May need to get a car in short notice for a reverse commute for wife's potential new job.

It will require a commute from Upper East Side to Morristown, NJ. This is all in anticipation of moving out to surburbia. Needless to say, we will need garage parking in NYC for at least a few months, maybe half a year, while we look for houses. We narrowed down the MX5, because it doesnt trigger a luxury premium for parking, nor an SUV premium for parking. Has good reliability (need to buy, cant lease due to miles), and great gas mileage. It could be also kept as a decent sized one-car-for-the-family baby hauler when we move to suburbia.

Looking at 2014-2015 2.5L Grand Touring with Tech package. New, or CPO. (2013s prior had the smaller engine).The 2.5L has lesser gas mileage of 32 MPGs vs 35 MPGs, but i heard the 2.0L is a dog. Wayne Mazda in NJ has a bunch of 2015s going for 28k (sticker is 31k), due to a 2016 upcoming refresh.

Does anyone have one? Anything to keep a look out for if we buy a 30k mile used one? Safe for newborn hauler? You think I could negotiate the 2015s down from 28k?

As mentioned, if she decides to take this job, we need to buy a car in a week's notice, so we want to make sure we could make a swift decision.

Thanks, guys.

 

Dude, email Shoofin'. He's in Long Island and can probably work a better deal for you on a 2015 than you'd get with 1000 emails to dealers.

If you do it now, he can respond before he's gone for the weekend.

 

Doesnt Shoofin only do leases? We are looking at buying.

 

Nope, he can sell you a car too. I bought a used Mazda3 from him a few years ago (I have a problem).

 

Cool. Will reach out to him once we get closer to the job situation. Cant buy until job offer is actually in our hands, and she is willing to accept. May be another few weeks.

So any negatives about the cx5? Just trying to pindown the choice of vehicle so we could move quickly if need be.

 

I love it but I haven't driven one. Rated to be very safe on all tests including small overlap.

 

I have one, 2014 GT with tech package and the optional 19" wheels. Great on gas, comfortable, and I even added a 17" winter tire setup and it's excellent in snow.

 

i cant wait for the smaller CX-3 to come out

 

Thanks. Is it pretty good in snow w the stocks?

 

I've driven the CX5 a few times. I really like it. It would be my first choice for a small, crossover SUV

 

Just curious if you looked at RAV4s or CR-Vs?

 

Only test driven a few. The 2.0 is pretty anemic on power with the automatic.
The 2.5 is much better & it's a great driving little SUV. I'd likely take one over the Rav4 or CRV.
Though, like above, I'm looking forward to seeing the CX3 in person.

 

Went on a test drive helping a friend decide on a CX-5 or other CUV. Go with the 2.5 engine. During our test drive, we loaded it with 4 adults and 1 child and going up a hill was no problem. The mpg penalty is minor for the power you get in return.

My friend went with the RAV4 because she is a Toyota loyalist and she also has a mechanic / friend who knows a lot about Toyotas but nothing about Mazdas.

Back in late 2011, the CX-5 was on my short list, but wasn't available yet. My wife was happy to get the 2012 TSX Wagon instead.

 

My gf has had a 2014 GT for over a year now. It's a great little SUV, looks good and easy to work on. I still hate how Honda put the oil filter far away from the oil drain plug, while Mazda has it all in one place. I'm not sure if you have driven one yet, but it handles quite different from the CRV or RAV4, it feels more towards the Escape but better IMO. Sporty and minimal body roll, suspension tuning has a very good balance between comfort and sportiness.

So far it's been damn reliable with no surprises. Mazda revised the front structure for better small overlap collision performance with MY2014 builds starting November 2013, so I don't recommend you purchasing one with a build date of October 2013 or earlier.

Forget MY2013's, the 2.0L is dangerously underpowered in my opinion, the 2.5L is no rocket but sufficient.

Pros include the headlights, 19" and good handling for the class. Wind and tire noise is much better than average. We were quite comfortable in it on a two day road trip last year. We have 17" Bridgestone DM-Z1's for winter and they perform really good on snow and ice.

Only con I can think of is highway mileage goes down at faster highway speeds. We averaged 27-28mpg at 80mph with a 10mph head wind and an average of 2% elevation change (going uphill), this is far from the gas mileage ratings. In town and <75mph driving gets pretty close to advertised fuel economy ratings.

 

thanks guys.

sounds like the Cx5 is the way to go.

i have a friend in a similar situation that actually cancelled his CX5 order and went with a loaded Rogue and swears by it. I am willing to give up just about any feature for a pano roof (which the rogue has), but...IDK. i drive a rental every other week, and lets say mazda is my go to, and nissan is what i avoid. for some reason the nissan steering fades very easily. i cant explain it. theres little feedback through the wheel, so if you arent paying attention for a second or two on the highway, you will find yourself veering out of the lane. this rarely happens to me when im driving, but for some reason, it occurs often with a nissan (altima rentals, mostly).

 

Yes, very good... but don't get over confident with all seasons. It looks like the 2015 got a slight interior refresh also compared to the 2014. My CX5 doesn't have the cool joystick /audio control knob near the cup holder.


Click for higher res:

 

My wife narrowed it down between the Edge Limited and CX. She really liked the look of the Mazda but at the time (2 years ago maybe) even the bigger engine was SLOW (or maybe there was only one when it came out or something along those lines). I liked the mileage but she wanted more power and I can't say I blame her. I did hear that they now offer a bigger engine but I haven't really kept track.

Really nice looking, good use of interior room, and while the 2013 she looked at seemed to have a bland dash (all other materials looked and felt great) especially the radio, it looks like a nice refresh in the above pic.

 

^^^ That one was probably the 2.0. They have a CX-5 2.5 with 185hp that helps out a lot!

 

going to test drive the CX5 this saturday. I have a feeling it will be the winner.

For good measure, we are going to check out these too:
-New Ford Edge
-Jeep GC and Jeep C
-Acura RDX

Car situation is beyond complicated, as we are at some big crossroads. Here are the underlying questions we are asking ourselves over the simplicity of getting a car: Does wife take job offer in NJ? Does she need a car to drive to depositions? Can she leave the car at the office M-F? Or do we pay $500/mo for NYC garage, and $250/mo in tolls? Do we just move to NJ and save? If we move, is it finally time to get a house, or do we continue to rent? If we stay in NYC, do we want to pay even more to park in NYC if the car is over "oversized" at 181"+ in length? Etc etc. etc. Our heads are spinning.

But will keep you guys posted.

 

well, we test drove the following today. to our suprise, our list of what we thought we would like the most was actually completely inverted.

I will be happy to report that the wife really liked the RDX the best. It was the closest fit and finish to the Lexus RX (which of course she likes, and I loathe). Looks like it will be the RDX when we need to pull the trigger.

prior to test drives, our ranking was:
1. CX5
2. Jeep Cherokee
3. Jeep Grand Cherokee
4. Ford Edge
5. Acura RDX

After test drives:
1. Ford Edge (amazingly spacious interior, drove much smaller. it was everything we liked about the jeep gc, but solved the truck-like driving dynamics of the JGC)
2. Acura RDX (no complaints, it was "just right" with basic luxuries and solid fit and finish)
3. Jeep GC (nice car all around, but a bit too bulky, esp. for 5'-2" wife)
4. CX5 (2016s were nicer than 2015s, but still a bit of a let down in overal interior finish. while the interior dimensions were good on paper, is still felt much smaller than the RDX and other compact/midsize suvs)
5. Jeep Cherokee (really bad build quality. Hard plastics in commonly touched areas)

Everything said and done, we liked the edge the most. however, the Ford packages kind of screw you. We were left with a bunch of "stuff" we didnt need just to check off simpler luxuries. In the end, we priced a $45k car without HIDs...and it would have leased for almost a 50% premium to a similarly equipped JGC with almost the same sticker. in terms of value, we will default to the RDX.

I have a guy in BK that is offering $339/mo, zero down on an RDX. Add 50/mo for tech, and we are at $389/mo for a loaded 2015 RDX. Prices may even go down some over the next couple weeks when the 2016s come near. Cant really beat that.

 

Lease programs on the CX5 are pretty strong right now (for a change)...

 

Yup. Really good, which is why i thought it would be the winner. 31k sticker, 2k rebate. 320/mo zero down for GT awd plus tech package for 2016s that just came out.