Should I buy a 5?

[mazdabmr]

I currently have a BMW X3 and a 4 month old. The gas mileage is poor(14.5) and if any more children come along the X3 will be too small.

The only car I have found that will get 20mpg and seat six for under $30k is the Mazda5.

Do you all recommend the Mazda 5? and what is your actual mileage?

 

[doctorz]

Highly recommended. Plenty of room for our family of four, useful for hauling, entertaining to drive, 25-30 mpg. Once you have sliding doors with little kids you'll wonder why you'd ever go back to conventional doors. One thing you should understand is that the 5 is priced right, but at that price it's not going to be built like a BMW (and probably won't cost nearly as much to maintain).

 

[Eff'in Classy]

dude. their tires suck.


bah!

(rlaugh)

 

[mrguy19]

5 is a great car.....fun to drive, great MPGs, overall its BANG for yoour buck....

 

[EvilJen]

PP just wants you to be part of his class action lawsuit.

 

[coolmazda5]

^^ Stop it guys, keep it on topic

 

[jandree22]

Yep, I can strongly recommend it. It’s ideal for a family of 4, and a ton of storage space, or not so much storage and a family of 5 or 6. Mileage is generally above 25 MPG unless you really go hard on the throttle. I tend to drive slower on the highways and not accelerate hard, and I get get low 30’s in the summer without too much trouble (with a 5spd manual trans.). So as doctorz said, 25-30 is about what you can expect. It’s practical and fun to drive. As mentioned it won’t have quite the build quality or performance of your X3 as far as acceleration, but it might actually brake and especially handle better. As far as build quality, well you’re not interested in paying for another Bimmer, so you’ll be getting a $20k vehicle with extremely high build quality for the money.

Please ignore those posts about tires and a class action lawsuit, they’re baseless and a result of a little ‘chat’ we just had in a separate topic.

 

[mrbwa1]

I currently have a BMW X3 and a 4 month old. The gas mileage is poor(14.5) and if any more children come along the X3 will be too small.

The only car I have found that will get 20mpg and seat six for under $30k is the Mazda5.

Do you all recommend the Mazda 5? and what is your actual mileage?

I think that the 5 could be a good alternative for you. The interior will be a bit more spartan than the X3, but overall, the 5 is well built and well put together. One thing to consider is how many children you are thing of having. I currently have 1, and we plan on having another, though I think a family of 5 may be a bit tight in the 5. Thankfully, roof racks and a cargo box are easily obtainable.

Mileage will vary depending on where you lie. My wife primarily drives the 5 in a 50/50 mix of City Highway and it gets 25-26MPG. A few times that we have driven only city, it has dipped down to more like 20-21 MPG. On the highway, even with 5 people on board, we tend to get about 30MPG. The rang is probably 27-32MPG and is highly dependent on speed, terrain (hills) and head/tail winds. If you are keeping a 5 at 60MPH, 30+ MPG should be easy (and we only have the 4AT).

One thing you will probably appreciate coming from a BMW is the ride and handling of the 5. It really is a step above most small wagons/SUVx/CUVs and makes you want to seek out the windy, scenic routes (which ironically help the gas mileage due to lower speeds).

About the only faults I can think of is that the 5 isn't a drag race king. I has a very good, smooth powerband, but if you are out to race at stoplights, it probably isn't going to pull away from the pack. That said, it pulls smoothly up to the redline and had a decent kick to it. I have driven several 2-lane roads and it has good pick up for the 60-80 passing sprint. again, you have to pull out and floor it, but never felt like I was in danger passing (always plane for enough space though.... don't want to talk about how I learned that lesson).

Anyway, sorry for the novel, but hopefully it helps you out.

 

[mazdabmr]

Thank you for the novel!

I know I will not beat the X3 quality, handling and engine, but that is ok. Fuel economy alone will save me almost $2k a year. Not to mention cutting the car payment in half. I will miss the free oil changes and BMW service that is for sure. I know you get what you pay for. BMW is awesome when it comes to warranty issues, and customer service. I know that also varies from dealership to dealership.

How are most Mazda dealerships with service?

 

[jandree22]

How are most Mazda dealerships with service?

Almost definately not up to par with, or consistent as BMW.

That generality being said, some people have had issues with their dealers, while my dealership treats me great... pretty much every time I walk in for service, my Service Advisor (while I'm sure just recalls from my records) always addresses me on a first name basis, and has always been very accepting of any minor complaints that I've had. Seems like they care and want to leave me satisfied.

But the beauty of Mazda dealerships is there's probably 2 if not more within reasonable driving distance if you live in a suburban or city area, so you can just try a different one if you have a bad experience.

 

[deepfry]

Keep in mind that you are asking people in a Mazda 5 forum, so the answer to your question is bound to be skewed (thumb), especially if you are looking for a yes/no ...

Nonetheless, the feed back you get here will certainly help you make an informed decision.

 

[coolmazda5]

I can tell you this:

No car is perfect so yeah, all of them have bugs. Regardless, my experience has been good so out of all the cars available in the market I bought a 2nd one for myself (a 2008).

As per mileage, I get around 24-25MPG, but check here to see all the rest of the members numbers. They are very decent for a people hauler like this...
http://www.mazdav.com/forum/showthread.php?t=116152

 

[dbthompson]

I currently have a BMW X3 and a 4 month old. The gas mileage is poor(14.5) and if any more children come along the X3 will be too small.

The only car I have found that will get 20mpg and seat six for under $30k is the Mazda5.

Do you all recommend the Mazda 5? and what is your actual mileage?

Another disadvantage of the Mazda5:
Mazda currently refuses to make Electronic Stability Control and Traction Control available on the Mazda5. It's been available on the Mazda3 for 2007 & 2008, but not on the 5. Canadian market 2009 Mazda5s will also not have these safety features available, and so I would guess that the US market version will be likewise.

Your choice as to how significant this is to you (it was for me). Stability control has been standard on ALL BMWs since 2001.

 

[offset_98]

The only car I have found that will get 20mpg and seat six for under $30k is the Mazda5.

Impala...

 

[dreamym5]

should i buy 5?

Yes

YOu will love this car...

 

[mrbwa1]

Impala...

Impala works if you want 20mpg combined... Never gotten less than 20mpg for a tank in the 5. even during short trips in the dead of winter (with some 10-12 inches of snow on the roads most of the time!).

Also, I don't think my 42" television AND new TV stand would fit in the impala, esp with the baby and baby gear in the back!


As far as service goes, only had one oil change and it went pretty smooth I guess. We go to a Lincoln/Mercury/Mazda dealer and it is very nicely set up. The even have a couch and a big TV with satellite to watch. I do like the Mazda service reminder program with the color coding. It's probably not up to the BMW service standards, but you should be able to choose from a few dealerships with Mazda. The only other experience we had was with the original dealership (now out of business) that set up a free loaner (brand new mazda 3, not some used and abused loaner) when they had to fix a dent that came with the car.

 

[offset_98]

I'm just saying Impala because it fits the specs. I'm not saying I'd choose it over a 5. But if you drive the 3.5L Impala you'll get well over 20 mpg combined. I drove one for almost 2 years.