prospecting

[emptystrings]

I'm new to the forum, and I don't actually own a Mazda yet. I'm trying to decide whether or not to get the P5 and was hoping to get some questions answered by people who own them.

1.) I've heard a lot of good things about the P5, but I was wondering about what's bad about it. Other than the sticky 1-2 shift and the lack of horses, what are some other problems people have run into with their cars?

2.) How has your experience been dealing with Mazda dealerships/servicing?

3.) How reliable has your car been? I don't want to buy a car where I have to worry about every little noise it makes.

Thanks!

 

[inflections]

I have had my PR5 for a year and I am at 34,000 miles - I had to have the front brake rotors replaced at 30,000 miles - but that could've just as well be me driving bad. Other than that I have had no problems with the car. I plan to fix the lack of horses when the warranty craps out at 50K. There are a lot of great aftermarket parts available for the car. By the way - does anyone know how long the black Injen intak will be available. I want that so bad.

 

[Doogs]

I like the car a lot, but it seems to me that the paint is pretty thin..... I already have a couple nicks on my hood with less than 3000 miles on it.

My dealership is so-so, and I think that is just hit or miss on those. Some are great, lots of them blow.

The windshield wiper motor is really loud, and has little variable control unless you do the stalk swap.

Those are my gripes, fairly minor other than the paint. The car handles great, has lots of room, runs well and looks even better.

 

[Sir Nuke]

I love the car...I baught TWO P5's.

As for BAD or annoying things....the biggy in my book was the fact that the intermitten wipers were not adjustable/varriable. HOWEVER, one of the guys on the site found out that the wiper stalk for the MPV was identical with the exception that the intermitten wiper speed is VARRIABLE....it took me all of 15 minutes to pop off the column cover, remove two screws, unplug the switch....plug in the new one (cost me $75 at a dealer), replace the two screws and the covers...presto chango FULLY varriable intermitten wipers...

the CUP HOLDERS suck...but that is okay...we don't drink in the car and they make a fine coin holder.

when you test drive the car....take along one of YOUR cd's...listen to YOUR kind of music on the system....depending on your listening likes...the system may or may not be to your standards. its OKAY for my wife.....I just HAD to upgrade the system for my car....needed new speakers, and amp and a sub!

The tires that come on the car are great....the only problem is when its time to replace them the choices are limited due to the particular size chose for the car. of curse if you get into modding the car at all and get aftermarket wheels...then that opens the door wide!!!

Personally....I have had NO TROUBLE with the tranny/shifting from 1-2 on either of my P5's

and sure...we would all like to have 40-50 more ponies under the hood...but its still pretty zippy.....it can get you in more trouble than you can stand if you try just a little. :{D

Both of my cars have been completely reliable....we only had my wifes back for an alignment after 24,000 miles...but that was because she ran through a pot hole and bent TWO of her rims...figured I better get the alignment checked after a good whack like that......

so...my dealership experiences are limited....but good none the less.....and they will varry from dealership to dealership.

 

[emptystrings]

Sweet. Thanks for all the responses so far.

I'm probably going to swap out the stock rims for something nicer. What do people usually do with their stock rims after they swap them out?

(You can tell I'm new to all this stuff.)

 

[Sir Nuke]

Sweet. Thanks for all the responses so far.

I'm probably going to swap out the stock rims for something nicer. What do people usually do with their stock rims after they swap them out?

(You can tell I'm new to all this stuff.)

one option would be to remove the stock space saver tire and using some wood, raise the deck in the back about three inches...THEN put one of the stock wheels/tires back there for a spare...so if you were out in the middle of nowhere and had a flat..at leas you would have a REAL wheel/tire to get you down the road and not one of those tiny donuts....and if you HAD to drive home a few hundred miles....you could without worrying about the tire/wheel you just put on your car....

another thing would be to hang onto them so that you could swap them back at some time in the future if you decided to trade in the car....and keep your new custom wheels.....

 

[Sir Nuke]

damn...I almost forgot!!!

Emptystrings....Welcome to our happy little corner of the net, and to our Club. There are TWO BIG fridge'S in the corner with anything you can think of in them...help yourself...of course only take what you can LEGALLY have. (stash)

make yourself at home on one of the big fluffy couches, kick your shoes off, put your feet up on one of the tables, yes we are allowed to do that, mom don't care....and take it easy.

oh...btw....every once in a while a food fight breaks out...so you may not want to wear nice clothes here.

Welcome!! (stash)

 

[WannaRunThatSht]

Sweet. Thanks for all the responses so far.

I'm probably going to swap out the stock rims for something nicer. What do people usually do with their stock rims after they swap them out?

(You can tell I'm new to all this stuff.)

Depending on your choice of new wheels, people will keep the factory wheel as winter wheels. Or keep them so that when the time comes to get rid of the new aftermaket wheels, you still have your factory wheels too.

Then, other people....buy new wheels and just sell off the stock ones. I fiugre the stock wheels are only worth about $300 to anyone, so there worth more to me then what i could get for them. But who knows....

Drew