the fit n' finish of the 5

[zoomzoomV]

how do you guys rate the the fit n finish of the 5? i noticed a few little things of the car that has little things just getting loose...anyone else experiencing this??

 

[zoomzoomV]

btw....

i will take pics of it later

 

[Zoom5Zoom]

nope

 

[2cam16]

Nothing loose here either but I do hate how the black plastic easily gets scratched !(wow)

 

[jandree22]

Let's just say it was a drastic improvement over my Sunfire. Well, that's still not saying a whole lot I guess

 

[antlind]

I think the fit 'n finish is exceptiona for a $22K vehicle.
The problem I have is the quality of the interior plastic sucks...It scratches way too easily.
Anthony

 

[doctorz]

I think the fit and finish is quite good. The build materials are pretty inexpensive and flimsy, probably to meet that price point.

 

[jandree22]

I agree with the hard plastics, although the leather wrapped, 3 spoke steering wheel is nice and meaty... has a sporty feel to it.

 

[Kid Red]

I got mine loaded and with NAV for $20k, so I can't complain. Although the plastic scratching (and foot scuffing) does annoy me some.

 

[ChadSpeed]

Yes it is a bit lacking in the fit and finish, but we all knew that going with a $20,000 car anyway. Coming from an 03' Maxima it is a huge change, but I have gotten used to it and its nothing I can't cope with for 60 months.

 

[flomobile]

Far better than my Chevrolet truck was.
Better than my Jeep was.

Not quite as good as a Honda. Nothing big, really, just panels that aren't as exquisitely aligned, and the paint is too heavy along the driver's side rocker panel. Also, the flip-down cup-holder on the back of the console is a piece of crap.

Still, in a world where a Chevrolet is a D, a Kia Sephia is an F, and a Honda is an A, overall, I'd give it a B+, and note that it's a 1st year model.

 

[NYMZ5]

seems pretty close to Honda/Toyota fit & finish but the materials (the plactics) aren't as good.

Not only that, when I removed my side sills one side had no lower clips in place, and they wern't just missing, they even had the mounting holes on the body plugged like they would be on a Sport! the other side was attached correctly. guess mine was built on a Fri afternoon (or Mon morning...

 

[zoomzoom mazda5]

(friday) So far fit and finish is ok!

 

[Antonio DiMarco]

Great fit n' finish, cheap plastics

how do you guys rate the the fit n finish of the 5? i noticed a few little things of the car that has little things just getting loose...anyone else experiencing this??

Yeah I agree with others. The 5 is screwed together very well and parts fit perfectly, but plastics are very easy to scratch, especially the interior door panels. After only 2 years the driver's door panel is scuffed up and scratched around the speaker and door handle area, as are the plastic door sills. The silver plastics around the shifter and radio also have many scratches. It's annoying, but understandable considering the under $20K price. To put it in persepctive I compare it against my 3S whish carries two less people, has less interior space and no sliding doors for about the same money. That said, the interior plastics in my 3 after almost 3 years are holding up 100% better.

 

[opus]

The surfaces that you touch, steering wheel, shift knob, radio controls etc.... are all very nice. The rest of the interior is easier to scratch than my Saturn's. I mean to hit the price point you have to take something out when you put something in. You get 17" rims, moonroof, six disk CD, leather wrapped steering wheel, fog lights etc.... you have to cheapen the interior and cutback in the tire quailty and HP department.

 

[X10James]

I think they did a pretty good job of cheapening the car without ruining the car... Rather, they made the right choices for me on the parts that are important and the parts that are less important. The car is terrific, it's rock solid for me and drives like a dream. The interior plastics are flimsy compared to a 40k car, but this is half the price. The important things were not skimped on.

 

[Antonio DiMarco]

Agreed

I think they did a pretty good job of cheapening the car without ruining the car... Rather, they made the right choices for me on the parts that are important and the parts that are less important. The car is terrific, it's rock solid for me and drives like a dream. The interior plastics are flimsy compared to a 40k car, but this is half the price. The important things were not skimped on.

You said it best...

 

[ChadSpeed]

I have also noticed when detailing our 5 that the exterior fit and finish is really very nice with a couple exceptions. The gaps around the taillights are a bit larger than anywhere else, and the gap between the spoiler and roof is about a Half inch( may be due to opening clearance though). I can also feel that the plastic used for the bumpers is a low strength plastic, just rubbing it down with wax and it easily flexes in and out, our Maxima didn't do that. But like I said it is great for a 20k car, and looks amazing for a van like vehicle.

 

[coolmazda5]

Wife is the primary driver so I have not really looked at the finish issues in detail. The only thing noticed here is that the 2006 Sport does not have those grayish plastic "covers" on the front door armrests (the covers seem to have the same finish as the one in the front console), so possibly that makes the door handles' scratching less obvious.

With regards to the final quality, I guess time will tell, 3-4 more years or so down the road. If things start falling apart or breaking before that, be sure I'll be here ranting and calling Mazda if still under warranty .

In the meanwhile, as almost everyone here has said, for the price paid (I even got that 500 bucks check for the initial exhaust recall), it has been worth so far.

 

[jandree22]

A way I feel that a car has overall good build quality is how the doors shut. In my past domestics the doors slammed shut violently... kind of a "clunk" noise combined with minor rattles. In my Mazda I get a smooth "vwoom" sound when it shuts, like it's perfectly making a seal and without any loose components. I'm especially impressed with how smoothly the hatch shuts.