Buy it or should I run away? 2016 Mazda CX-5 Sport AWD 2.5L 142k miles, List price 8k.

Need a another car and I'm considering some used Mazda CX-5's. My budget is about 8k and I found a 2016 Mazda CX-5 Sport AWD 2.5L with 142k miles for exactly 8K at a dealership. CarFax has 2 accidents reported. the most recent was only 'minor' damage to the center rear and the first was just reported as damage to the left rear but 'drivable'. No frame damage. Other than that the car only had 1 prior owner. I live in a commuter area where people can drive up to 100 miles (round trip) a day to get to a major metropolitan area, which leads me to suspect that the mileage is mostly highway but no way of being certain of that.

Using KBB and other pricing tools, seems like this is a pretty good deal for a dealership and I'll try to get them to knock off a little more. I keep bouncing back and forth if I should pursue this or not. I can get older CX-5's with slightly less miles for about the same but over 100k in miles does an extra 20-30k make much of a difference in performance/reliability? I could also go with other known reliable make/models that are AWD but then I'll be looking at a cars about 9-11 years old with just under 100k on it (I'm using http://www.dashboard-light.com/ as my primary source for engine/transmission reliability, if you have any other good resources let me know).

Note: I may drop the AWD requirement and just get a Honda Accord or something, I've had pretty bad experiences in the snow with my current FWD and the security of an AWD would be ideal.

This long story was to mostly vent my frustrations of used car shopping and to get honest feedback as to what you guys would do with an 8k budget? What are some known problems with the CX-5 that I should know about and that could pop up at any moment given the mileage? Maybe calming words to reassure that I'm not insane to be spending 8k (hopefully a bit less) on this car? I wanna be confident if I go to the dealership but my confidence level on this vehicle keeps bouncing up and down. Currently pretty low, was previously high until i read something negative about this car hahah .
 
The fact that single owner drove it for so long makes the prior accidents seem less scary.
At 142K miles your main concerns should be the belts and transmission. Belts have worn out for few members in the 150s and 160s K miles.
It really depends on whether someone towed with it and usage history. with such high miles towing is ruled out and you should be good.

Other issues with CX5 that were reported for first Gen were windshield - inspect it to see if there are cracks etc. rear hatch had a few recalls - so open that, sport trim had a recall on driver seat sliding down in height on its own - so move the front seats and check.

For highway + AWD this should be a good solid vehicle specially if the speed is 55-65 mph. 30 mpg with a full synthetic all day long. Good luck.
 
I mean 8k doesn't seem like a bad deal. Extra $ for mods and ecu tune imo. 5w30 synthetic and of you cant find transfer case/rear diff service history then those should be changed
 
Point out the accidents, the mileage and things that the car will need and offer 4K. If the dealership took the car as a trade in you can be sure they did not pay the owner much. It sounds like it would be a pretty good car for 4K.
 
Biggest thing is to check fluids. Pop open oil cap and see if there’s sludge/buildup. Check tranny fluid and be sure it fairly clean and doesn’t smell burnt. If possible so the same for diff/transfer case. If all of these check out, it’s indicative of proper maintenance with quality oils and I’d say go for it. High miles for the model year usually indicates an easy highway life, which may be better than a low mile city car.
 
I wouldn't. Bad carfax, a lot of miles, no AEB for $8k. I looked at used 2011 vintage RXs with clean titles - a similar story, only closer to the $15k mark. You have to keep in mind what your vehicle will be worth when you sell it - you might pay less, but have a vehicle worth less as well. Personally, I'd up the budget and get a newer and cleaner CX. I'd also consider used RX 330s or 350s if you're set on used. There are a ton of them, reliable, and a lot of them are well taken care of. The new ones are beyond my budget, though.

Personally, I like leasing with 15k/year because I have to lay out a minimal amount of money and have a payment of 335/month, and have a warranty, new safety and in-car features, and 0% APR, vs financing 15k at a higher APR for a used car that's going to have issues and failures at higher miles and that will steadily decline in value.

AWD is also a must have, I will never purchase a FWD vehicle ever again, as they are truly worthless in the snow.
 
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If you're going to spend 8k put it toward something with less miles.That's not a great deal.JMO
 
Imo people worry far too much about accidents. My Volvo has been in 3 incidents. 3. I say incidents because one was my wife scraped part of the fender on our brick house. We are keeping it forever but I wouldn't discount it one cent because of the accidents.
 
There's plenty of good and bad about any car if you look hard enough.

Are winter tires an option? A cheap Accord with winter tires will handle snow much better than an AWD CX-5 with all-season tires.

IMO accidents do matter, even minor fender benders. The OEM paint will always be better than paint applied by even the best body shop. In many cases, the paint laid down by the body shop is perfectly adequate and matches just fine, but it is softer and will scratch more easily than the OEM paint/clearcoat.
 
Point out the accidents, the mileage and things that the car will need and offer 4K. If the dealership took the car as a trade in you can be sure they did not pay the owner much. It sounds like it would be a pretty good car for 4K.
Agreed. $8K for a vehicle with that many miles is not a reasonable price to pay. $4K is doable.
 
So just for grins, have you gone on Carmax (or any other car site) and searched within your area within that $5k-$8k range to see what your options are? At least it will give you an objectively quantified frame of reference.
 
Good luck finding a cx-5 for "4k" unless you are able to buy dealer auction and get one in need of tlc. The cheapest CX-5s on autotrader are like 6k and those are FWD, 2.0L 2013's. 8k isn't a bad price for that particular vehicle with AWD. And you don't get all the problematic features (continue to be problematic) that have been on the top end models since the 2016 model. CX-5s just aren't $5000 cars yet, even the old low end models. People care too much about mileage or accidents because they are roped into the continual lease/car payment scheme (and thus resale value). High mileage isn't a problem when maintenance is good. I also agree about accidents. I've had plenty of topical incidents which resulted in a replacement bumper cover or replaced/repaired panel and no damage to the chassis. OEM paint isn't anything special.. it's just as susceptible to a rock chip as the next. You can pay more for a clean history and then get a fender bender in a month lol.
 
If you like being able to sell your car quickly and for top dollar, a clean Carfax will be important. You may not care about previous damage, justifiably, but a majority of the buying pool does. I like to be able to have flexibility. I prefer leasing because I'd rather not pay interest (which will add up after 48-60 months) and I don't have 30,000 dollars laying around. A lot of it depends on how much cash you feel comfortable with laying out. In about 3 years I can decide to keep the car or get something new, I don't want to feel tied to my car because I'm financing it for 5 years. Yes, at the end of the 5 years you own a car, but how much cash did you lay out in total and how much will it be worth after 5 years.

Nothing wrong with either strategy, those are just my thoughts as someone who has also considered a cheaper vehicle with higher miles. I feel Carplay (digital lossless audio and integrated Google Maps) and modern AEB features are worth paying a little extra for. The system can save you from getting into an accident with another vehicle or pedestrian, or reduce the impact. See 1:56 here.

 
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I just went on Carmax and did a nationwide search on CX-5s.
They have (274) on hand (this includes new).

The cheapest (3) are $12k:

-2013 CX-5 Touring 2WD @104,000 miles
-2013 CX-5 Touring 2WD @ 119,000 miles
-2014 CX-5 Touring 2WD @ 117,000 miles (2.5L)

Members here with long-term Mazda experience might be able to tell you how to adjust the above prices down for the extra miles on your 2016 and up for its improved features.

The highest mileage 2016 they show has 81,000 miles on it, and it's a Grand Touring ($18k). The highest mileage 2016 Sport they show has 61,000 miles on it ($16k). So there's no real equivalent there.

You can see that the mileage on that car is way higher than anything Carmax has on its lot anywhere, especially that model year. The dealer's gotta know that he's gonna have a hard time getting rid of it. Offer him $5k if he throws in a warranty of some kind as your starting point and see what he says. You can always walk away.
 
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142K for 8K is spot on. 4K buys nothing nowadays - understand that this is 2016 model year car, if it was 2012 I would have said 8K is too much. So the suspension and transmission are not getting hammered in city driving or towing. 8K is pretty nice for a CUV. Only others that you can reasonably find in this price and mileage would be the Ford / Kia / Hyundai / Mitsu / Suzuki and you don't want any of those.
 
I would say that $8K sounds good. 142K miles on a 2016 means it's all highway miles so the engine should have plenty more in it. The only things to watch for are wear items - brakes/fluids/shocks etc
 
So perhaps a negotiating point might be to have the dealer replace the transmission fluid, the differential fluid, the brake fluid (and whatever else others here think would be appropriate). That should be minimal cost to the dealer (nearly all labor and less than $100 in parts), and might ease your mind.
 
Uh... maybe you're not familiar with Mazda's paint 'quality'? :D

Familiar enough. I have my share of rock chips on the unprotected portions of the hood/fenders, and I've also had to get both rear quarter panels repainted due to two separate hit and run incidents. The paint is as soft as the paint on my 2008 IS250, but I don't know how fair of a comparison that is given the 10 year difference. The repainted panels say a lot, though. The paint applied by the body shop swirls much, much easier than it does on the OEM paint - thus it is not as durable as the OEM paint. If you're interested, I can snap a quick photo of the OEM paint on the door vs. the repainted fender.

This doesn't even factor in things like colour-matching, orange peel, paint depth..
 
(That was more of a joke because of the constant complaints and questions about it). My paint does, indeed, look like s*** though. So I am starting to believe it ain't so great.

You're a mod now? When did that happen? Congrats!
 
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