We have had our 2008 MAZDA5 GT now a little over 2 years.
Under warranty the Dealer recalled and fixed the power steering pump, we only had an issue once on a hot day in Phoenix when we tried to make too hard a turn from a dead stop, the power steering pump overheated and shut down with a dash light indicator. We had to wait several minutes for it to cool down and reset before power steering came back, clogging up the parking lot lane in the meanwhile. This was the only warranty work we had done to the car.
Everyone had that done. Not a big deal. I'm grateful they recalled it, as they should have.
The other nits,
1) The Alternator is WEAK, the battery doesnt charge very high and always shows low voltage since we often make many small trips. I changed the mazda battery with a quality battery, still low voltage (11.7-12v) but the car always starts. I had the dealer look for an electrical drain, they found nothing said all is normal. In the winter when it is cold and night with the headlights on, the starter strains, but always starts. Wonder how long the battery (now 15 months old) will last, good thing the batter has a 90 month warranty! Work around - at night turn HID headlights off for starting, turn back on after start.
First time I've heard of that issue. You have a problem.
2) The brake rotors are warped and cause a the steering wheel to shake when applying braking. Learn not to grip steering wheel hard when braking. Cheap undersized rotors, car seems to stop fine, however.
The rotors aren't warped. The pads have a lot of plastic and glaze the rotors, like all cars now. Sand them when the cause vibration.
3) Premature tire wear on front tires outer edges, I think we only got 30k miles on the front tires before both need to be replaced, slightly early in my book.
That's not normal unless you're talking about the cheap Toyos. I put Michelins on when I bought ours. I'm glad they put the money into other items and gave me the choice of putting good tires on if needed. Sounds to me like your tire were over-inflated and not rotated regularly. Outside wear is no common on these cars and is typical, as with any car, of neglect.
4) Drink Tray Interference fit with one second row seat up and one second row seat down -you can't have the drink tray out in this configuration. This annoys me to no end- 1/2 inch smaller would solve the problem. Sawsall anyone?
Um, wow. Lot's of time on your hands there. Wish I could say the same.
5) GPS address entry not functional while driving -- HATE IT HATE IT HATE IT --will never pay big bucks for crippled dealer GPS software. Also, the GPS does not have any COSTCOs in the directory. (WTF?)
All OEM units are that way. Too bad you paid $2K for it and found out the hard way.
6) GPS nag-ware disclaimer every time the car starts I must answer YES to the liability disclaimer to get the GPS to display the map! Leave the liability lawyers out of software design PLEASE.
I don't like that either.
7) The rear view dimmer mirror dims GREEN- the cars headlights have a green tint in the mirror Yuck!
Obviously this is your first auto-dimming rearview mirror. They all do that in either green, blue, or grey tint.
8) Drivers arm rest too narrow, not adjustable up and down.
This isn't a $40K custom van. Geez.
9) The display for the ambient temperature reading shares with AC temperature setting thus constantly toggling between the two displays. really? LCDs are so cheap- was this really necessary?
The space on the dash is expensive. You're getting insanely critical on this.
10) Carpet in cargo area behind third row seats is CHEAP. A removable cargo mat that covers the back of the seats as well as an optional accessory would be nice.
I spent $5 at Meijer and fixed that. Put half the thought into solutions that you put into criticisms and you could fix most of your issues.
11) Seat bell ding - Please let me turn it off.
Again, first new car? They all do that ace.
I would have to add, the mileage is very good. We once drove from LA to Phoenix (during the night) non-stop and got 404 miles on one tank. The last 40 miles were nerve racking as there were no gas stations in the area. On 15 gallons that's about 27 mpg. Not bad!
Now you're focusing on the stuff that matters. This van is a 10/10 when you measure economy, looks, features, etc.
Overall the complaints are minor we enjoyed the MAZDA5 and would buy another one if it had a bigger engine (can we say mazda5speed?). It continues to be our favorite "go to" car over the larger SUV and G35. We intend to keep it a least another couple of years.-D
