2010 Mazda5 and Tall People

L

littlemisszoom

Hey there! It's my first post, but I've lurked for a while now. I need help, though! The Mr. and I are considering the purchase of a 2010 Mazda5, but we have a few concerns. The Mr. is 6'4", I am 5'7" (downright dainty!), and our three year old is 3.5 feet tall. Our nine month old is off the charts for height. We aren't having any more kids, but will this be a car we can use for years, or will we be tying kids to the roof rack?

I was also looking at the 6 (why, oh why isn't the 6 Wagon around anymore) and the CX-7, but the 5 has been my object of lust for three years now.

Any advice, thoughts, personal stories would be appreciated.

-littlemisszoom
 
I'm 6'-1" and have pretty long legs for my height, and find the 5 comfy. In the end though, you'll have to get him in the 5 and see how well he fits. I heard some 6'-1" having trouble finding a good comfortable position in the 5, and some slightly taller people doing just fine.
 
I'm 6'1" and I do wish the dr.seat would go back a touch more for my liking, but it's still an awesome vehicle to own. So much versatility that it makes it worth while in the end.
 
I'm 6'2" and am comfortable.

Have him sit in it. If it's close or he's still not sure, rent a Mazda5 for a weekend and put 500 or 600 miles on it (just call your local rental places and ask if they have any Mazda5's available, one of them will).
 
I agree with the rental idea, thats your best bet to know if it will work for him. Hertz offers the rent to buy program which makes it easy to find the car at the location closest to you.

I'm also over 6' and not exactly a slim build but its roomy enough for me. It surprised my full size truck loving in-law family as well. I think he will have issue with thigh support, as I did, but it is fixable with a little tinkering of the seat cushion. My wife is about the same size as you and she likes it, our kids are also giants but as a 4 seater, there is lots of legroom in the second row. The 4 year old girl is 45" and our 15 month old girl is around 30" tall.

When I looked to buy the car I adjusted the seats to see if I could sit in all 3 rows comfortably, and it was possible, just not for long trips. We set a limit of an hour for seating 6 people, we are fairly large people :) Hope you find this helpful! I will offer the Subaru Forester as choice #2 if the Mazda wont work for you. It doesnt offer the third row but it does have AWD and is very spacious inside.
 
Im a hair under 6'6 and I agree that the driver's seat on the Mazda5 doesnt move back as far as I would like it to but the seat/wheel are adjustable enough for me to find a comfortable position (rear view mirror doesnt adjust enough for me at times due to my height)
My legs are definitely hitting the dash when Im riding in the passenger seat and its tough to get comfortable.
The middle row offers great adjustability and I have no problems sitting there comfortably...the back row is manageable but like others have said...not for extended periods of time unless you are around 5'5 or under


minus the few seating quirks i still loooove the 5 and am super glad we ended up picking one up

I did test drive a CX-7 and felt that the roof was a bit short for my liking especially in the rear
 
my best friend is 6'4 and just picked up his 2012 mazda5 a few days ago. he says its not bad. but he also said his 05 MPV has much larger which he misses.

its also the first 2012 ive seen. man, they changed alot of little things on this years. im not a fan of the tails at all though.
 
With the center row on tracks like the front, I would think the kids should be OK for quite awhile. Just don't set them all the way back when you first get it, or the kids will get used to the extra legroom and will complain about a "lack" of legroom as they age. If their expectation for ample legroom gets out of control, your only choice is to buy a long wheelbase German executive sedan ;)
 
Ha! Thanks for the advice, everyone! I have to say that Mazdas are some of my favorite cars. We are going to test out a 2010 Touring tomorrow (along with a 6 and a CX-7, because "thorough" is how I roll). I'll let y'all know how it goes.
 
The CX-7 will probably be more fun, esp w/the turbo, but nothing else out there currently is as practical as the 5 without a major mpg hit.
 
thaxman said:
The CX-7 will probably be more fun, esp w/the turbo, but nothing else out there currently is as practical as the 5 without a major mpg hit.
Click to expand...

I'd respectfully disagree: I have driven CX-7 (non-turbo, though) and found the handling lacking. It is not too bad, but the car feels much heavier than 5. CX-7 reminded me a bit of my wife's MPV.
 
Well, we just got back from our morning with Mazda. We didn't like the CX-7 (it was boring, and my husband's head was smooshed on the ceiling - sorry for the 7 lovers in here), and the same was said of the 6. But we LOVED the 5. Lots of room, the double stroller went in with the 3rd row down and had lots of room for groceries, and it had the pep and handling we missed from the 3 wagon of our childless days. For a touring, the quote we got was 18,600. The overstock price was 18,900. Any thoughts on that? I told him to email us trade in numbers and whatnot, and we'd discuss it.
 
I paid 18,200 for my 09 touring a year ago. I think you could do under 18,000 if its a 2010 considering the 2012's are out.
 
You may want to try a Sport model. I *think* that the sunroof cuts down on headroom, would give him even more in a Sport. And if you do want to do a long distance test drive, I rented mine from Enterprise. The price was something like $60 from Friday night to Sunday night - I put about 600 miles on it. Bought one the next week (this was back in February, '09).

Back to the Touring that you're looking at - that's a '10 model, right?
 
Sunroofs usually rob headroom. Im 6 foor 1 and the seat doesn't go back far enough. If you have an automatic it might not matter. I love this car and nothing is perfect but it still fits me well. Try a sport to see if it feels better for him. My taller passengers say the front is too snug. I do love the gas mileage.
 
For the taller drivers out there, try adding a bit more tilt to the bottom cushion by adding a 1/2" spacer. It doesn't sound like much but it sure is!
 
@chitownpete - He actually did well with the moon roof, shockingly. He whacked his head on the CX-7's roof, though. It was out pretty fast.
@twintrbo - I wouldn't have thought of it - thanks! :)
 
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