Those unexpected expenses....

[BitsnBearsMom]

Why do they have to crop up just before we are getting ready to go on vacation??? Murphy's law??

Dh and I have decided that our van (a '93 Nissan Quest) is no longer safe for me to be driving with the kids in it..... we are having problems with the antilock brakes... not the actual brakes b/c we put a $1400 brake job into it last month...... when you step on the brakes and are sitting at a stoplight or in traffic stopped the van will magically start moving again Very scary when it happens too (the plus of that is I've been getting his 2003 Camry to drive )lol AND we've paid 2X now to have Nissan look at it!!

So today we are van shopping.... sigh Went last night and found a 2001 Mazda MPV and today we are going to drive it..... dh informed me if he likes it he will buy it then and there (if they can get the smoker's smell out of it as little ds and I have bad asthma and being able to breath while I drive is rather important!!)

So can anyone give me a review on the MPV??

sigh... wish us luck and hope we get a good deal!! We were hoping to wait until spring but safety comes first .

 

[BitsnBearsMom]

HEY..... JUST saw my counter.... I AM IN THE TEENS NOW!!!

 

[Mortlives]

Can't help you with the MPV report, but I can empathize with the expenses thing. The night before we left on our last trip, the main drain from our house broke, and water backed up into our basement. There's nothing like trying to finish packing, and organize a major household repair. Except maybe, trying to make a major financial decision, like buying a new vehicle. I hope whatever you decide works out well for you.

Kungaloosh!
Morticia.

 

[MECH8T7]

We have a 2000 MPV ES and it hasn't given us any problems.

Back when we bought it, the MPVs were the only minivans that had windows in the rear doors that rolled down. I think some of them have them now, but you'd have to go to something newer in another make.

As you probably know, they have the third row bench that stows in the floor. The downside of how they designed it is that you can't collapse only a portion of the rear bench. It's all or nothing. So, if you have to seat five, you'd need to remove the middle row chairs to get extra space.

The passenger side chair in the middle row will slide to the center position, which is something that they made a big deal about. I think it is intended to make entrance to the rear bench easier. We've never slid the seats over but the "tracks" that the chair slides on are in exposed openings in the floor so lots of crap can get dropped in there (unless you tape it over or something) and you really can't get any of it out very easily.

It is also one of the smaller vans on the market at the time in terms of exterior dimensions but, that for us was a plus. We only have two kids and we just wanted a vehicle that gave us additional seating when we were travelling with parents and in-laws. So, the smaller footprint on the road makes it a easier to handle on the road, park, etc.

The principal criticism of the MPV at the time was that it was underpowered compared to the V6 models of its competitors. I think the engine in ours is around 170 hp. Mazda upgraded the engine to 220 hp in later models but I don't know if was done for the 2001 model year. We find our's peppy enough but we don't use it to tow anything.

The rears doors in our MPV are not "powered" but we don't find the doors too difficult to open or close. Again, Mazda introduced power rear doors in later model years but I don't know if they did it for 2001.

The roof capacity with the roof rack is about 100 lbs which I think might be a little low compared to others if you were thinking about using a roof top carrier for trips.

Hope this helps. Happy minivan hunting.

 

[BitsnBearsMom]

Helps loads... thanks for the review..... if they can get the smoke smell out for me this time next week I'll be a proup 2001 MPV owner!!

I like that it's a smaller van....... I only have 2 boys also so really need the space and the extra bench is a plus for us b/c I do daycare and occasionally will take the kids out somewhere with me.

But it's just another one of those unexpected expenses I was hoping to put off until next spring!! Oh well!! It's only money and I can't take it with me when I go right??lol

thanks again!

 

[MamaLema]

We bought a 2004 Mazda MPV this year and LOVE it. Mind you, we have 3 kids and had a 2 door car so maybe that has something to do with it.

Anyhow, its nice and roomy, has good gas mileage and best of all they threw in a free DVD player.

 

[mom_rules]

i've owned two MPV's and have leased two MPV's over the last 10 years or so-absolutely love them-have never had a problem. This last MPV was an allsport 4whl drive which I originally leased and have since bought out and passed on to my kids. It was in a major accident two years ago-other car was a write off the MPV's front end sustained minor damage and all three kids were shaken but not injured even slightly.
We still own that MPV and I have since bought a Tribute All whl drive for myself. Very dependable vehicles!