2015 CX-5 Electrical/startup problems - anyone else?

[inferno17]

Hi All,

Short time lurker, first time poster. Any help/info is appreciated! (hi)

I bought a new 2015 CX-5 GT AWD+Tech at the end of July (6/2014 build)...traded in my beloved 2002 Mazda Protege ES (Loved that car!!!!...and miss it very much all things considered...but I digress) as part of the deal. CX-5 was great...for just over one month.

In early September I went to start up the CX-5 after the Labor Day weekend and the car wouldn't start. The car wouldn't even recognize the FOB. I thought the FOB was inactivated or broken for some reason and went to get my husband's copy...only his wasn't recognized either. Car was completely dead and wouldn't recognize the keys.

I had the CX-5 jumped and brought it to the service center at the dealer. As you might imagine, they suspected I had left a light on or something. While this is probably what happens most of the time, I DID NOT leave anything on, and I know how to turn the car on/off so it's not an "I left the accessories on" situation. They could not find anything wrong with the car. They charged the battery and sent me home.

So the next morning I go to start the car. Guess what? IT WON'T START. Again I have it jumped and brought it to the service center at the dealer. I was there 4 hours. They called Mazda corporate and hours later they tell me they replaced the battery. According to Mazda there was a small build of 2015 cars that got batteries with a faulty cell in them, and mine was one of them. (Why did they not check this the day before???!!) I relayed my doubts about this being the fix...something is draining the battery. But they assured me this was the problem, and if not, they'd need to keep the car overnight.

Two weeks pass...all is well...until this morning. The car won't start. Had to have it jumped and do the whole groundhog day thing again (trip #3)...they are keeping it overnight.

Anyone else have issues like this? I haven't seen any TSBs for 2015 CX-5 anywhere on this site...

To add a bit of insult to injury...the biggest kicker is that someone at the dealer bought my 2002 Protege!! While I'm happy it's being loved and not scrapped for parts, I have to see my old baby every time I go to the service center. I think it's secretly laughing at me. I wanted to turn in my keys and just take my old car home. (gah)

 

[Skorpio]

I feel you about former cars. I give them all names and they are like old loves or relationships (my precious!). I treat them with care and love. Like you, I miss them when they're replaced. Sigh, at least the next owner/owners will have a nice, well taken cared for vehicle, and I'm happy about that. As for your battery situation, I haven't heard of any excessive issues and I hope they get it straightened out for you. They CX-5 is a much higher tech vehicle than your last, sometimes that high tech comes with more initial problems

 

[CC58]

I've seen several CX-5 owners have to replace the battery shortly after purchase. When I bought mine, they had to charge the battery because it was dead. IMO, the CX-5 pulls a small amount of current if sitting idle for weeks rendering the battery weakened. I suspect that is true with all new cars with sophisticated infotainment systems and high tech computer systems. That said, you don't leave a car sitting for weeks in normal ownership.

Your battery may have run down to the point of being damaged before you purchased it. It could be they replaced it with a reconditioned battery of which a portion fail prematurely. If I were you, I'ld get a third battery and see if it holds up before assuming there is a problem with your CX-5.

 

[dragonteeth]

It was the dealership's fault, but I picked up my new CX-5 with the battery dead. No one had answers... But ugh, battery / electrical issues are never good.

 

[Kedis82ZE8]

If it isn't a battery there could be some module that is staying powered on for some reason. I am familiar with that on my Infiniti. Earlier models had issues with Bose radios drawing power. Later models it was a solenoid on a section of the evaporative emission system that drew a higher than normal current when vehicle was off.

Hopefully dealer can track down cause of drain. Hang in there!! The CX-5 really is a fun vehicle.

 

[Maineiac]

There is always a small draw on the battery but if they replaced it and ran a check when you
brought it in the last time that is probably not the problem unless the new battery is either also bad or not getting a good charge from the alternator. Did you check to see if other electric components such as the lights worked? After that you are looking for computer gremlins which is a long process. Good luck

 

[Skorpio]

I mentioned this is another post about buying a battery charger/maintainer and topping of batteries every other week or so. I've been doing this to every car I've had and never have premature failure.

 

[CC58]

Since it is a known issue that CX-5 batteries die in dealer parking lots after sitting a couple of months, it stands to reason that dealers have a bunch of poor batteries sitting around. I have no doubt the dealer is trying to cut his losses by swapping out run down batteries from other new vehicles to try to get this fellow's car running again. If this is true, the poor guy is a guinea pig for the dealer trying to be cheap, and not give him a brand new battery. A dealer wouldn't do that, would he?

 

[Kedis82ZE8]

I mentioned this is another post about buying a battery charger/maintainer and topping of batteries every other week or so. I've been doing this to every car I've had and never have premature failure.

I do that on my cars & toys I don't drive much. The CX-5 is being driven an average of 40-50 miles a day so I haven't done that yet with this vehicle.

 

[inferno17]

I feel you about former cars. I give them all names and they are like old loves or relationships (my precious!). I treat them with care and love. Like you, I miss them when they're replaced....

Definitely feel that way - happy to see it go to a good home but when they offered to take me to the rental car place to get a loaner and drive me there IN my old Protege, I said I couldn't do it because I was likely to try and drive away with it. It was painful.

So far no news from the dealer service center - thanks for your input everyone. It just seems to me like there are a few things going on....maybe there's a short in one of the electrical components and it's drawing power from the battery, and the alternator is not functioning properly to fully recharge? It seems odd that it took a month for the first one to die (and who knows what condition the battery was in when I drove the car off the lot) and this one took 2 weeks. Of course if both batteries were crappy that would also manifest in a similar situation...

 

[tibimakai]

You could measure the consumption, with an amp meter. Remove the cable from the battery and measure between the cable and battery.

 

[Kedis82ZE8]

I'd measure up to an hour later too as some systems don't go into full power down state immediately when car is tuned off.

 

[iGregory]

By in the day it was easy to troubleshoot what is causing the problem. Today, with so many parts on the car controlled electronically, it is difficult finding the problem source. I suspect eventually the service department will figure it out. (burnout)

 

[Kedis82ZE8]

A little off topic but I have a co-worker who has had their '10 Prius in the shop for a month. It stalled out on him on the freeway and would never run again under gas or electric. Dealer though it was caused by part in recent recall but that didn't fix it. They have now brought engineers in from Japan. I suspect this is going to lead to another Prius recall.

 

[shingles]

No, it will lead to Toyota denying that there's a problem for 2-3 years, then a massive recall will ensue.

 

[Skorpio]

I do that on my cars & toys I don't drive much. The CX-5 is being driven an average of 40-50 miles a day so I haven't done that yet with this vehicle.

I just put my wife's 11 CX-7 on the charger to top it off. She drives about 20-30 miles a day or more (and she just travelled 350 miles yesterday) and her battery was at 84%. If let go over time, it eventually would discharge so far the battery will one day not start again and accept a charge.

 

[Kedis82ZE8]

I just put my wife's 11 CX-7 on the charger to top it off. She drives about 20-30 miles a day or more (and she just travelled 350 miles yesterday) and her battery was at 84%. If let go over time, it eventually would discharge so far the battery will one day not start again and accept a charge.

I wonder if some of the Mazda alternators are undersized for the load? I usually get 5-8 years out of my auto batteries.

 

[Skorpio]

It is a 3 year old car and we bought it used at 40k miles so who knows how abused it was before my loving caring hands got a hold of it [emoji7]. But, generally, I've been seeing a disturbing trend of smaller, lighter, less CCA batteries over the last 3-4 years.

 

[Kedis82ZE8]

I try to put in a larger battery when possible...assuming it will fit in in the battery tray and battery polarity connections are in the right orientation.

My G35 battery is a PIA to change. It is up against firewall on the passenger side and under an enclosed cover. I had to take some of the lower windshield molding off when I replaced it last year.

 

[inferno17]

By in the day it was easy to troubleshoot what is causing the problem. Today, with so many parts on the car controlled electronically, it is difficult finding the problem source. I suspect eventually the service department will figure it out. (burnout)

I agree...now so many things are electronic that it could be any of a myriad of things.

No news from the service center all day yesterday. As they are closed today it looks like no cause has been found in the last 2 days.