Shopping for a Mazda 5 - recommendations?

Hey folks! I'm a wanna-be first time Mazda 5 owner who's still in the searching phase. I've been eyeing a 2009 Touring that's for sale on CL near my place. It's got 103k miles on it, which is higher than I'd like, but it looks to be in good shape - some minor surface rust underneath but no holes or bubbling that I could see. The owner has had the motor mounts and sway bar bushings replaced, which I hear are common issues with the 5. Test driving seemed good, maybe the slightest bit of drift on the highway but I'm planning on purchasing new tires anyways so I'm not too worried about that. Has a DVD player which is cool, and a nice navy blue color that pleases the wife, which is a bonus.

This would be a second vehicle for our family of 4 (two children both under 2), primarily for local usage (i.e., not many road trips, mostly shopping and errands - keeping the Nissan Armada for heavier duty stuff). I've done a good bit of research and right now the 5 looks like a perfect fit for our needs.

I'm budget conscious but willing to spend more if it'll get me more bang for the buck. I'm a bit torn between this 2009 and looking for something newer/with fewer miles. In particular I'm wondering if the bigger motor in the 2012+ generation is worth spending an extra couple grand (USD) - any thoughts on that? Is it a noticeable improvement in performance?

And regarding the 2009, are there any other problem areas I should be looking for/expecting in that model?

Appreciate any insight!

i own a 2012 and havent owned previous gen so cant comment if one is better than the other. traveling for work i sat in an 09 mazda 5 taxi in dc which had 300000 miles on it. giy said beside basic maintenance he had no problems. he had to change shocks once but if youve seen dc roads thats pretty forgiveable haha

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I have a 09 Touring and I like it. My suggestion would be to buy a pair of rear adjustable upper control arms. They go for $75-100 on ebay. That way you can adjust the camber and it wont wear out tires in the rear. I installed and set and have been thankful that I did.

Good luck in your search! We've only owned ours for 2 days so can't really comment on most of the issues you bring up except to recommend patience (if possible) for a nicer example. They're not terribly rare cars, but most were/are used as family-haulers, a role that can see a lot of wear and tear inflicted in a short period of time.

It sounds superficial, but my major criterion when looking for one was to get a pre-2011 model, since I was really turned off by Mazda's Nagare styling. No smiley faces!