Finally, a year after my search started, I bought my Mazda5!

[turtlegirl]

Whew! It's a little red 2008 Sport manual with a little under 32,000 miles on it. It spent most of its life on Kaua'i, which must be the reason for the low miles. I spent forever looking for a used manual 5, even resigning myself to an AT as long as it had a moonroof to help lessen the sting. The dealers here in southern Nevada charge thousands more than were I to get it in AZ or CA, so I was looking over 250 miles away. But, as luck would have it, this little apple (red on the outside, white on the inside - I'm thinking of nicknaming it Fuji) came up for sale mere blocks from my home. We are WALKING to pick it up tonight. It's the only Mazda5 I've seen in my town, and my eyes have been peeled ever since my quest began.

It's in pretty good shape, a few marks on the white upholstery from Hawaiian mud, and wear and tear from two kids. But, at $11,000, I can live with it, and it will probably come off with a shampoo. The outside is in near-excellent condition.

I have fallen for the idea of a moonroof on my car, though. I want to put one on this. When talking to dealers, they kept mentioning putting an after-market moonroof on a 5 for me. I've also kinda started liking the idea of a remote starter, to start the a/c before I get in. Not so sure that's a good idea on a MT, though. Anyone with remote starter experience willing to offer advice?

 

[Premacy5]

congratulation on your purchase.
Aftermarket sunroof are pretty expensive to install. Most reputable place charge at least $1K-1.5K to install quality sunroof.
Remote starter are bad idea for MT and might be illegal although very seldom enforced. Professional shop would not install it. It might be OK if you install it yourself but there is no neutral switch that would guarantee safe operation.

 

[thaxman]

Hate to be a downer, but I would personally forego the moonroof. The one thing that is nice about them is that you can use ine to ven the hot desert air in the summer, BUT because its a glass window and hole in the headliner, it also lets more heat in, so mebbe its a wash. In the winter and at nite its cool to slide it open and drive around, but its something you can live without. This is from someone who has had moonroofs in 3 of his last 5 cars. With a white interior, you will hardly miss the "extra" sunlight you get from the open roof.

As for the remote start, I would be terrified of not getting in the habit of removing the car from gear when I leave it so that I could start it remotely. All it takes is leaving it in gear 1X and pressing that button!!!!

 

[ljmattox]

Congrats on your purchase!

Re: remote starting, no factory option for manual transmissions, however I've done a lot of research on aftermarket units for our 2010 Sport MT and they're readily available (and safe to use).

Viper (I've been considering a 5701), among others, provides for manual transmission remote starting by using a "safety check" that you perform while exiting the vehicle. There's a combination of pressing a button with the engine running in neutral with the parking brake set, exiting and locking the vehicle, and shutting the engine off with the remote once outside. It's then waiting for a remote start command next; if that doesn't occur (like if someone the unlocked the door once it was set, and then maybe put it in gear), it won't start remotely.

I got hooked on remote starting with our CX7 we had previously for just what you said, getting the A/C cranking on hot days a bit ahead of getting to the car.

Looking forward to getting it installed this year, Father's Day, perhaps!

 

[DKaz]

A late congratulations! I'd also like to get remote start for my 5, for opposite reasons.

 

[wmzda5]

A late congratulations! I'd also like to get remote start for my 5, for opposite reasons.

the 5 is terrible in heating the interior during cold winter mornings, the remote starter will be useless. I find it you need more than 10 minutes at idle to heatup the inside, I just drive it gently until engine is warm (warm engine coolant = warm heater air)