To 5 or not to 5.. potential owner questions

[ItsJustMe]

Another thing to consider, I believe the older models don't have rear AC. We have an 09, but I do remember that being a complaint in my research.

 

[DKaz]

With the 06 and 07s, point the front vents straight up, the air will distribute itself evenly across all three rows. The 08 and 09s gain rear AC but lose two cupholders.

 

[sethro_GT]

May have been mentioned but I'm lazy and didn't read the whole thread, I would recommend two things:

1. Get the Mazda (cuz I like Mazda's, handling is awsome and my wife who isn't a car driver at all LOVES driving it.

2. Get an 08 or newer for one reason alone, rear vents in the center console. The HVAC is crap and barely reaches the back seats in 06 and 07 models. I made this complaint abundantly clear on my customer survey in 07. Probably many others as well because they fixed it in 08.

note, we test drove a 5 for 6 months as a rental while on a business assignment and we still bought one knowing of the HVAC issue, they are worth it.

 

[x10dude]

With the 06 and 07s, point the front vents straight up, the air will distribute itself evenly across all three rows. The 08 and 09s gain rear AC but lose two cupholders.

I've tested that on my 08, just running the AC off the front vents and pointing them up. My kids tell me that it's no comparizon to actually having the rear vents on.

 

[ItsJustMe]

I've tested that on my 08, just running the AC off the front vents and pointing them up. My kids tell me that it's no comparizon to actually having the rear vents on.

I've not tested this, but know that my kids prefer the back seat in my 5 to Dads 3 because of the lack of AC vents for the backseat. And like I said, I read quite a few complaints about lack of AC when researching.

 

[KBrian]

Currently I'm looking at 06/07 M5 GT's and 05/06 CRVs

Interesting that no-one posting in this thread mentioned the desirability of AWD as a reason to choose the CRV.

how much mileage is considered as "broken in" ? Mine is on it's 4000 KM.[/QUOTE}

As for when a new car is broken in, depends on a lot of factors, including the car, the driver, the type of driving done, and factory reccomendations.

Motorcycle mantra is "Break in fast, goes fast; break in slow, goes slow".

In reality, most moving parts should be sufficiently free to rotate as smoothly as possible by 10,000 km/6000 miles, but mileage could continue to improve over time as long as the car is kept in perfect tune and driven consistantly.