Who bought their Mazda5 because of the Sliding Doors?

[x10dude]

Just curious how much of a factor the Sliding doors on the Mazda5 influenced your buying decision.

 

[eilros25]

I haven't bought one yet but the sliding doors were the feature that piqued my interest in the 5.

 

[ckuz13]

It was a big selling point for us.. especially for the young ones in the back. Love being able to park and not worry about the door flying open into another vehicle.

 

[BlueThunder]

After test driving a Pontiac Vibe and looking at Rondo closely, the 5 was the only way to go.

 

[coolmazda5]

It was a good thing when bought the 06 but after 2 years of ownership and tight garage during Winter, a key decision factor to buy a 2nd one

 

[DoubleT]

Was really impressed with the Mazda 5 before I even knew it had sliding doors. The sliding doors was a bonus!

 

[$chocker]

Sliding doors with manual trans.....SOLD!!!!

 

[chromdome]

Absolutley!

The sliding doors was THE selling point.

 

[zoomzoom mazda5]

It was because i didn't want my kid hitting someone's car with a reg. door.

 

[Ogre]

Lets just say a vehicle without sliding doors was NOT an option.

 

[skyhawk]

Sliding door was a bonus-- and attention to details like the 'door-closer assist' of the sliding door. No idea if other vehicles has same mechanism. But it's a brilliant idea. Changes owner's bad habit of slamming minivan doors.

 

[flamtap]

Sliding door was a bonus-- and attention to details like the 'door-closer assist' of the sliding door. No idea if other vehicles has same mechanism. But it's a brilliant idea. Changes owner's bad habit of slamming minivan doors.

Is the close-assist something on the Touring or GT models? The doors on my sport have to be "slammed". (I've noticed the tailgate does, too. If I don't push it hard enough it latches, but not completely, which causes the light in back to stay on.)

My kids are used to the power sliders on our other minivan, so they took some time figuring out how much effort they have to put into the Mz5 doors. One minor annoyance is the mechanics of the outside door handles on the sliders... my kids want to pull the handle towards the front to close, but in order to unlatch the hold-back mechanism, they have to pull out-and-to-the-back-a-little before then shoving towards the front. A vertical door handle would have been a little better there, but that wouldn't look as nice (maybe) and they'll figure this out.

I think power doors would be a good option in the future for this van. I'm not sure how much weight and $$ that would add though.

 

[coolmazda5]

^^ Canadian models have door-close assist (rant)

 

[5zoom]

Sliding Doors and Great Mileage

Mazda owns the market for a vehicle with sliding doors and great mileage. No one even comes close, especially when looking at around town mileage. Some of the bigger vans might come close to 30mpg on the highway, but they suck gas in the city like an SUV.

I was sold on the sliding doors the first time I had to take my daughter out of her car seat in a parking spot surrounded by Suburbans/Hummers that didn't fit between the lines.

 

[coolmazda5]

I was sold on the sliding doors the first time I had to take my daughter out of her car seat in a parking spot surrounded by Suburbans/Hummers that didn't fit between the lines.

That is my kid's school, everyday . Funny thing when seeing that the mothers need to "climb" into their huge SUVs to seat the kids. Me is 25 secs and I'm outta there

Found in the Mazda Sweden site some time ago. I think the pic speaks by itself

 

[mrbwa1]

The sliding doors are a huge selling point. Around here, I have seem parking spots so narrow, that a Tahoe/Surburban it touching both lines when properly parked! Also, the sliders allow for those sweet roll down rear windows that are nice as well.

For me the biggest selling point was how the 5 drives, but it was the sliders that got us to the lot... So it could have been a Ferrari and I guess I would have overlooked it without the sliders...

btw.. the sliders make loading awkward stuff like halved 4x8 sheets of plywood a breeze (just couldn't get a whole sheet in...)

 

[amcmike]

Handling, fuel economy, seating capacity, cargo space and sliding doors. But if Honda, GM and VW brought over their versions I would still stay with the 5 because it's the only one with those doors. Only thing missing is the turbo option and a 3rd seat in the second row.

 

[x10dude]

Right when we bought our first minivan I commented to my wife saying "I wish there was a car that had sliding doors."

5 years later I bought my Mazda5. Not exactly a categorized as a car but it definitely drives like one. I wonder why no other car manufacturer utilizes sliding doors in the rear doors.

 

[Bigdogoh]

I had been looking for a long time for a smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicle with sliding doors. Perfect for loading big dogs!

 

[daan]

My wife has had tons of back surgery, so she can't really bend over any more so we HAD to get something with sliders, but we just don't need something as big as a regular minivan. The 5 is basically the perfect vehicle for us.