The build quality is not too bad. The car has a total of 90,000 miles and I have driven close to 40,000 of those miles with minimum repairs. The inside still looks good and has held up even with a child playing and eating in the back.

I was looking for a crossover vehicle around $15,000.00 When I found my CX-7. I love that it is big enough that if feels not like a car but also small enough to not feel like a full size SUV. I like that fact that it has a back up camera that allows me to see if anything is behind me. One thing I do not like it that it will not download my contacts from my phone (iPhone). It will only work with android. I would have to enter my contacts separately which would be time consuming. Also my satellite radio button does not allow me to connect to Sirius.

This car really chugs along. Despite being older than my other car, I find myself grabbing the key for it, even when I need to just run to the bank. The vehicle is practical, especially for those of us living up in the Midwest. I can fit in small parking spaces because of the car's size, but when I fold down the seats, I'm still able to load bags of mulch or furniture if I need to. The navigation system keeps itself up-to-date, and I can easily turn it on with the press of a button if I happen to take a wrong turn. The car is also comfortable. I often am caught driving all the way from the Twin Cities to Duluth to pick up my niece, and as soon as she gets in the back seat for the ride, she's almost always right at home. She'll inevitably fall asleep in her seat as we drive home. The seat warmers are a wonderful addition to the already high comfort level of the vehicle. Living in Minnesota, we appreciate a seat that will warm up with no trouble in those negative temperatures. I've also never had any trouble on icy roads or even in deep snow when I've driving this car. Even my mother enjoys riding in this car more than her own Mercedes Benz E-Class, and she feels safer in the Mazda when I drive her to appointments in the winter. When the car was first purchased, it almost instantly developed a small squeak when it was backing up, and we were told by the mechanics through our Mazda dealership that it was a common issue with this make. I'm not sure what they did exactly, but it's since been fixed by them after one trip for maintenance.