Pretty much every automobile fit this criteria.Wondering what cars are out there as an alternative to MZ5?
It doesn't have to have a 3rd door seat. There are also EVs and hybrids!
Not so much like these huge minivans like Sienna. 5 seater is fine with decent cargo space.
Yeah indeed - this MZ5 is a unicorn but not in the heart of everyone in the US that they stopped bringing it here - sadI agree, nothing else in the size class comes with 3rd row seating. We were devastated when our was totaled out in an accident.
CX-5 would probably be the next best thing, or maybe even CX-30. But, you're missing out on the space efficiency of the Mazda5. Ford Transit Connect would be the closest alternate vehicle, but the build quality is terrible, since they are designed primarily to be a work van.
Yeah indeed - this MZ5 is a unicorn but not in the heart of everyone in the US that they stopped bringing it here
Hey there,The CX-9 is the only other Mazda that has 3 row seating. But it's a much larger vehicle.
Trust me, I've looked, the MZ5 is an extremely unusual (and Awesome!) vehicle and to my knowledge is the only car in it's class that has a third row. When ours is finished in the next 10 years, I'm going to miss it, big time. I love ours so very much, that if the engine fails at 300,000 miles, I'll more likely than not simply replace it and keep riding.
How did u maintain? Mine is 2013 Sport.Hey there,
My family currently has one running *knock on wood* that has 287k miles. Still runs great.
I am curious to see if there is anyone else with that high of miles on a Mazda 5 in the world.
Our model is a 2012 base model in black
How did u maintain? Mine is 2013 Sport.
- I did the Tranny flush when I bought it with 88k nearly 5yrs ago - now 104k. What should be the next service and when - drain & fill after 7 yrs?
- Changed the Coolant around 100k with Mazda OEM - when is the next one?
- Spark plug?
- Changed power steering fluid too - how often?
- Brake fluid flush done - how often?
- Anything else?
Are you still on original axles and wheel bearings? What year is the car and how many miles on ODO when you bought it?Funny enough, I don't recall this car *ever* getting a transmission fluid change. The dealership never recommended it, and the car still runs *knock on wood*.
The sparkplugs are actually ORIGINAL too, after 287k miles. Little loss of power, but the engine still runs like a champ. I would say that the engine only has a "putting noise", but for a long time, our nickname for the car (nicknamed 24k miles) was "putt-putt" because it had a 4-cylinder with only 150k miles.
Coolant has definitely been changed around every 50k miles. The power steering fluid changed probably around 130k.
Brake fluid flushes were done once every two years because brake usage was high.
I think what has helped this car immensely, is that 95% of the time, service was done at a Mazda dealership, with Mazda fluids.
Every other maintenance was suspension/ball joints etc, because of Rhode Island roads.
Over the past decade or so of ownership, (bought around April 2013 in Florida, and then has spent all of its life in salt-born Rhode Island since 2014), the car has only had two major pitfalls. Once, my brother got into an accident with it, a decent-sized accident but not bad, and busted the coolant lines and headlight housing. That caused minute electrical problems with the front left headlight that persisted for a couple of years but was corrected.
The other event (that was kind of bad) was a severe coolant line failure out of nowhere, at 240k miles, a failure of a washer or clip of some sort. I think that caused a little overheating.
The engine bay also has mice damage from field mice, (ate the sound-dampening fluff), road rash, and acorn divots on the roof.
The driver's side rear door no longer *locks* back into the slot when pulled back, due to corrosion of the little metal piece.
Everyone always sees the car and thinks it only has less than 100k miles, because we do take care of it, but potholes and corrosion have done their best at damaging the borders of the rim, because many are incredibly deep.
If you live in a salty area, the transmission shifter cable will absolutely go out on you, this has happened to us around 4 times and makes you think that the transmission is failing, but in reality, the engineers left the cable incredibly exposed and it gets worn out every 2-3 years.
*conclusion because this is a long reply*
I would say that a large reason this car has lasted so long with **very** harsh roads, is due to something you may know, called engine cycles. For the longest time, it has been our only car, so the engine rarely cools down back to cold. The engine is also driven to 2,500rpm, and there are no carbon deposits inside at all. Inside the actual engine looks brand new. Tranny fluid is pretty good for being old and has no metallic flakes.
If we had to do own it all over again we would wish that we had done undercoating sealant and applied paint protection film to the hood and roof because those are the only signs of road rash in New England, the trucks drop granite rocks that scratch the paint incredibly deep.
=============================================================
An interesting thing about the Mazda 5, is that the second generation uses the 2.5L MZR L5-VEl4 engine (the first generation Mazda 5 had 2.3l 4-cylinder engine that also found its way into Mazda's B series pickup trucks and Ford Rangers)
The engine in the second-gen has high heat tolerance and reduced friction, and Ford actually took the engine and developed an Atkinson cycle variant for their Ford Maverick pickup trucks.
Showing that for two generations of the Mazda 5, Ford thought it would work for a light-duty pickup truck, putting the same engine in a small minivan for passengers is probably a little light duty for it. However, both engines had a manufacturer-expected lifespan of 217k miles. So, our car is about 70k over its expected death date.
I would say that to best keep the car running for a long time is to use Mazda genuine oil (or a Castrol High Mileage variant because they use that sometimes when their genuine oil is not around), but I say to use Mazda genuine because I find that no matter what car you have, the manufacturer will typically design the oil for usage in engines for their specific cars, and in this case, most likely it's viscosity. I know that if Mazda genuine (a synthetic oil) is rated at OW-20 it's still OW-20, but I feel that Mazda changes it a bit.
Any oil that meets the specs laid out in the manual will work about the same. Theoretically there may be differences among oils that meet the spec, but the effects of those differences will be so minor that you'll never notice.** Mobile 1 vs Mazda engine oil - is something new to me - need to think about it. Any one has a say?
Probably never... Just go buy a new Prius and throw some zoom-zoom stickers on it. -Mazda5 owner.When are we going to get Mazda's with e-Skyactiv-X engine that does 49mpg?
Quick follow-up to this. My wife randomly approached me recently and was like, "so, driving the 5 a few times since driving those monstrosities [the loaner SUVs].... the 5 feels easier to drive somehow. Like, I'm less mentally tired than I was after driving the SUVs. Why is that?"4. IMO, the superior feeling of isolation in modern vehicles is a negative, not a positive. I could discuss this at length, but the bottom line is less physical fatigue but more mental fatigue. It tends to be worse in SUVs because of their greater footprint and height and worse visibility. It's terrifyingly easy to find yourself overstepping a lane line, misjudging a turn, nearly running someone over, or unintentionally approaching triple-digit speeds in a modern SUV. Those errors are much less likely in a 5 – especially the speed. You will never ever drive a 5 much faster than highway traffic unless you really mean it.
----
6. Between the 5's relative compactness, non-turbocharged engine, manual transmission, and moderate weight, I find it incredibly easy to drive in traffic. I can control my speed easily because the powertrain responds quickly and intuitively. And the vehicle as a whole doesn't give me a false sense of security or distract me with fancy displays. In a big, heavy SUV with a torque-converter automatic and whizbang interior tech, I find myself leaning on the active cruise control because controlling speed through a laggy powertrain (especially if it's turbocharged) and placing such a huge vehicle on the road with poor visibility and feedback involves so much more mental workload.
I suspect half the reason modern driver safety nannies feel so necessary is that, without meaning to or even recognizing it when it happens, we keep buying cars that make driving harder. Less overtly painful, yes – but also less intuitive, more distracting, and more cognitively demanding. Engineers do hero's work to overcome those problems, but there's no substitute for getting the fundamentals right. For all its flaws – and there are many, especially compared to newer vehicles – the 5 is one of the last people haulers that bucks that trend, especially when equipped with 3 pedals and a stick. Hydraulic power steering, fun-econo-car chassis, NA powertrain, reasonably sized wheels and tires, little to no superfluous size or mass. Just what counts; no more, no less.
Created an account just to reply to this incredible post.So I've had some relevant experiences recently that allow me to chime in here. Aside from the kinds of passing experience with various vehicles that most of us have (friends, family, rideshares, etc.), I've had a CX-9 and a CX-50 as loaners for days/weeks at a time recently. We've used them 100% in place of the 5 while it was in the shop, so it's as close to a 1-to-1 comparison as it gets.
It'd be dishonest to say this any way but straight: Newer SUVs kick the crap out of the Mazda5 in basically every way that most car buyers care about. Better looks, inside and out. Better ride quality. More stability in cornering and over undulations in the road. More traction and cornering grip. Better acceleration. Nicer interiors. More features. Better tech. Less road noise. The list goes on.
Almost every aspect of the Mazda5 feels crude and primitive by comparison. The only major exception is the engine... which feels anemic by comparison. And modern people-haulers perform way, way better in crash tests than the 5 did.
For me, sadly, none of that is relevant. I almost wish it were, because it's nice to be in a good modern vehicle. However...
1. The Mazda5 is the only 3-row vehicle on the US market since the 1990s that was available with a manual transmission. That's a must-have for us, and that alone means there's no alternative.
2. Sliding doors. Having gone back-and-forth between the 5 and SUVs for the same duty, I'll take a sliding door over a hinged door any day – even when the sliding door is 11 years old and rickety and the hinged door is brand new.
3. I know a lot of people like riding around in vehicles that look more imposing and take up more space on the road than necessary. Fair enough. I hate it. I feel like a jerk driving vehicles like that on populated roads, I hate the lumbering feeling of them, and they're a PITA to maneuver and park in tight spaces. With the 5, I feel like I can drive anywhere, park anywhere, and not crap myself on every narrow 2-lane road. Any SUV with a comparable amount of usable interior volume to the 5 has a much bigger footprint. Any SUV with a comparable footprint is tiny on the inside compared to the 5. Many SUVs have bigger footprints AND less interior space. Only other minivans and some hatchbacks can match the 5's ratio of usable interior space to footprint size – but all other minivans are bigger in every dimension, and no hatchback has 3 rows of seats. A lot of our 5's miles are on city roads, and we really want 3 rows, so all of this matters.
4. IMO, the superior feeling of isolation in modern vehicles is a negative, not a positive. I could discuss this at length, but the bottom line is less physical fatigue but more mental fatigue. It tends to be worse in SUVs because of their greater footprint and height and worse visibility. It's terrifyingly easy to find yourself overstepping a lane line, misjudging a turn, nearly running someone over, or unintentionally approaching triple-digit speeds in a modern SUV. Those errors are much less likely in a 5 – especially the speed. You will never ever drive a 5 much faster than highway traffic unless you really mean it.
5. A lot of the 5's interior tech deficiencies can be solved by a good CarPlay/Android Auto head unit. We have a Kenwood DMX907S in each of our cars, and overall I like it much better than most modern infotainment systems. The touchscreen is way better and the interface requires a lot less digging through menus. And its position in the radio/HVAC area means you can reach it far more easily and it's not constantly shining light near the center of your vision when you want to focus on the road (big asset when driving at night).
6. Between the 5's relative compactness, non-turbocharged engine, manual transmission, and moderate weight, I find it incredibly easy to drive in traffic. I can control my speed easily because the powertrain responds quickly and intuitively. And the vehicle as a whole doesn't give me a false sense of security or distract me with fancy displays. In a big, heavy SUV with a torque-converter automatic and whizbang interior tech, I find myself leaning on the active cruise control because controlling speed through a laggy powertrain (especially if it's turbocharged) and placing such a huge vehicle on the road with poor visibility and feedback involves so much more mental workload.
I suspect half the reason modern driver safety nannies feel so necessary is that, without meaning to or even recognizing it when it happens, we keep buying cars that make driving harder. Less overtly painful, yes – but also less intuitive, more distracting, and more cognitively demanding. Engineers do hero's work to overcome those problems, but there's no substitute for getting the fundamentals right. For all its flaws – and there are many, especially compared to newer vehicles – the 5 is one of the last people haulers that bucks that trend, especially when equipped with 3 pedals and a stick. Hydraulic power steering, fun-econo-car chassis, NA powertrain, reasonably sized wheels and tires, little to no superfluous size or mass. Just what counts; no more, no less.
So, yeah – if you're looking at the Mazda5 the way you'd look at any other vehicle, there are plenty of alternatives, and it's incredibly easy to find one that makes the 5 seem like a tin can on wheels. On the other hand, if you came to the 5 for what makes it special, best to make peace with the idea of keeping it – potentially at significant cost – until your needs or tastes drastically change.