My daughters have a 2012 Sienna and a 2016 Mazda CX-5 and I do their maintenance and both are very good vehicles. The only issue I've had is with the Mazda and the key fob. She only had one when she bought it used so I got an OEM replacement FOB and, boy, getting that little sucker and the Mazda computer to work together has been a bear. I even had a professional program it and he worked on it for 4 hours, using two high-tech computers, and it's, still, not the best thing. (Many gremlins.) Researching on the WWW shows many folks having problems with their Mazda key fobs. The Nissan Rogue was looked at by both daughters when they were looking for something but the transmissions on those are notoriously horrendous so I'd steer clear unless they get it replaced by something better. (Like Mazda did in the early 2000's with their horrible Jatco transmission.) I did hear that some Rav 4's have 3rd seats so you might want to also look for those.
My daughter, who now has a Mazda, had an older Odyssey (I think it was a 2002) and loved it except for those electric sliding doors which had no manual option and in the winter would sometimes freeze shut on her....very annoying. It got t-boned and since it was so old they just totaled it.
The MAZDA5 looks like a car with sliding rear doors from the outside. It may be the same or smaller than a Prius v, but I'm not entirely sure. If I did get a cargo box on top at least it would be easier to reach in a MAZDA5 than some 6-ft-tall midsized SUV. Of course looks can be deceiving. When the crossover craze started I remembered Mazda's CUV replacement for their station wagon looked bigger on the outside but actually had smaller interior specs, both for the passengers and the cargo area. Not only that, it also got worse fuel mileage and had less power.
Why not go for the hybrid Sienna? The thing ain't cheap though...that's for sure. On that note, I fondly remember our 2004 Mazda MPV. It looked like this : https://autoauctionspot.com/mazda/mpv/2004-JM3LW28J740504224.html It was a perfectly sized smaller minivan, got reasonable MPG, and was reasonably priced. The sliding door windows also rolled down....which was a cool feature at the time. Unfortunately, the darn thing rusted worse than any other vehicle we have ever had. Shame Mazda dropped it.
So 83 inches? A 2022 Prius is 58 inches tall, The MAZDA5 is 63 and a half inches tall, A 2022 RAV4 is around 68 inches tall. A Sienna is about an inch taller than that. I just did a lookup of Toyota Siennas. One's that are within my limits are about what I got with the Avalon, around 2013 with around 120,000 miles, but there are only a few in the USA for under my limit of $12,000. Are you kidding about the hybrid Sienna? It's hard to find one for under $40,000 unless it's in need of a complete overhaul after being totaled, and even then those are still expensive. We're looking at around $600 per month payments for 5 years, I pay $180 per month for 5 years on the Avalon and am hoping to keep payments down to zero. Even selling the Avalon would only pay for around 1/4 of the hybrid Sienna, so $450 per month for the Sienna. In the end, I'm thinking more and more of just keeping the Avalon. I either get a measly one more seat for a lot less of everything else, or a big vehicle that chugs gasoline or that requires me to sell a kidney. Add to that the Avalon has an extra set of rims and snow tires, which probably won't work with just any other vehicle. I've also installed a block heater and use it religiously every winter. I also know the Avalon inside and out, I know I've change the tranmission fluid, brake fluid, spark plugs, and so on and so forth faithfully. I got it with 50,000 miles on it and have changed the oil, rotated the tires and checked tread depth and for tire wear, checked the air filters, checked the brake disks, pads and hoses, checked the CV axle, steering rack and ball joints every 5,000 miles or less since I got it with Toyota oil and Toyota oil filters and such every single time. I paid over $300 for a new Panasonic 12V battery for it just a few months ago. The only thing I haven't been able to figure out how to fix on it is the radio, but maybe someday I'll figure that out too.
The new Sienna's are very expensive. In 2020 we were searching for a replacement for our 2004 Sienna that we had purchased new in 2003 With the safety features we wanted we would have had to buy an XLE Sienna model that would have listed for close to $50,000 after it was all said and done. It would have still lacked one safety feature we had wanted. Wonderful vehicles but just out of this world expensive. We bit the bullet and said we just can't afford the vehicle we want and searched the market to find a new vehicle that fit our needs and price point that was the best fit and value for us. We found it and it cost about 1/2 of what the new Sienna would have cost. There are times I still miss that old 2004 Sienna - it had over 150,000 miles and countless found memories of family vacations over the 16 years we owned it.
The Mazda5 is about the same in length and wheelbase as the Prius v. The C-max we got was shorter. If you need to carrying a fifth person, couldn't the Avalon do the job?
Of course it can carry a 5th person. It just can't carry a 6th or a 7th when need be, unless we illegally pack it with more people that it was designed for. To be clear, the MAZDA5 holds 6 people (7 in other countries) even though it has a "5" in it's name. Also ironically, the MAZDA6 only holds 5 people.
We compromised and got a 2020 Hyundai Santa Fe SEL. With our old 2004 Sienna Van as a trade in the Sante Fe came in at right around $24,000 all-inclusive which is about what we paid for the 2004 Sienna when we bought it new in December of 2003. The Santa Fe SEL had every safety feature available and fit all our transportation and carrying needs.
The trade offs for that 6th seat in the Mazda5 just seem high compared to a hybrid Avalon. The times you rented a minivan, was it just the four of you, or also included extra people?
We rented when we needed to add more people, like when my sister-in-law and daughter came to visit. We had to pick them up in Denver, 4 hours away, and then go do things there. It was either rent a van or take the bus and do everything via taxi. We've never rented just for the four of us. I got a little 1,200lb GVWR trailer and I'm not afraid to use it if it comes to material stuff.
This is why DW ended up buying a Mitsubishi Outlander instead of a Mazda5. It has a 5+2 seating arrangement and I regularly average low 30's mpg. We wanted the Mazda5 for the ease of the sliding doors but the 5 seat arrangement just wasn't going to work for us. And with 6 in a Mazda5, there was almost no cargo room at all so we couldn't pick up anyone at the airport anyway. There's a small handful of compact SUV's with fuel efficient 4 cyl engines and 3 rows. Previous gen Nissan Rogues and the older 2000's Rav4's had 3 rows.
I forgot to mention the KIA Sorento's have 3 rows of seats in them. The third row is not roomy at all, but it also folds down for additional room. It is split so you can fold down only half of it. A used Sorento used to be very affordable not sure currently. They are affordable with a surprising level of options and safety features. "With room for up to seven, the standard 50/50 split-folding third-row seats also fold to expand cargo space if you’re not carrying a full passenger load." 2022 Kia Sorento | Mid-Size SUV - Pricing & Features | Kia They are a popular vehicle because of their price point and features - there should be plenty of used ones. Might not be your cup of tea but thought I would mention it.
I was just comparing those to my other options. Looking at ones that are within my budget (around 10 years old) this is what I came up with: Number of passengers: Mitsubishi Outlander 7 Kia Sorento 7 Mazda MAZDA5 6 Toyota Avalon HV 5 Cargo Space (SqFt): Mitsubishi Outlander 14.9 Toyota Avalon HV 14 Kia Sorento 9.1 Mazda MAZDA5 5.9 Highway Fuel Mileage (MPG): Toyota Avalon HV 40 Kia Sorento 30 Mitsubishi Outlander 29 Mazda MAZDA5 28 Transmission: Mazda MAZDA5 Manual 6-speed Toyota Avalon HV Hybrid with "6-speed" engine braking Kia Sorento Auto 6-speed Mitsubishi Outlander CVT with unknown engine braking but apparently more than one pseudo gear Height (inches): Toyota Avalon HV 58 Mazda MAZDA5 64 Mitsubishi Outlander 66 Kia Sorento 67 So the Avalon has everything except passenger space. The Mazda5 has the worse of most everything except the transmission and one more passenger. The Kia Sorento seems to have a good transmission, seats 7 and has a little more cargo space than the Mazda. The Mitsubishi Outlander seems to have it all, except it has a CVT that I'm worried about, which was why I didn't include the Nissan Rogue.
My daughter has the VW Atlas which has 3rd row and pretty good SUV substitute for a minivan. I do not think it gets 30 MPG. Not the best reliability.
Ya, a little out of my price range too as I can't seem to find any under about $30,000 and I'd like it to be less than $12,000. But thanks!
4 cyl Sorentos are unicorns when we were looking. Combined with a 3 row? I hope you have better luck finding a 30 mpg Sorento than us. After owning a Prius, the CVT in the Outlander was a positive feature for us especially in small hp engines to extract maximum power at minimum rpm. I abhor gear hunting in steep mountain inclines and CVT's cure that. If I ever buy a car with geared transmission again, it will have to be manual.
