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Anyone have a Mazda5?


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Our current vehicle is only 5 years old (past all warranties) and now needs approximately $2500 in repairs. :glare: It's had several other issues and we're not exactly thrilled with it. SO I'm kind of looking at the Mazda5, because I think we could get away with something a little smaller and would like better gas mileage. Just wondering if anyone has one, what your family size is and what you're happy/unhappy with. We have three children, 6, 4 and 2, so it'll need to fit 2 boosters and a carseat. DH is also 6'4", and while he wouldn't be the primary driver, would need to be able to last 3 hours in it as we travel to see grandparents once a month. Any input is appreciated, or if anyone has another idea :)

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We do.

 

I love it. It is much smaller than the minivan we had before which is good for parking but not so good for taking stuff anywhere. It has almost no cargo capacity if all the seats are being used. The kids all fit, but my kids are older than yours.

 

The one car seat issue we had was my youngest in his carseat made it difficult for me to see out the back window. I am short though, so maybe that wouldn't be an issue for you. We solved it by using a booster seat for him instead of the bigger car seat. I know the other seat was safer, but we decided that me not being able to see was even worse.

 

We have done long trips in it, 14 hours from where we are now back to Arizona to visit my parents. The kids didn't have any issues with room. When we travel we fold down one seat and use that space for bags.

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I'm somewhat concerned about the lack of cargo space because when we travel now we tend to just continually throw things we think me might need for the weekend in the van and go. However, I feel if I became a bit more organized in that respect we would be good. And I think that would be a good thing. I would love to not have to remember to bring 500 toys back from Grandma's house.

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We have one with three kids and it's fine for us. When we bought it I had one in a car seat and two in boosters and we didn't have any trouble at all. I have no problems seeing out the back, even with the car seat. We have gone on 2-hour trips with luggage smooshed in around us, but when we took an 8-hour trip we borrowed a shell thing for the top to put the luggage in so we wouldn't be uncomfortable.

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We bought one and love it! We mostly only have our four youngest ages 2, 5, 7, & 9 so we have two car seats and two boosters (because my kids are tiny) and that is no problem. Cargo space is an issue, we are going to get a roof top carrier for traveling but I can't even go to the store with all the kids because I have to put at least one backseat down to fit in all the groceries. I went from a full size van to the Mazda5, the gas mileage is awesome, we get 25-27 and ours is a 2009.:D

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I don't have the Mazda you are asking about but wanted to throw out there to consider all cars in the same class. I had a Mazda SUV years ago and had a warranty repair done and didn't think much of it. Until years later with no warranty the same thing needed to be done! It was thousands of $$ and asking around was told it shouldn't have broken the first time much less the second. I loved my Mazda but there was something wrong with it to cause this issue twice....

 

My other thought is to call around to car rental places and try to rent the car you want to buy and do a weekend trip to see how it works for your dh and kids.

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We do! We LOVE it.

I have three kids in carseats, two high back boosters, and a huge rear facing. DH is 6'3 and I am 5'11. It is tight, but we are in europe and NEED something small. Cargo room pretty much sucks, but since I have three kids, I keep one of the back seats folded down and we use that as our cargo space. We travel often in it, driving all over europe. With the three kids in carseats, and us parents, I can fit a phil-n-teds stroller, two large full backpacks, a 12 pack of water, a small ice chest, and a smaller pack-n-play. Its cramped, and all the floor space is filled, but we travel happy. It drives well, and has great gas mileage. I love it.

 

That being said, when I am back in the states, or if I have a 4th child, I am going to have to get a real mini-van. And, I don't see a child older than 10 fitting in the back row happily.

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I've been eyeing the Mazda 5 for someday after my minivan. I think the seating arrangement could be a problem for us - we also have three kids.

 

I have to say dh has a Toyota Matrix, which technically is a smaller car, but the three seats across in a row means with three kids you still have tons of storage. We took a trip to camp this summer (2 hrs away) with all 3 kids, 3 suitcases, 3 duffle bags, a violin, and a few bags of books, and it all fit in back with the passenger compartment free for us.

 

I went into the city yesterday with my two older dds, my friend and her dd, and then we both went food shopping while they took a class. All of us fit fine, her groceries and mine fit in back with room to spare.

 

I'm not sure how it would fit all the carseats/boosters, but it's fairly wide for a small car. Might be worth checking out. My dh is 6'.

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We have one and I love it, too. We have two kids and plan to have one more, so we usually keep the back seats folded down so I can throw all kinds of cargo back there. I have put four kids in carseats in it and it was fine.

 

I love that it's small because the turning radius is tight, it gets great gas mileage, and I generally prefer smaller cars. We looked and mini vans and they seemed too large for our needs for now.

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