2012 Mazda5 Sport - Happy New Owner

[drr1232]

Hello everyone,

I am new to the Mazda5 but not Mazda. This is my third Mazda so far and I absolutely love this one. I owned a 1999 Protege (new) and a 1999 626 (used).

My wife and I needed to upgrade from a dying 1998 Mercury/Nissan Quest/Villager. Love the van but hate the old Ford quality. We looked at the newer Quest, Sienna, Pathfinder and other options before I realized I looked at this before and needed to give it another look. Took the wife to a dealership and she really liked it. She is not a car person like me but I could tell she finally saw a car she likes, other than the Miata

We ended up getting a 2012, for budget reasons. But even the 2013 is very well priced.

With three kids and three car seats the Mazda5 fits our needs perfectly. I really didn't want a van because it was too big for us. My wife does 6 miles a day total and we really don't carry much things in the van on a regular basis. Plus the 2.5L engine is perfect for the budget. I also love the fact that the engine bay is not tight like a frog's butt as with many vans. I hated working on the Villager.

The Mazda5 drives so well and easy. I almost forgot it was a van and mistook it for my 2 door when I took a sharp exit from the highway. It has just as much horses as my 3.0L V6 Villager and even more torque (love that) too.

The only complaint I have are the stock tires. Terrible. Tirerack.com had a re-buy rating of 2/10. Terrible. I have my replacement lined up and as soon as spring comes along I will purchase a set of Continental ExtremeContact DWS, one size wider. That should take care of the road noise everyone complains about.

So far, I am happy with the buy. My wife is too but of course the mother-in-law questions the need for such a small van. I explained to her bigger is not always better.

I have always (will always be) a Nissan fan but Mazda is slowly creeping to being my favorite. Especially with Nissan's inability to revilatize the FUN in the coupe segment. Something Mazda seems to being doing well with styling and power.

I also saw Nissan recently purchased a line of Mazda5 to call their own, NICE.

I own a 1989 Nissan 240SX, 2000 Maxima GLE, 1998 Nissan 200SX SE and now a proud owner of the most fun van to drive a 2012 Mazda5 Sport.

 

[jetstreamblue]

Congrats on the new car! Which tires did yours come with, the Toyos or the Bridgestones?

 

[drr1232]

It came with Bridgestone.

 

[ukulele]

After owning/driving many brands, I've come to realize each brand/make and model has it's own good and bad. There is no "silver bullet" brand (no pun intended to my friend, Mr. Bob Seger). In the end all of these vehicles are manufactured by corporations that are out to get your money without sticking you up with a gun. They don't really care if you are happy or not, they just want your money, same can be said about many things we buy on a daily basis.

That being said, I am glad you are happy with your purchase. I like my Mazda5, there are things I wish I could change about it, but then again many people feel the same way. Like those rear vents that do not supply heat... only fan air to the rear passengers.

 

[drr1232]

ukulele, you are right. You can never get exactly what you want in anything really. Even if you do find it, as you get older and needs and desires change the perfect car or anything is always changing. At this point, I have learned to be content and work with the changes and challenges.

Thanks for telling me about the rear fan though. I was wondering why it would only blow cold air when the heat is on. Not a problem though. I can probably fix that with some duct work. When I do I will post it.

 

[V8toilet]

The heat for the rear is supplied from duct work under the front seats and only the air conditioning is supplied buy those rear vents in the center console. This makes sense because heat rises from down low and cold air sinks from up high. BTY I just purchased a new 2012 5 too that was still on the lot yesterday. Welcome to the forum.