As my Mazda 3 approached its 7th birthday I decided it was time to trade up. Cars hit that magical age of 7 and start to pose a few issues (although this one never missed a beat in 7 years, how I loved that car). So, with a heavy heart and after a fair amount of research, I traded it in on a Mazda CX5 (I used to work in the car trade, I am big on research).
Mazda CX5. You know the one I am talking about; the ad has a cheetah in it, running through the streets..
I’d owned a Honda CRV previously (and a Rav 4 but let’s pretend I never said that) and loved it. I researched the smaller SUV’s and it came down to the Honda CRV and Mazda CX5. A few spec differences between the two and the CRV has a 2.4 litre engine, the CX5 a 2 litre.
I’d heard on the grapevine there was going to be a waiting list for the car, so 3 months after it was released I visited a dealer and test drove one. In the 15 minutes (x 2, before I signed) I drove it, I liked it, it was comfortable and drove smoothly. It was around city streets, so no chance to see what it would perform like on open roads.
Any way to cut a long story short I bought it. While I don’t regret the purchase, I wouldn’t recommend one to anyone who asked me (and haven’t to date). Yes, it’s comfortable, stylish and looks great but I wish the engine was a 2.4 litre. I do a lot of open road driving and it struggles with hills and is slow off the mark (I am not Fangio but when a Mazda 2 shoots off from the lane next to you and leaves you for dead, you know it is sluggish).
I’ve also had a host of issues with the new Sky technology… The Bluetooth freezes, the fuel gauge is never accurate, it constantly tells me the tyre pressure is low (and it’s not) and it has this annoying habit of letting me know the person in the passenger seat doesn’t have their belt on. When there is NO ONE/NOTHING sitting in the front seat. Mazda’s answer to me queries? Turn it off and “give it 48 hours for the computer to reset itself”. Really? I paid nearly $40k to “turn it off” have a car “reset itself”.
I wish I’d have gone with the Honda CRV. Oh well, only another 2.7 years until I can trade her in. In the mean time I will endeavour to enjoy.
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