Honda V Mazda (plus slider door question)

[Tia Maria]

We need to get a 2nd hand car and we're trying to decide between:

1) a Honda Odyssey 2005 (5 door)

and

2) a Mazda MPV 2004 (5 door with twin sliders)

Has anyone had any experience of these cars, if so, how did you find them, (we have 3 kids to fit in)?

And has anyone had experience of slider doors and if so, do you prefer them to normal doors? Any downsides to them?

[Tia Maria]

Forgot to say the two models we are looking at are the same price.

[JandM]

One of our cars has slider doors on the rear, and they're great. You have plenty of room to get in or out, without having to bother about how close you're parked to another vehicle, or having a door sticking out in people's way if you're alongside a pavement.

[Tia Maria]

Thanks JandM they do look better.

Toyota Ipsum has now been thrown in as another possibility.....

[nativecolo]

I had a nissan serena which has three rows of seats and slider door. The slider ensures I'm not worrying about kids opening doors at all. Now that we have moved on, one of the seats is in the house and we use it as a sofa.

[amy71]

I'm using a 2008 Toyota Previa with slider door and absolute love it. Toyota have got this model under Signature Class which give us 5 years WOF and road side assistance.

[G-Mo]

Why price range are you looking at?

[JJG]

We chose the Ipsum and haven't regretted it. Plenty of room and I liked the fact that it is chain driven. I can get more people and luggage in the Ipsum than my dad can get in his Discovery. Sliding doors are good in tight spaces but can be difficult to close on hills.

[JandM]

Sliding doors are good in tight spaces but can be difficult to close on hills.

On our Citroen C8, you just push a button.

[vic11]

we have the Mazda MPV and love it. Went from a Toyota Cavalier to a big MPV and thought it would be like driving a bus but it wasn't. Like the slider doors so much wish the front doors had them. We haven't had it that long though so couldn't comment on mechanical side of things.