed. With a manual it would actually be fun to drive.
I ordered my manual '12 in 2011. Awesome car for 205,000 miles. A clutch, at that mileage; and timing tensioner and phasers were the only maint items it really needed.
We bought an '09 new, and my wife drove it for about 7 years. It was absolutely the right size and shape for a family of 4. Five should be fine too, except that for vacations you might need a rooftop carrier. It drive well, handled well, and got decent mileage, but wasn't quick and was a little revvy on the highway (hers was a 5M). Sliding doors are a fantastic idea; the world, or at least the U.S, needs more mini-Minivans.
Reliability was not its forte'. It ate brakes and shocks and struts, the right sliding door jammed, the exhaust was dead after 7 years (I've found that most newer cars have nearly lifetime exhaust systems), the A/C died, it started to develop some rust spots in body panels, which is pretty much unheard of these days in my corner of the Mid-Atlantic, and most concerning, it developed excessive negative camber at the rear, apparently because of a weak structure. The 5 shares a platform with some Fords and Volvos, and the negative camber is common enough that adjustable links are sold to deal with it.
