Greetings,
I bought a new black 2013 Mazda5 GT last week, replacing my 2009 Hyundai Sonata Limited, which was a nice reliable car but we needed a bit more versatility and the ability to seat an extra kid at times.
I've been reading some of the posts on this forum and want to thank everyone for a lot of helpful information. There are really a lot of friendly folks on the forum.
Anyway, I'm enjoying the car/van. It's more fun to drive than the Sonata for sure--much more surefooted, and really does drive like it's on rails (at least compared to the Sonata). Not quite as much power but that's okay, it does fine. MPG is about the same as the Sonata so far, though the gas tank is smaller on the 5. I haven't had any vibration problems or out-of-center steering issues on mine. The road noise is about the same as the Sonata (but that car was not nearly as quiet as my wife's Camry). The leather is nicer than the Sonata, about on a par with my wife's Camry.
The audio--well, I had an Infiniti system on the Hyundai that sounded better. Next week I am going to replace the front door speakers with a pair I ordered from Crutchfield. I haven't done this for a while so I'm a bit nervous doing it on a brand new auto--I think it was my beat up Ford Taurus when I last replaced speakers--but it seems pretty straightforward. (I bought some extra clips on eBay, thanks to a helpful post on the forum.) I will try to take some pics and post in the appropriate subforum in case some folks find it helpful. My 8 year old son is looking forward to "helping" me, so we'll get a good father/son project out of it.
Considering how cheap the Mazda5 is, it will be a great bargain if it proves reliable. I can put the savings into my two boys' college funds...
I bought a new black 2013 Mazda5 GT last week, replacing my 2009 Hyundai Sonata Limited, which was a nice reliable car but we needed a bit more versatility and the ability to seat an extra kid at times.
I've been reading some of the posts on this forum and want to thank everyone for a lot of helpful information. There are really a lot of friendly folks on the forum.
Anyway, I'm enjoying the car/van. It's more fun to drive than the Sonata for sure--much more surefooted, and really does drive like it's on rails (at least compared to the Sonata). Not quite as much power but that's okay, it does fine. MPG is about the same as the Sonata so far, though the gas tank is smaller on the 5. I haven't had any vibration problems or out-of-center steering issues on mine. The road noise is about the same as the Sonata (but that car was not nearly as quiet as my wife's Camry). The leather is nicer than the Sonata, about on a par with my wife's Camry.
The audio--well, I had an Infiniti system on the Hyundai that sounded better. Next week I am going to replace the front door speakers with a pair I ordered from Crutchfield. I haven't done this for a while so I'm a bit nervous doing it on a brand new auto--I think it was my beat up Ford Taurus when I last replaced speakers--but it seems pretty straightforward. (I bought some extra clips on eBay, thanks to a helpful post on the forum.) I will try to take some pics and post in the appropriate subforum in case some folks find it helpful. My 8 year old son is looking forward to "helping" me, so we'll get a good father/son project out of it.
Considering how cheap the Mazda5 is, it will be a great bargain if it proves reliable. I can put the savings into my two boys' college funds...
