I Did Some Math

[thaxman]

Since our MAzda5 is truly a runabout, ferrying the family all around town, stoplight to stoplight, and seldom seeing freeway or highway travel, we add about 7150 miles each year. It does school runs, grocery trips, Lowe's pickups, church outings, and spends as much time with 5-6 people as it does 1-2.
Annual fuel cost is about $1100. My wife wants to ditch the stick. The kids are getting a bit bigger. Whether I compare a Mazda5 to a true minivan, soft-roader or CUV, I cannot expect to return better than 16 mpg city from a V6. The Mazda5 has been hovering around 22 mpg, rising past 24 in the off seasons, and as low as 17.5 in the summer A/C season.

Doing the math, I would pay more than $400/year for gas alone, excluding a car payment, higher insurance costs and probably higher maintenence costs. That is of course 36% more than I pay now. Thanks to Obamacare cost increases, we may be sticking with this car for some time, unless cost to treat my wife's developing left knee problem is more than the $4000/yr I can expect to pay to go bigger.

 

[brandini]

Is there are question or comparison in there? All i could get is a you want an MT to AT comparison?

 

[markuszoom5]

Why not just trade in your wife and then you would save $4000/ yr and could afford the higher gas consumption. Heck you could go for an Expedition or Excursion. Lol, jk... Keep the 5 and tell your wife to ride in the middle row. I find that to be the roomiest for my legs and I am 5"11".

 

[thaxman]

Why not just trade in your wife and then you would save $4000/ yr and could afford the higher gas consumption. Heck you could go for an Expedition or Excursion. Lol, jk... Keep the 5 and tell your wife to ride in the middle row. I find that to be the roomiest for my legs and I am 5"11".

Her complaint is from using the clutch pedal. Left knee pain.
I've been mulling a jump to a Flex in 1-3 years, but I am really enjoying the $$ saved from keeping this. Of course, now that the 98-04 Odyssey is 10+ years old, all the bad trannys have failed and maybe I can get one of the 5AT models for cheap and I'll have upsized without having the really boring "minivan look".
I wanted to get a hybrid GMC truck, but my wife says she won't drive a truck. Heck, those are good for 20 city/21 hwy, which is what my Mazda5 MT gets on these freeways at 80 mph, and the Volvo gets with a rooftop box.
Anyway, when I have a 3rd driver 3-4 years down the road, who knows, maybe the Mazda5 will stay, and I'll have a Flex and a happy wife with a new knee.

 

[phunky.buddha]

Her complaint is from using the clutch pedal. Left knee pain.

Really? The clutch on the 5 is pretty soft... she should try my truck.

FYI, the Exedy organic stock replacement clutch was a good bit softer in the pedal than my OEM clutch.

 

[thaxman]

I think its coming from frequency of use. There is no freeway, no highway travel in her daily and weekly routines. A lot of neighborhood travel, and stoplights every 1/2 mile or less. I can see her shifting a good hundred+ times each day, so that's a lot of repetition there. Yes its a light clutch, I agree.

 

[brandini]

Time to setup some saved searches for a used 5 with an auto. Honestly you can make the auto get great mpg, just have to drive a bit differently.

 

[Silentnoise713]

…spends as much time with 5-6 people as it does 1-2...
… My wife wants to ditch the stick. …

Deja’vu. FWIW, only a matter of time before it becomes reality. The soon you sell the Sport and upgrade to a GT, the longer you get to enjoy the better car. That's my solution and it’s working out great
http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showthread.php?123821334-Is-this-the-end&highlight=

You are car savy enough to get a decent deal out of selling the ’06 (assuming there’s demand/buyer for 5MT Mz5 in your area). Be vigilant and you may find a deal on a GT; they are more readily available. You may find that you can get a used GT for not much more and it is a much better package –even in hot AZ. And keep in mind if you get a slightly newer/lower mileage model (+’08), it will also last longer so it is worth paying up –assuming the car meet your needs, which it sounds like it does.


RE: Clutch
I find the ‘08’s clutch to be decently firm, which I like. It firmed up more after replacing the brake fluid and flushing the whole system. OTOH, the Fit’s clutch is ridiculously lite but this is great for DD.

 

[markuszoom5]

Firm clutch? Really, lol...try driving a 2006 VW Jetta for 5 years, it feels like the word "hydraulic" was a distant memory.
Or even better a kia rio 5 speed...why did they bother with the clutch, thy should have just left the cable in the dash passenger side so you can have the passenger pull on it with both hands every time you have to shift...lol, I find Japanese clutches to be very soft and forgiving, even ford focus is not bad...

 

[sac02]

Very rarely does it make financial sense to sell your current vehicle and buy a new one citing fuel economy as the reason. Yeah, 30mpg looks good when you're getting 20mpg, but if you do the math it takes years and years (if ever) to make that money back. Continuing to drive your current paid off vehicle is almost always the cheapest financial answer. (I know you're not looking to sell in order to get increased mileage, that was just a random thought since I see so many people make that argument)

If you need to swap MT to AT for other reasons (knee issues), that's another story. Does your wife have a history of knee issues, or is knee pain a phantom reason to switch to the AT? (I'm transferring my wife's mannerisms and agendas to your wife, lol...) I agree that the clutch in the mz5 is not stiff by any means.

 

[rodslinger]

Off topic....

Every time I see the thread title I keep reading it as "I did some METH"....

 

[thaxman]

Off topic....

Every time I see the thread title I keep reading it as "I did some METH"....

(cryhard)


In reference to the AT vs MT mpgs. Our problem is the stop-n-go cabbie-style local driving. Until really recently, nobody's lockup converter would engage until 4th or 5th gear above 40 mph. Even now, I read someone lowered it to like 30 or 35 mph. So basically, every time one accelerates (50% of the mileage in-town here) the torque converter is slipping a certain amount, which is wasted rpms, which equals wasted gas. Went from the 2.2 VTEC Accord (auto) and gained 4 mpg in the winter and 2 mpg in the summer, even though the Mazda5 has worse EPA estimated mpgs than the Accord. The direct-drive converterless transmission I believe is the main reason. The Accord was well cared for and although maintaining it was expensive, it ran really well and was predictably as dull as it was reliable.
Either way, its not a really big deal except that we went w/o my wife working for 2 years & now that she's back teaching she hates it & wants to quit again. If that happens, efficiency becomes a REALLY BIG DEAL again, & I don't want to be stuck with 1. a bigger vehicle sucking up gas or 2. a too-small vehicle that won't really fit a teen, pre-teen and 2 others.
This year its a new grade, so its like being a new teacher all over again. But if next year goes better, then I will probably go forward with the bigger replacement plan. If next year I hear as much negativity as I do now, I guess I will start looking for a 09 Mica Pearl Touring or GT with a tan interior & the kids will have to suck it up.

 

[phunky.buddha]

I think its coming from frequency of use. There is no freeway, no highway travel in her daily and weekly routines. A lot of neighborhood travel, and stoplights every 1/2 mile or less. I can see her shifting a good hundred+ times each day, so that's a lot of repetition there. Yes its a light clutch, I agree.

(cryhard)


In reference to the AT vs MT mpgs. Our problem is the stop-n-go cabbie-style local driving. Until really recently, nobody's lockup converter would engage until 4th or 5th gear above 40 mph. Even now, I read someone lowered it to like 30 or 35 mph. So basically, every time one accelerates (50% of the mileage in-town here) the torque converter is slipping a certain amount, which is wasted rpms, which equals wasted gas. Went from the 2.2 VTEC Accord (auto) and gained 4 mpg in the winter and 2 mpg in the summer, even though the Mazda5 has worse EPA estimated mpgs than the Accord. The direct-drive converterless transmission I believe is the main reason. The Accord was well cared for and although maintaining it was expensive, it ran really well and was predictably as dull as it was reliable.
Either way, its not a really big deal except that we went w/o my wife working for 2 years & now that she's back teaching she hates it & wants to quit again. If that happens, efficiency becomes a REALLY BIG DEAL again, & I don't want to be stuck with 1. a bigger vehicle sucking up gas or 2. a too-small vehicle that won't really fit a teen, pre-teen and 2 others.
This year its a new grade, so its like being a new teacher all over again. But if next year goes better, then I will probably go forward with the bigger replacement plan. If next year I hear as much negativity as I do now, I guess I will start looking for a 09 Mica Pearl Touring or GT with a tan interior & the kids will have to suck it up.

Oh.

Honestly, I've got my wife converted over to stick 100%. She won't drive anything else- so every car in the house is manual. Tell her I needed a knee brace to keep my left knee from bending sideways for 5 years, and I still drive race clutches in rush hour traffic.

 

[Chris_Top_Her]

meth is bad

 

[mrwiggs]

You probably hold off for a while but If u are using the 3rd row I say bite the bullet and get a odyssey. I have both. Its more expensive but you get what u pay for and my 2012 averages 21-22 mpg yr round in mostly city hwy mix.If u shop around at least in virginia u can get a new 32k one for 29 out the door. I was tired of my vw clutch pedal and inherited the 5 AT. The odyssey almost has a truck feel to it but not the 15 mpg a real world truck gets.

 

[markuszoom5]

Lol, really had to laugh at the other posts. I just checked back into this post, and I too, thought it said I did some "Meth", must be that he capitalized the word "math". It's just really silly, jet funny.

I did some math.

I did some Math.

I did some MATH.

for some reason Math and MATH, my eyes read as Meth. hahahahh

That is why I picked my MZ5 color as Crystal Meth Pearl, I mean Crystal Mica Pearl

Was Mazda trying to tell us something? I guess either way things are zoom zoom.