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 On the upside, the 2011 lowers the taillights and eliminates the clear-lens-over-chrome style, which is outdated at best.

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    Exterior
    The 2007 redesign was as substantial as the 1999 reworking, which did away with the pop-up headlights in favor of fixed units and a more curvaceous body. The current generation retains the fixed h ...

    Scheduled Maintenance (USA, Canada, and Puerto Rico)
    Follow Schedule 1 if the vehicle is operated mainly where none of the following conditions apply. - Repeated short-distance driving. - Driving in dusty conditions. - Driving with extended use of ...

    INTERIOR
    The inside is where some of those surprising features I mentioned earlier make themselves known. First off is the sporty red piping that lines the black seating upholstery. It comes standard in th ...