Consumer Reports Reliability Ratings - 2017 Model

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2017 CX-5 GT AWD
Consumer Reports annual auto issue just landed in my mailbox. I was surprised to find the 2017 CX-5 reliability rated significantly lower than that of the 2016 CX-5. Overall, the 2017 was average and the 2016 much better than average. The 2017 was rated average for:

Climate System - blower motor, A/C compressor, condenser, evaporator, heater system, automatic climate control, refrigerant leakage, electrical failure
Noises/Leaks - squeaks or rattles, seals and/or weather stripping, air or water leaks, wind noise
Body Hardware - windows, locks and latches, tailgate, doors, mirrors, seat controls, seat belts, glass defect
In-Car Electronics - audio systems, navigation system, backup camera/sensors, communications system

whereas the 2016 was rated average only for In-Car Electronics, and better than average on everything else.

I've no complaints so far on my 2017, but can any other 2017 owners out there speculate as to what is going wrong in the categories mentioned above?
 
I personally have never taken anything CR says seriously. Surveys and statistics can be swayed so much. Every review of the 17 CX5 talked about improvements across the board yet CR goes in the opposite direction.

Makes no sense whatsoever.
 
CR acknowledges that the 2017 is "much improved". The reliability ratings are supposedly based on reader input. I can't remember any particular problems in these areas being reported here, so thought I would ask.
 
I personally have never taken anything CR says seriously. Surveys and statistics can be swayed so much. Every review of the 17 CX5 talked about improvements across the board yet CR goes in the opposite direction.

Makes no sense whatsoever.

I ignored CR on my Jeep Grand Cherokee. I was sorry. I bought my cx5 based on CR. So far I've been pleased. Sample of 2,lol
 
CR's sample size would be necessarily very small since their questionnaires circulated around this time last year. And it's questionable that the small percentage of their readership, an abnormal demographic to start with, who bothered to answer the survey are representative of the general experience.

And people who have a problem with a product are always more vocal than those who are satisfied.

Take it with a ton of salt.
 
IMO CR ratings are so much better than asking your neighbor or the dealer. I have found personally that most of what they say is true but, put most faith in the major components such as engine and drive-line. Ed
 
I can only comment on real world experience. We have 2 x 2017 CX-5s. Almost 9 months, 13,000 miles absolutely zero problems. Based on CR's recommendation we bought a $2000.00 Samsung Refrigerator. Rated #1 by CR !! Lasted 24 months with 3 warranty repairs and then when out of warranty more problems. Had to get rid of it.
 
While Consumer Reports may have some questionable new car reviews, their used car reliability ratings are still the best resource we can use, much more accurate than those from J.D. Power and such. CR's used car reliability ratings are not biased by any car manufactures as they don't accept any ads. And they received responses on over 640,000 vehicles in their latest survey which is not a small sample size at all like some of you claimed.

When we purchased our CX-5 in 2015 which is the first Mazda for me, CR's brand reliability rating on Mazda was #4 which is at all time high! Reliability on Mazda has always been the weak point for them and most friends and family have always been using this as the reason not wanting a Mazda. Unfortunately Mazda's reliability rating on Consumer Reports in the last couple of years has been going to wrong direction, where Mazda really needs to pay more attention to it and trying to reverse the trend.

It's very funny that when Mazda brand reliability on CR was #4, everybody here agreed and praised the CR. But now CR rated Mazda #12 and 2017 CX-5 only an "Average" on reliability, we then criticize CR's reliability rating which should be ignored due to many reasons. And people who have a problem with a product are always more vocal than those who are satisfied? Shouldn't this attitude be toward every brand, not just biased against Mazda? (boom02)
 
I place limited stock in "reader input". Without knowing the sample size or the actual questions asked, it is really hard to measure the accuracy of their data.

How many electronics issues were due to people not knowing how something worked? And since the Infotainment is identical to 2016, I see no way for it to go down in reliability.

I too have bought some things CR recommended that turned out to be junk. I use them as one input, but often ignore them when it comes to vague surveys.
 
The only thing I wish they were transparent on is sample size. The 2017 CX-5 likely has a very small sample size for them, so can easily be skewed by a few problems.

Definitely not the kind of press that Mazda needs though! Lots of people read these results like a magic bible.
 
I can only comment on real world experience. We have 2 x 2017 CX-5s. Almost 9 months, 13,000 miles absolutely zero problems. Based on CR's recommendation we bought a $2000.00 Samsung Refrigerator. Rated #1 by CR !! Lasted 24 months with 3 warranty repairs and then when out of warranty more problems. Had to get rid of it.
New product recommendations, including new vehicles, from Consumer Reports are based on many categories, and reliability is only part of the factors. On the other hand, CR's used car reliability ratings are conducted uniquely and independently which is more trustworthy than any other used-car reliability ratings.
 
I place limited stock in "reader input". Without knowing the sample size or the actual questions asked, it is really hard to measure the accuracy of their data.

How many electronics issues were due to people not knowing how something worked? And since the Infotainment is identical to 2016, I see no way for it to go down in reliability.

I too have bought some things CR recommended that turned out to be junk. I use them as one input, but often ignore them when it comes to vague surveys.
Sample size? Actual questions asked? Hard to measure the accuracy of the data? All these questions are answered by Consumer Reports here.

If people reported electronics issues actually were due to people not knowing how something worked, this should be reflected on every brand, not just on Mazda.

Again, new product recommendations from Consumer Reports are based on many factors, and reliability is only part of them. I don't fully trust CR's new vehicle recommendation either, but their used-car reliability ratings are still the best available resources we can find. Just name us one if you think that's better than CR's used-car reliability ratings.
 
The only thing I wish they were transparent on is sample size. The 2017 CX-5 likely has a very small sample size for them, so can easily be skewed by a few problems.

Definitely not the kind of press that Mazda needs though! Lots of people read these results like a magic bible.
If you think the sample size on 2017 CX-5 is too small, according to Consumer Reports it actually does 2017 CX-5 a favor as CR will use brand history and the reliability of similar models in calculating their reliability predictions. And 2016 and prior CX-5's have been rated "Much Better than Average".

Consumer Reports Q&A said:
How Many Samples Do You Have of Each Model?
A typical model has about 200 to 400 samples for each model year. When we have smaller sample sizes than this on vehicles, we use brand history and the reliability of similar models that may share major components in calculating our predictions. Since 2015, we use an online questionnaire exclusively instead of our previous mix of electronic and paper ballots from subscribers. That change shrank our respondent pool, but the Internet-only survey allows us to ask more in-depth questions and solicit detailed comments about problems.
 
Sample size? Actual questions asked? Hard to measure the accuracy of the data? All these questions are answered by Consumer Reports here.

If people reported electronics issues actually were due to people not knowing how something worked, this should be reflected on every brand, not just on Mazda.

Again, new product recommendations from Consumer Reports are based on many factors, and reliability is only part of them. I don't fully trust CR's new vehicle recommendation either, but their used-car reliability ratings are still the best available resources we can find. Just name us one if you think that's better than CR's used-car reliability ratings.

If you want to trust CR go ahead. I had a subscription for a couple of years, and found their recommendations didn't reflect my experiences. Unless something was a real piece of junk, their reliability ratings didn't support what i saw. I used them to compare features and that worked well. But some of their performances tests of products didn't match for me either.

So after enough data from them that never matched what I saw, I stopped subscribing.

And their explanations are still to high level - what was the number of CX-5 in the survey? Your link shows what the minimum could be, not what it was. Also, what is the demographic of users surveyed? Is it the same as the demographic for other SUVs? One group may be familiar with electronics another is not. A longer learning curve doesn't make a product unreliable.

I was only referring to new product reviews/reliability, not longer term. I will still borrow a friends copy to get a data point from CR, but if it disagrees with all other data I found elsewhere, i throw it out.
 
Sample size? Actual questions asked? Hard to measure the accuracy of the data? All these questions are answered by Consumer Reports here.

If people reported electronics issues actually were due to people not knowing how something worked, this should be reflected on every brand, not just on Mazda.

Again, new product recommendations from Consumer Reports are based on many factors, and reliability is only part of them. I don't fully trust CR's new vehicle recommendation either, but their used-car reliability ratings are still the best available resources we can find. Just name us one if you think that's better than CR's used-car reliability ratings.
If you want to trust CR go ahead. I had a subscription for a couple of years, and found their recommendations didn't reflect my experiences. Unless something was a real piece of junk, their reliability ratings didn't support what i saw. I used them to compare features and that worked well. But some of their performances tests of products didn't match for me either.

So after enough data from them that never matched what I saw, I stopped subscribing.

And their explanations are still to high level - what was the number of CX-5 in the survey? Your link shows what the minimum could be, not what it was. Also, what is the demographic of users surveyed? Is it the same as the demographic for other SUVs? One group may be familiar with electronics another is not. A longer learning curve doesn't make a product unreliable.

I was only referring to new product reviews/reliability, not longer term. I will still borrow a friends copy to get a data point from CR, but if it disagrees with all other data I found elsewhere, i throw it out.
Well we're discussing "Used Car Reliability Ratings" here, not "New Car (Product) Recommendations", don't we?

I've said several times in this thread that I don't fully trust CR's new car recommendations either.

Just don't try to confuse people these two totally different things from Consumer Reports. Again, if you think CR's reliability rating on vehicles is not good, please name us a better one.
 
Well we're discussing "Used Car Reliability Ratings" here, not "New Car (Product) Recommendations", don't we?

I've said several times in this thread that I don't fully trust CR's new car recommendations either.

Just don't try to confuse people these two totally different things from Consumer Reports. Again, if you think CR's reliability rating on vehicles is not good, please name us a better one.

Since the 2017 is still being sold at the time they published this review, I would consider it a new car rating. If they collected stats in the spring through the summer, then how can this be a used car rating of the 2017? That is what this thread is right - the rating of the 2017 model and it was a new car when the data was collected.

I am not offering an alternative. I read reviews of all car sites, visit forums like this, and talk to others. I never rely on any single source. Same is true for appliances and anything else consumer reports reviews. I have almost never had their results match mine.

I am not confusing anyone. People are free to trust whatever sources they want. I just don't trust CR as being accurate. If you do, then you can as can others. I am just sharing my experiences.
 
2017 was a refresh with new components so not all that surprised at some issues
 
Generally speaking, when a poster is quick to point out faults or deficits of a car on that cars forum you have to wonder why they bought a Mazda and why they are here? It’s not constructive at all.
 
Generally speaking, when a poster is quick to point out faults or deficits of a car on that cars forum you have to wonder why they bought a Mazda and why they are here? It’s not constructive at all.
Some of us expected more and were unfortunately disappointed after the purchase. Key word after the purchase. I for one am very disappointed with the quality, fit and finish of our CX5. Too many issues to complain about. CR reviews are reflecting what I have experienced and some. I thought the 2017’s would be an improvement, but it’s just lip stick on the same pig. Last I checked we still had some glimmer of hope that this is America and this is a forum for all opinions both positive and negative, not just fanboys who are pro consumer reports when what they like is rated number 1.
 
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