What you need in a family car - why I bought a Mazda5

I've been an automotive enthusiast since I can remember. I think I've owned something like 40 different cars and motorcycles since I started driving 20 years ago... primarily because I just like to try new vehicles all the time. As a result, when I recently went looking for a family car that would work well for my small family (my wife, 2-year-old son and me) I drove my wife totally nuts looking at all sorts of different vehicles. I normally drive sports cars or sporty cars (Miatas, MGs, Triumphs, BMWs, etc.) so things like ease of putting in baby seats, space for strollers, and cup holders were never top of mind.I began by looking at the types of vehicles out there for families. There are sedans (4-door cars with trunks), wagons (pretty self-explanatory, but this is a bit of a dying breed and manufacturers like to call them more hip names like "sports tourer"), minivans, SUVs, I even tried to convince myself that the Mazda RX-8 sports car would be a good family cruiser because the rear opening doors made access to the back seat easier. Unfortunatly, our gepact stroller couldn't fit in the trunk. I then started to look at what we really need in a car. Living in Northern California, our inclement weather needs are pretty limited to voluntary trips to the mountains and occasional rain. However, I grew up in the midwest so I'm well aware of what snow storms are like. You know, when I grew up nobody I knew drove a 4x4. Front-wheel-drive cars and even rear-wheel drive cars got us where we needed to go all year round with no problems. The thought of driving a hulking SUV just didn't sit well with me. I'm not a tree-hugger, I just like cars that are quiet, ride well, handle well, and are efficient at what they do. SUVs simply don't meet these needs. I also started thinking about seating capacity. It's normally two or three of us in the car (including my son) but the ability to carry visiting grandparents, friends, and handling trips to the warehouse store would be a bonus... but I don't haul around 6 people all the time either. I looked at some of the gepact car-based (aka "cross-over" SUVs). Basically, these are just station wagons with a hip high-off the ground look. None of them really provided useful adult-sized third-row seating, either. I used to have a BMW 5-series wagon, which drove well and had huge cargo capacity, but again, it didn't offer third-row seating. So I narrowed my choices down to two types of cars: wagons and minivans.Yeah, I know, minivans are about as hip as playing a Lawrence Welk video at an MTV beach party, but if you drive one it's amazing how gefortable, smooth, and efficient they are. There are also few wagons that offer seating for more than 4 or 5 people. One exception is the Mercedes E-class wagon which has the traditional rear-facing puke-inducing seats I remember fondly from my youth. Alas, new ones are very expensive. okay Motors is filled with great deals on used examples, but I was a bit fearful of the cost of repairs outside of warranty on one of these. If you have the budget, though, these seem to offer a rare gebination of luxury, practicality, safety, and can even be had with all-wheel-drive if you insist.While checking out the Mazda6 Wagon and MPV at my local dealer (I've had great luck over the years with Mazdas, by the way) I was really enamored with the 6 wagon. With a relatively efficient V6, manual transmission, and loaded with options for a reasonable cost (mid $20s), it was at the top of my list. Only the lack of occasional seating for more than 4 people gave me pause. The MPV drove really nicely and I actually liked the gepact size relative to other minivans (most aren't so "mini" any more). That's when we stumbled upon the Mazda5. If you aren't familiar with this car... and judging by the reactions I get to it from friends and family not may people are... it's a tall "wagon" style vehicle based on the Mazda3 gepact car platform. I was familiar with the basic idea from my trips to Europe where gepact "people movers" are much more popular. It looks like a miniature minivan and has sliding rear doors, but it's actually considered a gepact wagon by the DOT. Anyway, this car had a peppy 4-cylinder engine, three rows of bucket seats, came loaded with tons of options (sunroof, 6-cd changer, AC, multiple front and side airbags, ABS, etc.) for under $20k. The icing on the cake was that it could be had with a manual transmission which really appealed to my wife and I after we drove it. It's also the perfect size for negotiating around town, easy to park, with a tiny turning radius, gets around 30 mpg (higher than the sticker says, by the way) and all three rows of seats were gefortable. Unlike a larger "minivan," there isn't much space behind the third row when they are in the upright position... enough for some groceries and a gepact stroller... but with the third row folded flat it's huge. And, frankly speaking, we would be using the car with the third row folded away probably 95% of the time anyway. But it would be nice to have the option when needed.So we bought one... silver, 5-speed, touring (loaded) package. Here are some thoughts after driving it for about 6 months:1- It's much more fun to drive than you think. The manual trans adds a certain "peppy" factor. It's not really fast but is more than adequate for driving too fast as I tend to do. It's the sharp steering and balanced handling that really makes it entertaining. Most of the other vans we tried just felt big and unwieldy. This is just the right size.2- It's probably the most practical car I've ever seen. The sliding doors make it unbelievably easy to get the toddler in and out of his seat with their wide openings. The seats are designed to make it really easy to latch and unlatch the car seat as well. Little things like the design of the cupholders, the huge glove box, the little storage thingy that gees out between the middle row of seats, the ease of raising and folding the split third row seats make me think the folks who designed my old BMW never actually used them. Everything on this car seems well designed and easy to use.3- The flexibility has been great. My parents came to town to visit. We picked them up at the airport in the Mazda5 with me, my wife, and our son in the car. My parents totally over packed as usual. We were able to fit my mother and father in the car and left one of the rear-most seats flat for their luggage and it all fit easily with no bags on laps. My father sat in the rear-most seat and actually raved about how gefortable it was.Overall, I continue to be very happy with this purchase. It gives me the performance, fuel-economy, and practicality I needed all wrapped up in a package that's truly entertaining to drive. Zoom Zoom.