Found an 06 Sport with a manual in Black with a black cloth interior and only 54K miles. It's even at a Mazda dealer and might be eligable for the CPO program. The price is very attractive, too!
Hmmm... I need to drag the wife and the checkbook down there tomorrow morning...
Javelin wrote: the CPO program. The price is *very* attractive, too!
The wha?
Certified Pre-Owned. On Mazda's it extends the warranty to 7 years/70K miles. Unfortunately this dealer does not do CPO's. Oh well, still worth a look! The things look freakishly good lowered...
A great wheel upgrade for 3s and 5s are RX8 wheels. 18x8, correct bolt pattern, offset, hub bore, readily available for reasonable prices with TPMS, and very lightweight for the size. You can fit a 225/40 18 in there.
On a 5:
And on my girlfriend's 3, painted gunmetal. Stock ride height
They look killer lowered, but I don't think I'd lower a DD 5.
I already have to use the sissor jack just to get a floor jack under the 5. Probably one of the lowest stock cars I've ever had, and the underside of the front airdam already hits some speed bumps.......
I would replace the stock shocks though, they pretty much suck. I'm planning on replacing them with Koni's next year. You can get adjustable Koni's from the Tire rack for only $20 more then nonadjustables..... so why not.
I'm actually a bit excited about doing this, since for a mini-mini van it handles extremely well and going with some Koni's would really make this thing fun.!
Chris Rummel
I think my Mom's is great. Since buying a house I have been borrowing it quite a bit. The only major complaints she's had are rough/erratic shifting (which was solved by an ECU update), and squeaks from the rear swaybar body bushings. The car has been back to the dealer 3 times for the squeaking swaybar, each time they have either replaced or greased those bushings, but it always comes back. I think the problem is that once they grease the bushings they are no longer operating in their designed manner - the grease film goes away, and the squeaking comes back. The bushing was probably designed to provide compliance via the deformation of the rubber, but wasn't quite sized large enough to achieve that. I probably ought to just install poly bushings, put zerk fittings on the brackets, and tell her to make sure they get lubricated at every oil change.
Just bringing an old thread back: http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/new-cars/2012-107-5-grand-touring/
We just drove the latest Mazda5.
How do two 3's a 4 and a 5 star add up to an overall 5 star rating? Shouldn't it be like 3.75 stars?
The "overall" rating isn't an average of the other scores, it's scored seperately as the reviewer's overall impression of the car.
I may as well update. I posted in this thread back in January about ours (on page 1). Now up to nearly 60,000 km. The only issue we've had is the squeaky rear bushings. Fixed under warranty at the last service but it sounds like it will likely come back. The stock Toyo's suck, and unfortunately due to using winter tires in the winter, the Toyo's will last through next summer. They're noisy as hell and flat spot overnight. It takes several minutes on a coolish morning for the thumping to disappear. Great car overall. I can't think of a better vehicle for daily all-round use for our family of four.
Thinking about one of these as possible less expensive, less thirsty replacement for our 2012 Highlander.
Perhaps it's my inner MrMoneyMoustache.. but I'm thinking that we just don't NEED a vehicle that large. With 4 in the family, we usually justify it "necessary" only for picking up kids' friends on occasion, and for mashing gear in the back for vacations.
On paper, and based on reviews I am pleasantly surprised to read that the 5 can gobble up more cargo. Since GMR knows all.. Has anyone ever owned same generation Highlander and 5... that can confirm these cargo figures?
Specs for Highlander say 42.3 cu ft behind 2nd row seats: http://usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/cars-trucks/toyota/highlander/2012/specs/highlander-fwd-4dr-i4-(natl)-332638
Specs for 5 says 44.4 behind 2nd row seats: http://usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/cars-trucks/mazda/mazda5/2015/specs/mazda5-4dr-wgn-auto-touring-373374
I have a '10 Mazda 5 and a 2011 Rav4, and the Rav4 cargo area certainly seems quite a bit bigger, so I imagine the Highlander would be bigger still. The Mazda 5 cargo area is relatively narrow, and with the 3rd row up there is very little space. Also the middle row in the Mazda is 2 captain's chairs, so if you need to carry more than 4 and some stuff it gets pretty tight. Legroom in the front of the Mazda is also limited.
I'm the original owner of my '10 Mazda 5, we've got 86k miles on it, and it has been he best "normal" car I've owned. I've even had it on track for "touring" - great steering and brakes. It has been very reliable - the only non-consumable parts I've replaced are rear sway bar endlinks and the accessory drive belt pulley. Rear shocks went @ 40k, and the fronts are well past due @ 86k.
Yeah that is expected if the seats are up in 3rd row. Basically zero cargo room.
Highlander is much the same.
I got my wife a salvage title 06 auto for Christmas. Had 108k on it. Now at 112. Freaking awesome car. Shes a girl scout leader and teacher. Swallows our munchkin and a berkeleyton of stuff, or 5 kids and 2 adults. Comfortable, fun to drive. 25ish mpg.
I can't seem to find definitive answers, but were these ever available with the SKYACTIV engine?
In reply to sobe_death:
I don't believe so. Not wanting to convert the platform to Skyactiv and slow sales were allegedly the cause of the 5's demise.
Not I n the US. I think the very last year in Canada might have had it, but through its run, it never got all of the neat engines that it's chassis sibling, the Mazda 3, did.
The Japanese version did get the SkyActiv and a diesel, but well that's there and we're here :/
That said, at least one person swapped a Mazdaspeed 3 drivetrain into one.
Another made it AWD using Volvo S40 Components (chassis shared between Volvo, Ford and Mazda back in the day).
I suspect Mazda didn't want to invest more money into a vehicle that was already on its way out in the US, especially given its rather lackluster sales.
They are very stout vehicles, bought mine new lowered at about 35k and driven hard since new. I'm at about 166k now.
In reply to chandlerGTi:
Louisiana standing water shredded all the sound deadening under the car. Potholes killed alignment and ball joints. Both HID lights failed and mine had that power steering thing. All under 80k miles.
Stout is a relative term.
Still loved how it drove. Would buy again in a better road and weather situation.
Not sure why your experience trumps mine?
See this got bumped again so I'll update. Last post on mine is above, back in 2011 at 60,000km. How time flies! Still have our '09 5sp auto. 215,000 kms on it now. Nothing but brakes, shocks/struts, tires, oil changes and trans fluid changes every 60,000km or so. Still looks and drives very nice. Still feels solid and well screwed together. Ours has the "leather" interior. It looks almost like new. 2 kids and a rambunctious springer spaniel abusing it too! Great, great vehicle. Underpowered but still love it.
chandlerGTi wrote: Not sure why your experience trumps mine?
It doesn't trump it. Yours doesn't trump his. He's just saying it isn't as stout as some people might believe by describing it as "stout".
And his description was extremely relevant to me.
In reply to chandlerGTi:
It doesn't, just another data point bringing the subjective term stout as being questionable.
EDIT: or what MTN said.
They are really great at being the mini-mini van that is fun to drive. Like I said, I would buy another one depending on where I lived, (in order to minimize failure modes experienced)
Just to add, they are also rather rust-prone if you in a salt state. I have not taken especially good care of the paint on mine, and it's getting a couple bubbles where the rear fender arch meets the rear bumper. Very, very common around here. (Twin Cities, MN) Also getting a good deal of rust underneath, especially on the floor pan ahead of the rear wheel wells, inboard of the rockers.
Sorry, I was feeling a bit touchy 
I've not seen much complaining on the forums about issues. It's a Mazda so watch for rust (second gen seems much better), slider issues (need to be lubed), shock/strut suckage (second gen is better), sway bar end links (no good fix that I've found), headlights burn out (HID/norm both), 1/2nd synchros if driven hard (or if a short shift plate is installed!).
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