Buyer's guide for the Mazda5

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chapel

Member
My wife wants a Mazda5, so that's what we're going to get
we found a nice 2008 Grand Touring with 70k on it and it's the one she wants (leather for easy kid clean up)

I'm a shadetree mechanic, so I know my way around a car pretty well. What should I look for and look to avoid?
It's got pretty high mileage for the year, but it's not that old. What items tend to wear quickly and would need replacement at 60,000+?

Grand Tourings seem to be nearly unobtanium so we're hoping to get this one, but if mileage is an issue, she might need to reconsider.
 
We just bought a 2008 Sport with 59,000 a few months ago. The shocks do need replaced, but that's about it. We did have to have the transmission replaced under warranty due to a hard 3-4 upshift, but got to drive a 2010 GT during that period which is how I realized our shocks are due.
 
tire condition, rear shocks (for leaks/blown) and then just general maintenance stuff. being a shadetree mechanic im sure you know what a car looks like when it has been abused and not cared for. that is pretty high mileage (for an 08), but not discouraging. should get it for a good price then.
 
chapel, if your wife was wiling to give up the leather etc you could pick up a new 2010 Sport for only a few grand more.
 
70k fewer miles
Dynamic Stability Control (DSC)†† and Traction Control System (TCS), I don't know if there are other differences.
car-part.com might be a source of leather seats, I saw fronts for $150 each, didn't check rears at the time,
but you'd still be missing HIDs, sunroof etc
 
Leather isn't that big of a draw to us and we have 3 kids, 9/6/5 years old now. Leather is colder (and hotter in summer) when you first get in and while the fronts have heat on a GT, the other 4 don't. The stability/traction control are big draws though.

We just got to drive a 2010 GT for 3 weeks while our 2008 Sport's transmission was replaced, so we got a really good comparison in and a 2010 Sport would be the one to buy for us now.
 
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we've gotten by for years without TC and SC.
The Leather is a draw for my wife for two reasons:
1) the Leather seats have a heated option
2) Leather is easier to clean spliis out of.

Also, with my son being so young, he's gonna be in his Recaro Como for another 2-3 years anyway.
 
my previous car had leather seats and the smooth leather surface caused me to move about in the seat when i drove. when i picked the 2009 touring, i opted for black fabric seats which are easy to clean and hold/grip me better. still, water is the only drink permitted in my car. the last time i had to handle spills is when one of the kids threw up onto the mat & carpet. it was a three-hour job to clean and neutralize the residual odor.

by the way, when i bought the 5 in 2009, i too considered buying used 2008 and 2007 models. i ended up with a current year new car because i didn't want to deal with all the mechanical problems that might come up, and also becuase the favorable financing on new models meant the price difference was low enough to justify buying new.
 
The other wagon we own is leather. WIth the two car seats in now for 5 years, the seats are destoyed. Crap ingrained in the leather and indentations from the seats that seem to be permanent. Oh well. We looked at the GT vs Sport, and at the beginning I didn't even give it a thought, the GT hands done. THen I drove the GT. Two things bothered me. 1) With the sunroof the head clearance was pretty poor. 2) THe heated seats didn't seem to get that warm. Our wagon has heated seats and on the high setting it can griddle your rear.
I then gave the sport a look and was impressed at how durable the cloth felt. More geared towards easy clean up from kids or wet/muddy outdoor activities. So far I think choosing the sport has been the correct choice for me. The $3400 increase to GT just didn't make sense. HID, spoilers, sills, leather,bluetooth etc are just nice to haves, just not for 3400
 
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