ok, it sounds like they added a bit more stroke then, was wondering if they bored it out or stroked it

 

I have 2 little kids and the Mazda 5 is great for us. We keep the back 2 seats folded down most of the time and it fits our Phil & Ted double stroller easily.

The 5 is also convenient when you need to add one or two more passengers when visitors come to town. However, it is quite a pain for someone to get into those third rows with the kids' car seats installed in the second row. I'm not sure if you'd have the same problem with a larger minivan.

When visitors come for longer periods or for longer rides, I like to move one of the kid's seats to the third row and everyone's happy. The third row does not have the Latch system, but the seatbelt locks so that a car seat can be properly installed.

 

Good news there. A friend of a friend has a 2008, and reports highway mpg in the 32-33 range. I'll gladly give up some space in the family hauler for that sort of mileage! When I really need extra space or power, my father-in-law lives 1 mile away and has a Nissan Titan I can borrow any time.

My biggest concern (again, info from friend of my friend) is that space for the front seat occupants is very tight when a rear-facing car seat is installed in the 2nd row. Hopefully not too bad, the lack of a center seating position has me worried since you're forced to choose to have the car seat behind the driver or passenger. We shall see.

 

This is exactly what we do also. I have a 2 & 5 yr old so only 1 car seat is latched in, the booster seat is a breeze to move so others can get to the back seat. Although he loves to ride "in the trunk" as he says so we put his booster in the 3rd row most of the time with extra passengers. When both kids are in the middle row and the back row is down our sit n stand stroller fits great and there is still 1/2 the room in the back for groceries or whatever else you have.

Also we had our 5 when our youngest was still rear facing and didn't have a problem with room in the front seat. You can push the middle seats all the way back and shouldn't have an issue. We did not have the infant seats in the 5 (with the handle), he was in a convertable seat by the time we got our 5. It will be difficult for extra people to get in the 3rd row if you have 2 car seats latched in the middle though. We had this for a while before moving one to a booster. It can be done by stepping through the middle of the 2 middle seats, but not easy. If you put younger people back there it helps. The grandparents had a hard time getting back there though.

We have an 06 and consistently get 30 mpg highway, my parents have an 09 and it's better then that!

 

Good info, thanks for sharing. I test drove an 08 Grand Touring over the weekend, I have no doubt that the Mazda5 is the best choice for our family. The idea of our "van" getting the same (or maybe better?) gas mileage as my wife's Vibe/Matrix just blows my mind.

Car seat fit was no issue. Yes, I'd prefer a center position in the 2nd row so the seat can be in the middle, but when installed on the passenger side of the car, it fit without having to move the front seat up much. I should have tried it behind the driver, to see if I would be comfortable driving with it behind me. For long trips, I'd rather the passenger had the option to recline a bit and relax.

Car drove great, aside from having some REALLY noisy tires on it. That's my #1 concern with this car, expensive low-profile tires that wear out quickly. Appears ~$95 per tire is about the best price on tirerack.com. But other than that, I had no complaints. The heated leather seats were awesome, I'm definitely holding out for a Grand Touring when the time comes. Local dealer was asking $15k for this 08 with 42k miles. Not a terrible price, but it needed tires, something I don't want to have to deal with right away. I'm sure they would replace them, but be less flexible on the price. Probably going to wait a couple months to make a move anyways.

Here was the car seat installed:


And here was the remaining room in front:


Not bad! White is probably my favorite also. This is the one I test drove:


Thanks again for the input! Can't wait to get our 5. Probably wait until the winter is done, getting a "new" car all dirty and salty in the winter would make me cry

James
Chicago

 

There's a thread (or two) on this forum dedicated to tires for the Mazda 5 (annoying wear issues, which tires are the most quiet, etc). Check it out for more info. I haven't looked at it recently, but would definitely review before purchasing my next set of tires.

 

Yeah, I saw those. I'll definitely be reading them in detail before buying a car or a new set of tires.

 

if I.m not mistaken the tire wear problem was on the 06 and 07 models, Mazda corrected this for 08 and up models. I own an 08 and have not had any issues with tire wear

 

Fantastic. Considering that I am only looking at 08+ model years for the 5-speed automatic, I should be good.

The 08 I test drove had horribly noisy tires, but they appeared to be worn evenly. Just some cheap Toyos that needed replacement.

 

just got the '12 mazda 5 touring and has more punch than our '06 we had. Much quieter, smoother ride as well.