I've never owned a Mazda before, but started looking at the 5 a few months ago--we have 2 kids, sometimes need to transport other kids, and I didn't want to get a true minivan for a wide range of reasons, so had a friend enthusiastically recommend we check out the Mazda5. After lots of online searching and 3 test drives, I bought one this week--2009 Mazda5 Touring with around 50k miles on it. Husband was a little nervous about getting something that old but anything newer we saw (2010-15) had either many more miles or was out of our price range.
So, I am happy with the car/purchase. BUT we've already had to bring it back to the dealer once as the low tire pressure sensor was on when I bought it, and the salesman told me it was just that the tires needed air, but in fact it was a bad sensor. Not surprising that the salesman was either wrong or lying, but yesterday my husband took the car to our mechanic on a hunch that it had other issues, and he found that there was rust underneath (again, not a shock given the age), bad front sway bar links and brushings, and the hazard lights work only some of the time. Our mechanic--who we've used for years and has done well with our 2008 Toyota RAV4--implied that it was basically a bad car, and said outright he would not have bought it.
I am really hoping to get another 100k miles out of this car (mainly driving around town with occasional longer trips) but my husband now has me worried we bought a lemon. The dealer has agreed to fix these issues--sway bar links and brushings, hazard lights--and our mechanic said there was nothing wrong with the major systems, filters and fluids all looked good, and the car runs well....But can anyone assure me this was a good call? Are these common issues? Big deals, or small fixes?? TIA!
So, I am happy with the car/purchase. BUT we've already had to bring it back to the dealer once as the low tire pressure sensor was on when I bought it, and the salesman told me it was just that the tires needed air, but in fact it was a bad sensor. Not surprising that the salesman was either wrong or lying, but yesterday my husband took the car to our mechanic on a hunch that it had other issues, and he found that there was rust underneath (again, not a shock given the age), bad front sway bar links and brushings, and the hazard lights work only some of the time. Our mechanic--who we've used for years and has done well with our 2008 Toyota RAV4--implied that it was basically a bad car, and said outright he would not have bought it.
I am really hoping to get another 100k miles out of this car (mainly driving around town with occasional longer trips) but my husband now has me worried we bought a lemon. The dealer has agreed to fix these issues--sway bar links and brushings, hazard lights--and our mechanic said there was nothing wrong with the major systems, filters and fluids all looked good, and the car runs well....But can anyone assure me this was a good call? Are these common issues? Big deals, or small fixes?? TIA!