Exterior & Styling

The sliding doors say "minivan," but many see the Mazda5 as a wagon. Minivans tend not to set hearts aflutter, but there's one thing I appreciate about the 2010 Mazda5, and that's its styling. It's nothing special, but it's also not the redesigned 2011 Mazda5 that's due at dealerships early in 2011; Mazda has already released photos (click on the thumbnails to the right). The 2011 has a less restrained design, including the smiling grille most new Mazda models get, plus a new characteristic: wavelike accent lines in the bodyside sheet metal. On the upside, the 2011 lowers the taillights and eliminates the clear-lens-over-chrome style, which is outdated at best.

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    Rear Window Defroster
    The rear window defroster clears frost, fog, and thin ice from the rear window. The ignition must be switched ON. Press the switch to turn on the rear window defroster. The rear window defroster ...

    Installing Child-Restraint Systems
    Accident statistics reveal that a child is safer in the rear seat. The front passenger's seat is clearly the worst choice for any child under 12, and with rear-facing childrestraint systems it is ...

    Convertible Commentary
    As mentioned, our test car had the retractable-hardtop roof, and Mazda's implementation of this type of roof has a few advantages over those from other manufacturers. First of all, it's fast; it ...