mazda5 anyone?

[rwielatz]

Does anyone have experience with the mazda5 minivan? Ideally I'd like a Honda Odyssey but I just can't afford that so I'm looking for something smaller and cheaper but still with room for 6. Thanks!

 

[Tpiejg]

my sister has had one for a little over a year and really likes it. She has four kids aged 16 to 10 and finds it very useful. her two youngest sit in the third seat and have ample leg room. also she is a tall women, 5'11" and doesn,'t feel over cramped.

 

[auralia]

If you have 6 in it it is very tight. The rear seat is for smaller adults and children. At 5 feet tall my knees touch the seat in front of me. Ours had some major annoying issues with the gas cap causing the check engine soon light to come on and the air recirculator/blower mother fan went at About 10000 miles. Over all it isn't terrible but it has some odd noises now at 42000 miles that make me greatly question it's longevity. Also don't expect to get much more than 2 grocery bags in it if all the seats are in use.

 

[DisneyMomma81]

I love them! Don't have one but a family friend does ~ someday hopefully.

 

[rwielatz]

Thanks everyone. I'm going to test drive one this weekend and see what I think.

 

[Bob Gnuheart]

Don't come here much, but thought I should chime in.

Ours is an 07. We love the thing. Drove it like crazy all over and it has been a real blessin. Got ours when the 2008s came out and paid ~ 17000 for it.

Seats 6 - the rear are better for kids. We love the 2+2+2 set-up.

Anyway, when you hear somebody justifying their ginormous vehicle, know that what you bought was a wise choice.

 

[DopeyDame]

We have it and adore it!
4 adults fit comfortably, and 2 kids would be fine in the 3rd row. 6 adults would be difficult, but we've done it for short drives - just make sure to put the shortest adults in the back
Like someone said, if you have the 3rd row seats up, there's not a lot of storage, but you can put those seats down easily to lug stuff if you only have 4 people.
We've had ours for just over a year now and are absolutely thrilled with it.

ETA: There are actually seat belts for 7. You can, theoretically, put 3 in the back. I imagine 3 small kids would be fine back there. 3 grownups probably wouldn't fit.

 

[rwielatz]

Thanks! Its really just me and my 2 daughters (12yo) so we don't need anything "ginormous" but a little more space would be great. Right now we are in a 2001 accord with 18o,000 miles. We could probably keep the back row down most of the time, but it would be great to have the extra row for the occasional friend tag alongv