Wow! CX-5 Short Break Pad Life!

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2020 CX-5 Signature Azul Metalico
I brought my 2020 CX-5 Signature purchased in August of last year in for it's 15,000 kilometer service today. I actually noticed at stop lights on the way to the garage that the break pedal slowly descended as I waited for a green light. The upshot is they said the break pads front and rear had to be replaced. For you Northerners we're talking about 9,300 miles. I'm astounded. I will grant that I descend 13 kilometers of mountain road daily and that emergency breaking here in Colombia in the cities is probably more frequent but holy moly! My car before this was a Renault Duster 4x4 and it got well over 30,000 kilometers out of the front brake pads on the same drive. Has anyone else experienced short brake pad life on their CX-5? Also parts price for four pads about $272.00 US. How does that compare with US Mazda prices?
 
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I have mentioned this before regarding my 2017 6 GT.
Dealers (two different ones) both said I need new rear rotors and pads, and I only have 12,000 miles on this thing.
Unlike you, I live in the suburbs, am retired, and don't have any hills or mountains around here.
I have owned cars for over 50 years, and have never experienced this type of early brake replacement requirement.
I too am seriously disappointed in the brakes on this car, and Mazda's subsequent "tough s*** buddy" attitude.
 
may be its the new sales trick like the cabin filter or tires ...

now seriously, to the op
did you see the pads? I think you can probably look through the wheel holes on yours.
 
They showed them to me and they were indeed worn down. I will add that on the vehicle I owned before the Renault, a Nissan 4x4 front pickup pads were replaced at 40,000 kilometers...same daily drive.
 
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On my 2014, I should have changed for the first time, my rear pads at 62000 miles(!), but I have decided to change to aftermarket discs(slotted/drilled), so I have replaced all of them.
 
I changed my rear pads a bit early but judging from the amount of material remaining they looked like lasting to at least 45,000 miles.And 95% of my driving is around town (not heavy city but lots of stop lights and signs).
 
What edmaz said.

Maybe when you guys had your cars in for service, the dealer saw the"overstuffed wallet" indicator light lit up and recommends wallet thinning.
Seriously? I'm actually insulted that you'd think I'm that gullible.
Check my post above and you'll see I've been driving cars for over 50 years.
A little background: I started driving at age 13. Honking around farmers fields in old jalopies.
I "borrowed" my first car from a friend at age 16. Went joyriding until I got in an accident.
That incident did not end well...lol.
Got my license at 17.
Bought my first car at 18, with my own money. Started wrenching on it the day I got it home.
Have been doing that ever since.

Ok, now back to the present. To clarify, I did not have my car in for service.
I noticed my deteriorating brakes, and finally decided to have two different dealers look at it to give me their take on it.
I initiated the brake inspection process myself.
Both dealers said "too bad, so sad, pay up". Mazda Canada said the same thing. I have not been back.
I'm quite aware of dealer tactics to suck cash out of a customer's wallet. I don't fall for that stuff.
I still haven't decided what I'm going to do about it.
Right now I don't really care anymore. I might just drive it until the brakes seize, and then either fix it or trade it.
Thanks for reading.
 
They showed them to me and they were indeed worn down. I will add that on the vehicle I owned before the Renault, a Nissan 4x4 front pickup pads were replaced at 40,000 kilometers...same daily drive.

i guess you have to change it then..and you dont really need to do it at the dealer if you dont want to. brake pads are easy to change and not that expensive. You can even buy better pads. Mazda oem ones are nothing spectacular anyway.
I do agree its kind of early for pads.
 
Seriously? I'm actually insulted that you'd think I'm that gullible. ….
You need to keep in mind that all different types of owners show up on these forums, and no one knows which type you are, unless you tell us. Diving for 50 years doesn't mean anything because many of those folks never pick up a wrench in their lives, and don't even know what a brake pad looks like. Had you simply added in your OP that you looked at the pads yourself, no one would have questioned what you wrote.

That said, I'll ask something else that you haven't mentioned so far. Did you ever examine the condition of the brakes or have them serviced in the 3 prior years? Please don't jump down my throat because I'm trying to understand how brake pads AND rotors could possibly get trashed in 12K miles of easy driving. One thing that comes to mind is seized slider pins, which is why I'm asking about your maintenance for this vehicle (which again I have no information about).
 
You need to keep in mind that all different types of owners show up on these forums, and no one knows which type you are, unless you tell us. Diving for 50 years doesn't mean anything because many of those folks never pick up a wrench in their lives, and don't even know what a brake pad looks like. Had you simply added in your OP that you looked at the pads yourself, no one would have questioned what you wrote.

That said, I'll ask something else that you haven't mentioned so far. Did you ever examine the condition of the brakes or have them serviced in the 3 prior years? Please don't jump down my throat because I'm trying to understand how brake pads AND rotors could possibly get trashed in 12K miles of easy driving. One thing that comes to mind is seized slider pins, which is why I'm asking about your maintenance for this vehicle (which again I have no information about).

Buzzman12 has reported the following:

They want to replace rotors and pads.
Rotors are scored with gouges running through them, and you can see that the contact point with the pads has narrowed.
They are rusty as all can be too.
I was given the usual story that it's because the car isn't driven enough and that the rotors rust if not used enough.

I would like to see photos of the brake components, mainly so I could compare them to my own brakes to see if I need to be worried about my own brakes.
 
I brought my 2020 CX-5 Signature purchased in August of last year in for it's 15,000 kilometer service today. I actually noticed at stop lights on the way to the garage that the break pedal slowly descended as I waited for a green light. The upshot is they said the break pads front and rear had to be replaced. For you Northerners we're talking about 9,300 miles. I'm astounded. I will grant that I descend 13 kilometers of mountain road daily and that emergency breaking here in Colombia in the cities is probably more frequent but holy moly! My car before this was a Renault Duster 4x4 and it got well over 30,000 kilometers out of the front brake pads on the same drive. Has anyone else experienced short brake pad life on their CX-5? Also parts price for four pads about $272.00 US. How does that compare with US Mazda prices?

Does anyone know what the part number for the OEM Mazda Mexico brake pads are? I wonder if MX markets use a different OEM brake pad from the US/CAD market.
 
Seriously? I'm actually insulted that you'd think I'm that gullible.
Check my post above and you'll see I've been driving cars for over 50 years.
A little background: I started driving at age 13. Honking around farmers fields in old jalopies.
I "borrowed" my first car from a friend at age 16. Went joyriding until I got in an accident.
That incident did not end well...lol.
Got my license at 17.
Bought my first car at 18, with my own money. Started wrenching on it the day I got it home.
Have been doing that ever since.

Ok, now back to the present. To clarify, I did not have my car in for service.
I noticed my deteriorating brakes, and finally decided to have two different dealers look at it to give me their take on it.
I initiated the brake inspection process myself.
Both dealers said "too bad, so sad, pay up". Mazda Canada said the same thing. I have not been back.
I'm quite aware of dealer tactics to suck cash out of a customer's wallet. I don't fall for that stuff.
I still haven't decided what I'm going to do about it.
Right now I don't really care anymore. I might just drive it until the brakes seize, and then either fix it or trade it.
Thanks for reading.
like I mentioned in your main thread, it's likely that the caliper pins seized up from lack of lubrication
 
You need to keep in mind that all different types of owners show up on these forums, and no one knows which type you are, unless you tell us. Diving for 50 years doesn't mean anything because many of those folks never pick up a wrench in their lives, and don't even know what a brake pad looks like. Had you simply added in your OP that you looked at the pads yourself, no one would have questioned what you wrote.

That said, I'll ask something else that you haven't mentioned so far. Did you ever examine the condition of the brakes or have them serviced in the 3 prior years? Please don't jump down my throat because I'm trying to understand how brake pads AND rotors could possibly get trashed in 12K miles of easy driving. One thing that comes to mind is seized slider pins, which is why I'm asking about your maintenance for this vehicle (which again I have no information about).
OK, My apologies for being a bit harsh.
I just have a burr under my saddle over this situation.
One, because I've never owned a vehicle who's brakes deteriorated as quickly as the Mazda's have, and..
Two, the reaction and blow off I received from both dealers and Mazda Canada.

As for servicing, yes, I had the brakes serviced (by dealer) last year, which included lubing slider pins.
To be fair, in my last conversation with one of the two dealers, the service manager mentioned I could probably get away with just replacing the bad rotors for now, although that would be a short term fix.
The pads have a little bit of life left in them, but they would have to be sanded down (smoothed out) so as not to ruin the new rotors. It would not leave me with much pad life unfortunately.
The dealer also started giving me the song and dance about road salt and winter driving, making the assumption that I drive it in the winter in crappy weather. Bad move on his part.
The first winter I had it, we were in Florida. No salty roads.
The last two winters I garaged it in bad weather, and only drove it when the roads were dry.
I use my Pathfinder in winter.
When I mentioned this to him, he had no comeback.
On-wards and upwards we go.
Thanks for the responses. I do appreciate everyone on this site.

P.S. As for posting pics, I'll have to figure out how to do that. I used to use photobucket a few years ago, but since they changed their business model, I have not used a hosting site.
One day I'll get a round to it.
Cheers.
 
Does anyone know what the part number for the OEM Mazda Mexico brake pads are? I wonder if MX markets use a different OEM brake pad from the US/CAD market.
All CX-5’s are assembled in Japan, hence all brake pads should carry the same part numbers, presumably are made in Japan too like we see in the US.
 
I brought my 2020 CX-5 Signature purchased in August of last year in for it's 15,000 kilometer service today. I actually noticed at stop lights on the way to the garage that the break pedal slowly descended as I waited for a green light. The upshot is they said the break pads front and rear had to be replaced. For you Northerners we're talking about 9,300 miles. I'm astounded. I will grant that I descend 13 kilometers of mountain road daily and that emergency breaking here in Colombia in the cities is probably more frequent but holy moly! My car before this was a Renault Duster 4x4 and it got well over 30,000 kilometers out of the front brake pads on the same drive. Has anyone else experienced short brake pad life on their CX-5? Also parts price for four pads about $272.00 US. How does that compare with US Mazda prices?

" I will grant that I descend 13 kilometers of mountain road daily and that emergency breaking here in Colombia in the cities is probably more frequent but holy moly!"

Well there you go! Now, for your second set I hope you get some high end pads that can take some serious abuse.
 
As for servicing, yes, I had the brakes serviced (by dealer) last year, which included lubing slider pins.
To be fair, in my last conversation with one of the two dealers, the service manager mentioned I could probably get away with just replacing the bad rotors for now, although that would be a short term fix.
The pads have a little bit of life left in them, but they would have to be sanded down (smoothed out) so as not to ruin the new rotors.

I have to wonder if somehow you ended up with rotors with defective metallurgy, and they took out your pads. Wearing out pads in 12K miles is pretty surprising, but rotors even more so. That or some unusual environmental conditions that ruined your rotors.

I've come to expect at least 45K miles out of front pads and rotors, and 60K-70K out of the rears. But seems every car is different. My F150 front rotors never lasted more than 50K, but our CRV has over 170K miles and still has the original rotors front and rear. Our RAV4 rotors lasted over 70K miles. Yet our Subaru Crosstrek rear pads only lasted 32K miles (but rotors are fine)

Mark.
 
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