We currently own a 2011 Outback and a 2015 Mazda 3 GT hatch, both of which we really like, but we'd like to replace the Subaru with something a bit smaller and with the newer tech as in the 3. We also had a 2008 Mazda 3 GT hatch that we gave to our son and which is still going strong and trouble-free. For the record, I'm 70yo with just my wife and myself in the household, so not concerned with passenger amenities, etc.
Two of my major requirements for a new car are a heated steering wheel and Android Auto support. My wife also added that she wanted one with a nice interior on par with the Outback (we find the two-tone interior on our Mazda 3 to be in that category!). I really liked the looks of the CX-5, but since it doesn't yet have Android Auto and I'm not going to get one until I see it arrive from the factory with AA installed and working -- I initially rejected it. And because it's based on the current 3, I also didn't want to have two vehicles that were basically the same inside (this is without actually looking at one just an assumption).
Anyway, I have been looking at and driving about every vehicle in the compact SUV class over the past few weeks and found almost nothing that met my requirements. For example:
- Forester: too off-road oriented and trucky feeling with a firm, choppy ride.
- Honda CR-V: checked all the boxes, but felt too much like an appliance. Plus I still am not a fan of the styling and my wife thought the interior was somewhat cheap and plasticy feeling.
- New VW Tiguan: is too big, too family-oriented, lousy gas mileage, and has start/stop. There's also a question in our mind of general reliability. Stickers at almost $40K with a manual passenger seat and a sun visor that can't slide back to cover all of the side window! Not a fan of panoramic sunroofs.
- Hyundai Santa Fe Sport: feels high and big and has start/stop (ugh!). Panoramic roof.
- Hyundai Tucson: best-feeling car I drove and is very close to the CX-5 in size, being at the smaller end of the class. With a $4400 rebate (!) and other discounts I could get it fully loaded out the door (6% sales tax here) for $31K, but no heated wheel or adaptive cruise. I liked the 1.6 turbo with the 7-speed dual-clutch tranny. Again, a panoramic roof.
- 2018 Chevy Equinox and GMC Terrain: very attractive and full-featured, but they will easily sticker over $40K at the upper level and they don't have adaptive cruise. (Oddly, they have a feature that monitors the distance to the car ahead and lets you set a following distance, but all it does is give you a warning if you're getting too close.)
- The car in this group that met all our wants and needs (except for downsizing) and especially the feeling of quality would be a 2018 Outback! I wasn't planning on getting the same car twice in a row which I've always been adverse to but we started thinking seriously about going this route.
So a couple days ago, on my way to the Subaru dealer for another test drive, I stopped by the Mazda dealer to finally take a closer look at the CX-5. It was a winner! I don't need to tell you here about driving it, but it was the only one that just felt right for me as far as size, driving position, ride, power, and handling. It was also surprisingly quiet: surprising because our hatchback is somewhat noisy on the rough roads we have around here.
It definitely seems like it will fit our needs just perfectly, especially for downsizing from the Outback. And the salesman told me that the last hurdle has been cleared and he expects Android Auto to show up, possibly by the end of the month. Moreover, he confirmed that our Mazda 3 will be updateable with the new firmware. I'll have to see it before I buy it, but since our purchase timeframe is actually early next year, I'm sure it will be resolved one way or the other.
And that's my story to this point: coming full circle back to Mazda!
