Sold my Kizzy today

[NiteRider]

I had 66K miles on her, a 2012 GT. I didn't want to let her go but with a family on the way it was more practical to get an SUV. Who ever the next owner is will appreciate the care I put into her. I didn't have to replace one thing on her aside from maintenance items. She owed me nothing but I did manage to get $8,500 in trade in.

We bought 2 new SUV's to compensate. A loaded 2017 Mazda CX-5 which is actually a pretty fun car to drive and a 2017 Land Rover Discovery which I've nicknamed "The Beast".

[KuroNekko]

Sorry to hear that you had to part with the Kizashi but a larger vehicle is better for a growing family.
I like both of your choices. The CX-5 is definitely one of the most appealing family CUVs out there, especially with the new design. I also like the new Discovery. I think the British have very good designers and make some real head-turners. The Disco should be impressive offroad but may not match the reliability of the Mazda.

[redmed]

"The Disco should be impressive offroad but may not match the reliability of the Mazda."

Interesting. The manual transmission in my 85 Ford Ranger was made by Mazda and it froze on me. That experience gave me an impression that Mazda was not as reliable as most Japan manufactures.

[NiteRider]

"The Disco should be impressive offroad but may not match the reliability of the Mazda."

Interesting. The manual transmission in my 85 Ford Ranger was made by Mazda and it froze on me. That experience gave me an impression that Mazda was not as reliable as most Japan manufactures.

Part of the reason I went with Mazda is due to their reliability. I could be impartial to this, as I owned an '88 Mazda 323 and a '90 RX7. I tortured the crap out of the 323 in college and that damn car laughed in my face. Ended up selling it 2 years later for more money. The RX 7 was a dream to drive until I wrecked it. But I can confirm that that car was impossible to flip.

[KuroNekko]

That experience gave me an impression that Mazda was not as reliable as most Japan manufactures.

I would agree with this statement to a degree. I really like Mazda but given my experience with them with my previous Mazda3 and my girlfriend's current one (both first generation Mazda3's), they don't seem to have the reliability or durability of most other Japanese rivals. I wouldn't put them at the same level as Honda and Toyota and based on my experience, I find Subaru, Suzuki, and Mitsubishi to build more reliable and durable vehicles. That being said, I think it depends on the model. True Mazdas with little outside influence do better. The MX-5 is very reliable and has always been. On the contrary, the first generation Mazda3 was co-developed by Mazda, Ford, and Volvo and had a lot of FoMoCo parts. It's these that often gave out quickly based on my experience. I also think they have weak suspensions and wheel bearings. However, the driving experience is significantly better than a direct rival. There is a big difference between driving a Corolla and Mazda3 and to my surprise, I find that their automatics don't drive that differently from their manuals. Mazda is one that has also avoided CVTs and worked on making their conventional automatics lighter and more efficient to not dilute the driving dynamics.

All new Mazdas are now engineered in-house with SkyActiv technology and these have improved Mazda's reliability. However, given they don't really make trucks and SUVs and cater more to lightweight sporty cars, it just seems that durability was never their forte. On the contrary, Toyota, Suzuki, and Mitsubishi have made durable SUVs for decades and passed on that durability to their sedans, in my opinion.

However, the comparison was made to Land Rover which despite being an offroad SUV brand, has a terrible reputation for reliability. In the past, they had powertrain issues and were infamous for leaks. They are now more plagued with electrical issues as many European cars are. While the current Discovery is a new product, I think most can safely bet that the Mazda CX-5 will likely be more reliable.

[Triggerhappy]

I had 66K miles on her, a 2012 GT. I didn't want to let her go but with a family on the way it was more practical to get an SUV.

We bought 2 new SUV's to compensate. A loaded 2017 Mazda CX-5 which is actually a pretty fun car to drive and a 2017 Land Rover Discovery which I've nicknamed "The Beast".

How many kids are you having that you need 2 new SUVs?

[NiteRider]

I had 66K miles on her, a 2012 GT. I didn't want to let her go but with a family on the way it was more practical to get an SUV.

We bought 2 new SUV's to compensate. A loaded 2017 Mazda CX-5 which is actually a pretty fun car to drive and a 2017 Land Rover Discovery which I've nicknamed "The Beast".

How many kids are you having that you need 2 new SUVs?

We adopted 5 kids.

Ha, not really. We actually traded in the Jeep Liberty too which was a POS to drive anyway.

[DiggerDerrik]

Hopefully the next owner enjoys your Kizashi. But yeah. The back seat is almost non existent. It's like a coupe.

I don't mean to steer this thread anymore into a Mazda discussion but haven't Mazdas basically been Fords since the 90's? My step father had a mid 90's B3000 which was a Ranger with different grill and badging. A guy I work with has a Speed3 and it has a Ford engine in it.

[KuroNekko]

Hopefully the next owner enjoys your Kizashi. But yeah. The back seat is almost non existent. It's like a coupe.

I don't mean to steer this thread anymore into a Mazda discussion but haven't Mazdas basically been Fords since the 90's? My step father had a mid 90's B3000 which was a Ranger with different grill and badging. A guy I work with has a Speed3 and it has a Ford engine in it.

Not anymore. Ford owned part of Mazda but offloaded their stakes in the company after the economic crisis when Ford itself was at risk. They did the same with Volvo (now Chinese owned) as GM did with Subaru and others. Mazda has been largely independent since. Hence, they have relied less and less on Ford's engineering and parts and have developed their own. Also, that engine in the Mazdaspeed3 is not a Ford engine. It's a Mazda engine with some Ford parts. The Mazda -designed MZR series engines used in the first and second generation Mazda3 and Mazda6 were also used in various Fords and Mercury vehicles as the Duratec I4. However, these Duratec 4 cylinders were Mazda-designed. The real Ford engine that Mazda used until recently was the V6 found in the former CX-9. It's actually one of the main reasons why the current CX-9 now uses a turbocharged 4 cylinder; Mazda doesn't make 6 cylinders and needed to source their own engine. Hence they turbocharged their 2.5 liter 4 cylinder from the Mazda6 to power the CX-9.
Basically put, any "SkyActiv" Mazda is a 100% Mazda product and you'll likely find no significant FoMoCo parts in them, if any at all.
Also, Toyota is now linked with Mazda and is why the Mazda2 isn't sold as a Mazda in the US but it's in the form of a Toyota Yaris iA and formerly the Scion iA. It's essentially a rebadged Mazda2. They also recently announced they will partner up to make battery electric vehicles.

[golftango]

$8500 trade?! Wow, that may be a record! BEst of luck with the new SUVs.