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Mazda MPV: Problems & Solutions

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    blacklxblacklx Member Posts: 60
    I worked on the scratches and they look a lot better, they are still there but not nearly as noticible. Of course I forgot what I used but I was pleased that it worked so well.

    When they installed the tethers, they didn't cut the floor mats. I saw the cutouts so it won't be hard to cut but my husband was unsure about cutting the mats. He thought maybe we should take the mats out and just use them when needed. I told him that since the kids are only 1 and almost 2, they will be in car seats for a long time, we could always replace the mats at that point if we needed. (I figure we won't do that but it's an option.)

    I think that I have him convinced that I'm right but I wondered what everyone else did about that.

    Also, the kids eat goldfish crackers and other things in the van but the fish fall right down the tracks. We managed to get them out with the shop vac but I wondered if anyone had any ideas for preventive measures. Is there a mat or something that I could lay down. I'm afraid of having some get stuck in there and then not being able to slide the seat.

    We're loving the van otherwise and finally having a working CD player is great. We can listen to Veggie Tales all the time now.

    I did notice one minor thing. One of the "screws" (or whatever it is) that holds the windshield wiper to the wiper arm has already lost it's paint. Since I look at it all the time, I would prefer it to be black again. Is this something I should ask the dealer to fix? The other one looks fine. I hope that this is one of my biggest problems with this van.
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    bill124bill124 Member Posts: 246
    Thank you for an intellible posting.
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    msgjvhmsgjvh Member Posts: 196
    Well It never stops. Each time we get a new vehicle my wife eventually removes one of the mirrors with the Garage Door Jam. This time It's the passage side of the MPV. I have no Idea what its going to cost to fix this but I am sure it will hurt! Unless I can convince them that the break away feature didn't work like it should and they should cover it under warranty. Yeah RIGHT!!! Wish me luck.
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    bill124bill124 Member Posts: 246
    My wife continues to get bad miles per gallon in local driving -- 5 or 6 miles and under, round trip. She averages around 15 m.p.g., most recently getting 14.8. This is totally local stuff, with lots of stop signs and lights. We live on congested Long Island, New York. Any similar experiences?
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    maltbmaltb Member Posts: 3,572
    How dare you leave that door jam there! Didn't you know that she would be driving near there?

    Hmmm, sounds all to familiar.

    :)
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    msgjvhmsgjvh Member Posts: 196
    You know I think I found the solution. Target has those blinking light rope strips. If I install it on the jamb itself that may get her attention. Of course we will then be living in the "RED LIGHT" district. Well thats one way to work off the damages! lol oopss bad thoughts!!!
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    javadocjavadoc Member Posts: 1,167
    Well, the attempt at saying the break-away feature on your mirror failed wouldn't work...the mirror broke and fell away, right? So, um, the feature works! You can check your insurance, maybe they'll cover it under comprehensives? OTOH, I've got a nifty way of lining up the cars in our garage, in my cryptic way of thinking. I hung two orange ropes from the ceiling with tennis balls on the ends of them. I've lined them up with the left edge of the windshield for either car. If you eyeball the rope right at the edge of the glass, you're lined up just right...keep going until you touch the tennis ball and you're perfect,...but...

    Not to speak ill of my (much) better half, but she has a way of not pulling all the way into the garage, and has a few times put the garage door down on the rear bumper of MochaVan, it hits just below the step plate, leaving a few scratches there so far..ouch! That's okay, yesterday, I backed into a spare monitor I have stored in the garage, woops! Maybe I'll install runway landing strobes next, lol.

    --j
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    maltbmaltb Member Posts: 3,572
    That's funny Doc, our MPV has three of those vertical scratches on the back bumper too. I have to confess that I found out by doing it once myself. After showing her the ill effects of not pulling all the way up to the hanging ball, she and I have changed our ways. Time for the touch-up paint.
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    msgjvhmsgjvh Member Posts: 196
    I used to use the hanging ball technique it worked quite well. Then my son got his first baseball bat! He then found out that the ball comes back kind of like a reversed t-ball. Lets just say it didn't last long after that. I am looking at the parking slot devices I have seen. You know the ones that sit on the floor. Maybe I should invest in a tractor beam instead.
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    javadocjavadoc Member Posts: 1,167
    For your son or the cars? >;-} Bustin' a gut thinking of how inviting that must have been for your youngster!

    Maltb,

    Also, we've had the "back-out-before-door-fully-opened" once. No real damage, except to someone's pride. Lol.

    --j
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    maltbmaltb Member Posts: 3,572
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    devinrdevinr Member Posts: 3
    I'm a new MPV (2000 LX) owner..one week & counting...had an usual situation this weekend. Found the van a little hard to start after driving for short 5 mile trip...did it twice in one day. Any idea why it might need to roll over 4 or 5 times to start? It was not an unusually cold day (mid 30's) but this was unusual behavior for a new vehicle.

    Never had a new car start that rough...any comments would be appreciated.
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    rjr425rjr425 Member Posts: 53
    John, if it's any consolation, I may have done your wife one better some years ago. I started backing out of the garage and cocked the wheel left to back into the street. Unfortunately, the street was still 50 feet away, and most of me was still in the garage.

    Cold sober, too.

    RJ
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    blondemom1blondemom1 Member Posts: 90
    Back in Nov. of '87, we had just brought home our new 1988 Honda Accord. I parked my new baby safely in our garage for the night. In the morning, my husband decided to take it out for a drive, backed it up carefully out of the garage,......... right into the rear fender of his truck. AGHHH! We hadn't even had it 12 hours!!
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    javadocjavadoc Member Posts: 1,167
    OMG! I'm going to have nightmares tonight about garage mishaps!! I'll have to stay up late drinking coffee now and updating the MochaVan page I guess, or finish vac-packing the kings from this weekend. 8-O

    Blonde, that reminded me of when Mrs. Javadoc tried to wrap our Saab 9000 around a safety pole getting a mocha one morning. I had *just* had it repainted ($4k) the week before. I *almost* wept, almost. Well, at least my home isn't alone in the bone-headed car mishap dept. lol!

    -j
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    maltbmaltb Member Posts: 3,572
    Doc, Please post some pics of of those kings that you have slain Here in So. Cal. I just dream of that day when the company sends me back up that way with my fishing pole. The last time I went it was to Fairbanks in February and I couldn't handle -40 for too long.

    :)
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    javadocjavadoc Member Posts: 1,167


    image


    This...the guppy...


    image


    ...this...the boat...


    image


    or this, da phat phish. Not me, btw...my brother-in-law-in-law, lucky devil (70#er). These aren't current, but give you a taste anyhow.


    --javadoc

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    msgjvhmsgjvh Member Posts: 196
    My wife has the record on mishaps. I'll cover a few here.

    Once in the 87 Buick Century she picked me up. Upon getting in the drivers side I noticed a gapping hole between the door frame and the window frame. Large enough for my fingers. When I asked her she had no recollection. After inspecting the door jamb and the door I calculated that she backed out with the door open!

    Again in the Buick she ripped the mirror totally off the side. This time the mirror is still intact.

    But the topper is in our 95 Olds 88, while I was working in the yard I heard the distinct sound of metal on metal. I walked around to the garage to see my wife cheerfully waving goodbye. Being very curious I looked around for the source of the noise. It didn't take me long to notice the huge dent in the passage rear door on my Subaru. Of Course when she came back she denied having hit the car. You know she had to pull forward to get out of the drive. Once I showed her the green paint on the white rear bumper corner I thought she would confess. However, to this day she does the shaggy song "Wasn't Me!"

    I should write a short story book! I have lots of others!
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    maltbmaltb Member Posts: 3,572
    Doc,
    Thanks for the pics. Now that I am fully jealous I need to think about how I was wearing shorts on Christmas day and you folks were lucky to step outside for 5 minutes and not get frostbite.

    John,
    Either you are very understanding or you don't stand a chance at finding another wife(just joking). Glad to see that you two can still exist with each other. Maybe that's a common thing amongst MPV owners.

    :)
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    bob57bob57 Member Posts: 302
    Is she driving with the overdrive on during those short tips? Try it off - or on, whatever the case and check the mileage.
    I'm not the one to answer this one as I drive 1400 miles/month at 70mph and getting 20-22mpg. I do slow down getting into the garage tho....
    (Pun at the above postings :))
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    javadocjavadoc Member Posts: 1,167
    Nah, I prolly wore shorts at Christmas too. I just wasn't sitting out on the deck getting tan. Although, we do use the bar-b all winter, I just don't stand there in my sandles, tank and bermudas while the steaks and fish grill up, lol. I'm trying to finish the roll in my camera, and I'll show you some tasty halibut when I get the pix back.

    For the record (and MPV content) we filled 4 60qt coolers and 3 100qt coolers with the kings, halibut and nasty ling cod, and the MPV hauled it and it's four tired (and smelly) fisher-people home in style. They all fit very nicely in the cargo area with the third-row seat stowed.

    Oh, this is the "Problems" forum. Problem was I DIDN'T LIMIT OUT, and spun a prop, Waaaaaah.

    --java
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    bill124bill124 Member Posts: 246
    Thanks for the reply. It's bizarre because we are getting 21-22 m.p.g. on long trips; it's the local that is bad. Since I'm where I should be on the longer trips, I tend to think it's just a heavy footed wife that's doing the damage as opposed to the vehicle being defective.

    I'd appreciate any other thoughts. I think this local mileage is as low as I have seen posted. I don't see gas leaking. Van was made 8 or 9/99 and bought 2/00. White LX touring with GFX, moonroof, etc.
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    maltbmaltb Member Posts: 3,572
    Bill, I've noticed the same thing. When I drive it around town my mileage is better than my wife's and I 'thought' my foot was heavy. She must be giving the kids a heck of a ride. I have noticed that she is constantly on and off the throttle, where I am fairly steady between lights, etc.

    :)
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    javadocjavadoc Member Posts: 1,167
    I would hypothesize (college word, lol) that varying mileage could also be due to lenghts of trips. I know that when I was on spring break a couple weeks ago, my fuel mileage went down. Now, when I think about it, the short trip down to campus a few times a week has more lights that I can hit green than my short Home/office/sitter/home route otherwise. Maybe...? Of course, the last tank on our MPV was only 13.9mpg, dang remote starter!

    Then, take off style could contribute. I've never tested this, but you could do a "burn-n-glide" from a stop light or a gradual accel. Obviously, a *very* gradual accel will net you the most miserly of economy, but I really wonder if the (non-rubber laying) fast take off to speed, and then easy on the gas burns less fuel than the moderate accel that takes more time/distance.

    A steady right foot will also give you better econ then one that's on/off all of the time. My 2 shillings.

    --Javadoc
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    rjr425rjr425 Member Posts: 53
    "...the MPV hauled it and it's four tired. . . people home in style. They all fit nicely inthe cargo area. . . ."
    I'd be glad to pitch in for some seats for the Mochavan. It's a wonder you have any friends at all, the way you treat them. ;>)

    RJ
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    stevehessstevehess Member Posts: 2
    A week ago while returning late on Sunday night from Napa valley, my MPV (October,2000 w 8800 miles) would not shift out of 2nd when entering the freeway. Had to drive a 5000 rpm at 45 mph for 2 1/2 hours to return home. The engine light also came on after about 15 minutes of high rev travel. The dealer is replacing the transmission, it took all last week for the new transmission to arrive, and 2 days this week for installation. I noticed several posts about high rev and free wheeling. Dealer said he had worked on a "couple" of MPV transmissions. Is there anyone else experiencing transmission problems. Is this likely to occur again with a new transmission? I would be interested in any one else's opinion or experiences.
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    crissmancrissman Member Posts: 145
    I wouldn't exactly call it a problem, but when starting out on a cool(35-40 degree) morning the 2-3 shift will often not occur until about 3,000 rpm. After that it's fine. I continue to be extremely pleased with the van. It just passed 20,000 miles and is coming up on 16 months. Gas mileage has remained at 20-21 for the daily commute and 23-24 on a heavily loaded trip. No regrets.
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    javadocjavadoc Member Posts: 1,167
    I always think they are my friends only because I take them on my boat to fish for the day, and only make them bring the drinks and the food. Nice catch on my wording, btw. Funny interpretation.

    --javadoc

    p.s., what's all this about trannies being replaced? Stevehess, let us know if you find anything out from the service dept. about your problem. Wow, our's shifts "like butta"
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    alexv1nalexv1n Member Posts: 248
    I'm too curious about the tranny problem, stevehess. Any more info on this one?

    Our van is at 10K miles now and I have never noticed any problems so far. In fact, there's almost no rough shifts between 1 and 2 gear when accelerating. It might be because I'm getting used to it but mostly it's because it is broken in...
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    stevehessstevehess Member Posts: 2
    The dealer tells me my MPV is finally ready. I asked what he thought the problem was and his reply was, that he won't know for sure until the factory responds after they return the old transmission, but it looks like one of the pumps that provide hydraulic pressure inside the transmission went out, and therefore there was not enough pressure to go into 3 or 4th gear. They were very nice, and even provided the 7500 mile service for free since they had the van for so long. I hope this is an isolated incident since I really like the van and have had no other problems and would not like to think that reliability is going to be a continuing problem.
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    bob57bob57 Member Posts: 302
    I see the exact same thing as Crissman with the 3000 rpm shift when cold. I don't think it's a problem - just a quirk or something engineered into the transmission by design(??). After it warms up (~ one mile) it's back to norm.
    When I haul fish I ...wait, wrong posting..nevermind...
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    pjd58pjd58 Member Posts: 366
    Glad to hear your tranny is fixed. Let us know how it rides when you pick it up. I've read almost all of the MPV topics and this is the first tranny problem I can recall. Any car could have your problem. It seems to be a isolated problem. It sound like you have a great dealer and Mazda came to bat for you. Good luck!
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    rjr425rjr425 Member Posts: 53
    Sad to say, my van, the "MPV President McKinley," has been misbehaving lately. Once it warms up, it begins emitting a stench of the sort that no well bred young van should give forth anywhere outside of the privacy of its own garage. It can be decidedly embarrassing: the other day my neighbor came over while my still-warm van was sitting in my driveway. The first thing he did was accuse me of committing a social indiscretion (On the other hand, it can be funny, too. I lol'd watching a middle-aged couple in the car next to mine wrinkle their noses in disgust and eye each other suspiciously). Although it seldom gets into the cabin and so doesn't bother me personally all that often, I figured I owed it humanity to do something about it.

    I took it in to the Rohrich Automotive Group this morning and explained the problem to the service writer, Mr. Bob. I got a series of uninterested grunts and "We'll hook it up and see" in response (Great guy, Mr Bob, by the way. Just the sort you hope your daughter will marry some day, if you can overlook the calluses on his knuckles and the all-pervading odor of bananas about him)

    Here's what happened when I took a car in to Rohrich. It came out cleaner than when it went in. It is otherwise unchanged. They couldn't find a thing out of specs. They didn't notice the stench that was making hardened mechanics drop over in a dead faint when they walked past my car in their garage ( Hey, I'm used to it, and it almost made me gag when I got out of the car this morning). They couldn't reproduce the smell later on when "the mechanic and the Service Manager each took it out for real long test drives (.3 miles, total! I checked the odo. .3!)

    So as of tonight, "The Prez" is still flatulent, and I've crossed one dealer off my list. Oh well, I suppose I could always toss in a bottle of Beano with every tankful. And if the engine ever melts, I'm on record. And as I said, It doesn't bother ME!

    Aside from this one embarrassment, it's still a pure, unalloyed pleasure to own and drive.

    RJ
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    javadocjavadoc Member Posts: 1,167
    Dang it all RJ!!! You almost made coffee come shooting out of my nose!

    Immensely entertaining as your story is (you truely have a way w/words!) I'd say you've got yourself a bad cat, and I don't mean a dead cat on your exhaust manifold...at least I hope not, yech. How many miles on the odometer now for you? I know that in the first 1,000-2,000 you'll probably smell protective coatings (waxes?) coming off of hot engine pieces, but nothing like you've so colorfully described. I guess you could say that this is a breaking (wind) story!!! Sorry, I just had to.

    That or lay off the Taco Bell my friend.

    --javadoc
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    rjr425rjr425 Member Posts: 53
    And I don't even live in the Windy City!

    About 1225m as of today (1225.3 after extensive testing).

    Supposedly, they checked the cat. It was the first thing I mentioned to Mr Bob. When I asked him if it was likely on so young a car, he grunted. Is there any way you can tell a yes grunt from a no grunt?

    RJ.
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    tboner1965tboner1965 Member Posts: 647
    Try different gas :D Err, I mean gasoline. The olfactory offense may be a product of the gasoline your are using.

    So try a couple of tanks of different brands to see it that makes any difference.

    I typically burn Texaco, Mobil or Phillips66 without drama. However, MrsTBoner has something wrong with her smeller. This works to my advantage if I need to float a silent "air bisket"

    Cheers,

    TB
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    maltbmaltb Member Posts: 3,572
    RJR,
    Are you always greeted with the lovely scent when you drive or is it something that comes and goes? My suggestion is to leave the vehicle running when you get to the dealer and demand that they look at it while you are there in the service drive. Any service manager worth his/her salt should be willing to go on a 5-10 min test drive with you.

    :)
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    bob57bob57 Member Posts: 302
    Ahhh, the sweet smell of hydrogen sulfide that can knock birds out of trees at 50 feet, kill pesky mosquitoes within a hundred yards....

    Have them check your emissions settings/operation. I had a simular problem with another auto. It caused a lot of people around me to roll up their windows at stop lights. It turned out to be a part on the emissions system (don't remember which) that crapped (pun) out. It took the dealer (and me) three trips to find it but eventually it was cured. Leaded gas - which I don't think you can find anymore - will also cause the same problem aside from "poisoning" the catalytic converter. I don't know if the new "blended" gas could cause this - anyone out there have a handle on that?
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    rjr425rjr425 Member Posts: 53
    Javadoc, Tboner, Maltb, and Bob57

    Many thanks for the input [and thanks for the kind words, Doc].

    There's no question it's the traditional H2S smell--smells like that infamous chemistry experiment at school, which smells like -- well, you know what it smells like. It only occurs in a thoroughly warmed up car, and it dissipates rapidly when I shut the car down. It's also intermittent. Some days I never smell it; other days, it's very strong [my first clue is usually the number of dead birds dropping out of the sky behind me].

    I'm in the process of switching gas dealers; just put in my second different tankful today. And I was rewarded with a smell strong enough to pucker cast iron. On the other hand, when I parked it in the garage 10 miles later, there was no odor.

    Go figure.

    Again, thanks to all.

    RJ
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    srbdentsrbdent Member Posts: 3
    I have battled the pulling to the left problem for months now. I must say that the dealer has been very nice with us. We have taken the van five different times, and they have worked on it each time with a smile. But each time when we got it back there was still a pull.

    The other day our oil change guy noticed that the tires were showing too much wear for the miles and brought it to our attention.

    So finally, we started the lemon law process in Georgia.

    Mazda brought in one of their regional reps to meet with us and take the van for a drive.

    The dealer kept the van for four days and put a brand new set of Michelins on the van.

    So far, so good. But we are keeping our options open in regards to the lemon law.

    I am amazed at how some dealers have treated customers with this pulling problem. Of course, our dealer said they had not heard of any pulling problems. But I must admit, they have worked really well with us, and we didn't even ask for the new set of tires.

    We are now holding our breath.
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    pjd58pjd58 Member Posts: 366
    What year MPV do you have? I read on a early thread that some 2000s had the same problem. I believe one owner found it was bad inner tie rods. I heard Mazda has fixed this problem(production) and haven't heard of any pulling problems on 2001. Thats great Mazda gave you new tires, but that may only be a temporary solution. I have owned 3 Mazdas and they always come with Yoko or Dunlap tires, not my favorite brand of tires. All Three cars had premature wear from these brand. My wife's 626 had Dunlops, as soon as I put Michelin MX6s on the car rode much better.
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    srbdentsrbdent Member Posts: 3
    We have a LX 2000 made on 12/1999.

    Yeah, I've seen all of those postings, but my Mazda dealer says he has never heard of this problem before.
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    rjr425rjr425 Member Posts: 53
    Now that we're finally getting some sunny days here in Pittsburgh, [which tells you what our winters are like here] I've run into a small problem with "The President McKinley." I'm getting a terrific glare off the seven or so acres of dashboard. When the sun hits it, it not only reflects back into my eyes, thanks to the number of surfaces angled back into the cabin, but actually up onto the massive front window. I really have to squint to see past the glare on the windshield and against the glare bouncing back at me. Even sunglasses help only a bit [especially since when I'm wearing them, I can't read the instrument panel]. Anybody know of any aftermarket pad I could get to absorb some of the glare? Or failing that, any way to deglaze the paint on the top of the dash?

    Thanks--
    RJ
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    msgjvhmsgjvh Member Posts: 196
    I so happen to have an extra aftermarket pad. It was from a local manufacture and I liked the color of dashmat better. Let me know if your interested.
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    whisper1whisper1 Member Posts: 50
    I posted this in another MPV discussion group and got no input, lets try this one.

    My MPV is only 4 weeks old with 600km (less than 500mi ?). I noticed this recently. When the transmission warmed up after driving, I pulled the transmission dipstick to check the ATF level. There is small patch of white stuff stuck on the dipstick. Cleaned the stick, inserted back in, pulled it out, again a patch of white stuff on the dipstick. Tried 4-5 times, the white stuff is consistent, but on different part of the dipstick and was always above the fluid level area. Initially I thought it was greasy, but concluded it is foam (?) from the ATF because the paper towel absorbs the white stuff. So it cannot be greasy. I did not notice this when I took delivery of the vehicle, wondered why?

    I pulled the dipstick when the transmission is cold (car not driven, engine cold and off), tried several times, no white stuff! So the white stuff appears when the drivetrain is warm/hot.

    Is this normal? Is this a Dexron III ATF characteristic, which is being used according to the owner manual? Can someone check their tranny dipstick and post the observation.

    My wife has a 93 Mazda protege with auto, don't know what ATF used, but definitely not Dexron III, never observed the white stuff!
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    manatee67manatee67 Member Posts: 4
    Hi, I'm new to the townhall. I haven't actually made my purchase yet, but am very interested in a Mazda MPV LX or ES. I am trying to get information on any quirks you may have run through. There are so many amenities that I like about the MPV, yet so many ???. How does the van handle 4 adults and 2 kids? We travel a lot and have grandparents visit a lot and we aren't able to travel in the same vehicle. This will be our first van/minivan experience. If you have any helpful input into the MPV, please let me know. I was concerned about the trans. problems I have read about. How about the side windows? Any problems with the roll down windows? Does anyone have the entertainment pkg.? We are strongly considering that option too. Thanks for any help. We will be buying in the next week or two depending on responses and our test drives.
    Thanks again
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    tboner1965tboner1965 Member Posts: 647
    MPV Room.

    The answer, as always is, it depends.

    What are the ages of the children etc. And do you mean across town or longer road trips.

    For example, we took our MPV with three adults and two children from St. Louis to Memphis for a three day weekend last fall. No worries, plenty of room to put all of our stuff, including the baby stuff. (Why is the volume of luggage inversely proportional to the size of person traveling? I could put my stuff in the glove box, while the four ladies have to pack steamer trunks?)

    Anyway, the only issue we had was who was going to sit where. Well, I always knew where I was sitting, behind the wheel. The baby right behind me, wife or MIL riding shotgun. The then 10 year old in the "way back"

    Now with four adults, one adult will need to crawl into the "way back"

    But that is not unique to the MPV. We would have this problem with any minivan we purchase.

    I hope this is helpful with the limited information you have given.

    BTW, we had no problem maintaining speeds in excess of the speed limit. Obviously acceleration is not the MPV's strong suit, and the transaxle needed to downshift. But even through the hills the powertrain was able to keep our loaded van within 2MPH of the cruise control set speed.

    I don't think the shifting is a problem, just needed to provide the right torque at the right time. I've only seen one post on a transaxle failure here IIRC.

    Cheers,

    TB
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    manatee67manatee67 Member Posts: 4
    tboner, Thanks for responding so quickly. Any and all info I get is helpful in my decision making. Thank goodness for the internet, I can do all this research before buying and that just didn't used to be possible. I especially like that the cruise wasn't a problem for you. I am not looking for the most powerful minivan on the market, but I don't want it to be taxed when the grandparents are along. Fortunately they don't vacation with us, they just go on short maybe 1-4 hour trips, but w/ age comes a medicine cabinet so it is helpful to know the roominess available. Our kids are elementary age and are very excited about getting a van. Better half and I scuba dive and plan on getting the kids into it with each summer, so being able to tackle some weight is also an issue. Any how, Overall are you glad that the MPV was your choice??
    Let me know and thanks again.
    ss
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    javadocjavadoc Member Posts: 1,167
    I'll chime in also, if it's not an intrusion. The MPV is surprisingly roomy given its diminutive exterior, and it very sporty in its handing. It's subjective, but the other minivans on the market drive like dumptrucks...well, not as bumpy, but they handle similarly, imho.

    I think the reliability issues with the MPV are few and far-between. The duratech motor has more than proven itself by its track record in many other vehicles, and the Mazda tranny seems good also.

    I didn't remember if you said you had two or three kids, but if you have three, then at least one will be on the rear bench seat, and you'd have to take into account how much space your scuba gear takes up in the cargo well, but it's probably more than enough. The Ody doesn't have really that much more room back there.

    Price-wise, I don't thinky anybody can touch the MPV, given all the great features it has.

    Tb...I'd have been putting the MIL in the far back...no, not really. lol.

    --javadoc
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    blacklxblacklx Member Posts: 60
    My MIL is small and fits just right on the roof rack.
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