About a month ago we bought a 2012 Mazda5 with 56,000 miles on Craigslist. We got a good deal on it - there are a couple interior cosmetic issues (read: spilled drinks), but mechanically it seems to be in great shape.
- For a minivan, it's not bad to drive. In cornering, body lean is minimal - at least much much less than my Cobalt or my wife's old Outback. In my wife's words, "When you do a quick maneuver, it makes you feel like a race car driver rather than an idiot."
- Steering effort is pretty light, but there's some feedback through the steering wheel and the effort is pretty linear, so it's not bad. The steering wheel tilts and telescopes (first car I've had with that feature), so it's very easy to get a comfortable driving position.
- Brakes are very communicative and not spongy at all like my Cobalt.
- The throttle pedal took some getting used to. It seems like they try to give the illusion of having more low-end torque by making throttle response nonlinear and biased toward the low end. Before we got winter tires on it, it was very easy to chirp the tires in the wet. I think this is a Mazda thing - my brother's 2008 Mazda3 with the 2.0L engine acts similar.
- As for acceleration, it's about what you'd expect with a 157-hp engine in a nearly 3500-lb vehicle - it's not gonna win any drag races.
- The automatic transmission is the best I've ever driven. It responds very quickly, both for upshifts and downshifts. It nearly always selects the gear I would've if I were shifting. On the highway you wind up at 2000 rpm at 60 mph. It'll stay in gear if you increase the throttle a little bit, such as to maintain speed up a small hill, but will downshift quickly when you put the pedal down. I'll say it again: it's a very nice transmission.
- In the first 3 fuel ups, we've averaged just under 25 mpg, as measured at the pump, with mixed city/highway driving.
- There's plenty of head, foot, and arm room in the first two rows - it really feels fairly cavernous from the driver's seat. The third row, however is fairly tight and only children could sit there comfortably. Which is fine for us, because we only ever intend on having children sit there.
- With the rear seat up, there's enough trunk room for a grocery run if you're OK with stacking things. With the rear seat down, there's ton's of room.
- Interior noise is pretty low - there's some wind noise, but engine noise is very well damped. I'm used to having more auditory feedback in relation to the speed I'm going, and there have been several instances where I've eclipsed the speed limit significantly without realizing it because of how quiet it is.
- It has automatic climate control, which took some getting used to but I like it a lot now, and prefer it over manual.
I don't have a picture of it (and it's covered in road salt now anyhow), but here's a picture from Mazda's website, in the color we have.
- For a minivan, it's not bad to drive. In cornering, body lean is minimal - at least much much less than my Cobalt or my wife's old Outback. In my wife's words, "When you do a quick maneuver, it makes you feel like a race car driver rather than an idiot."
- Steering effort is pretty light, but there's some feedback through the steering wheel and the effort is pretty linear, so it's not bad. The steering wheel tilts and telescopes (first car I've had with that feature), so it's very easy to get a comfortable driving position.
- Brakes are very communicative and not spongy at all like my Cobalt.
- The throttle pedal took some getting used to. It seems like they try to give the illusion of having more low-end torque by making throttle response nonlinear and biased toward the low end. Before we got winter tires on it, it was very easy to chirp the tires in the wet. I think this is a Mazda thing - my brother's 2008 Mazda3 with the 2.0L engine acts similar.
- As for acceleration, it's about what you'd expect with a 157-hp engine in a nearly 3500-lb vehicle - it's not gonna win any drag races.
- The automatic transmission is the best I've ever driven. It responds very quickly, both for upshifts and downshifts. It nearly always selects the gear I would've if I were shifting. On the highway you wind up at 2000 rpm at 60 mph. It'll stay in gear if you increase the throttle a little bit, such as to maintain speed up a small hill, but will downshift quickly when you put the pedal down. I'll say it again: it's a very nice transmission.
- In the first 3 fuel ups, we've averaged just under 25 mpg, as measured at the pump, with mixed city/highway driving.
- There's plenty of head, foot, and arm room in the first two rows - it really feels fairly cavernous from the driver's seat. The third row, however is fairly tight and only children could sit there comfortably. Which is fine for us, because we only ever intend on having children sit there.
- With the rear seat up, there's enough trunk room for a grocery run if you're OK with stacking things. With the rear seat down, there's ton's of room.
- Interior noise is pretty low - there's some wind noise, but engine noise is very well damped. I'm used to having more auditory feedback in relation to the speed I'm going, and there have been several instances where I've eclipsed the speed limit significantly without realizing it because of how quiet it is.
- It has automatic climate control, which took some getting used to but I like it a lot now, and prefer it over manual.
I don't have a picture of it (and it's covered in road salt now anyhow), but here's a picture from Mazda's website, in the color we have.
