Very well said!
My Day with a Jeep Cherokee Latitude and how it compares to a CX-5
- Thread starter Ride92
- Start date
Very well said!
Not sure I agree with you on this Unobtanium because as I recall the GM motors sucked and their performance was not good compared to the Japanese cars anyway. Old school rough running pushrod motors when everyone else moved on to DOHC with VVT or throttle body injection or MPFI when everyone else was using SFI. Remember the horrible albeit a little bit reliable Buick 3800 or the meh Ecotec 2.2. The doggy 4.8 V8 and the problematic 5.3. Heck my friend could barely pass my 2001 Tundra with his 1991 LTI powered Corvette. The only motor that was halfway ok from them was the LS1 V8. Yup, old school fuel sucking cast iron boat anchors was all those motors were good for. I guess the supercharged 3800 was ok because with $1200 worth of modifications it was a sleeper but for the general public they were inefficient low power cheaply made and poorly designed.
I know the question was ignoring price point, but its funny because my mom has a 2.0T Audi Q5. We were talking the other day and she said "If the CX-5 was out when I bought mine, I would of got that instead and saved the $15k. It feels too similar inside and out". Hers is a 2014 so the CX-5 was out at the time, but she just didnt consider Mazda.
Yeah.. the old 90's Quad 4 GM motors didn't age well... even the 2.9L 4-cyclinder in my dad's '11 GMC Canyon seems to have more NVH that one would expect from a late model motor.
Boat anchors! (yes) Because that's literally what people around here use those old iron blocks for, summer mooring buoys!
At least they have become useful in their second life!
VK Sefirosu
Member
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- 2016 CX-5 GT AWD
Is this just a case of brand recognition/dealer availability ? Here Mazda is pretty much as known as any other brand out there… and in my approximate ~100km radius of where I live I can easily count 3 dealers… and I am nowhere near what you could call "a big city"…
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Obviously a combination of factors but I'm sure dealer availability is a big one. There simply are not nearly the number of Mazda dealerships as Honda, Toyota, etc. Also, a shockingly high percentage of Americans are obese vs. Canada, Australia, Europe, Japan, etc. so I'm sure the fact that Mazda's line-up does not cater to obese bodies plays into it as well.
Another factor that plays into it, I'm sure, is there are a lot of Americans that are ignorant of the quality that many Japanese products offer. I think it's prejudice left over from WWII. Prejudiced Americans believe anything made in Japan is cheap. Some people equate heavy with good quality when, in the context of motor vehicles, it's quite the opposite. You see this right here on this forum. A lot of Americans think thin body panels are inferior quality to thick, heavy ones. They don't seem to grasp that the best body panel is the one that's just thick enough to do the job. A lot of the nimble agility of the CX-5 is due to careful consideration of how heavy each part is.
Fortunately live in a heavy Mazda area. I have 5 Mazda dealers less than 50 miles away and 12 within a 100 mile radius.
http://www.skagitmazda.com/
http://www.mazdaofeverett.com/
http://www.dougsmazda.com/
http://www.leejohnsonmazda.com/
http://www.umazda.com/
http://www.skagitmazda.com/
http://www.mazdaofeverett.com/
http://www.dougsmazda.com/
http://www.leejohnsonmazda.com/
http://www.umazda.com/
VK Sefirosu
Member
- :
- 2016 CX-5 GT AWD
Eh, I know why, Mazda no longer sells pick up trucks ! No, seriously, visibility helps a lot…
Mazda had (and still has with some people) the reputation of rusting prematurely here. Which surely made a hit on sales somewhat, that issue seems resolved now and they added an unlimited km warranty on new cars recently probably to "calm all doubts"…
Not sure it made much of a dent on my dealer though judging by the entire new and much bigger buildings they just built
True, but Seattle is a major metro area. The first dealership on your list is the closest one to me and they are less than excellent (to be nice about it). And they are the last Mazda dealer between there and the Canadian border. It's shocking that Bellingham doesn't have a Mazda dealership as it's a good sized town with a lot of University students. Bellingham has a dealership for every other major marque including Porche, but no Mazda dealership. And most people are not going to drive 40 minutes on I-5 to get their car serviced so they buy one that actually has a dealership nearby.
You aren't the first I have heard about on the Skagit dealer. The Everett dealer has been good to me if you do need service. Just speaking about my experience... Thoroughly enjoying the low overall maintenance & issues with this vehicle.
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- RDX Aspec Adv.
Both are huge.
I lived in a town with the closest subaru dealer being 100 miles away. I saw nearly no subarus. Now I live where we have a dealer, and they are all over the place.
Also, older Americans I have met are intensely brand loyal, as a rule.further, many do hate Japanese products due to ww2. My grandpa was one such. He hated even the sound of Japanese car horns , or so he said. However his son, my father, while a Ford guy for his first 40 years (although he owned and enjoyed his corvette too ), finally admitted thay gm impressed him when his gm work van made it well past the 400k mile mark on the original driveline. He admitted Japanese stuff impressed him when his Nissan. Carpet cleaning engine continues to run like a top.
Me, his son, just buys what works. I have no brand biases except what comes from my personal experience. Thus far, Haye Chrysler and nissan, love mazda and gm. Ymmv, but every person alive is drinking some brand of koolaid
Re: body panels, I think that's an older American thing. People my age love lightweight smc, cf, etc. The fender on my z06 weighed less than the paint on it...I thought that was pretty cool
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- Mazda CX5 Touring
"2nd.: the bloody switches could have been lighted in the door. But its a small price to pay for awesome handling."
Ha! Tru'dat, I'm forever rolling down - and then back up - the window whenever I try to manually lock the doors, lol. But I love how a Mazda drives so it's all good
Ha! Tru'dat, I'm forever rolling down - and then back up - the window whenever I try to manually lock the doors, lol. But I love how a Mazda drives so it's all good
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I have driven the Jeep Cherokee as a loaner when my car was in the body shop last week.,
I can feel the car was vibrating while accelerating on low speed, apparently they have a tsb for that, they replaced the front drive shaft with a bigger diameter.
Glad to have my CX 5 back.
I can feel the car was vibrating while accelerating on low speed, apparently they have a tsb for that, they replaced the front drive shaft with a bigger diameter.
Glad to have my CX 5 back.
yeah, very glad to see this review. while i never really considered a jeep cherokee, i've been curious about how it compares to other compact SUVs (CUVs?). the cherokee and compass (not to mention the new wagoneer and other models in that series) look very good, but i know they're not as reliable as the japanese models. also true about the license thing, at least in the states. while i don't think we should have to pay thousands and train for years to get our license, it can be too easy to get a license here.
Jack Rabbit
Banned
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- 18 Mazda CX5 AW
I drove a Jeep loaner for 2 months.
Jeep v6 with 18 inch tires
Vs
Mazda 4 cyl w 17 inch tires.
* Did not have loaner Jeep offroad so only highway/city/hilly drive comparison.
Below is what I liked/observed about each
Jeep:
1. More comfortable seats
2. More comfortable suspension /ride
3. Bigger display
4. Radio control layout.
5. More room in hatch
6. Easy access gas fill door.
7. Center console big enough to support/rest arm while driving.
8. AC fan blows at higher speed and cooler.
Mazda:
1.) The DRIVING experience. Mazda hugs the road.
2.)Felt like better acceleration
3.) Fuel efficiency. Better mpg.
4.) Better handling/cornering
5.) HUD display
6.) Peace of mind. knowing you are in a safer vehicle.
7.) More upscale expensive looking interior.
* Since i've switched to 16 inch tires with taller sidewall, the ride has improved and is more comfortable.
Jeep v6 with 18 inch tires
Vs
Mazda 4 cyl w 17 inch tires.
* Did not have loaner Jeep offroad so only highway/city/hilly drive comparison.
Below is what I liked/observed about each
Jeep:
1. More comfortable seats
2. More comfortable suspension /ride
3. Bigger display
4. Radio control layout.
5. More room in hatch
6. Easy access gas fill door.
7. Center console big enough to support/rest arm while driving.
8. AC fan blows at higher speed and cooler.
Mazda:
1.) The DRIVING experience. Mazda hugs the road.
2.)Felt like better acceleration
3.) Fuel efficiency. Better mpg.
4.) Better handling/cornering
5.) HUD display
6.) Peace of mind. knowing you are in a safer vehicle.
7.) More upscale expensive looking interior.
* Since i've switched to 16 inch tires with taller sidewall, the ride has improved and is more comfortable.
