Well, after a very bad week, both DH and I sadly had to trade in both of our older, but reliable vehicles and venture into the world of car payments. (Yes both vehicles passed the point of repair in the same week - how does that happen?!?!?)

Anyway, I had a Mazda MPV, which is a fairly small mini-van. I am not a big mini-van fan, but as a mom, I realize the extra cargo room is very useful. We live about 1/2 hour away from the city where we work, so an SUV is out of the question, and a car is fine for one vehicle, but not both - we need space. I just could not see myself in a mini-van again, I mean who answers the "What is your dream car?" question with mini-van as the response??? Not me, that is for sure.

I looked around and managed to find a Mazda 5. Mazda is no longer making the MPV and it appears this is what they are replacing it with.

EXTERIOR
A Mazda 5 is a crossover between a larger car and a mini-van. I suppose it is also part SUV, but it is a lot lower to the ground than your standard SUV. It is actually lower to the ground then most mini-vans. It is narrower than my mini-van was as well, but not a whole lot shorter - which is nice. I actually feel like I am driving a car, but then I turn to look back and see - so much space!! It is really nice!!

The 2 back doors are sliding, similar to a mini-van as well, but they have the great feature (which the MPV had too) of automatic windows, so my daughter can see out the rolled down windows as well. (Most mini-vans do not have roll down windows on their sliding doors.) And of course, at the very back is a hatch.

The exterior looks similar to that of a 4 door Focus or Wave, but it is a bit higher and longer than those, however it is not as high or long as a mini-van.

INTERIOR
This car seats six - yeah!! There is so much space!! And when all the seats are up and in position, there is still a little room in the hatch for some luggage or groceries - not a lot, but there is some. However, I would not advertise 6 adults, as that back row could be a little tight for 2 adults.

All four seats in the back are sto-and-go and can be changed individually (meaning the farthest back seat can have one side up and one down - which is not the same as the MPV). The two seats in the center row also have a little bit of storage under them for small items such as toys, books, etc.

With the back seats down, and the center ones up, you easily have 3 to 4 feet of storage for luggage or shopping. And with all of the seats down you have a little over 5 feet of storage. We had to return our kitchen table this weekend and the 5 foot table fit back there with room to spare (legs removed of course). We also picked up a twin mattress and we were able to fit it on its side with the back seats and one center seat down. It was tight, but it fit, and DD still rode back there in the other center seat, safely in her car seat. (She loved riding home in a "fort").

OTHER FEATURES

This was a used car (2007) so I did not have my choice of what else I got, but I can tell you about the options I do have:
  • CD/MP3 player - I have not tried the MP3 player yet as it is not an option I am used to having, but so far so good on the CD player (something that did not work in the mini-van).
  • Volume and Tuning controls on the Sterring wheel - this is a really nice feature. The ability to adjust the volume or change songs while keeping your hands on the steering wheel is really nice.
  • Air/Tilt/Cruise - standard, they all work, nothing too special
  • Seat Adjustment - one thing I like, and have already used, is that you can adjust the height of the seat - not just the recline and the forward/back, you can actually make the seat higher off of the floor of the car. This assists in getting that "just right" position. This is a feature that I really enjoy having.
  • Lots of cup holders and smaller storage compartments
  • Very little room in glove compartment - which was a disappointment. It appears to be made to hold only the manual.
  • Mileage - I have not driven it that much yet, so I will have to update this in the future. So far so good. At 89.9 cents per liter, it cost me $48.00 to fill. I have driven over 350km (mostly highway) and I am at about 1/2 tank. However, my MPV was famous for using the last 1/4 tank very quickly, so I would not want to guess at my mileage just yet.
OVERALL RATING
My big reason for writing this review was to let moms out there know that we finally have a choice!! We do not have to be mini-van driving soccer moms anymore!! We can drive something smaller and more practical, without compromising on space.

I am so glad I found a car that will suit our family that is not HUGE!! It is easy to drive, easy to park and again, I have to comment on the space - there is SO MUCH ROOM IN THERE!!!

Exterior 10 / 10
Interior 10 / 10
Space 10 / 10
Ease of Sto-and-go - 10 / 10 - super quick and easy to do
Features 9 / 10 - love those automatic windows in the back, and the stereo controls on the steering wheel
Storage 9 / 10 - wish that glove compartment was bigger

Overall 9 / 10

Here is a link to the Mazda website for photos and more information.

http://www.mazda.ca/root.asp?lang=en...arance_Mar2009