2013 Mazda5 is now live on Mazdausa.com

[DKaz]

I have an app on my iPhone called Songza where you can select playlists you can listen to. Select your mood/activity, select genre, go.

Satellite Radio was great in my rental car where I had to drive from one city to another with no radio reception in between.

 

[Robotazky]

Oh, that. The Sirius trial was fun, but then we thought about how many CDs we could buy for the subscription price, especially as there are *maybe* 3-5 stations I would listen to.



One of the sales managers at our dealer made the same observation when I asked him about USB for '12.

I wonder how feasible it would be to retrofit the USB interface ... assuming, of course, that it does what I think it does (i.e. use the radio's controls to browse music files stored on a thumb drive).

You can get a 1-yr subscription for $65-70 if you haggle with them. Just make sure you request a manager and get someone who speaks English as their first language(read: someone in the USA, not India).

Regarding the '13 model, this is just another year of feeling like I'm just valued enough by Mazda to have the worst bone in the chicken thrown at me. We're just a token entity to make a little extra cash on. Easy money.

 

[coolmazda5]

Sometimes it does seem like Mazda takes along time on certain technologies, like the signals on the side mirrors, but I do like how when they do finally come around, they offer several of those features even on their sport model. Something that many manufacturers don't do. Their sports models come equipped with some pretty nice tech compared to other base models from other manufacturers. Sometimes they are just the last to the party with some of their tech: USB, turn signals on side mirrors, ect.....

I think it's not Mazda in general, it's more of Mazda for the US and Canada, and is not related to technology but to costs. They are all made in Japan, and many features have been available for other markets for a long time already, but at a premium price

But you are correct, the basic trim levels seem more generous than other manufacturers.

 

[cburrell]

Agreed, depending of the priority level of the vehicle for Mazda in North America, depends on who gets the shaft on certain features. It has been well documented on this forum, the deficiency of the 5 when it comes to features and engine options here state wide compared to what Europe and some other countries get. Unfortunately, here in the states, Mazda knows this is a niche vehicle with very low sales, so they dump no money into advertising and put it at the bottom of their priority list for North America. It is frustrating at times, but at the end of the day, I understand it is a business and they have a bottom line.

 

[DKaz]

I don't see Kia Rondo and Chevy Orlando ads on TV either. I'll occasionally see all three in the newspaper or in Google ad spaces.