Okay ... I've had the car about four months now and have logged about 5000 miles to date. Mostly, I've driven it in and around my city, Eugene, Oregon (there are about 150,000 people in the area and it's a college town). I've taken up the mountain a couple of times now, and I've put one good road trip on it: 9 hours down to in-laws. So, I feel aquainted enough with the vehicle to give an impression: I'm not thrilled that I spent what I did on this car, but it's not all bad.

What don't I like? It feels like a Ford, and that puts a knot in stomach every time I start it up. (Talking myself into the idea that it was mostly a Mazda was the turning point on the sale, believe me). I won't go into every detail, but let's just say that it's a far cry from the construction of a Passat Wagon, a Honda, the new Rav4, or even an Outback Sport (all of which I considered and test drove). It costs almost as much as the base model Passat Wagon, and isn't much further from a base model Volvo v-40. (The comparison of this car to wagons may not apply to you, but, well -- it did for me).

Secondly, the warranty kinda sucks. The salesman will probably tell you how they have the better warranty than the Ford; Mazda's is 3 yr./50,000 miles and the Escape is 3 yr./36,000 -- so it's not THAT different, probably a matter of months in reality. It still doesn't touch the 10-yr warrantys you'll get with a Volvo, Volkswagon -- the HYUNDAI has a better warranty. Makes you think twice about what they swear you'll get out of it ...

Lastly, this car seems to really suck the gas. Okay, I used to drive a Honda Accord, so I'm not used to filling up as much. But I remember my 4.0-liter Cherokee getting better mileage just roaming around town. Anyway, Mazda claims 18 mpg city, and I can tell you right now, it's more like 15. On the open road, though, it seems to get the lower end of 24, as advertised. One of the reasons I bought it was because it had the highest mpg ratings for a V6 that I'd seen. The wagons and the four-cylinders came in around 25/30.

So why did I buy it? It gets the job done, and it's better than the escape. Furthermore, I couldn't get a base model Passat Wagon (they were all leathered, V-6, yada, yada - 30k) or a base model Volvo V-40 (same issue). I'd heard about the Jetta Wagon (which I would love to drive when it comes out), but I was under a time crunch and didn't want to wait until summer to get one at full mark-up. The Mazda fit the bill and I could swing the payments.

The Mazda dealer was a bad experience -- they don't think people do their research. And I'm sure I'm just as much of a pain in the a** as any car salesman trying to make a buck can imagine. But going through the 5-hours of negotiation and closing didn't leave me with any desire to buy again in the near future.

If you're looking for one of these and have any questions, feel free to email: rawstock at yahoo dot com (no spam, thanks -- I'm not interested in taking a cruise).
Amount Paid (US$): 23,000
Condition: New
Model Year: 2001
Model and Options: LX-V6 with tow package