Mazda MPV

oldstyle

Getting close to signing a contract, but still debating the $500 car payment for 24 months to get 0%. One question I have is my dealer said that all the LX's within 6 states around Ohio that have the Lux package also have rear AC and cassette. She said that people who want lux also want the other two options so that's the way they are made at the factory. We just want Lux, 4-season, mats, rack, and guards and she said we would have to order from the factory. Any thoughts. Thanks

husker92

Oldstyle: I am in MO and we just picked up our Sunlight Silver LX last night. It has Lux, step, rear a/c and roof rack. No cassette.

We used the s-plan and got it for $22,840. I was also charged $69 to deliver it from another dealer. I didn't fight that fee, the dealership is 2 minutes from home and I wanted preferential treatment when I bring it in.

Only issue is that when we test drove one the first time with the child seat in, my daughter had plenty of room for her feet. When we test drove the actual one we were buying, she kept kicking the driver's seat. We tried re-configuring the seats, but there was no room. Was it built differently than the first one we test drove? No, I am an idiot. My wife drove on the first test drive and she is only 5'2". I am 6'2", so the seat is back all the way for me and up almost all the way for her. Our daughter's seat will be moving to the passenger's side of the van very shortly.

Love the van!!!!!!!!

scarter7719

Java, do you remember how much $ Mazda wanted?

or I guess what I really mean, has anyone found one cheaper than what's on the Edmund's site ($163-$190)?

bean3422

Have any of you seen the Mazdaspeed MPV...evidently there was one at the NY auto show. This has not gotten any coverage by the media, but one of the guys on the Mazda 6 sedan board posted some pics and happened to catch the Mazdaspeed MPV. Any news on that??? Maybe I should wait for a little while longer to buy my van!! Or lease it so I can turn it in for a Mazdaspeed MPV.

javadoc

Mazdaspeed? Hmmmm, interesting. Dunno.

Scarter... I think that's about right for the price. I'm trying to convince the d.w. that a spoiler would keep grime off the rear window. Ne1 have experience w/the rear spoiler?

scarter7719

... looked like a super GFX package in the new spicey orange paint pjd58 was talking about. Hmmmm

mcadrecha

truckdude:
I just bought a MPV a month ago and it has about 750 miles on it. Mileage has varied but overall has been increasing as I drive the van more. The last three tanks (all highway miles) have been 19, 20, and 21 mpg. Since I should be getting something like 24, I was disappointed and asked my Dealer if there was something wrong with the vehicle. He said it really takes about 2000 miles to break in the car before you start seeing the rated mileage.

So far, that has been my experience. How old is your MPV and what has your experience been?

Michael

bob57

Also highway miles, I'm getting 24mpg with a/c on 90% of the time (if Java would just leave our weather alone that other 10%...). Just turned 23,700 miles on my '01.
I did post earlier that my mpg increased along the way but don't know (or realized) if I changed my driving habits.

javadoc

Summer... 19city/23hwy

Winter... 16city/21hwy

Not bad considering lead shoes, snow tires (winter) and crummy winter fuels.

/java

mazda_guy

Husker, I am not sure if you are aware that the second row seats you can slide side to side and also back and forward. Just a thought....

MB

mcadrecha

Truckdude:
Was your mileage that good from the beginning, or did your car need to be broken in first? In other words, did you car get poor or mediocre mileage (below the EPA rating) until you had put a few thousand miles on it??

javadoc

You know, I do wish the middle-row seats reversed so they could point aft in addition to fore. That would be a really neat feature, and would keep the munchkins from kicking the back of the driver's seat. VW's Eurovan has the second-row seats (some models) rearward facing and it makes a large amount of room b/w the 2nd and 3rd rows. Granted, access to the rugrats would be hampered if this happened, so there'd be a trade-off.

/j

tango_28

I'm averaging 21mpg in mix city/hwy
Pure highway driving 24-27mpg. We have put 26,000 miles in the first year we own the van. Mileage started improving a lot a 15,000 miles

Ron.

alexv1n

I doubt you can get more than 24 mpg from MPV (at least 2000-2001 models). I drove once with rather strong tail wind and wasn't going faster than about 120 km/h and I still got about 10 L/100 km or 23.5 mpg. Granted, if you were to go about 80-90 mpg, you would do better than that, but still I see it unrealistic to have 27 or even 26 for that matter.

Are you sure you are calculating MPG correctly?

I have a very close numbers that Java quoted. Just put on my OEM Dunlops (16") back after winter and last two tanks were:

Tank #1 (70% city, 30%hwy): 13.13 L/100 km (17.92 mpg)
Tank #2 (20% city, 80%hwy): 12.02 L/100 km (19.57 mpg)

With my winter tires on (Michelin Arctic Alpin) and rather poor road conditions I usually got around 14-15 L/100 km city (15.6-16.8 mpg) during winter (quite steadily).

howdyd

Anyone else having problems getting a quote through email from Mazda dealers? I emailed 4 dealers here in San Antonio asking for their "best price" and have received no responses.
Finally called one up today and told them I wanted an ES with the following options: roof rack, 4-seasons pckg, cargo net, mud guards, and rear bumper st. plate.
The guy called back and told me that they don't get many with 4-seasons here and that without it, the price = $28,000 !!!
Any thoughts?

evaddave

Rear heat:
Last night I got to take Maxine out to hockey practice, and while I was cleaning it out (a prerequisite every time I get to drive it) to make space for the hockey gear, I discovered our 10-year-old's version of rear heat. You guessed it, a blanket.

Wipers:
I've noticed that vehicles with smaller, more rectangular windshields tend to have the right side wiper work the same direction as the left side, and vehicles with larger, more square windshields tend to have the right side wiper work backwards. And then there's Mercedes, which I think has a trademark on unusual wiper blade patterns. BTW, thanks, javadoc, for the tip on the Bosch wiper blades. I replaced all the wipers on all our cars, and the results are absolutely amazing!

2nd-row recliners:
It'd be cool to have rotating seats in the second row, and it would be even cooler if they had the flip-out footrest. But how would you buckle in? (and the driver would probably have to have a control to lock the rotation. That would be too much fun for a kid.)

sweet_subie

That's how they try to show attitude. I just moved from Houston to Boston. So, i know the dealers in Tx.

Max you can pay is 500$ more than the invoice. Invoice is usually 2k to 2.5k less than MSRP. Otherwise you are overpaying.

They try to make it look like these are hard to get etc etc....be tough !

Also, try carsdirect.com, imotors.com for a haggle-free price.

But if you are good negotiator, you can get better deals than the online ones. If you are not a good negotiator, take a friend or relative who is.

sweet_subie

thanks. Mine works exactly how you explain !

prlamz

Throwing my 2 cents. With 1350 miles on the odometer of our 2002 LX, we just got 17 mpg of city driving at last fill-up. So far mileage is our only concern. To make things worse I just read a pamphlet where it shows the Peugeot 806 getting 41 mpg (of diesel fuel.) We are undertaking our first serious trip tomorrow, we'll see. May the MTBE makes it worse. What doesn't it make worse anyway.

husker92

Mazda-guy, I have tried putting the middle seats all the way back, but her feet still hit that bar on the back of the driver's side chair.

I am going to try to put the seats together and put her in the middle, but I am not sure if the seat-belt will tighten up enough, being so far from the seat. If not, she will just move to the passenger side and like it (ha, ha).

Thanks again for everyone great info. Has anyone ever installed a spoiler on their MPV? If so, what is involved in the installation?

audia8q

The mazdaSpeed MPV is just a concept at this point. If the demand is there after a few auto shows they my give it the go ahead.

One reason the SpeedMPV was missed is due to the location. Its not with the mazda display but with the Ford truck display...along with the mazda trucks.

truckdude

Thanks for all the replies. I don't have an 02 MPV but we are seriously looking at it. I wanted one in 2000 when they first came out, but the lack of engine power and reports of 16mpg forced us to buy a Sienna. The Sienna has terrific power and always gets 19-24 mpg. So I was curious what the new 3.0 was doing - sounds like it's right where it should be 18-24. Anyway, getting tired of all the rattles and sqeaks in the Sienna, plus I hate to drive it because it wallows like a big boat. This 6th Toyota I believe will be our last...

kczmudzin

last tank slightly over 20 mpg all city; the only caveat - it was all my wife driving - she is the most defensive driver I've ever known

rutger3

The MPV is nice but it has some Saab in it. This explains the different right wiper, and the tightest engine compartment around. They also have some cheap Accountants which is the only reason they do not combine both rear heat and a/c in the same package. Those same decision makers decided to leave off the right side power lock control to save a few dollars which I beleive makes the MPV the only vehicle over $20k in America with this dubious honor. Mazda also decided to not put a 3 point belt in the rear center position. I raise these points because all or most of their direct competitors has these items. I cannot understand from a marketing and design standpoint why they would leave them off; it must of been to save a few dollars. Overall,I like the MPV and it does offer a lot, but if they spent a few more dollars it would be even better.

kczmudzin

The two times I bought a new car, I never even thought about door locks, wipers, cup holders, storage areas, etc. Can this be explained by the fact that I wasn't raised in the US?

javadoc

Kczmudzin, no, lol. ;-)

I really think the windshield wiper design is great. Like other posters, I think it clears the windhield much better than your typical conventional wiper configuration. If you want to see unconventional, look at some Mercedes models. Some have mono-wipers, where they mount at the bottom, center of the windshield, like on old VW Sciroccos.

The switching gear is subjective. It never bothers me, but I'm always the driver when I'm in the van (my controls! All mine!). Actually, and maybe I've missed this feature all this time, but it would be nice to have a door latch on the inside of the rear hatch. Did I miss it in my almost 3yrs of ownership?

/j

mcadrecha

Thanks everyone for info on your mileage. My dealer said mileage would get better after passing the first 2000 miles -- breakin' in time, I guess.

pjd58

No way. Rutgers, tell me what van is flawless and I'll sell my MPV and go out and buy one:) There are a few things I wish the MPV had.......light switch for rear dome light in front and AWD. I focus on the POSITIVE attributes of the MPV, which are far more numerous than the negative.

Mazda made a great van at a very reasonable price. Manufacturers make decisions on what features are best for a specific car, to meet a competitive price point.

Pjd58

javadoc

mcadrecha, I noticed mileage improvements after 5k, and then some more after 15k, but I also changed the tranny fluid at that time, so the two may be connected. Have fun!

/java

bob57

This was mentioned a while back and I don't want to search for it - ice melts in the martini while typing...

What tranny fluid was everyone going to when this was first brought up? I plan to do this in the next week or so.
Thx.