Who here has thought of trading in their CX-5?

Went from a 2019 Civic Si to a 2021 CX 5 Sig because I was wanting something more "usable" and more of a carefree driver.
After a year and a half or so' I find myself quite bored with the CX.
I don't really use any of the tech in the car, and it is not really as fun as I had hoped when driving back roads.
And my main gripes , which are the same as the SI, is that the stereo is meh, and it sucks to drive with the windows down or the sunroof open.
Too much wind noise.
Used to love going for late night drives through the country with every thing open and the stereo blasting with my older cars, but not these new ones.
Thinking of a WRX or BRZ with a manual now.
 
I miss my old SUV (2013 LX 570 - but don't miss the payment or gas mileage), but I've been overall pretty happy with the CX. I think it's the best in the segment at the 30K mark. At 40K there's a lot more competition, but it still competes well.

The usability of an SUV outweighs that of a sedan. I use the folding seats and cargo area all the time, and you won't be towing anything with a Civic or WRX.

All cars have compromises. The WRX or BRZ will have a smaller, noisier interior and less usability.

As far as being "bored", I get that and that is where upgrades will help. I upgraded the wheels and tires on my CX and it's one of my favorite upgrades. Have also done other upgrades throughout the interior to make the vehicle my own.
 
I'll sell my CX-5 when it starts burning oil at 300,000 miles.
Until then, she's all mine!

As far as the crappy stereo, you realize that's a super easy fix, right? Some high quality speakers and a nice amp and you're in business. We're talking under $1,000 give or take depending on your component choices, even if you have a professional shop do the installation. $1000 is way less money than $45,000 for a new car.
 
Went from a 2019 Civic Si to a 2021 CX 5 Sig because I was wanting something more "usable" and more of a carefree driver.
After a year and a half or so' I find myself quite bored with the CX.
I don't really use any of the tech in the car, and it is not really as fun as I had hoped when driving back roads.
And my main gripes , which are the same as the SI, is that the stereo is meh, and it sucks to drive with the windows down or the sunroof open.
Too much wind noise.
Used to love going for late night drives through the country with every thing open and the stereo blasting with my older cars, but not these new ones.
Thinking of a WRX or BRZ with a manual now.
Using an MX-5 for those open-air situations is working for me. As to trading in, my CX-5 went into service August 2012. I have a deposit on a Lexus NX 450 h+ and hope to take delivery some time in 2024.
Brian
 
OP, sounds like you bought the wrong vehicle for your needs. Life's too short to drive something you don't like. It's just too bad you had to buy it to figure it out.
Totally agree. My experience with the CX5 from 2016 is the exact opposite. It's quick enough, the stereo is excellent, I love all my windows down... what car have I been missing that is QUIET with the windows down? :D
I do occasionally think of trading it in for the Volvo I've always wanted.. but I still enjoy it and it's paid off and has had ZERO troubles. *knock kncok*
 
I can't complain with mine, is quiet, soft ride and luxury enough for me.
I have my fun car, a modified Cobalt SS for speed and non soft rides 😆
For me, it was either a hatchback or small SUV. Was coming from a 07 Focus hatchback, which was really useful and served me well.
 
Before trading in my CX-5, I'm waiting for the "perfect" compact AWD EV SUV...Existing models all have their pros and cons. Perhaps the more affordable 2024 Chevrolet Equinox EV coming in about a year? So far, the VW ID4 and Hyundai Ioniq 5 seem the most interesting for me but it's still a lot of money for someone who doesn't drive much anymore!
 
>Chevy

Don't forget that GM was bankrupt just 10 years ago, due entirely to the "quality" of the product they were putting out.

Personally, I love the idea of an EV, but the infrastructure and technology simply isn't there to make them practical at this time. What I mean by that is, if I'm low on gas, I can tank up in 5 minutes pretty much everywhere in the nation. When you have an EV, you are required to carefully plan your route to find chargers, and then when you do stop for a charge, it ain't 5 minutes like it is with a regular car, it's more like half an hour to 45 minutes.

Yeah, no.
 
5 years with my 2016, still loving it. I have to admit, this brand has been more troublesome than anything else I've owned, but I look forward to the drive home from work on the winding back roads. It's a relaxing treat for me. It's a fantastic winter weather vehicle with AWD and winter tires, it's basically unstoppable. I've driven my 27 mile drive home through quite a few bad snowstorms with confidence.
 
Don't forget that GM was bankrupt just 10 years ago, due entirely to the "quality" of the product they were putting out.
GM was bailed out in 2009. By 2011 they were selling more units than Toyota globally. Whatever one might think about GM quality, that wasn't the problem.

The problem was a high debt load (renegotiated in Chapter 11), very high cost benefits and pensions, bad product mix for a financial crisis with no popular value priced or fuel efficient vehicles, redundant Pontiac and flagging sales at Saturn, both of which were killed. That all piled up into an unsustainable cash flow deficit.

If memory serves, going into the crisis the average hourly worker's pay + value of benefits was $75/hr. After renegotiations it was $48/hr. Hourly wages were not much different than at the Japanese plants in the US, but the benefits and pensions were killers. The Feds forced upon GM restructuring of executive compensation as well.

Ford avoided the same fate by the very timely move to take out a very large line of credit in 2007 before the crisis hit. I don't think their quality was any better than GM, probably worse.
 
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Went from a 2019 Civic Si to a 2021 CX 5 Sig because I was wanting something more "usable" and more of a carefree driver.
After a year and a half or so' I find myself quite bored with the CX.
I don't really use any of the tech in the car, and it is not really as fun as I had hoped when driving back roads.
And my main gripes , which are the same as the SI, is that the stereo is meh, and it sucks to drive with the windows down or the sunroof open.
Too much wind noise.
Used to love going for late night drives through the country with every thing open and the stereo blasting with my older cars, but not these new ones.
Thinking of a WRX or BRZ with a manual now.

Eh, don't depress me! I have a '23 ("Preferred" trim) on order, will get it the end of the month. I'm trading in my '17 Tacoma, and not sure I'm doing the right thing or not -- I've had pickups since 1975 and fear I'm going to miss it. We will see.

But the CX-5 is just to get me from point "A" to point "B," as my truck was. For open air, acceleration, doing the curves, I have an '07 Corvette. That totally spoiled me with Climate Control; I wasn't really sure what it was exactly before buying it, but being spoiled by it I had to have that on the CX, and with that comes the moonroof and other do-dads. Stereo? -- I don't care, I listen to talk radio nearly all the time anyway.

What I am concerned about is the S-AAA-F-E-TY nannies and cylinder deactivation, none of which I've experienced before and I fret about them really annoying me. Plus, a more complicated system means there are more things to potentially go wrong.

I absolutely need 4- or AWD where I live, and I will be curious to see how the CX stacks up against 4WD pickups I've had. A couple I know, who've had Subarus forever, said they are the best. The Mazda salesman said Soobs are 4-wheel all the time, the Mazda is only 4-wheel when it senses slipping. Any opinions on one vs. the other as far as plowing through snow?
 
GM was bailed out in 2009. By 2011 they were selling more units than Toyota globally. Whatever one might think about GM quality, that wasn't the problem.

The problem was a high debt load (renegotiated in Chapter 11), very high cost benefits and pensions, bad product mix for a financial crisis with no popular value priced or fuel efficient vehicles, redundant Pontiac and flagging sales at Saturn, both of which were killed. That all piled up into an unsustainable cash flow deficit.

If memory serves, going into the crisis the average hourly worker's pay + value of benefits was $75/hr. After renegotiations it was $48/hr. Hourly wages were not much different than at the Japanese plants in the US, but the benefits and pensions were killers. The Feds forced upon GM restructuring of executive compensation as well.

Ford avoided the same fate by the very timely move to take out a very large line of credit in 2007 before the crisis hit. I don't think their quality was any better than GM, probably worse.
Not just union worker pay but the CEOs and top exec pay too, guaranteed salaries , cashouts stock options, gold parachutes, etc.

One thing Japanese firm do well is plan for long term. Both the workers and executives are paid well but not outrageous like American firms.

Unions are a necessary evil to protect workers from bad work conditions, discrimination, non discriminatory bias and prejudices, etc., etc. But the collective wages sometime hamper free enterprise versus non American companies.

Meanwhile top execs bleed the company as well.

So companies losing cash on both ends... Bleeding at top and bottom. All combine for a non solvent company when trying to compete with for instance a Japanese firm where the CEO only earns 7 to 11 times the avg workers salary versus American payouts of 300 times the avg salary. And that's 300 times a high paying union salary.
 
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>Chevy

Don't forget that GM was bankrupt just 10 years ago, due entirely to the "quality" of the product they were putting out.

Personally, I love the idea of an EV, but the infrastructure and technology simply isn't there to make them practical at this time. What I mean by that is, if I'm low on gas, I can tank up in 5 minutes pretty much everywhere in the nation. When you have an EV, you are required to carefully plan your route to find chargers, and then when you do stop for a charge, it ain't 5 minutes like it is with a regular car, it's more like half an hour to 45 minutes.

Yeah, no.
Yep just imagine. Get up in morning. You're late for work. Drive a few miles down road. The EVs out of charge. Pull off, plug in, call boss. Boss, sir... I'll be an hour late.

Hopefully things don't push full EV as it would be nice to see the perfect hybrid gas EV.
 
Yep just imagine. Get up in morning. You're late for work. Drive a few miles down road. The EVs out of charge. Pull off, plug in, call boss. Boss, sir... I'll be an hour late.

Hopefully things don't push full EV as it would be nice to see the perfect hybrid gas EV.
It shouldn't be that much of an issue for commuting vehicle. Even just a standard 120V outlet hooked up overnight should get you plenty of juice to get back and forth on a typical commute. I'm reading 12-14 hours to a full charge is typical. You'd just have to get in the habit. Then there's the 240v charger and whatever electrical work is involved and you'll charge faster but at some considerable cost.

That's assuming you have a garage, and a 120v outlet within reach for the low cost approach. Street, condo lot or even driveway parking creates obvious issues. Otherwise, it's the road trip that causes issues--finding a charger and waiting to juice up. And what if all of the charging stations are occupied (or broken down which seems to be happening more often)?

Hyundai (among others I imagine) is working on a solar panel for the roof of their vehicles. I'll be curious to see what additional range that might provide and what it looks like. Covered in snow? Probably no so much.
 
Not just union worker pay but the CEOs and top exec pay too, guaranteed salaries , cashouts stock options, gold parachutes, etc.
I mentioned executive compensation at GM was restructured as part of the bailout--more performance-based stock options, less salary and cash bonuses. However, a lot has changed in 13 years and now we have this:


A lot of games get played with the terms of those incentive stock options. Once the Feds sold off their GM stock in 2013 and GM made their final payments against the bailout loans in 2019, it would have been back to business as usual. And you can bet your bottom dollar she has a very juicy golden parachute.

Believe me, I'm no defender of what executive compensation packages have become over the last 4 decades. On the other hand, $75 an hour in pay / benefits / pension value for line work was also not defensible.
 
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Went from a 2019 Civic Si to a 2021 CX 5 Sig because I was wanting something more "usable" and more of a carefree driver.
After a year and a half or so' I find myself quite bored with the CX.
I don't really use any of the tech in the car, and it is not really as fun as I had hoped when driving back roads.
And my main gripes , which are the same as the SI, is that the stereo is meh, and it sucks to drive with the windows down or the sunroof open.
Too much wind noise.
Used to love going for late night drives through the country with every thing open and the stereo blasting with my older cars, but not these new ones.
Thinking of a WRX or BRZ with a manual now.
OP, i haven't driven one, but something like an acura rdx might work better for you, based on what i remember reading/seeing/hearing about them. might also be more similar in layout to the Si being a Honda product.
 
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