MAZDA 5 minivan ????

Does anyone drive a Mazda 5 mini van ? My husband and I are considering the purchase of a new car as my Honda civic 4 door isn't big enough to cart our dogs plus any foster dogs that always seem to need to be crated !
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I wouldn't really call it a minivan though I know they market it as a "small minivan.". It's more of a modern station wagon, IMO. That being said, I've test driven almost all the other current Mazdas except for that one. I actually really like the handling on everything I've driven. They really try to insert a little bit of a sports car feel into everything they're making now, including the 5. Did you check to see if a crate fit in it? It's tall but I couldn't tell how deep the floor dropped. Also, does that back door slide or is it a clamshell opening?

As always, for dogs, I recommend the Honda Element. It really is the perfect multiple dog car for us and you get decent gas mileage and it's nice and roomy. I drove a lot of cars before I settled on it. It has the functionality of a minivan without having to tell people that you drive a minivan. ;)
Thanks so much for your advice. I hadn't thought of the element as it's slightly out of my price range however I will look at them. My honda has been a great car and I hate to part with it .
katdog wrote:
Thanks so much for your advice. I hadn't thought of the element as it's slightly out of my price range however I will look at them. My honda has been a great car and I hate to part with it .


Are you sure? I know in our area, prices tend to be lower since we have all the auto companies' employee pricing but the Element is nearly identical in price-- even for the best models. I think the Mazda 5 Grand Touring starts around 23 and the Element SC starts around $22,500.

Either way, I think you'll do well with either one!
My Mazda mini van was $27,000. in 2002. The Element sounds like a good deal!!
Here in British Columbia the 2008, Mazda 5 is around $25,000 and the Honda Element is around $32,000 give or take. Quite a difference !

With the price of gas being $1.48 I should maybe keep my very fuel efficient Honda Civic :D
Check the basic Elements.
I had the same cost question, and ButterStotch gave me the same answer, I checked it out, and got a base model brand new Element last summer for just under $20,000.

I love it!
ButtersStotch wrote:

As always, for dogs, I recommend the Honda Element. It really is the perfect multiple dog car for us and you get decent gas mileage and it's nice and roomy. I drove a lot of cars before I settled on it. It has the functionality of a minivan without having to tell people that you drive a minivan. ;)


Hey! What's wrong with driving a minivan? Are you trying to tell me I'm possibly on the down side of "middle age"? :lol:
We bought a Mazda CX-7 in December and I love it. It's not a minivan, but it still seats 5 and has good "trunk" space. At the very least, I do like the Mazda brand, so if you get the van you'll probably like it.

The only bad thing is when I went to get an oil change, they said the newer cars require special filters, so they charged us 3x as much as a normal oil change. I would ask the dealership about that when you go to get your car/van.
ChSheepdogs wrote:
ButtersStotch wrote:

As always, for dogs, I recommend the Honda Element. It really is the perfect multiple dog car for us and you get decent gas mileage and it's nice and roomy. I drove a lot of cars before I settled on it. It has the functionality of a minivan without having to tell people that you drive a minivan. ;)


Hey! What's wrong with driving a minivan? Are you trying to tell me I'm possibly on the down side of "middle age"? :lol:


Everyone BUT you, Marilyn. ;)
Well we went for a test drive today on the Mazda 5 GT. Very impressive and handled well. My husband thought it was surprising sporty and very well thought out with many clever features. I really loved the second row of seats behind the drivers seat which were bucket seats with the arm rests rather than the row seat. All the seats fold flat so there is as much carrying capacity as my husband's Nissan Pathfinder . There were a couple of neat features . There was a separate air conditioning panel for the seats with a control panel in the second row. So you could have the AC on low for the front seats and high in the back for passengers or dogs .The rear hatch was cool too because it had 2 positions so you could open it higher if you are loading in an extra large or very tall dog crate or moving an appliance ( it's very tall inside )or you could stand under it without getting wet in the rain and snow.

On the drive home my husband threw me a curve ball . He said , well for the same price we could relandscape the backyard and put in a pool ! Either the car or a pool !

So I have some thinking to do .
I'd pick the pool 8)
then next year go for a newer vehicle :lol:
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