What do you do when you want a mini van, but you don't want a mini van?

You buy a microvan! The Mazda5. 

Ok, I know you are thinking about that previous post where I said I wanted a minivan. Well, the Mazda5 is really a mini minivan and it had all the things we liked about a minivan, without the downsides. I shall explain. As I mentioned in my earlier post, these were my reasons for wanting a minivan:

1. To be able to drive to the beach for vacation without having things shoved in the door pockets and under the passengers feet.

2. So that the back of my seat won't get kicked as easily

3. So it will be easier to toss the kids in with the sliding doors.

4. So we can buy and haul large items from Home Depot and Ikea.

5. So we can have guests go with us somewhere without having to take multiple cars.

We get all those met with the Mazda. 

And here are the bonus points:

1. It doesn't really look like a minivan. (Double bonus: my husband doesn't mind driving it since it is less soccer mom-ish.)

2. It is easier to drive and park. 

3. It gets much better gas mileage. 

4. It is at a much better price point than a regular minivan.

We still get a third row, sliding doors, etc. The only thing you sacrifice is less cargo space (but is still a good bit of space, if you don't plan to use your third row very often). I think it will be great for our family of four.