in the same boat as you. thinking of replacing my 2005 avanza, considering either this new Mazda Biante and the new Nissan Serena. both around the same price.

editted: you can view the car now at 1Utama

This post has been edited by jaycee: Nov 13 2013, 07:13 PM

wow, 2004 is really the very first batch. back then, the waiting period was like 6 to 10 months.

mine is auto.

you mean the 2nd row, to slide all the way back and lock in place?

there's a piece of metal placed in the floor rails. you'll see it sticking out from the floor mat. just pull it out, then the 2nd row should be able to slide all the way back. remember to fold up the 3rd row seat first.

ah, i never tried pushing the 3rd row all the way back, because i have my stroller behind 3rd row.

i'm pretty impressed by mazda. ride is pretty smooth. the 2.0l skyactiv engine is rather fuel efficient. my consumption is between 8.7 to 9.1 l/100km, which is rather good for such a heavy car. i have mixed city/highway driving, my average speed is 35km/h.

i noticed the transmissions is tuned for fuel economy, because it doesn't downshift as quickly as i expected. for example, when going uphill, when momentum is lost, the gear remains at 5th, and i need to press the downshift button to force it to go to 4th so that i can accelerate. at 5th, you can feel the engine is near stalling speed. anyway, this is not a major problem since there's the steering button to shift down.

one complaint is the headrest. the headrest lcd is installed by bermaz, and it doesn't suit the car. the position of the headrest is too rear, meaning if u rest your head on it, you'll be looking up at the ceiling. i compared it with the Japan's website, the ergonomics of mine is not nice at all.

btw, anybody know how to update the map on that stupid papago? the map is mfm map dated 2013.

hi gtb5,

my take is that you can't lock the 3rd row. in order to keep the 3rd row at the rear most position, you need to do the following:

1) remove the 2 clamps
2) fold up the 3rd row seat
3) slide 2nd row all the way to the back

the 2nd row will keep the 3rd row from sliding forward.

i believe this is by design. the 3rd row is not meant for people to sit when it's at the rear, probably is safety requirement, in case the car is rear ended, there needs to be some buffer between the back and the passengers.

This post has been edited by jaycee: Aug 8 2014, 02:54 AM

done it, thanks.

i had trouble finding the gps module, then i realized it's stated very clearly in the manual.

is there any biante users malaysia community?

hi all,

recently i popped the bonnet to have a look, and i realized the size of the battery is rather huge. from the stickers on it, the battery is not the typical car ones because of the start-stop feature.

out of curiousity, i'd like to know how much it would cost to replace it at today's price? my guess is that it wouldn't be cheap.

thanks

i was doing a search, i found this

http://carbattery.com.my/.

and this

http://www.yuasa.co.uk/

i'll ask the SC during my next service in Dec.

This post has been edited by jaycee: Nov 7 2014, 10:23 PM

Hi CammGate,

Can you share the details of this battery? Why so expensive?

Also how many KM have you reached on your car?

Thanks

owned a biante for 2 years now, good car.

my average fuel consumption is 9.35l/100km.

the good:
- spacious, 80% of the time i use as 5 seater, thus the extra leg room in row 2 really good
- comfort, ride and handling is good (obviously can't compare with sedan)
- power is ok since i'm not heavy footed (though i admit sometimes i wished i had more power just for that zoom-zoom feel)
- love the large space between front row and 2nd row (after sacrificing the 3rd row)

the bad:
- beige interior is really a pain-in-the-[ahem] especially with young kids
- the mazda malaysia headrest with LCD is LOUSY! the headrest is not standard mazda CBU so you can notice the cloth cover material is not the same as the rest of the seat. the driver and front passenger can never rest their head on it because it's not designed properly. it's because of the headrest LCD. now i know headrest LCD is a big no no for the car.
- the cabin noise intrusion in my opinion is kind of high. the road noise is quite loud inside the cabin.
- no much storage space in car
- no cruise-control
- i wish there are more options to lock the slide of the 2nd and 3rd row

conclusion:
overall nice car. the bad points above can be rectified with after-market solutions except for last 2 points, but it'll cost you time and money to get it done.

yes, daily KL jalan tun razak rush hour jam, morning and evening.

earlier on, when i was carefully light footed and run 70% on highway, i did achieve below 9.00l/100km (between 8.5 to 9.0)

other observations, there's no difference between using RON95 and RON97