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Mazda 5, 2013. - New car - garcon6
Got a Mazda 5, 2013 with 43,000 miles. Boot lock/catch had water damage before Christmas, £350 to get it sorted. Now wing mirror, passenger side won’t close, makes a irritating motoring noise which I will have to get fixed. I’m sure the exhaust will need changing soon. Is it worth keeping the car as I’m spending quite a lot recently. Also it’s an ageing car, just finished paying it off.

Also got two kids, aged 7 and 8. Trade in I can get between £5500-£6000. Obviously won’t be able to afford a car outright. Next car doesn’t have to be a 7 seater.

Edited by garcon6 on 21/01/2022 at 18:07

Mazda 5, 2013. - New car - SLO76
Is it petrol or diesel?
Mazda 5, 2013. - New car - garcon6
Is it petrol or diesel?

It’s petrol
Mazda 5, 2013. - New car - SLO76
These are very robust cars with simple chain driven petrol engines. There’s little to go catastrophically wrong here. No turbo, no complex injection system, no trouble prone high tech automated manual gearbox. They’re practical and decent to drive. I’m a fan of the Mazda 5, as long as you avoid the diesels.

The faults you’ve had recently are minor issues and certainly don’t justify borrowing thousands to replace a reliable low mileage car with a good reputation for longevity. I would however avoid the main dealer for repairs if that’s what you’ve been doing as they’ll be cripplingly expensive as the car ages. A good local independent can keep one of these in good health easily enough and they’ll find ways to repair rather than replace parts unlike the money hungry main s******.

I’d keep the car and I’d save that monthly payment or at least part of it towards another car in a few years time. Now isn’t a good time to be buying with car prices at unrealistic and utterly nonsensical levels. Cars that sold for £10,000 a year and a half ago are now closer to £13/£14000. Your money would be better managed by keeping what you have and weathering the occasional age related issue. You’d be unlucky to get many with one of these anyway.
Mazda 5, 2013. - New car - Andrew-T

At 8 years old 'little' things start to happen. Unless things start to get big you have to grit your teeth and find the cheap way to fix them - or live with them if need be. But one possibility is to find replacement parts on E-bay and DiY or let your local indy fix.

A door lock on my Pug 207 started to act up a few years ago. In the end my indy got a s/h one on E-bay and sorted it for about £50 - compared with £300 for a dealer job. Still working.

Cars are expensive. You either spend little by little, or lash out £'000s all at once for a 'better' one. Your car is middle-aged, probably the cheapest kind of motoring.

Edited by Andrew-T on 22/01/2022 at 09:29

Mazda 5, 2013. - New car - thunderbird

Trade in I can get between £5500-£6000

I honestly think you are being a bit optimistic there.

I accept yours has a low miles but its coming up 9 years old and Mazda's are well known to have rust issues. Have you actually been and tried to get a trade in price or is this your guess.

Looking on the web I would not expect you car to be advertised on a forecourt for the price you are expecting and PX will be less than that.

Before you think about it any more go to some dealer and see what its going to actually cost you to change.

Mazda 5, 2013. - New car - barney100

As a general rule it's cheaper to hang on. Good Indies are the way to keep costs down. Ex, main dealer quoted around £1300 to change an interior door handle....sorry sir the bit you need isn't available separately, you need the whole door card. Local indie sources the offending bit, find and charges a £100. A bit of research and ringing around can save a fortune...if you are looking to keep your money in the bank and not the dealers profits accounts. Having said that I've blown cash on impulse purchases but learnt my lesson now.

Mazda 5, 2013. - New car - garcon6

Will keep my car, as it has been very reliable. Thank you for your advice.

Mazda 5, 2013. - New car - garcon6

Will keep my car, it's very reliable.

Mazda 5, 2013. - New car - garcon6

I will actually keep it, i generally act on impulse.