I drank the kool aid. Mazda 5 followed me home and I love it.

An 09 Mazda 5 Grand Touring was traded in at work. Just dirty enough to be cheap and clean up easily. A Grand Touring with 60K that the previous seller had labeled a Touring (doh!). I had it clean enough to present to the family within a few hours. Amazingly even the Princess likes it. Silver with black leather. The boys like the second row buckets, music and roof. Princess likes the Bluetooth, music, roof and sliding doors. I like how it drives and the promise of a 50% improvement in fuel economy over the Tahoe. Yummy Kool Aid...

My wife has been bugging me about one since we took a rental to Detroit from Charlottesville a couple years ago. If we had kids, or maybe a dog again, I would love one, but since we will see a drop in fuel economy (she has a TDI now), it's a harder pill to swallow. Especially since it will somehow be my fault that she has lower fuel economy. The good news is that her commute is barely 5 miles each way.

I agreed to sell mine on Friday. It's an 80k mile 2012. It's good at what it does for dang sure though.

Tried to convince my wife to trade in her Rogue for one. Found a leftover 2013 with under 100 miles, stick, for cheap, was looking at damn near an even trade for our 2011 Rogue SV AWD with almost 70k on the odo.

She can drive stick but isn't confident enough to dd it. Saving $500+ a year in gas wasn't enough to convince her to switch.

In reply to chandlerGTi:
Well, off to something else?
Did you have snow tires? If yes, I may be interested for my wife's '10.

Hey John, I ran the stockers in the winter and some Porsche wheels for the summer.

We just had one as a rental while in Denver. It's a good size.

finding one of those in Atlanta is like the chances of those bigfoot shows finding bigfoot. I went to Montreal last week, and lost count. Do we just hate smaller cars that much?

Just bought a Mazda 3. Test drove the 5 as well. If you need the space then it is a good buy, but while it uses the same underpinnings as the 3, the handling seems anaesthetized and a bit ungainly - nowhere as crisp as the 3.

Sounds like you have a big enough family to make the trade of handling for space sensible.

I can't disagree at all. You called it though,the least number of folks in the car is four. The boys are 8 and 11. The sliders and captains chairs are the deal maker.

I have a JBR large rear sway and it really helped the handling. They have a sway stock bu it's a bit flimsy.

Can somebody answer me this... Does it take tools to remove the 3rd row? Would you be left with a flat floor if you did?

The rearmost seats just fold down to create a flat load floor in the rear. The center row buckets fold but you are left with a gap between the seats.
None of the seats remove.

I don't think I was being clear. I understand that the 3rd row is not designed to be removable in everyday use. However, in my experience, everything in a car is removable. It might take a handful of bolts or a plasma cutter, but that 3rd row WILL come out somehow.

I much prefer the size of the Mazda5 over the CX-5. I just don't need to cart around a 3rd row of seats, folded or not.

In reply to EvanR:
Yes, all can be removed with tools.
Writen instructions.

Here, full removal shown in time-lapse video.

In Denmark, the Mazda 5 is sold as a manual diesel van with two seats and a cargo (no-seat) rear.
http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showthread.php?123679615-Danish-Mazda-5

It does not say exactly what towing capacity is but shows this:

butthole

Glad to see another one on the board. We love our '09 that we bought new. GT with black leather, nav etc. It's an awesome family vehicle. Ours has 140,000 km and counting. It's been nearly perfect. The only repairs it has needed are the outside temp sensor for the auto climate control and the rear sway bar bushings under warranty. Thats it.

wspohn wrote: Just bought a Mazda 3. Test drove the 5 as well. If you need the space then it is a good buy, but while it uses the same underpinnings as the 3, the handling seems anaesthetized and a bit ungainly - nowhere as crisp as the 3.

Adding 500lbs+ will do that to a car!

I'm certainly not disagreeing, but I'd only add that it handles quite a bit better (if not the best) than the majority vehicles offering the same level of utility.

Too Bad the US does not get the European (RoW) Diesel models for most car makers.

JohnRW1621 wrote: In reply to EvanR: Yes, all can be removed with tools. Writen instructions. Here, full removal shown in time-lapse video.

YES, John! That's what I wanted to see! Thank you!

It is not in service yet. Getting new tires, mats and a wind deflector today. I can't help but wonder what a few little mods like RX8 wheels,springs, anti sway bars and stuts would do to it. A Diesel would be wonderful but EVERY vehicle I own is a manual now and Atlanta traffic sucks very muchly.

That cargo van config/back seat delete is awesome but would never sell in the US. I have a 10 model and really dig it. It handles pretty well for a van like vehicle and is fun to drive. It has the right mix of passenger room/cargo room. The third row seats are nice when I have the need to haul passengers. Otherwise, I keep them down for cargo room. With all the backseats down, it will swallow a bike no problem with room to spare. The second row captains chairs are comfortable to sit in when hanging out listening to the radio. Also, I average 27-31 mpg in it. Not too shabby for a vehicle with third row seating.