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- 2006 Mazda5
I've checked in at various times over the last 3 years when I purchased my 5 and started learning about it. Great forum with helpful members.
It's an '06 Auto. Had 67k when I bought in Oct of 2013, now has 110k miles on it. My main reason for going with the 5 was because it was the lowest seat height vehicle I could find for transfering into from my wheelchair, that has a sliding door. It's my daily driver and also family hauler (until we outgrow it, then Chrysler T&C will be my family weekend ride and I'll still use the 5 daily).
Things I've done since owning:
- installed adjustable rear camber arms and run my rear wheels upright. my tire life and wear has been great with this.
- sold my stock 17" aluminum rims and bought 16" steelies. I just felt the lack of sidewall on the 17's made it ride too rough, and steelies hold tire pressure a lot better in MN cold winters
- replaced rear shocks and front struts with Kayaba brand from Amazon. The rear shocks went bad in a number of months. Replaced with NAPA premium and have been good since. Next set I will go with Koni FSD.
- I've been doing a drain/fill once a year on my ATF, and Valvoline MaxLife ATF has worked great for me. I still have a little 1-2 shock when it is cold, but it is much less than when I purchased it, which probably just had ATF M-V in it. Was red at 67k when I purchased it, but BLACK a year later at 80k. With MaxLife it stays red a year later but I just change it every fall to stay ahead of it.
- I bought it with just 2 keys standard OEM keys and 0 fobs. Asked the dealer about getting a fob and was quoted $300-$400. Called some other places and was told dealer was my only option. Went to my local Ace Hardware where they have one of the better key/fob stations (not all Ace's have this), guy said he'd give me my money back if it didn't work....sure thing it did work! $118 for a brand new working fob
- stock horn went bad, so replaced it with high tone and a low tone Wolo Loud One horns.
- my home built wheelchair loading mechanism: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KgyWxqC1Y0 this was recorded right after I built it. I've made some adjustments and changed my technique a tad since then, but general idea is still the same. still works perfect to this day
It's an '06 Auto. Had 67k when I bought in Oct of 2013, now has 110k miles on it. My main reason for going with the 5 was because it was the lowest seat height vehicle I could find for transfering into from my wheelchair, that has a sliding door. It's my daily driver and also family hauler (until we outgrow it, then Chrysler T&C will be my family weekend ride and I'll still use the 5 daily).
Things I've done since owning:
- installed adjustable rear camber arms and run my rear wheels upright. my tire life and wear has been great with this.
- sold my stock 17" aluminum rims and bought 16" steelies. I just felt the lack of sidewall on the 17's made it ride too rough, and steelies hold tire pressure a lot better in MN cold winters
- replaced rear shocks and front struts with Kayaba brand from Amazon. The rear shocks went bad in a number of months. Replaced with NAPA premium and have been good since. Next set I will go with Koni FSD.
- I've been doing a drain/fill once a year on my ATF, and Valvoline MaxLife ATF has worked great for me. I still have a little 1-2 shock when it is cold, but it is much less than when I purchased it, which probably just had ATF M-V in it. Was red at 67k when I purchased it, but BLACK a year later at 80k. With MaxLife it stays red a year later but I just change it every fall to stay ahead of it.
- I bought it with just 2 keys standard OEM keys and 0 fobs. Asked the dealer about getting a fob and was quoted $300-$400. Called some other places and was told dealer was my only option. Went to my local Ace Hardware where they have one of the better key/fob stations (not all Ace's have this), guy said he'd give me my money back if it didn't work....sure thing it did work! $118 for a brand new working fob
- stock horn went bad, so replaced it with high tone and a low tone Wolo Loud One horns.
- my home built wheelchair loading mechanism: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KgyWxqC1Y0 this was recorded right after I built it. I've made some adjustments and changed my technique a tad since then, but general idea is still the same. still works perfect to this day
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