Hi everyone. This is a little long so excuse me.

My wife and I have been talking about purchasing a Mazda 5. Here is a little background on our situation and we'd like to get your take on your experiences with the Mazda 5. First off, My wife and I prefer manual transmissions, which is what makes the Mazda 5 instantly attractive to us. We live in Reno, NV and used to have an 06 Legacy wagon that we loved with a manual, and then we had our first little boy 2 years ago. After about 6 months of his car seat barely fitting in the car and hurting our back to hunch into the back of it, we set out looking for something bigger. We looked into the SUV route but knowing we will have 2-3 kids we decided to go the mini-van route and their uber-practicality and sliding doors we love. We went shopping and after almost buying a private party 2007 Mazda 5 Touring with a manual (it was such a good deal) we backed out and bought a 2007 Hyundai Entourage (same as a kia sedona) that we got a pretty good deal on and were able to purchase for what we sold our subaru for. We have family that visits us a few times a year and the power sliding doors and more storage lured us in.

But now here we are 2 years later. We love our fun driving unique cars and our manual transmissions (our other car is a mint 95 Nissan Pathfinder 4x4 with a stick.) The Entourage is definitely the sportier of the "big" vans and has good power, but the gas mileage isn't the best (we average about 19-20) and its just not fun to drive. We are considering selling it for a Mazda 5 with a manual tranny. We just had our 2nd kid so we do have a rear facing seat again, however if we decide to have a 3rd, and its a big "if", god willing, it will be at least 3 years from now.

I actually emailed Mazda about the possiblity of special ordering a Touring or Grand Touring with the manual (my wife really wants leather and heated seats). They shot me down and said its not possible, which pissses me off a little. Its not like i'm asking them to special build the transmission. They have one already for it, why not just swap out the pedals and the shifter in a higher trim? Anybody else had luck special ordering one?

We are probably looking at doing a used 2010 or new 2012. I think the standard traction/stability control intro'd in 2010 would be worth it for our winter climate. We have the pathfinder for the bad snow so the lack of AWD doesn't bother me. So here are some of my questions and concerns and I'd like to see what you have to say...

1. I'm worried about downsizing in space. We maybe take 1 trip a year down to so-cal or Oregon so its so rare to need all that space... but its nice to have it when we need it. Anybody downsized from a full size mini-van to a Mazda 5? Did you regret it or did you make it work? How about with 3 kids?

2. What's your take on a 2010 vs. 2012. Is it worth it other than getting the 6 speed manual and 2.5 vs. 5 speed with the 2.3? I like the way the 2010 looks better but my wife likes the looks of the 2012 better.

3. For anybody whose bought a new 2012 with the manual, what are you guys getting them for under MSRP?

4. Hows reliability been on your mazda 5 and what real world gas mileage can I expect from 2010 or 2012. (We typically get a little more than EPA combined on our other cars)

5. Hows the power when you have 4 or 5 people in one. I test drove an auto 2012 a few weeks ago and while the auto was on the ball, it sure sapped what little power it had with 2 dudes in it (however with a 4 cyl I wasn't expecting too much). I haven't driven a manual yet, but I would assume it's like in our subaru that was a dog in an automatic version, it was much more lively with an extra gear and rowing them yourself.

6. My only other concern is road noise, anybody have luck quieting things down a little by going with different tires?

That's it for now. I appreciate your input and I'll keep you posted!

 

I have only test driven the diesel 5 here, cant tell you what the gas powered one would be like. The 5 cant be that bad though since there are lots of them running around here, just watch the shocks and tires.

 

MazdaTirol, thats awesome you lived in Sparks. That's actually where we live too. Not to threadjack my own topic, but how'd you end up in Austria?

 

Lost my job in the summer of '09 and couldn't wait around for the job market to recover to get a new one so I went on an extended vacation at first here, after my 3 months were up and I came back to the US in late Nov '09 I decided to leave since things were even worse by then, been here ever since. Yes I make much less money right now BUT I enjoy life more, have more time to do what I want, I had no time at my last job to do anything, it was always work work work work......oh and work, sometimes it would be 4 15 hour days in a row or if I was lucky just a 72 hour work week till the floor fell out from under the economy then I was lucky to get 40 hours. Not to mention that there are no fires here, it's beautiful (although I do miss the desert), and life here is just.............slower, not as hectic, things aren't open 24/7, if I forget to put gas in my car saturday for my sunday routes then I am screwed as everything is closed.