2017~2024 MIL just bought a CX-5 Carbon

After much convincing, MIL finally decided it was time to dump her POS Forester she bought new in 2013. Since new, it has received a new engine under warranty, 2x full exhaust replacement, all 4 wheel hubs replaced and I'm sure a few other things that I forget. All in 100k miles. I had her look at at a Rav4, but dealer was asking $4k over sticker. She went to test drive a Mazda CX-30 and CX-5 NA. They didn't have the 30, so she drove the CX-5 and liked it enough to buy it. The nicest and most expensive car she has ever bought. Hoping it turns out to be a better car than her last. If not, I'm a dead man.
 
Why do you assume that? Price or to avoid engine issues?
Because he said CX-5 NA. That usually denotes the 187hp NA engine. I didn't see any mention of turbo but it could be since he referenced it was her most expensive car.
Just curious.
 
Not turbo. She hasn't owned cars that were that much money. She wouldn't have bought the turbo anyway, since it is so expensive.
 
Why do you assume that? Price or to avoid engine issues?
Well, both engines, 2.5L NA and 2.5T, offered on the CX-5 may have diffrtent potential issues. The 2.5L NA has problematic cylinder deactivation and people can’t get its faulty water control valve replaced under warranty until July!

2019 CX-5, Coolant problem (CEL = P0126)

Good luck to OP and IMO I wouldn’t recommend the 2.5L NA with CD to a person who wants excellent engine reliability.
 
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Congrats on the new ride! Pic's?

Don't listen to the worry warts. It's an excellent vehicle with excellent reliability.
 
You sound just like me in 2018. I think my MIL’s Forrester was a 2013, and was her third Forrester. For some reason it always got poor gas mileage, always several MPG city and highway EPA estimates. She saw how well I liked my 2013 CX-5 Sport so I nudged her in the right direction.

I helped her get a great deal on a new 2018 CX-5 GT. It has a little over 40,000 miles on it and it’s doing great. I have done all of the scheduled maintenance on it. She still mentions occasionally that she misses Subaru (I don’t know why tbh, I think this CX-5 is the most reliable car she’s ever had). I’m not sure if I’ll change the transmission fluid on it for that reason. I’d hate to go through all that effort and see the car traded off shortly afterwards. Her lifestyle has changed since 2018 now that she has an RV. If the CX-5 ends up going, I’ll try to have her wait for a hybrid Ford Maverick as that would be a very suitable vehicle for towing behind an RV.
 
Congrats on the new ride! Pic's?

Don't listen to the worry warts. It's an excellent vehicle with excellent reliability.

I would say reported reliability has gotten better in recent years. Data appears to back this up. Mazda CX-5 Problems

Also, Mazda has ranked near the top of Consumer Reports brand reliability rankings for the last several years, for what it is worth.
 
Well, both engines, 2.5L NA and 2.5T, offered on the CX-5 may have diffrtent potential issues. The 2.5L NA has problematic cylinder deactivation and people can’t get its faulty water control valve replaced under warranty until July!

2019 CX-5, Coolant problem (CEL = P0126)

Good luck to OP and IMO I wouldn’t recommend the 2.5L NA with CD to a person who wants excellent engine reliability.
Meanwhile, the list of cracked cylinder head on the 2.5T keeps growing ⋯

just found Monday 2/07 that my 2018 cx-9 GT w/ 38.3K miles has a crack. Though they didn't mention about replacing the motor (they made it sound like they were just replacing the cylinder head). They did tell me it's on back order & it might not be until late April/May until they can have it ready. I left them a msg to call me after reading this & other threads to have them clarify what they are replacing.

Poll 2.5T Coolant Leak/Engine Replacement

Yes, the overall reliability looks good on Mazda for recent years, but the seriousness of engine problems such as cracked cylinder head on both engines can’t be overlooked. Especially Mazda isn’t capable of fixing the problem under warranty in the timely manner right now. Using the shortage of parts as an excuse to let customers wait for several months to get the car fixed under warranty simply isn’t the right way doing the business!
 
So, what's the total percentage of failures at now?
Only Mazda knows. But consider the significant wait time (3 ~ 6 months reported) to get the engine fixed, either replacing the cylinder head or the entire engine, and a tech working at the Mazda dealer, we can guess the number is not very small.

I made an account just to reply to this thread. I've been a tech for Mazda for over 15 years now, doing my second bad head related replacement today actually. The first time I found one was on a CX9. No complaints, was just a simple 16k service and I noticed that the oil and coolant had mixed together, opened a ticket to Mazda Canada and they sent an engine replacement. Now the problem is so common that we just replace the head and gasket. The problem seems to be from a small crack in the head near the exhaust manifold bolts. The engine will either leak coolant or oil depending on where it's located, but the leak gets worse the hotter the engine gets. Thanks to supply problems, took well over 2 months to get the parts needed to repair this CX5 I'm working on today. As far as how common this is, my dealership has done maybe 9 or 10 heads in the last year.

From the unscientific poll in the CX-9 forum (2.5T only), 32.1% reported cracked cylinder head so far.
 
Especially Mazda isn’t capable of fixing the problem under warranty in the timely manner right now. Using the shortage of parts as an excuse to let customers wait for several months to get the car fixed under warranty simply isn’t the right way doing the business!

I personally don't think it's an "excuse", its just the reality of the way things are right now, for various reasons beyond their control. If you don't think this is the right way of doing the business, I'd be interested to hear how you think this should be handled, keeping the supply issues in mind. Maybe you're aware of something I'm not.
 
I personally don't think it's an "excuse", its just the reality of the way things are right now, for various reasons beyond their control. If you don't think this is the right way of doing the business, I'd be interested to hear how you think this should be handled, keeping the supply issues in mind. Maybe you're aware of something I'm not.
It’s hard for me to believe Mazda North American Operations can’t really get water control valve gaskets and cylinder head to fix vehicles with such needs. They could collect those needed parts from venders or even pull some from assembly lines which are still building thousands of vehicles daily. It all depends on how you set up the priority to allocate and distribute the parts needed.

Worst case scenario MNAO could authorize the dealer pull the parts or even the engine from a brand new car, then install the parts back when it’s available. In fact, this’s my personal experience that my VW dealer once pulled the whole fuel injection disturber from a brand new car to replace mine when the part wasn’t immediately available.
 
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Being provided a rental wouldn’t hurt either vs being SOL for a few months. I feel the pain the poster is feeling in the other thread, but I guess rentals aren’t being provided across the board.
 
It’s hard for me to believe Mazda North American Operations can’t really get water control valve gaskets and cylinder head to fix vehicles with such needs. They could collect those needed parts from venders or even pull some from assembly lines which are still building thousands of vehicles daily. It all depends on how you set up the priority to allocate and distribute the parts needed.

Worst case scenario MNAO could authorize the dealer pull the parts or even the engine from a brand new car, then install the parts back when it’s available. In fact, this’s my personal experience that my VW dealer once pulled the whole fuel injection disturber from a brand new car to replace mine when the part wasn’t immediately available.

They would still need to get the parts shipped here, which was the reason for the 2+ month delay, as quoted in one of your earlier posts. New vehicles are being built, but how many are you seeing on the lots? I've been to one of the two dealers local to me recently, and they have 18 brand new cars and and only 12 used cars on their lot.

Good luck getting the dealer to pull parts from a perfectly good vehicle, in a time where inventory is at a low, and selling prices are at a high. Your personal experience with VW from however many years ago is very, very different from the way things are today, in this market.


Being provided a rental wouldn’t hurt either vs being SOL for a few months. I feel the pain the poster is feeling in the other thread, but I guess rentals aren’t being provided across the board.

Yeah I had to leave my car with the dealer for a few days, and they had no loaners available and no rentals to offer either. Tough times..


In any event, we don't need to turn this into a coolant leak or CD thread. @eddie1976E, if you have any questions, I'm sure the Community will be happy to help wherever we can. Your MIL's CX-5 will certainly be more reliable that the Forester she used to have. All those repairs with less than 100k on the odo is pretty wild. Why did she end up needing 4 new wheel hubs, if you don't mind me asking?
 
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