MPV Vans

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Jason G. - 18 Jul 2004 01:13 GMT

Hello,

My wife and I are torn between the Freestar by Ford and the MPV by Mazda.
Any feedback on either van would be most appreciated.

jaymel@ca.inter.net

Thanks

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D. Rogers - 18 Jul 2004 02:45 GMT

What is your intended use for the van? Will you be towing a trailer ever?
Highway driving or soccer mom use?

The MPV is going to be smaller than the Freestar and a more sporty feel when
driving.

Either way you go Bill Ford will still make a profit. LOL.

> Hello,
>
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
>
> Thanks

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chuckk - 18 Jul 2004 06:22 GMT

We have a 99 MPV with 231,000 miles. 4L 2.6 in about 1992, my wife and kids
were coming back from visiting her folks. My daughter managed to loose
control (maybe fell asleep?) jerket the wheel, and started a slide. The van
ended up on it's side in a grassy median 300 miles from home. A few days
later, I went up to the wrecking yard that had the van. The sheet metal down
the passanger side was dented, and the mirror broken off. We reinflated two
tires, added oil to the engine and tranny, used bailing wire to reposition a
broken plastic fan shroud, and drove it home.
The frame was still true, and the alignment was ok. I did have problems
with various items that should have been covered under warrenty, and were
not, since the cures via TSB came out after the warrenty expired. If you
live in an area covered by the southeast Mazda Zone office, you can expect
this sort of problem to occur.

> What is your intended use for the van? Will you be towing a trailer ever?
> Highway driving or soccer mom use?
[quoted text clipped - 13 lines]
>>
>> Thanks

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D. Rogers - 18 Jul 2004 14:36 GMT

A TSB is not the same as a recall and the dealership does not have an
obligation to repair it for free after the warranty expires. This would be
especially true of a wrecked vehicle with a quarter-million miles on it. I
think you got your money's worth out of it. :-)

<snip>

> I did have problems
> with various items that should have been covered under warrenty, and were
> not, since the cures via TSB came out after the warrenty expired. If you
> live in an area covered by the southeast Mazda Zone office, you can expect
> this sort of problem to occur.

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chuckk - 20 Jul 2004 23:51 GMT

Actually, the symptoms occurred before the warrenty ran out. The problem was
that the dealer and the factory rep denied knowledge of a repair process,
and in most cases claimed "that's normal". I have the same problem with a 99
Miata --leather seat wear and soft top problems that were later the subject
of TSBs.
The MPV is an 89 not a 99 as I mistyped. The L4 was a good engine. The early
V6 engines and auto trannys were not. The L4 used an auto tranny that was
built for commercial use, and was quite different than the electrically
operated tranny on the V6.

>A TSB is not the same as a recall and the dealership does not have an
> obligation to repair it for free after the warranty expires. This would
[quoted text clipped - 10 lines]
>> expect
>> this sort of problem to occur.

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Grant Edwards - 18 Jul 2004 06:23 GMT

> My wife and I are torn between the Freestar by Ford and the MPV by Mazda.
> Any feedback on either van would be most appreciated.

Mazda claims the MPV has the soul of a sports car. If that's true, then the
poor things must be depressed to the point of being suicidal. I'd avoid
them -- you never know when one is going to decide to swerve into an
oncoming cement truck in an attempt to end it miserable existance as a van
in hopes of being reincarnated as an MX-5 or RX-8.

A minivan with the soul of a minivan is bound to be a much happier and more
well-behaved vehicle.

Signature

Grant Edwards grante Yow! Why was I BORN?
at
visi.com

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pws - 18 Jul 2004 15:13 GMT

> Mazda claims the MPV has the soul of a sports car. If that's true, then the
> poor things must be depressed to the point of being suicidal. I'd avoid
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
> A minivan with the soul of a minivan is bound to be a much happier and more
> well-behaved vehicle.

The "soul of a sports car" ad campaign, along with that "Zoom-Zoom"
song is the worst marketing that is being done by any auto maker, imho.

If a purpose-confused van tries to swerve into my cement truck, I will
easily steer out of the way. I had a "sports car soul" installed in the
truck last week, and the thing handles like a dream now. I salvaged the
sports car soul from a Mazda Tribute that had rolled over.
All I need now is a couple of "zoom-zoom" stickers and my cement truck
will keep up with the miata and the RX-8 on any track in the world. :-)

Pat
'96M

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Grant Edwards - 18 Jul 2004 15:54 GMT

> If a purpose-confused van tries to swerve into my cement truck, I will
> easily steer out of the way. I had a "sports car soul" installed in the
> truck last week,

Cool, I bet that works better than a dozen Type-R decals!

Signature

Grant Edwards grante Yow! BEEP-BEEP!! I'm a
at '49 STUDEBAKER!!
visi.com

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DanO - 22 Jul 2004 03:40 GMT

Get an Odyssey instead of either of them and you'll be happy.

> Hello,
>
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
>
> Thanks

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