Mazda MPV?

deedeesmom

New member
I tried to change my title on another thread to get this particular vehicle in there but I guess it didn't work, so forgive me for starting another thread. Any opinions on the Mazda MPV? I don't see too much about it when I do a search. I test-drove a 2004 today and liked it. I'm concerned about the higher than average rollover risk on the Informed for Life list. Wish it had side curtain airbags but I probably won't be able to afford anything with that. Anyway, thoughts on the MPV please?

Also, I have Radians -- anyone know if they work in the MPV?
 
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scatterbunny

New member
I know the MPV does poorly in crash tests. :( I had a 94 MPV and liked it alright, as far as size and how it drives. Not much leg room for rear passengers because it's a three-row vehicle that's smaller than most three-row vehicles. My model year had nasty forward-of-the-bight belts that made seat installation difficult, I don't know if newer models have those type of belts or not.
 

deedeesmom

New member
Scatterbunny, I remember you being very frustrated with yours -- was it pretty much only because of the seatbelt issue?

Darn, I haven't really found anything else that fits what I want (seats 6 in reasonable comfort; not huge; decent gas mileage; around $10,000 or less). Is the MPV something I really should stay away from?

My car is no longer braking well in the snow so this is getting kind of urgent. :confused:
 

scatterbunny

New member
My three major reasons for not liking the MPV are the not-so-hot crash test scores (the model year you're looking at does better than the year I had, but not as good as even older models of Honda and Toyota minivans), the forward-of-the-bight seatbelts (that may not be present in the newer model years) and the minimal cargo space (often for grocery trips I had to put the third row flat to fit all my bags).

Insurance Institute for Highway Safety ratings:

(All minivans)

http://www.iihs.org/ratings/earliermodels.aspx?class=80

(MPV details)

http://www.iihs.org/ratings/rating.aspx?id=19

NHTSA ratings:

(all 2004 vans, including full-size, because I couldn't narrow it down to just minivans)

http://www.safercar.gov/Index2.cfm?myClass=Van&myYear=2004&myMake=&myModel=&GoButton=View+2004+Vans

(just the 2004 MPV ratings)

http://www.safercar.gov/Index2.cfm?...da&myModel=MPV&GoButton=View+specific+vehicle

InformedForLife.org combines data from multiple sources and assigns a score for various categories, then adds the score to rank vehicle safety:

http://informedforlife.org/
 

deedeesmom

New member
Wow, thanks for the info. I'm pretty confused now, though, because sometimes the different agencies have very different scores on the same thing... And it seems like everything I look up gets a low rating on the Informed for Life site. Even the Honda Odyssey for the same year has a similar score... My eyes are starting to cross!
 

scatterbunny

New member
NHTSA/safercar.gov tests cars in frontal impacts at 30mph; IIHS tests cars in frontal offset impacts at 45 mph. :) That accounts for some of the differences. Informedforlife's scores will tend to be more critical because they take into account multiple factors, not just single crash tests.
 

deedeesmom

New member
Interesting.

I did a lot of reading online last night and still couldn't find anything else that's not too big but has good reliability AND crash ratings and seats 6 comfortably.

So I went and test drove an Odyssey today, hoping it wouldn't feel all that big after all, but it felt like a bus to me. I couldn't see backward over the headrest, which might be fixable by sitting on a cushion, but I also didn't like not being able to see well back over my left shoulder. Felt pretty blind. It's great to be safe inside the vehicle, but I don't want to be a danger to others either, which is how I felt driving a big minivan I couldn't see well out of. :confused:

I found an MPV online with side curtain airbags (so they say), so we're going to go look at it today. It's an hour away -- hope it's good.
 

deedeesmom

New member
We bought a 2003 MPV today! It has side airbags. The ratings for '03 are better than '04. I hope this is a good thing.

We got the Radians in it with a lot of effort. We put them in the 2nd row. We're allowed to lean the seat back for the install and then upright to get it tight, right?
 

Defrost

Moderator - CPSTI Emeritus
We got the Radians in it with a lot of effort. We put them in the 2nd row. We're allowed to lean the seat back for the install and then upright to get it tight, right?

Congrats on the new car! :thumbsup:

Yes, it's fine to install the carseats that way.
 

deedeesmom

New member
Congrats on the new car! :thumbsup:

Yes, it's fine to install the carseats that way.

Good, thanks, Defrost!

I'm awake here at 3 a.m. wondering if this was the right thing to do, lol. I have till Tuesday night to change my mind (nice dealer). This came up suddenly -- my bad brakes became apparent right at the same time as we knew we needed a 3rd car. Father-in-law moved from overseas to live with us awhile back, and I've been driving him to and from his work. But I'm going back to work myself on Thursday so he needed a car. It was either 1) he buy an ancient beater for really cheap and I get a new ABS system for my car, or 2) I give him my car and get a newer one (we were planning to go to a minivan at some point anyway), and he'll take care of the ABS system on the car. We figured this was the better bet overall.

Ramble over but any last thoughts are welcome. I have till Tuesday to back out. :)
 
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deedeesmom

New member
I ended up returning the MPV and got an Odyssey. I tried really hard to avoid the Odyssey, but I ended up joining the crowd. :) I just didn't feel like the MPV was terribly stable, and the side air bags are nice but rolling over still wouldn't be much fun, so I decided I couldn't take any more chance than necessary. And I can see OK if I sit on my trusty cushions. :eek:
 

southpawboston

New member
Scatterbunny, thanks!

Southpaw, I typed both into the link Jenny provided, and it gave quite different results. I have no idea why.

that's because informedforlife.org can be very misleading if not used properly. i've warned others about this, but it's too easy to come away from that site with inaccurate information. the reason for the discrepency between those two years is because there is rollover data for 2003 but no data for 2004. informedforlife is not smart enough to "roll over" (pun intended!) the data from 2003 to 2004 when the two model years represent the same vehicle (and the 2003/2004 MPV are the same vehicle). so, informed for life assigned a "neutral" or "average" score for rollover risk for 2004, which hurt it's overall score. in reality, the 2003 and 2004 have the same rollover risk. i really wish informedforlife would stress this shortcoming so that people don't come away and make purchasing decisions based on incomplete data. :( for this reason, i really prefer going to the original sources of data: iihs.org and safercars.gov, rather than a potentially misleading interpretation of it from informedforlife.org.
 

deedeesmom

New member
Ah, I didn't know that. I didn't understand the disparities but I didn't take the time to examine the links further. (Going back to work tomorrow, needed transportation by then, so I was in a rush.)

Oh well. That is good to know for next time.
 

deedeesmom

New member
I do feel pretty foolish over that since I like to research everything to death, but I just didn't have time this time. Don't want to be dealing with new job + car hunting at the same time.

Anyway, all done, and I don't want to think about cars again for awhile, lol.
 

southpawboston

New member
you shouldn't feel foolish. i feel it is the website's responsibility to make painfully clear the shortcomings and caveats, since i think the average consumer is likely to come away with incomplete information. don't get me wrong, i think the concept of compiling crash test data and using an algorithm to piece it all together into an easy "score" is fantastic, i just feel it should have been implemented differently and i would have changed the algorithm a bit as well.
 

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