2004 Mazda MPV - Good Purchase?

As we search for a replacement, let's reflect back on our 2004 Mazda MPV. Was it a good purchase and would we buy another?

Best handling minivan of all time?

We purchased our 2004 Mazda MPV LX in 2007. It had 60K miles on it and we paid roughly $11K for it. That price included a three year extended warranty. The vehicle was in like-new condition except it looked like the front bumper had been through a sand storm. But you had to get up pretty close to the vehicle to notice that, you couldn't tell or see it from the driver's seat and the damage was to the paint on plastic pieces (no rust there, ever). We never bothered to even address that issue, choosing to just ignore it instead.

So we used this vehicle in every which way possible, got 80K easy driving miles out of it and in the end, it will probably be worth $500-$1K trade-in or it's off to the junker (frame rust). So we paid roughly $1.2K per year.

Maintenance was extremely reasonable and mainly consisted of oil changes. The manufacturer's recommended schedule was not followed, it was not serviced by a dealer and nothing went awry with two exceptions, one of which doesn't really count. Both of those issues are well known design flaws in this vehicle and several other Ford models; the bit one being the six ignition coils that are susceptible to water damage, causing the 3.0 V6 to run poorly. In the end, we had all of them replaced and the cost of roughly $500. The back ones are quite difficult to access. The other issue is with the 5F31J 5-speed automatic transmission; they're known to start shifting really hard and abruptly, eventually giving out entirely. Ours started to show signs of this bad behavior, so we took it to our local dealer who flashed the ECU. The problem went away but occasionally reared its ugly head it certain, rare and repeatable situations but it wasn't enough to force us to deal with it. We just giggled, apologized to the passengers and turned up the stereo. Ultimately, this was a hugely reliable car and the maintenance costs were extremely low.

Would we buy another? Possibly, if we found a super clean, low mileage 2005 or 2006 example at the right price. There are no other options available to us that are exactly this size and configuration with the possible exception of the first generation Toyota Sienna and that won't work because the newest example of one of those would be a 2002. Besides the stereo location in those is so dangerous that I consider it to be a safety hazard.

So in the end, we feel like we got a great car in the Mazda MPV and we'll miss it terribly. It was perfect for us and we'd keep it for at least another 60K if we could. Long live the MPV!

PS. Dear Mazda, you screwed up royally by cancelling the importation of the MPV. The CX-9, while a superb vehicle that's probably more than most people even need, is not even remotely a replacement. And the Mazda5, while a great idea failed on two counts; it's so significantly smaller than the MPV that the downgrade was just too drastic and even more importantly, the second seats are not easily removed (they must be unbolted). Let's not even mention the lack of power in that model.

Of course, if you'd listened to us, you'd probably be out of business. But still, you screwed up!