After much thought..

[Nitemeister]

the wife and i have decided to move up to a slightly bigger vehicle than our 3. To those who's family has expanded, the choices are seemingly endless! The ones i've looked at are as follows

2011 Kia Sportage - sweet car, looks good out and in
2010/2011 Hyundai Tucson - ditto
2007/2008 Mazda5 - argh.. NOT ready for a mini - mini van!
2007/2008 Mazda Cx-7 - love it, premium gas not so much!
2007/2008 Honda CRV - bland look, but honda name is good altho pricing is ugh
2008/2009 Nissan Rogue - nice look, but lack of cargo space is a deal breaker
2007/2008 Toyota Rav4 - i can *NOT* get over the big ass spare tire protruding in the back look :|

Took the Sportage/Tucson out for test drives. Have driven my manager's 2007 Cx-7 before. Researched the hell out of the other vehicles... and finally we've decided *drum roll please*

Our *hopefully* new'ish vehicle will be..

Mazda Cx-7 (2007 or 2008)

The factors that played into it are pricing/value for money/ and the fact that i've been on this board for a long ass time and you folks have always been super helpful with any questions, mazda related or otherwise. Sure the Cx7 doesn't have the best mileage but the wife and I don't drive a LOT.. we're mostly weekend drivers (esp since the wife is on Mat leave). It uses premium fuel but we'd be paying a lot more for a 2007/08 CRV/Rav4 and the price difference vs paying a bit more at the pump evens out.

But yeh.. looks like we're sticking to the Mazda family

So.. anyone have a 2007/08 Cx-7 they're looking to sell for something in the early 20's?

cheers!

V

[tonyzoomzoom]

Good choice.

Mine would have been the new sportage / tucson or the CX7

[derrick]

I think Keichii just purchased a CX7 recently as well. Send him a PM for his thoughts and if he found any good deals out there.

[DKaz]

Most of those SUVs don't have much cargo room... the RAV4 is probably the best of the bunch cargo wise. I don't trust Honda... they have too much bad rep lately, I know Toyota does as well but Toyota's is well publicized, check out different forums for Honda's problems.

I love my Mazda 5. Consider that you can use a lot of Mazda 3 suspension components on the 5, springs/coilovers, sway bars (not the strut tower bar, it's extremely tight in the 5's engine bay). I'm still planning at some point of lowering my 5 and I want to put Speed3 rims on... eventually. If the 5 isn't your thing then meh but in terms of cargo carrying capacity, nothing beats the 5.

Also, instead of getting rid of your 3, consider getting a compact stroller. Graco Mosaic ($199 at Superstore, folds umbrella style to under 12"x12", accepts a car seat which is included), Peg Perego P3 Pilko Classico ($499 at Baby World, this is the one I have, has pegs at the back that a second child can stand on, folds umbrella style to about 12"x12", accepts a car seat which is not included) or Joovy Caboose Ultralight ($499, I don't know which retailers carry this, has a bench that a second child can sit on, folds flat to about 10" thin, accepts a car seat which is not included). All three of these options fit behind the third row of the Mazda 5 and in my Celica which has a huge sub in it so it'll fit in the back of your 3 for sure. I wished we thought of this before and I kept my Corolla, not that I don't absolutely love my 5 but I would've had it paid off by this coming April and then I could've gotten a brand new 5.

[Nitemeister]

I think if the 5 came with AWD, i would've considered it more seriously. However, call me shallow if you want but i just can't get into the whole mini van concept yet.. maybe it's a lack of maturity, maybe it's the fact that my in laws have a minivan and it's a bitch to drive but yeh.. we've already also been through the whole stroller thing and have invested heavily into a jogging stroller complete with massive suspensions.. good for when i want to go running with the kid!

[Nitemeister]

oh and thanks Derrick for the tip!

[DKaz]

Will the jogging stroller fit in any of those choices?

[joe.to.go]

You can get the dealership to adjust your ECU so the CX-7 can take regular fuel as 08 plus model takes regular fuel and have the same amount of HP.

it's a small charge of 1 hour labor or I'm quite certain could also be done for free if reported to Corporate as a fuel issue as a customer of mine had hers done which was a 07 CX-7 at no charge.

The dealership that I work for, Metrotown Mazda, has four CX-7 right now ranging from 2007 to 2009 from GS FWD to GT AWD luxury with Navi.

If you're interested give me a PM.

Cheers

[Nitemeister]

hey Joe.. that's the same dealership i currently go to for all my 3's servicing!

Thanks for the tip on the ECU! very valuable for sure!

I'll pm you about the choices thanks!

[Nitemeister]

Will the jogging stroller fit in any of those choices?

It fits into our 3 currently, altho there's not much space for anything else .. it's folds up pretty good.. if i remember correctly the 7 has a bit more cargo room than the 3, unless i'm completely mistaken?

[joe.to.go]

np

[DKaz]

^^^ Now I know who you are!

[theurgy]

Consider the CX-9 as well...

[Nitemeister]

hehe Nite has a budget.. Cx-9 is quite a bit OVER budget. thanks tho!

[Username]

CX9 is a LOT bigger too. And yes, joe.to.go confuses with his username! LOL

Vish you gotta bring the CX-7 out when you get it. I have still yet to drive one.

Finally, when is the baby due? Congrats on becoming a father man!

   Kev

[Nitemeister]

hehe thanks Kev.. the days of my 3 being in my movies are numbered!!

baby's already born! 3 months old now! i.e 3 months of Vish having no life! argh!

[M Speed]

Unless AWD is a must....I'd take Mazda5. It drives like a car, gas consumption like a car. Sliding door makes putting baby in car seats easier.

[zoomerboomer]

Congratulations!  It's amazing how much more you need to take along for something so little.  Welcome to the role of father/parents.

[tonyzoomzoom]

I def agree on the sliding doors for ease of getting baby in and out of the back seat.  Your back will thank you for it 

[Keiichi]

the wife and i have decided to move up to a slightly bigger vehicle than our 3. To those who's family has expanded, the choices are seemingly endless! The ones i've looked at are as follows

2011 Kia Sportage - sweet car, looks good out and in
2010/2011 Hyundai Tucson - ditto
2007/2008 Mazda5 - argh.. NOT ready for a mini - mini van!
2007/2008 Mazda Cx-7 - love it, premium gas not so much!
2007/2008 Honda CRV - bland look, but honda name is good altho pricing is ugh
2008/2009 Nissan Rogue - nice look, but lack of cargo space is a deal breaker
2007/2008 Toyota Rav4 - i can *NOT* get over the big ass spare tire protruding in the back look :|

Took the Sportage/Tucson out for test drives. Have driven my manager's 2007 Cx-7 before. Researched the hell out of the other vehicles... and finally we've decided *drum roll please*

Our *hopefully* new'ish vehicle will be..

Mazda Cx-7 (2007 or 2008)

The factors that played into it are pricing/value for money/ and the fact that i've been on this board for a long ass time and you folks have always been super helpful with any questions, mazda related or otherwise. Sure the Cx7 doesn't have the best mileage but the wife and I don't drive a LOT.. we're mostly weekend drivers (esp since the wife is on Mat leave). It uses premium fuel but we'd be paying a lot more for a 2007/08 CRV/Rav4 and the price difference vs paying a bit more at the pump evens out.

But yeh.. looks like we're sticking to the Mazda family

So.. anyone have a 2007/08 Cx-7 they're looking to sell for something in the early 20's?

cheers!

V

Argh, sorry I missed this thread.
As Derrick said, I just recently purchased a CX-7 because we are in the same boat as you.  Wait till you go on your first family trip....omg, that's when you realize you need cargo room! hahaha

Anyway, we looked at a few options and here is my opinion of the ones we looked at in no particular order:

• 2010 Hyundai Tucson:  Too small.
  
• 2009-2010 Hyundai Santa Fe: Great features, lots of room.......BUT KILLER BLIND SPOT.  This was one of my preferred vehicles prior to the test drive, but after the test drive, it was a no go.  I don't believe in having to adjust how I shoulder check to compensate for bad pillar design.
• 2010 Mazda5: Great car, great flexibility, sliding doors are wonderful: My wife is in the same boat as you.....looks too mini-van-ish......
• 2011 Kia Sportage: Looks good and good features for price:  Wife didn't want a KIA.
• Honda CRV: Good utility, looks okay.
• Toyota Rav4: Great cargo space, probably the best utilitarian of its class, lack features for base model, thus at least get a Sport trim.  Optional 7 seater available for Base V6 AWD trim.  Probably had the best pep of all the vehicles, when you stepped on the gas pedal.
• 2010 CX-7: Avg Cargo Space, smaller than RAV4 or CRV.  Drives well, looks great, features for the price is top notch.  FWD available without Turbo....AWD available only with Turbo, only drawback, Mazda Turbo engine same as the Mazdaspeed3......and wary of the reliability of that engine.

Anyway, in the end it came down to the RAV4 or the CX-7 for us and we ended up going for a FWD CX-7 with Luxury Package.  We came to the decision that we didn't need AWD and the money saved could be used to buy some nice winter tires.  Also, the FWD version came with the 2.5L engine instead of the DISI 2.3L Turbo.....so that put our mind at ease with the potential issues of that engine.  Once we came down to that, we just looked at the offering of the RAV4 at a similar price and just found that the CX-7 offered more features and looked nicer.  However, the RAV4 did offer more cargo space and had more power.....