2019 Signature Vibration/Shake

[Buzzman12]

If you are coming from a land-yacht with 15" wheels and a cushy suspension, there can be an expectation of a similar ride. Of which there will be no pleasing the driver. We all have this expectation of having a smooth as glass ride on 18 to 20" wheels.

This is so true, and not just with the CX-5.
I bought my 6 GT with the 19" wheels, knowing that the ride would be a little "sporty", and not like a Grand Marquis land yacht.
I didn't realize how different it could be until I mounted winter tires on this car last fall.
The winter tires are only one size smaller (18's), but they are a lot softer, quieter and smoother than my summer tires, despite the more aggressive tread.
They don't look as good of course, especially with the crappy used rims I mounted them on, but the ride is better.
I'll be switching back to the summer tires soon, and will have to get used to the stiffer ride again.

 

[mikey]

I*d like to add I think it*s temperature driven. Now that temperatures have increased here I feel the vibration ever so slightly. The Michelin*s definitely killed the majority of it and often times it*s not present. But I take the same route to and from work every day. Some days I feel it, some days I don*t.

So you're saying that the Michelins did NOT totally resolve your problem, correct? That's unfortunate. Here's my story. Picked up our new '19 Signature CX-5 on March 29th with 10 miles on the odometer and tires properly inflated after dealer PDI. Drove the car home on local roads in the rain, didn't notice anything. The next day, clear with temperatures in the 50s, I drove the now garage-kept car to work and noticed the exact same vibration described in the original post. I took the car to the dealer two days later with 150 miles on the odometer. They road force-tested the wheels and tires and said all four Toyos were bad and they weren't sure about the wheels, so they swapped out the wheels/tires with the only other Signature Trim CX-5 they had in stock AFTER road force testing to ensure they weren't swapping bad for bad. They drove it and reported the problem solved. I drove it and it was MUCH better...but there was still a little something there. I own a 2018 Mazda6 so I thought "Maybe I'm calibrated for a sedan ride and being overly sensitive?" The next day my wife drove the CX-5 and asked me why it vibrates! I got behind the wheel and it was back in full force, the same vibration, even though the car has been garage kept and the weather's been pretty mild here. Back to the dealership, which has been very focused on helping me so far. "Hope I'm not crazy," I said as I dropped it off. They drove it. The service manager called me. "You're not crazy," he told me, "the swapped out tires are flat spotted and we need to replace them too." This time they ordered NEW Toyo A36s, mounted and balanced them, drove the car, and called me. "Phew!," said my service rep. "Problem solved! But we want to keep the car overnight and make sure when we drive it in the morning there's no flat spotting issue." They drove the car this morning and called me. "The problem has returned. After ten minutes of driving it disappeared, but we still don't know what the cause is. We're stumped but we'll get to the bottom of it. We've at least eliminated the tires as the issue." This was where I disagreed. I told them that so far they'd run 12 Toyos on the car on two sets of rims, but what just happened could still be a tire issue. If Toyo A36s are bad, if there's a wide scale flawed production run, then the tires may be overly prone to flat spotting. Sounded to me like the newest tires flat spotted overnight and were driven back into round after ten minutes of warming up on the road because they'd only sat on the car for 12 hours. But if a bunch of Toyo A36 tires are flawed, sitting for weeks on the dealer lot or on shipboard might damage them to the point that they CAN'T be driven into round. The service manager thought this sounded plausible and so is asking his district manager to authorize putting Michelin Premiers on the car to see if it's the Toyos or something else entirely. I was hoping that the Michelins might be the cure, but it sounds like they may not be. I'll report back as this develops.

 

[jmm3807]

Ill say whatever it is the Michelins definitely resolved most of it.

My theory is that we have such thin tires on the 19 wheels, theyre flat spotting slightly overnight. The suspension is much more sensitive than the average vehicle to this flat spotting. The Michelins dont flat spot as bad or return to form much quicker than others therefore thats why my problem was reduced. Again this is a theory...

I replaced the Toyos with Continentals then the Michelins. The Michelins were the only ones to make a difference and pretty much resolve the issue to my satisfaction.

Im definitely interested to see what happens in your case. I still have the issue from time to time but its not nearly as bad as it was with the Toyos or Continentals.

 

[Unobtanium]

I would also ask to do this in any car with an empty passenger front seat. You will see it moving. Trust me.

Disagree.

 

[Unobtanium]

So you're saying that the Michelins did NOT totally resolve your problem, correct? That's unfortunate. Here's my story. Picked up our new '19 Signature CX-5 on March 29th with 10 miles on the odometer and tires properly inflated after dealer PDI. Drove the car home on local roads in the rain, didn't notice anything. The next day, clear with temperatures in the 50s, I drove the now garage-kept car to work and noticed the exact same vibration described in the original post. I took the car to the dealer two days later with 150 miles on the odometer. They road force-tested the wheels and tires and said all four Toyos were bad and they weren't sure about the wheels, so they swapped out the wheels/tires with the only other Signature Trim CX-5 they had in stock AFTER road force testing to ensure they weren't swapping bad for bad. They drove it and reported the problem solved. I drove it and it was MUCH better...but there was still a little something there. I own a 2018 Mazda6 so I thought "Maybe I'm calibrated for a sedan ride and being overly sensitive?" The next day my wife drove the CX-5 and asked me why it vibrates! I got behind the wheel and it was back in full force, the same vibration, even though the car has been garage kept and the weather's been pretty mild here. Back to the dealership, which has been very focused on helping me so far. "Hope I'm not crazy," I said as I dropped it off. They drove it. The service manager called me. "You're not crazy," he told me, "the swapped out tires are flat spotted and we need to replace them too." This time they ordered NEW Toyo A36s, mounted and balanced them, drove the car, and called me. "Phew!," said my service rep. "Problem solved! But we want to keep the car overnight and make sure when we drive it in the morning there's no flat spotting issue." They drove the car this morning and called me. "The problem has returned. After ten minutes of driving it disappeared, but we still don't know what the cause is. We're stumped but we'll get to the bottom of it. We've at least eliminated the tires as the issue." This was where I disagreed. I told them that so far they'd run 12 Toyos on the car on two sets of rims, but what just happened could still be a tire issue. If Toyo A36s are bad, if there's a wide scale flawed production run, then the tires may be overly prone to flat spotting. Sounded to me like the newest tires flat spotted overnight and were driven back into round after ten minutes of warming up on the road because they'd only sat on the car for 12 hours. But if a bunch of Toyo A36 tires are flawed, sitting for weeks on the dealer lot or on shipboard might damage them to the point that they CAN'T be driven into round. The service manager thought this sounded plausible and so is asking his district manager to authorize putting Michelin Premiers on the car to see if it's the Toyos or something else entirely. I was hoping that the Michelins might be the cure, but it sounds like they may not be. I'll report back as this develops.

Well, the only true way to test is to swap on warmed up tires to a cold car. That would be definitive.

 

[FRED48]

I*ll say whatever it is the Michelin*s definitely resolved most of it.

My theory is that we have such thin tires on the 19* wheels, they*re flat spotting slightly overnight. The suspension is much more sensitive than the average vehicle to this flat spotting.

Interesting theory. I put 235 Michelin Premiers on my '18 Touring at 50 miles, and they have been smooth as silk - now at 11000 miles.

 

[Googleplex]

So you're saying that the Michelins did NOT totally resolve your problem, correct? That's unfortunate. Here's my story. Picked up our new '19 Signature CX-5 on March 29th with 10 miles on the odometer and tires properly inflated after dealer PDI. Drove the car home on local roads in the rain, didn't notice anything. The next day, clear with temperatures in the 50s, I drove the now garage-kept car to work and noticed the exact same vibration described in the original post. I took the car to the dealer two days later with 150 miles on the odometer. They road force-tested the wheels and tires and said all four Toyos were bad and they weren't sure about the wheels, so they swapped out the wheels/tires with the only other Signature Trim CX-5 they had in stock AFTER road force testing to ensure they weren't swapping bad for bad. They drove it and reported the problem solved. I drove it and it was MUCH better...but there was still a little something there. I own a 2018 Mazda6 so I thought "Maybe I'm calibrated for a sedan ride and being overly sensitive?" The next day my wife drove the CX-5 and asked me why it vibrates! I got behind the wheel and it was back in full force, the same vibration, even though the car has been garage kept and the weather's been pretty mild here. Back to the dealership, which has been very focused on helping me so far. "Hope I'm not crazy," I said as I dropped it off. They drove it. The service manager called me. "You're not crazy," he told me, "the swapped out tires are flat spotted and we need to replace them too." This time they ordered NEW Toyo A36s, mounted and balanced them, drove the car, and called me. "Phew!," said my service rep. "Problem solved! But we want to keep the car overnight and make sure when we drive it in the morning there's no flat spotting issue." They drove the car this morning and called me. "The problem has returned. After ten minutes of driving it disappeared, but we still don't know what the cause is. We're stumped but we'll get to the bottom of it. We've at least eliminated the tires as the issue." This was where I disagreed. I told them that so far they'd run 12 Toyos on the car on two sets of rims, but what just happened could still be a tire issue. If Toyo A36s are bad, if there's a wide scale flawed production run, then the tires may be overly prone to flat spotting. Sounded to me like the newest tires flat spotted overnight and were driven back into round after ten minutes of warming up on the road because they'd only sat on the car for 12 hours. But if a bunch of Toyo A36 tires are flawed, sitting for weeks on the dealer lot or on shipboard might damage them to the point that they CAN'T be driven into round. The service manager thought this sounded plausible and so is asking his district manager to authorize putting Michelin Premiers on the car to see if it's the Toyos or something else entirely. I was hoping that the Michelins might be the cure, but it sounds like they may not be. I'll report back as this develops.

Did you get a chance to get the manufacturing date on all those tires? Mine were manufactured on the 43rd week of 2018 and I am having vibration issues. Probably flat spotting like you. I do not drive this vehicle everyday and may go up to a week without driving the CX-5.

I*ll say whatever it is the Michelin*s definitely resolved most of it.

My theory is that we have such thin tires on the 19* wheels, they*re flat spotting slightly overnight. The suspension is much more sensitive than the average vehicle to this flat spotting.

Interesting theory. I put 235 Michelin Premiers on my '18 Touring at 50 miles, and they have been smooth as silk - now at 11000 miles.

The 19" pizza wheels never had this issue. I think those 19" also had Toyo A36.

 

[mikey]

I didnt get a manufacturing date on any of the tires. My dealer has done nothing for two days because they are waiting for the district service manager to approve Michelins, which is nonsense. I called Mazda USA to open a service complaint and they promise to resolve this. Im skeptical. I picked the car up March 29th. By this Monday it will have been in the dealership for half the time weve owned it, with no resolution in sight. Im no longer confident its as simple as bad Toyos, but heres hoping.

 

[Seminole]

The 19" pizza wheels never had this issue. I think those 19" also had Toyo A36.

My 17 with the pizza wheels and Toyo's has this issue.

 

[mikey]

I was thinking about GVC+ today. Adds braking. I wonder if a programming glitch could be involved? I know all of the possibilities weve already discussed are probably far more likely, but I remember when a brake caliper on my old F-150 was failing and it caused vibration at highway speeds. Its not unlike what I feel in my CX-5. Probably not a brake thing at all, but who knows at this point...

 

[mikey]

For those following my situation, the dealer is mounting a fourth set of OEM Toyo A36s tomorrow and will road test after the district service manager came to the dealership and road tested my CX-5. They are also gathering the DOT codes for all Toyos that have been on the car. If this doesnt resolve it they plan to try different tires. They seem pretty confident now that its a tire issue, a confidence I dont yet share.

 

[shadonoz]

For those following my situation, the dealer is mounting a fourth set of OEM Toyo A36s tomorrow and will road test after the district service manager came to the dealership and road tested my CX-5. They are also gathering the DOT codes for all Toyos that have been on the car. If this doesn*t resolve it they plan to try different tires. They seem pretty confident now that it*s a tire issue, a confidence I don*t yet share.

Reminds me of one of the popular theories of insanity.
I share your skepticism.

 

[jmm3807]

I guess at least they are doing something. Maybe my dealer wouldve been more helpful had I not already swapped the tires to something else. Once they realized the other CX5 turbos on their lot were doing the same thing they classified it as normal. I went off in the email to my corporate case rep with Mazda.

 

[mikey]

I guess at least they are doing something. Maybe my dealer would*ve been more helpful had I not already swapped the tires to something else. Once they realized the other CX5 turbos on their lot were doing the same thing they classified it as normal. I went off in the email to my corporate case rep with Mazda.

Maybe. I will say that it seems like it would be hard now for them to plead "it's normal" after both the dealer and district service managers acknowledged something isn't right without argument. Time will tell...

 

[mikey]

So my dealer installed one final set of Toyo A36s which road force balanced to 9 lbs or less on all four tires. They drove it in the morning, let it sit all day and drove it again. They felt no vibration. Then they let it sit all night and drove it the next morning, still no vibration. Then they picked me up and I drove it with the service manager. No vibration. Then I drove it alone on the highway up to 85 mph - no vibration. Time will tell. Their theory is is was a bad lot of Toyos. Im happy for now, although they returned the car to me filthy and with a half empty tank. If I owned a dealership and a customers brand new car was with my service department for over a week with multiple road tests piling on the miles, wed have returned it clean and with a full tank. If Mazda really wants to go premium theyre going to have to lean on dealers like this to provide a better customer experience.

 

[Googleplex]

So my dealer installed one final set of Toyo A36s which road force balanced to 9 lbs or less on all four tires. They drove it in the morning, let it sit all day and drove it again. They felt no vibration. Then they let it sit all night and drove it the next morning, still no vibration. Then they picked me up and I drove it with the service manager. No vibration. Then I drove it alone on the highway up to 85 mph - no vibration. Time will tell. Their theory is is was a bad lot of Toyos. Im happy for now, although they returned the car to me filthy and with a half empty tank. If I owned a dealership and a customers brand new car was with my service department for over a week with multiple road tests piling on the miles, wed have returned it clean and with a full tank. If Mazda really wants to go premium theyre going to have to lean on dealers like this to provide a better customer experience.

Did they try to road force balance any previous tires?

The dealer should have done better... premium needs to be at all levels.

 

[mikey]

Did they try to road force balance any previous tires?

The dealer should have done better... premium needs to be at all levels.

They did try to road force balance the third set and told me after the fact that they couldn't get single digit values on any of those four tires. Why they mounted and tested them I'll never know. And they did NOT road force test the second set until AFTER I brought the car back, and then found that they too were out of round. They assumed they were good because they swapped them off another car. All around a poor, poor experience.

 

[JNP]

So... brand new off the truck 2019 CX-5 Signature purchased 1/18/19 with 3 miles.

Began to notice vibration/shimmy between 68-72 mph. Very consistent.

Long story short: multiple road force balances of the original Toyo A36 tires, a complete change of tires to Continental Contact Tour, and road force of those 2 times. I still have the same issue.

While you may think its crazy I changed the tires. I come from a Subaru Outback and EVERYTIME I used their service center it was oh thats normal operation.

So today I called the service manager at the Mazda dealer I purchased at. He was quite irritated I purchased new tires. I also kept the old ones. I guess this is a good thing. I dont expect them to pay for the new tires at all.

Appointment is tomorrow morning for a ride with technician, and determining next steps. Im really curious what in the heck is causing this, its quite irritating to say the least. Everytime I would leave the discount tire Id think its resolved, then a big let down when I got on the highway.

Resolution: After dealing with this since new, the resolution was to go from Toyo A36, Continental TrueContact Tour, to finally Michelins Premier LTX tire. The Michelins fixed the issues entirely.

Discount tire showed me how other manufactures piece together their tires in strips of 8-9 inches but Michelin does it in like 1-2 inch strips. This makes the tire much more uniform and balanced. I was so happy when I drove away, got on the freeway and it didnt do the shake anymore. Hard to believe that roadforcing those continentals many times didnt get it right. I guess the 19 wheels and CX5 is very sensitive to any variation in tire and balancing.

Saturday I got a call and it went to voicemail from Mazda. It said that both the dealer and Mazda believe this to be a normal feature of the car since they replicated it on other CX5s.

I promptly emailed them to say it was resolved. Also that if they say its a normal feature, to advertise it as such and see how many they sale. Like wtf, whos car does that shake and calls it a feature. Which I also asked my rep in the email if her car did this, did her coworkers?? Anyway, finally its over and I can truly be happy with the 35k+ that was spent on this car.

@jmm3807: Did you tires have lateral run-out like mine? See the images below:

Looks like I am having the exact same issue with my 2018 CX-5 Grand Touring purchased in October 2018.

Front Drive Side:

Front Passenger Side:

 

[JNP]

They did try to road force balance the third set and told me after the fact that they couldn't get single digit values on any of those four tires. Why they mounted and tested them I'll never know. And they did NOT road force test the second set until AFTER I brought the car back, and then found that they too were out of round. They assumed they were good because they swapped them off another car. All around a poor, poor experience.

Hey Mikey, I would like to have your input as well on my previous post, if you will please?

 

[jmm3807]

@jmm3807: Did you tires have lateral run-out like mine? See the images below:

Looks like I am having the exact same issue with my 2018 CX-5 Grand Touring purchased in October 2018.

Front Drive Side:

Front Passenger Side:

I had the Toyo's on the car for a very short period, approx. 500 miles if I recall.
However I do not remember seeing the run out you mention or show in the photos.
I'll see how the Michelins are doing on my lunch.