I am really contemplating picking one up. i have always liked small cars and am shopping right now between this and an element. I used to own an element and would like to have one again but the five gives me a little seating capacity but a little less storage space.

I think this crew can best guide me in the right direction...also open to other suggestions.

 

I love the idea of the Mazda5. Decent room inside, room for size, drives well, and is fairly fuel efficient. The new ones have a 5AT instead of the old 4AT, so they are quicker and more fuel efficient.

The interior is pretty bad, though. Very bland, very basic, and just not that attractive. Otherwise, it's a great little vehicle.

They don't sell very well so resale is pretty low, as is initial purchase price. You should be able to get a killer deal on one.

 

Gas mileage is on par with a Toyota Sienna/Honda Ody. Give me one of those instead.

 

I drove one at a ride & drive event and didn't like it at all. Of course, that is based completely on driving experience... low power, sloppy suspension, etc. For a daily driver, I'm sure it would be fine, but it wasn't fun to drive at all.

 

Not even close in the real world. You're talking about a 4-cylinder in a fairly small vehicle with much better aerodynamics against two behemoths with big V6s. Cost for an Odyssey or Sienna is also much higher for comparable options/features.

Most people are reporting high 20's or even low 30's on the highway with the Mazda5, with mid-to-low 20s in the city. You'll be hard pressed to get into the 20s in the city with an Odyssey, based on my friends' experiences, and most don't get past 25 mpg on the highway, even with VCM...

 

On that note, a friend and I drove one at the same event. The particular event was a timed lap where you had to try to match 31.000s (I think that was the number, but it was to 3 decimal places) around the course and we did it on the first try. He was driving and I was timing. They hadn't had it happen in something like 125,000 attempts. He got a free Bose stereo system (the Wave system - compact, about $600 at a retailer).

 

My wife and I tested a 5 about two years ago. It wasn't bad, but we decided that we didn't want to spend even that much on a vehicle type that neither of us wanted, so we picked up a used Town & Country which we both despise except for the quarterly 1500 mile family tour where it really shines as our dorm room on wheels. I think our next one will be a Honda for the slightly better ergonomics and much better seats.

 

I really like the idea of the 5. I've test driven several but somehow the car never makes me pull the trigger. I may yet buy one but for my current needs a Fit would work as well and get better mpg's.

 

-> If I were you I'd wait for the Honda Stream/Latitude in which hopefully will show up this year.

 

Um, in what country? Not the US.... or will it?