Faults:

The first week it wouldn't start on the first try. It does this randomly 1 to 4 times a month. I have taken it to 2 dealerships multiple times, and they will not fix it. Some days it seems like it will never start. This is a very stressful problem. It doesn't matter what the weather is like. It only does it after sitting a long time.

It occasionally loses or gains speed when on the highway at high speeds. There is a sudden jerk each time. It does this multiple times every week since I bought it new. It has 42000 miles now.

At 6000 miles, it started making a squawking sound or squealing. I have taken it in many times. It sounds like junk. 2 dealerships have heard it, but have not repaired it. The first one said it was normal. It got MUCH louder with time, and then they said they couldn't duplicate it, but it does it every day. When people ask me if I like the car, I turn it on for them to hear it. No more needs said. It sounds like junk. It was duplicated last week, and then they said they wanted to hear more and were not going to just throw parts in it. We got in an argument over the fact it had been heard twice and ignored, and they said they do not want to fix it for me. Road noise is so loud, it is very hard to talk on a cell phone at speeds of 40mph or more. I filed a complaint with corporate, and they have done nothing.

The back seats DO NOT fit a small child well. There is no leg room if people are in the other seats, and it has caused injury to my granddaughter when people tried to fit. This only fits 4 people without being crammed in!!! You cannot put an infant seat in the car and use the seat in front or behind it, unless the person has NO legs!

General Comments:

Mazda will not repair any of my problems, whether they're duplicated in front of them or not, and they put it didn't duplicate in writing, even when it did.

Corporate is aware of my problems, and other than taking the complaint, they have not contacted me.

I will never buy a Mazda again. This was my 4th and my last. Now that they are part of Ford, they are poor quality, and they don't stand behind their warranty.

I have 42000 miles on the car, and bought it new with cash. It was a very poor, regretful decision.

Faults:

The steering tends to be very wobbly when coming to a quick stop. It can be a little wobbly when starting up, but not too bad.

General Comments:

This car is perfect for our family. We have one child with a baby on the way.

The 5 year old loves riding in the back row with her friends.

If the dogs come along, there is plenty of room with the back row folded down. We even put a dog bed in the back sometimes.

I love the second row windows. They roll down ALMOST all the way, which our Subaru never did.

The sliding doors are so perfect. I have seen so many dented up doors from child use.

My favorite part, this car is FUN to drive! I love the manual, and the Mazda5 was the only car with it's passenger and cargo space I could find that was available in manual.

So far I have not had to take it into the shop for anything. If this reliability keeps up, I would definitely buy this car again in the future.

Cupholders are everywhere.

Armrests are everywhere.

The front seat is really easy to adjust, with a manual pump that lifts the seat up and drops it down.

The windshield wipers are really quiet. My last car was hard to talk on the phone while raining because the windshield wipers were so loud, but now the other end can't even tell it's raining.

The sound system works great. It can go as loud as I can stand with no problems.

The third row of seating has temperature control problems. It is not usually an issue, but when I got stuck in interstate traffic for 2 hours, my daughter got very hot with the sun shining through the back window.

I have had larger passengers (around 300 lbs) have trouble fitting into the car. It is definitely not a comfortable car for really large people.

Ours has the black cloth seats, which are terrible for dog hair. Every single hair stands out like a sore thumb.