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My one complaint of course are the standard tires. Has anyone changed tires recently? I would like to keep the standard 17in wheels though. Any suggestions.
AJN
AJN
I think our '02 MPV ES is experiencing the PCV dilemma, getting an occasional lumpy idle, no CEL and normal acceleration is strong. Hear a air vacuum noise at idle from underneath/behind the engine. Goes in Wednesday for the repair.
-Brian
Hybrid Vehicles Chat Room
Immediately following at 6-7pm PT/9-10pm ET, we keep the chat party going with the Mazda Mania chat.
Mazda Mania Chat Room
The Town Hall chats are a great place to take these message board topics LIVE. Hope to see you there this week!
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Host
Pickups & News & Views Message Boards
AJN
got a loaner - they use Enterprise. I'm driving a Dakota SLT 4x4 quad cab.
-Brian
-Brian
Ours was a LX with touring package. It had 91,000 miles on it and was scrupulously maintained. What would be a fair value for that car? Second, is a replacement Mazda the best choice now that we are forced into a replacement. Our Mazda was paid for as of June 15. I'm not finding anything comparable at our local CarMax. I did, however, find a couple of low-miles Mercury Villagers that were loaded... However, the offset crash results are giving me pause. I spoke with insurance agent and our rates would actually go DOWN with Villager. Why is this?
Anybody with experience comparing the two vans, please let me hear... I remember when we bought MPV, I was dismayed to see all the bad reviews -- but it's now (and has been) a CR recommended buy. I absolutely loved it when we lived in Florida. We later moved and encountered hills where the lack of power that was never even a factor before came into play at times.
Our other car is a 1994 Toyota Corolla (next in line for replacement until MPV crash). I'm trying to keep payment reasonably low as I figure Corolla won't last forever. So far, though, pretty good.
Thanks for any help / insight.
My mother in law has a Mercury Villager and loves hers. It has the Nissan built powertrain...is pretty reliable. Should be able to get a really good price on a used Villager/Quest twin.(as opposed to the Hondas or Toyotas)Good Luck!
Last, I think when our MPV was new (2000), it spent a lot of time at shop. Model was brand new and there were some things that needed to be worked out. After about the first six months, it was the car of my dreams. But not during the early days! Not sure I want to relive all that. Also, Mazda dealer near us has convinced us to go to the next one over -- they tend to order parts, schedule appointments, and fail to tell you parts haven't come in until after you've gotten up early and sat in their waiting room for a couple of hours... They left a trade magazine out and it indicated they were in top 10 for repair receipts. They were NOT in top 25 for customer satisfaction!!
So, I'm hoping for a Mazda that is ready to be cared for by local repair shop, mostly. (That was another thing that drove me to think about a Quest -- that and the fact CarMax hardly has any MPVs.)
Thanks
Steve, Host
NOTE: This is a NEW time slot for this week!
Hybrid Vehicles Chat Room
Immediately following at 6-7pm PT/9-10pm ET, we keep the chat party going with the Mazda Mania chat.
Mazda Mania Chat Room
The Town Hall chats are a great place to take these message board topics LIVE. Hope to see you there this week!
PF Flyer
Host
Pickups & News & Views Message Boards
Our 2000 MPV was problem-free, so this has come as a complete shock. However, dealer should be motivated to make this work. They had to pay for a tow, then foot the bill for a week of rental of a minivan while we took a planned vacation. HOWEVER, I see bank has dinged us with an NSF fee as they presented check to bank during the 5-day holding period for a large check (we had an insurance settlement for a crash that totaled our first MPV). I hope they can do something -- the car we bought had four seaasons, which is hard to find here. It also had a moonroof, which was just nice ... and also the traction control and side air bags, which were mandatory as far as we were concerned (side air bag deployed during crash, bruising/cracking ribs and probably preventing something a lot worse).
I hope it's just a bad start ... it would be hard to sour us on MPVs, but this particular one seems to be trying hard!
I'm thinking we got a relatively good deal though -- paid $3K under invoice for a sunshine silver LX with
LX plus package
four seasons
cargo nets
bumper step
moon roof
roof rack
If it's running now, it'll be a good car, I hope. We had planned on keeping 2000 "until the wheels fall off" but never dreamed it would happen in an accident.
The dealership rented a Grand Caravan for us to vacation in (our MPV died just before planned vacation). Our opinions of it (2005, with 176 miles on odometer when we got it) mainly reinforced our decision to get another MPV. The finish wasn't as good and kids missed the working rear windows. It was larger and thus harder to maneuver. We DID like the separate a/c temperature controls for driver and passenger though. Stow 'n' gos would probably be of limited usefulness to us on a daily basis but were good on vacation. We didn't use the luggage rack (no need) and would have with the MPV, packing the same amount of stuff.
Bev
- Wish tuning on steering wheel went DOWN as well as up! Why didn't they design that to go either way!?!
- Driver controlled interior lights - switch to turn overheads off and on...like cars have had since I was born!!
- Power door lock ability on the PASS. door...yeah, they have it in 2004, but what bozo wouldn't have put it in from the initial design!? Vans/Cars have had power buttons on the PASS. door since the 60's!!
- MPG should be better with a 5 speed than it is. I'm getting 19 around town and 25 on highway. My old 95 DC got about the same around town but only 23 on highway.
Other than these issues, it IS a quality vehicle after 30K miles! Zoom-Zoom!
Does anyone know what it take for Mazda to redesign a part, recall it, and replace it?
Rectified this problem on my 02 MPV a few days ago after CEL code P0171. The dealer told me after replacing split PCV hose for about 30 MPVs at their location, Mazda has improved the part with a thicker hose. I hope you also have the improved part installed.
lawlee
The question is, how does the 04 model ride, especially with the 17" wheels? I thought the Caravan was perfect in that regard and I'm looking to get away from a rough riding car after driving my sports coupe. Do the 16" wheels ride significantly better or is there not much of a difference? Do you people consider the MPV to be too rough riding? How smoothly does the 5 speed auto shift? How smooth and quiet is the V6? Any other known problems besides the PCV hose? How quiet is the road and wind noise in comparison to the Caravan?
Some other general questions: How does the standard LX stereo sound? Is the LX already pre-wired for the additional speakers of the ES for easy upgrading at a later date? I'd prefer to have cloth and at least the LX plus package. The 4 seasons package is nice but hard to find in my area. Is the a/t oil cooler available separate as a Mazda accessory? Does anyone know whether you can add an overhead DVD screen when you have a sunroof installed, whether it be factory or aftermarket?
The 00 MPV was known for its light easy gliding side doors. Did the addition of power doors ruin this? How easily does it open by hand? I really hate this feature and have no use for it but if I get a great deal on an ES I would be stuck with it. Anyone have problems with these doors? My sister had so many problems with her 00 Odyssey's power doors that I'm turned off on the idea of having them.
Last questions: My dealer has an 04 ES Tsunami Blue demonstator. I have no idea how many miles it has but I'm sure around 4k. I'd imagine you can't get the $3500 rebate on this van so what would be a fair price for it? Sticker is $30k if I remember correctly (it had moonroof, 4 seasons). Offer 23k perhaps? If you guys had the choice, would you get this ES or buy a new LX? I could care less about the leather but I do like the 9 speaker stereo, moonroof, and 4 seasons package. Does the Tsunami Blue look purplish in the sun (I saw it at night) or does it look more like a deep bright blue?
Thanks for any and all insight! I never thought I would be jazzed at the idea of owning a minivan, but I really think the MPV is a great idea and a perfect fit for my lifestyle. Plus, the big rebates make it possible to own since my trade has lots of negative equity.
I had the dealer do the first oil change at 5k on our '02 ES and then changed to Mobil-1 at 6.5k, going 6 months between changes (or about 5k miles). YMMV. :-)
-Brian
Anyone have the power doors? Are they slow to open and close? Do they have annoying beepers? Can they be turned off and used manually? If so, how much more difficult are they to open?
Any opinions on the base stereo and 9 seaker setup? My current ride has a 360 watt factory Infinity sound system with 8" subwoofer so I'm afraid to drop down to the base stereo. The Caravan's 6 speaker setup sounded reasonably good though.
Anyway, thanks are in order to everyone who have helped me out so far. You guys are a nice group in here! I might go down to the dealer this weekend and take a test drive and see how willing they are to deal. I'll let ya'll know if anything happens.
Make sure that you pay close attention to how the transmission shifts and reacts to the stop and go driving on the city roads.
The rough ride and concerns on the transmission could become the main reason driving the new buyers away from it.
We, too, live in an area where four seasons is hard to find. This particular van was one of two that had it -- and it happened to also have the automatic doors. We'd had a 2000 MPV and felt no real need for them. (Doors ARE light and aren't a problem to open or close.) The power doors DO have beepers, but they go on if car moves and doors are not closed. You cannot open a power door unless car is in park (which in my opinion is a GOOD thing).
we planned on turning off the doors and going manual -- but ended up liking the power doors. they're quieter and we have no problem with our 9-year-old slamming them!
I don't have complaints about the ride. It's firm and carlike. For a longer trip, the bigger vans have their advantages -- more cargo room and smoother ride -- but for 98 percent of my driving, this is ideal.
hope that is somewhat helpful.
The dash is lit in green right? I'm trying to get away from red lighting and I find green to be much more soothing at night then all the new colors that are in cars now.
Will there be any model changes for the 2005 MPV? Exterior? Interior? Our third child is on the way - so we are gung-ho for the MINI of minivans.
epond
The dealer I bought my MPV from wanted to take the rebate from the sticker price.Go to another dealer and start at invoice. Also,if quick acceleration is a priority I would think the 3.3 V6 in the Dodge Caravan to be mediocre at best.
I also felt the handling was better in the Caravan as was the extremely well controlled yet comfy ride. The MPV's handling was not quite what I expected from the "soul of a sportscar" minivan. I must say the MPV has more comfortable seats, better visibility, and much better versatility. Not to mention neat features, sportier looks, and more a open airy feeling to the interior.
The dealer's price was an absolute insult. The salesman went through this long speech about how giving me this price means they will not over-allow for my trades and that whatever negative equity I have will be added to this price. Since I did do my homework, I knew the price was a horrible deal. I guess this small town dealer doesn't need to sell 1 of its 6 minivans.
John
My other choice was going to be the Pirelli PZero Nero...but they were hard to get and more expensive.
Some people have been putting the new Michelin (Aqua something.)
I would definitely go with a different size...the 225/55/R17 works, but they are 3-4/10ths of an inch smaller in diameter (-1 or 2 MPH on the speedo). The 235/55 R17 also works, and is 1/10th of an inch bigger. (Hardly any change in the speedo.)
Good luck...I love my tire change, but was more interested in a higher speed rating and improved handling than longevity.
Plus they look awesome...
It didn't take me long to decide to run the original Dunlops a while longer. BTW- when we rotated the Dunlops at 4000 miles, the tire guys said the tires appeared to be not worn at all. Nice!
Here's a link, it's for 2003 MPV ES, but is the same for 2004: http://www.tirerack.com/a.jsp?a=EA1&url=/tires/Compare1.jsp&a- mp;startIndex=0&vehicleSearch=true&width=235%2F&ratio- =55&diameter=17&search=true&pagelen=20&pagenum=1&- amp;pagemark=1&speed_rating=HR&speed_rating=VR&speed_- rating=WR&speed_rating=YR&speed_rating=ZR&x=16&y=- 5&EAF=Y&make=Mazda&model=MPV+ES&autoModClar=&- year=2003
-Brian
While I like the MPV w/17" rims, the stock tires do look a little tall & narrow for the van. The upcoming replacement will be a good time to rectify that problem...
http://www.mazda.com/publicity/release/200408/0824e.html
Meade
1. At 29K repeated check engine light and rough idle, etc. after many trips to dealer found a hose that looked like someone took a hunting knife a slashed a gash in it. dealer replaced; but STRIKE ONE.
2. At 58K check engine light comes on and the engine sounded like it was going to implode. Crawl it to the dealer. PCV stuck, found water in all 6 plug housings, valve cover gasket shows signs of seepage. Dealer installs new PCV as one time good will; does nothing about seepage; silicones plug fittings. STRIKE TWO.
3. At 63K, as wife opens pass. door I casually glance over and my eye spots an orange color at bottom of door inside. Closer review reveals metal is RUSTING—this car is only 27 months old. Driver door, same area is also rusting; dealer fixes under rust warranty but a big STRIKE THREE.
4. Now I know I have a lemon and a POS so decide to trade UP to a Toyota highlander. Trade in value, wow should I dare say, well why not; a whopping 8500 I paid 22000.
STRIKE FOUR.
5. Highlander V6 has known hesitation problem; will not buy for now; stuck driving this POS and seeing my trade-in value nose dive to ZERO.
Run, do not walk away from this vehicle.
SpecialExport
Sorry about the resale value, perhaps if you think of it as a POS, it also looks like a POS that no one wants.
John
My '01 has 65K. The battery went dead last year. I know there was something else...oh, yeah, no, wait..that was just the ashtray I emptied.
Never mind.
Juat a warning: Toyotas are NOT what they used to be. Check out some of the Toyota boards here on Edmunds. You may be unpleasantly surprised at what you find. I speak with some authority, as I have owned two Toyota Tacomas, and both were VERY problematic. Yeah, I know I should have learned after the first one, but I was pretty stuck on Toyotas at the time. If you expect perfection, try a Lexus. Oh, they break too. Good Luck!