Would anyone else want sliding rear doors on the v?

I personally think the Mazda 5 is really ugly, and I think the huge sliding doors have a lot to do with that. On the other hand, I think the v does a great job of having a lot of practical space, and packaging it into a fairly cool looking exterior. In fact, I think it looks even better than the liftback. Adding the huge sliding doors might change that look.

However, I don't have kids yet, so I am not concerned with loading kids in and out of the car. My opinion might change if I did.

 

Well, I think there might also be the fact the design doesn't lend well to it. When you look at the sliding doors for the Sienna, there is a bit more back space to allow for it. With the v, you might not be able to get into the car where as the Sienna may have the room and the mechanisms to allow for it better.

 

I would be a fan of sliding doors on the v especially since the doors are pretty big. They look even larger than the front doors. I also don't think that there is enough physical space behind the back door for the slider mechanism.

 

For years, I used a 1998 Mazda MPV for a work truck, because I hated sliding doors on vans. The hatch was better than regular van doors, because it opened overhead to shield me from the rain when it was up. The floor was flat, when I removed everything but the front two individual seats. The one foot wide space was open all the way to the dash. I could carry 10 ft. condiut sections flat on the floor with the hatch closed.

The doors were very handy, and all of the windows allowed a great no blind spot view of the road.

The Mazda MPV was rear wheel drive until 1998 and based on the premium 929.

Best of all, it got 23 MPG on the highway, and the ride felt like a high end car.

After 14 years, I still have the vehicle for towing my utility trailer and large hauling.

 

The rear door windows are large enough that you could put a small child through them. Do all the windows roll down if you hold the unlock button?

 

Nope, I wouldn't have bought my v if it had those.

 

I'd prefer the auto open/close rear door.

 

I'd love it if the rear window opened independently on the back door.

 

I would love this as an option! A 3yo and a 3 month old would be much easier to get in and out of the car.

Let's face it... over half the time you can't open your doors all the way, so accessibility is severely limited.

 

NO...

 

I doubt that sliding side doors would be as useful since the Prius v is relatively narrow. There seems to be plenty of space to open the doors when parked in the center of a marked parking space.

The main aspect I like about the sliding doors of our Sienna is that they (and the rear hatch) can be opened from at least 100 yards away with the remote control to allow hot air to escape from the interior on a hot day.

It would be nice if the rear hatch door on the Prius v was powered. My wife can barely reach it to pull it down to shut it and she's shrinking she gets older!

Maybe people in North America like sliding side doors more than people in other regions. Some minivans sold in North America with sliding side doors have regular doors in other markets, e.g. Honda Odyssey.

 

Toyota Estima... a 40mpg hybrid, TRUE minivan. Only available in Japan. Is this the next logical step for the prius line? I sure hope so.

There aren't any minivans left for purchase in the US after 2015 - brand new, anyway.