u/Relevant-Energy-7482

Recently purchased a 2014 Mazda5 sport with only 45k miles, about 2 weeks ago. I brought it to a mechanic for a prepurchase inspection before buying, in which they said there were no issues. I purchased out of my home state and drove back with no issues. A few days back, I started hearing a rattling sound from the front of the vehicle. To me it sounds wheel/suspension based (no expert by any means but I know a little), or maybe some plastic trim under the car was knocked loose. I have tried recording it but the audio isn't great, but can post if it might be helpful. It is way more noticeable at low speeds. likely do to road noise at higher speeds. It occurs when driving over uneven/bumpy road and seems to be focused on the driver side. But it's not as loud going over a speed bump as say driving over a rock. It's really strange and I've never experienced a sound like it. Kinda sounds like metal clanking. Can happen while accelerating, coasting and braking. No real other information to narrow it down at all

I needed to get a state inspection to register my vehicle in my state, so I asked if they would look at the noise as well. I left the car at the shop Friday and the mechanic said the noise is definitely not normal, but everything looked fine and even mentioned "Not sure where you got this thing but it's very clean." then mentioned that the only thing he could think of is the sway bar links didn't look bad, but looked cheap/unoriginal, but no guarantees that that is the issue. I left it as is for now, had to bring it back to the shop today after swapping a license plate light I didn't know was out so I could pass my inspection. Replacing the sway bar links was cheap enough (eh, moreso just wanted my "new car" to be clank/rattle free) so I just let them replace them in hopes it would solve my issue but it did not. He then mentioned that him and all of the mechanics at the shop also looked at the car and were unable to find anything wrong with the car at all. Worth mentioning this is not my regular mechanic, but a close by one that did state inspections that I thought I was bringing an easy problem to.

Before I go trying to bring this to my regular mechanic or anywhere else, is there any common issues I should know about? I did my due diligence research before buying the car but didn't see anything like this and I really hoped getting the prepurchase inspection would save me from dealing with things like this so soon into ownership. I'm enjoying the car but this is really driving me crazy

I'm getting to the point of seeing if I fold the third row seats back up will solve the problem or if I perhaps put something in the glove box that's rattling, something stupid like that. But I am hesitant to bring to another mechanic if they may not find any issues as well and just try something they think might work. Hoping the fine people of this sub might have further insight

EDIT: Including the video with best sound I could get

EDIT PT2: I went under the hood to check some of the things mentioned in the replies. Embarrassingly enough, I discovered the cover to the battery housing lost a clip and it was basically completely dislodged, definitely enough to rattle around while hitting some uneven ground. Should've looked under the hood before posting, but it JUST got back from the mechanic so I assumed they would've noticed it was loose. But sounds like they mostly had it on the lift looking at the suspension. Not saying it's definitely the culprit, trying to secure it as best as I can with a broken clip and give a test drive. Wasn't able to fully seat it in the work parking lot before driving home. Is there supposed to be a large gap in the side of the battery cover for airflow from one of the vents? If not, I'd say the bottom of the battery shroud is broken and there's potentially plastic sitting in the bottom of the engine bay somewhere which could also be the issue.

Will report back. Thanks for all the replies. Still checking the things mentioned to the best of my abilities, but at the moment kinda suspecting the battery housing

EDIT PT3: Secured battery housing as best as I could. No improvement at all so ruling that out. Editing post on mobile removed video so adding it as a reply

I posted on r/whatcarshouldibuy and someone recommended a Mazda5. I do not need a minivan but wanted something reliable with decent MPG and has the capability to haul a lot of cargo. Mazda5 seemed to check all those boxes and I found a 2014 Sport with 45k miles and a good service history for a good price. It's out of state so I put a deposit on it for them to hold it for me and as long as when I test drive and checks out at the mechanic during a pre purchase inspection I'm gunna buy. I have looked into this car pretty extensively but haven't been able to find all my answers. Had a few questions before though:

- For long cargo, I feel like most of my need will be met with the 2nd and 3rd row down and longer items going up between the driver and passenger seat when needed. But seeing the back seats fold flat got me thinking, it is possible to swap in a 2nd row seat as the passenger seat? Figured they'd have different mounting hardware buy might be possible. Not sure if there's any safety risks in that though.

- How small really is the third row? I know it's small but I haven't really seen a video with the 2nd row adjusted to normal leg room for the 2nd row and then showing the space in the 3rd row. I don't often have more than 3 passengers so it's not a huge concern but would be nice to know how many adults I can realistically fit

- Has anybody found protective rubber/plastic covers/guards that adhere to the back of the 2nd row? For fabric protection when having the second row folded down?

- In terms of QoL upgrades, I would plan to install a CarPlay head unit as well as a backup camera. And changing the interior lights for LEDs.Any others that you'd consider "needed"? admittedly I've seen this asked a few times but who knows maybe there's something new

- For installing a backup camera, I'm interested in seeing if anyone has installed one at the bottom of the 3rd brake light housing and if they could post a picture of the field of view from that?

- More of a dumb one but has anyone swapped the LEDs that illuminate the red screens in the dash cluster and the one in the middle of the dash board? I've done full LED swaps of cluster LEDs on previous vehicles and it has worked fine, but sometimes those screens are just tinted a color as well as the LED color. Not really an issue just a curiosity

TIA, looking forward to joining the club!

Recently had to send my ‘08 Chevy Colorado to the big highway in the sky. Now looking for my next vehicle and could use some input. In general I love trucks and SUVs. I don’t typically need the utility of them but I do do some woodworking and occasional furniture restoration so there are times where I need to fit longer pieces of wood or like a coffee table. Other than that my main cargo needs are weekly hockey games which isn’t a huge amount of space but fitting hockey sticks into a smaller car or non hatchback is generally a pain or annoying at the least. I also don’t really like being low to the ground in cars which is why I gravitate to trucks/suvs as well. And lastly I do like being a little unique/quirky. Not saying I need to completely stand out but for example I do know like 4 people who have the same civic hatchback and I’d like to not join the same club; just like something that’s somewhat unique/quirky in some way

I do live in a city and street park my car or else I’d probably go for the newer Honda hrv. Checks all my boxes except for the uniqueness but the “magic seats” make up for that. Paying over 30k for a car to leave in the street where anything can happen to it isn’t something I wanna do

Since I am trying to keep the budget low I have tried to expand the search with some hatchbacks and wagons as well. I have kinda got it down to this is generally where I’m looking. Main factor being reliability and cargo space, followed by fuel efficiency if possible:

- Honda Element. Seats folding up into a cargo van is pretty sick. K20/K24 engine is a plus. Extremely hard to find that are currently not rusted out, have been taken good care of and are not like $15k

- Honda CRV. Mainly 1st or 2nd gen, 3rd gen starts to be falling into the category of you see one all the time

- Honda Fit. I actually don't find these very attractive and I think they'd be too small for my taste but I know it checks all my boxes utility wise so I have to consider it at least

- Toyota Matrix. Seats folding flat including the passenger seat is big for cargo. Would try to stick to the 1.8l engines, due to more oil consumption issues on the 2.4l from what I've seen?

- Toyota Rav 4. Mainly 1st or 2nd gen, 3rd gen also starts to be way too common. I also just prefer the looks of the 1st and second gen

- Nissan Xterra. 2010+. Have seen good things about these getting to high mileage if you get the years after they fixed the SMOD issues. But obviously this is a full size SUV and guzzles gas so it's not very high on the list but I do love the looks of these

-Miscellaneous wagons, Subaru outback for example. Get worried about reliability with these knowing there's head gasket issues

- Heard good things about Mazdas, but don't know much about their older SUVs/wagons that would fall into my price range

Any other suggestions? Or words of caution about any of these? I am slightly concerned reading about oil consumption issues on older Toyotas and don't really know how much of an issue it is. But constantly topping off with oil sounds annoying. I'd love to be informed about some other hidden gem quirky car like the element or the matrix. TIA