I finally got one!

[GABABRY]

Good Day Everyone!

I have wanted to get a Mazda 5 for quite a while now. With a family, I thought it would be the perfect rig for us, but when I needed one, couldn't find one in my budget. Ended up with a Ford Windstar, not a bad machine, but never good. Anyway, the old van was letting me know it was time to let go, and suddenly appears a Mazda 5 at my favorite car lot. I printed off a picture, researched the values and payments, showed them to my wife and she said lets go buy it! Down to the lot we go to look at it, test drive it, and ditch the old van...Buh Bye.

Finally, we own the vehicle I really want. We bought a 2008 Mazda 5 Sport. It looks like it has fairly standard equipment, but has the Fog/Driving lights. It has 68,000 miles and handles so much nicer than the old van. The kids love having their own seats. I don't really have any plans for modifying it as it will be the family hauler. I already ordered a Rola roof rack to go with the roof-top cargo carrier.

I guess I would like to know if anyone has any recommendations for these...wagons...I guess? We just call it the Mazda for now. I already know it will need new rear shocks, the antenna needs replacing, and has a mildly broken vent. I do not know anything about the maintenance history, but the fluids and everything else look pretty clean. So far, I plan to change the oil to Synthetic (unless told otherwise) and change the tranny fluid and filter around 75k.

Any thoughts or recommendations? Thanks for any input.

 

[hibern8r]

Welcome to the forum and Congrats on your 5. You will get a lot of ideas here as far as mods as well as maintenance. Flip that picture over!(gah)

 

[GABABRY]

It is not upside down, just taken from the Australian perspective.

 

[Wishmaster]

Congrats on your purchase and welcome to the family! Have fun cruising the forums... there is a ton of good info here. Regarding the suspension, it's pretty standard for the oem mazda 5 shocks (rear) and struts (front) to blow easily and often, but as you've mentioned, you're already dealing with that. At the same time you might want to consider replacing the sway bar bushings as the oem items seem to wear quite quickly... as you've probably seen there are a number of threads related to the suspension on here, but once you switch out the parts for non-oem you'll be all set!

Also, since you've got a 2008 with no maintenance history... please replace the tranny fluid now!! And following that replace at least once a year or eery 12500 miles... And check out this thread - http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showthread.php?123830744-How-long-are-your-cars-lasting

 

[Secondtyme]

Holy mackerel! Its the extremely rare up-side down drive 5! It looks very nice in that photo, congrats! And welcome, to the forum BTW

 

[GABABRY]

Thanks for the feedback. I haven't heard anyone saying to stay away from Synthetic for the engine oil, and it seems that Monroe and KYB shocks are the way to go. I'll probably run Mobil1 Synthetic in it, and Monroe for the shocks. I've had good luck with those in the past on other vehicles. Any recommendations for the trans though? I saw that Advance Auto has a filter kit that has the filter and a gasket...is this ok, or is there a reason for sticking with silicon? Also, any particulars with the trans fluid? I have seen that Mobil1 is not supported, and Amsoil is good.

Cheers!

 

[Secondtyme]

Check the Mobil website for which vehicle manufacturers will support their fluids, there often isn't enough room for them all on the bottle. There was quite a bit of back and forth on that very subject here. You are well advised to stay up to date on fluid changes with the auto trans as the 5spd auto had some issues with failure. I run Mobil1 synth for engine oil in mine it works beautifully, change it every 5K. Again welcome and happy Zoomin!

 

[thaxman]

Get a good synth fluid in the tranny when you do the flush or dump/fill. I went with Redline for my MT fluid in my Volvo and will be doing the same in the Mz5 when its time. IMO tranny fluid works just as hard as engine oil, and the people on the side of the road are the ones that ignore it.

 

[kw_da]

Thanks for the feedback. I haven't heard anyone saying to stay away from Synthetic for the engine oil, and it seems that Monroe and KYB shocks are the way to go. I'll probably run Mobil1 Synthetic in it, and Monroe for the shocks. I've had good luck with those in the past on other vehicles. Any recommendations for the trans though? I saw that Advance Auto has a filter kit that has the filter and a gasket...is this ok, or is there a reason for sticking with silicon? Also, any particulars with the trans fluid? I have seen that Mobil1 is not supported, and Amsoil is good.

Cheers!

See http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showthread.php?123824925-ATF-Recommendations-What-fluid-cooler-filter-Share-your-experience-on-the-Mz5!

I agree with the poster above - change it immediately as it has probably never been changed.

After that, if it was my car, I'd change the transmission fluid every 30k - cheap insurance. Or do 3 drain & fills @~30k intervals.

 

[GABABRY]

Well, I plan on doing the trans filter and fluid flush, but (I hate to ask) what is the fluid capacity of the trans?