Hi everyone!
My name is Dan. I am brand new to this forum and to Mazda. It all started in August when my wife was interested in trading her Civic for a crossover. We tried the Escape, RAV-4, CRV and the CX5. It was no contest. The CX5 rode better and was the most comfortable of them all. A month latter we took delivery of a white CX5 Touring with Bose and moon roof.


At the same time, my 06 Mustang GT was about to hit 100K, and with the new Mustang coming, resale was about to drop like a rock. The car was tons of fun to drive but the two doors was starting to become a problem and winter weather in the Boston area is always - adventurous - even with proper Blizzaks.


I wanted a hatch and tried out the Focus ST, Forte, and a few others. The 3 was not really on my list because I knew a new version was around the corner and I personally hate the goofy grin of the previous generation. When the sales guy told me that they had a few test mules of the new 3, I jumped on the chance to test drive the standard and auto versions.


The new 3 was solid, fun to drive and had plenty of room for the dog in the back, but I was not really impressed with the power of the I Touring model and the "Taxi meter" radio was just awful. After talking to the sales guy about specs and prices, the S Grand Touring with tech package was $26k. Yikes!


Andrew (the sales guy) suggested I take a look at the 6. The price was about $24 for the Touring, and it had the tech and Bose package. One short trip and I was sold on the car. Every bit as fun to drive as the Mustang, lots of room in the back seats, the MOST COMFORTABLE SEATS outside of the Volvo XC60 and just everything I could want in a car.


So three days after taking delivery of the CX5, we left with my new 6.


After driving the cars for a few months, here are some of my thoughts:


CX5: Drives like the Civic, deceptively low slung feeling. I owned a similarly sized (but lifted) 98 Explorer Sport. Wow what a difference 15 years makes on driving dynamics.


The CX5 cloth interior loves dog hair. I can not get it out. We finally bought the cargo liner for the rear. Our poor Siberian, Stella, slides all over in turns. ha ha


The tires are great in winter. The car is very good in the snow but I don't think Mazda did extensive cold weather testing. In deep cold, the motor is reluctant to turn over, the interior will occasionally creak and the washer fluid freezes. This will be remedied on the first service with 0W30 full synthetic, and ultra cold temp washer fluid.


Mazda6: Man the seats are awesome! I never liked Leatherette as it is usually just a fancy name for vinyl. The seat material breaths though. It seems to absorb moisture and stays pliable in extreme cold. If someone didn't tell me it wasn't leather, I would never have known.


The car can handle corners at about 95% of the Mustang GT. There is a tad more sway, but the tires will break traction before you feel the car rolling. I'm not a huge fan of the Dunlops. The stock tires may say all season, but they do not like anything below 40 degrees. I can't wait to try out the Perelli P-Zero Nero that my Mustang used when its time to change.


The car has the same cold weather issues as the CX5. I imagine the same fix will work. I also noticed the wipers do not like ice - they will stop and send a notification rather then try and power through it. They also tend to ice over very quickly.


Over all, we got two incredible cars at very decent prices. I would recommend anyone in the Boston area to check out Mazda Gallery in Norwood and ask for Andrew. There was no haggling and everything was presented upfront. In fact everyone I met there was incredibly nice and polite. Accessory prices are not bad either.


Now that we have two practical cars, maybe I should pick up an old Miata as a project. I do miss having a sports car after all!

 

Glad you saw the light and joined the Mazda family. Enjoy the Zoom Zoom.