New Car: Mazda CX-5 or Hyundai Tucson

[Woodstock]

Morning all,

Shaping up for a cracking day in old Melbourne.

I took the Mrs for a spot of test driving yesterday. Ended up giving the Mazda CX-5 (2.0 mid range petrol) and Hyundai Tucson (active x) a good 20 minutes each.

Do any of you own a CX5 or Tucson and if so, what are the pros and cons.

My observations:
Mazda drives slightly livelier. Nippy, steering is just right.
Nice interior, quality.
We liked how the engine goes as good as dead while at the lights and restarts when you take your foot off the break.
Reverse camera - nice
Very clear phone calls via speaker.
Basic sound system, a bit tinny. Not impressed.
All in all, clean, fun drive, responsive. No glaring issues)
The Tucson:
It's got a much bigger boot, more leg room in the back, air vents for the back, which the cx-5 does not have.
Sound system better.
Drives very well. Takes the bumps better than the cx-5
Excellent around corners and round about.
Steering has been noted by reviewers as too light. It is noticeable, but then again, it is very very responsive and easy to steer. Takes corners with little to zero roll.
Higher car = better visibility than the cx-5
More storage than the cx-5
The navigation system was easier to use than the cx-5
One thing we could not manage, is to pair her Samsung s5 with the car. Thus we could not test the in car phone set up and quality.
The interior was not as high a quality as the cx-5
The Tucson has a great 5 years unlimited I'm warranty. The Cs-5 has 3. I also believe that Mazda servicing costs a fair whack.
Mrs Woody felt small in the Tucson, but you'd get used to it.

All in all, I could summarise it as: the heart says Mazda, the head says Tucson. We watched heaps of reviews and the concensus seems to be that the Tucson is a very viable alternative to the cx-5.

Appreciate feedback on experiences with both cars. Cheers.

Woody

[madbluboy]

The new VW Tiguan about to be released will crap on them both.

As for Mazda v Hyundai I would go Mazda every day of the week.

I have a CX 9 and my mother in law has an ix35. Her servicing costs were a little cheaper until she had to start replacing parts. Her 60k service cost $1500 because they had to replace her disc rotors because they no longer machine them. Meanwhile my brakes are fine and haven't been touched despite doing the same amount of kms.

[ElwoodBlues1]

I would prefer the Mazda.....Hyundais are like Kia's...great warranty's but worth nothing when they expire and the first major service makes a real dent in your wallet.
VW lost me when they decided to rip their customers off with their dodgy fuel claims/software patch incident....prefer a RAV4  or Forester to a Tiguan if I was going that mid SUV size..

[cookie2]

Would not buy a Euro model of any kind, especially a VW (in view of recent cheating  ).

Mazda still beats Hyundai in my book even though the latter has improved over recent times.

Give me a Toyota or Lexus any day of the week - I've owned both and have been very happy with them. All a matter of personal taste in the end I guess.

[madbluboy]

VW lost me when they decided to rip their customers off with their dodgy fuel claims/software patch incident....prefer a RAV4  or Forester to a Tiguan if I was going that mid SUV size..

Emission claims you mean, they didn't rip the customers off. If you want to take the moral high ground on that then fair enough but if you want the best SUV under 50k then the new Tiguan is better than the Forester and the CX 5. Rav 4s aren't even in the discussion.

[dodge]

I test drove the new Renault Koleos on the weekend.

Quite a nice drive (much nicer than Mazdas and Toyotas IMO) - plenty of rear leg space, whether CVT transmission is your thing or not, but accelerates well if need be.

The downside to a Renault is re-sale value

[Baggers]

Mrs Baggers and I recently did the same comparison though one notch smaller. Went with the Mazda CX-3. Nippy and fun to drive and the 2.0 ltr motor is pretty good though a little thirstier than I would have liked. Agree with you WOODMAN re sound system, okay but nothing special. Took the car to Canberra recently and it was really good, got about 6.2 ltrs per 100k but that was with 98 RON which I find more economical on long trips. Thing is that Mrs Baggers, who's only about 5'2", preferred the CX-3 as she was high enough to have good vision yet the vehicle was small enough for easy handling/parking etc.

But, to be honest, when we trade it in we'll go for the Tiguan or Skoda Yeti. I've been spoilt with turbo charged motors and really miss it in the Mazda, plus our last car (VW built) as well as being turbo charged had a far superior sound system which I like. I also prefer the finish of the European cars.

But, as the Fluffy One said though, it really does come down to personal choice.

[ElwoodBlues1]

Emission claims you mean, they didn't rip the customers off. If you want to take the moral high ground on that then fair enough but if you want the best SUV under 50k then the new Tiguan is better than the Forester and the CX 5. Rav 4s aren't even in the discussion.

If you are talking $50k then I would go a Toyota Kluger.>>>>Tiguan.....the latter cant fit my Dog in the back....

Moral high ground?......They lied and ripped customers off alright..the North American CEO said we were dishonest and there was a massive class action against them....the diesel emission systems are expensive, they take up room and VW went with a smaller system that no one else could figure how it worked. Those systems heavily affect fuel economy, and acceleration...Mercedes, BMW who run a different system etc couldnt believe the figures that VW were spouting....
The software detected when the engine was in test mode and gave false figures on the emissions.......they put that software in 11 million cars.....

Skoda are another VW venture wouldnt touch them either....

[madbluboy]

Moral high ground because they're all as bad as each other.

http://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2014-03-20...ts/5332894

and a Toureg is the VW equivalent  of the Kluger and it craps all over it.

[cookie2]

Sorry  I'm on a different motoring planet to you guys. I drive a Toyota Landcruiser Troopie atm! More of a truck I guess.As cars go, I do like Lexus models, maybe l'll go back to one when I finally retire the Troopie.