4 months with the 5, and I have a few gripes...

[Shaun K]

Bought a new 2008 5 in Sept of last year, and overall it's been a nice car (though not as fun as the Forester it replaced (drive). We've put just over 2000 miles on it so far, and I'm noticing a couple problems with it.

1. Selecting "Auto" on the HVAC panel only allows the defrost/footwell vents to work, and this can't be changed with the "Mode" button. Is this normal or some kind of bug?

2. Taillights are fogging up already! Anyone had their replaced yet?

3. Rear vents only blow COLD air, no matter what the temp is set to...this is probably the worst problem of all these 3 since getting an '08 was partially driven by the updated features, rear vents being one of them.

 

[xtrememps]

1. Normal
2. Not normal - people do get them replaced
3. Normal - They are just fans and not hooked up to your heating unit

 

[Shaun K]

1. Normal
2. Not normal - people do get them replaced
3. Normal - They are just fans and not hooked up to your heating unit

1. Thanks...I think we can live with this one, it's just annoying is all.

2. Going in for the first oil change soon so I'll get them to replace the tails.

3. That is really really dumb...if we just wanted some air in the back we could have cracked the windows. A little heat in the winter and AC in the summer would be nice for the kids back there since they're both facing the rear.

 

[rweatherford]

I have not seen an updated service manual, but most owners report that the rear vents are AC only. No heat. I agree, seems pretty lame, but there are rear heat vents under the seats that blow backwards on the floor.

 

[BLACKOUT]

Bought a new 2008 5 in Sept of last year, and overall it's been a nice car (though not as fun as the Forester it replaced (drive). We've put just over 2000 miles on it so far, and I'm noticing a couple problems with it.

1. Selecting "Auto" on the HVAC panel only allows the defrost/footwell vents to work, and this can't be changed with the "Mode" button. Is this normal or some kind of bug?

2. Taillights are fogging up already! Anyone had their replaced yet?

3. Rear vents only blow COLD air, no matter what the temp is set to...this is probably the worst problem of all these 3 since getting an '08 was partially driven by the updated features, rear vents being one of them.

1.) Never messed with it

2.)Yeah I went in to the dealer the other day my taillights mine where fogging up and water in them. should be getting them here soon

3.)yeah same thing here.winter time will suck but summer time will be good for the kids, but would there be away to get it so the rear vents to get hot air?

 

[Bob*5]

Anyone know why the tail-lights fog up? I've had mine for 4 days and noticed it tonight.

Bob

 

[frito]

Our 07 does not have the tail light problem. Maybe just newer cars??

 

[BLACKOUT]

Anyone know why the tail-lights fog up? I've had mine for 4 days and noticed it tonight.

Bob

My guess would be a bad seal somewhere,Bob*5 what year do you have? because I have an 08 GT with the LED taillights with the fogging up issue. But I did have an 06 Touring and did not have any problems.

 

[xtrememps]

I second bad seals, Mazdas seem to be notorious for that (I worked at a dealership and saw it often). On 5's it's real noticeable because of the size of them. But I saw it a lot on rx-8's, cx-7's, etc. Sometimes it would fix itself, maybe from the lights evaporating moisture? I don't know..

 

[coolmazda5]

I second bad seals, Mazdas seem to be notorious for that (I worked at a dealership and saw it often). On 5's it's real noticeable because of the size of them. But I saw it a lot on rx-8's, cx-7's, etc. Sometimes it would fix itself, maybe from the lights evaporating moisture? I don't know..

Now that you mention it, I remembered something like that.

Check this TSB for back in 05. If it's hot enough it will "fog" it up (and that sounds funny, LOL)

http://www.finishlineperformance.com/pdf/mazda5/bulletin/09-021-05-1506.pdf

 

[skyhawk]

just a theory.
warm air inside the tail light assembly will condense when it touches a very cold surface --i.e. the transparent plastic.

Either broken seal, or the LED is not warm enough to warm the surrounding surface.

 

[2ride4life]

I am not sure if this what the OP was asking about in #1, but I just noticed this the other day. When I hit AUTO and then shut-off A/C ( I am not sure that this part makes a difference), and then hit MODE 2 times to change it to front/feet, it still behaves like it is on AUTO even though the AUTO icon disappears. I have the temp set to 32 C (while AMB is ~-30 C, yeah sickening right?!), and as the car warms up the fan rate increases as long as the fan rate or temp is not changed. I am not sure if this is how this is supposed to behave (it actually works in all the MODES).

 

[Shaun K]

I am not sure if this what the OP was asking about in #1, but I just noticed this the other day. When I hit AUTO and then shut-off A/C ( I am not sure that this part makes a difference), and then hit MODE 2 times to change it to front/feet, it still behaves like it is on AUTO even though the AUTO icon disappears. I have the temp set to 32 C (while AMB is ~-30 C, yeah sickening right?!), and as the car warms up the fan rate increases as long as the fan rate or temp is not changed. I am not sure if this is how this is supposed to behave (it actually works in all the MODES).

No, not quite what I was after in my first post, but I can see how that would be annoying too. At least we can turn off the AC when defogger is selected though; in our '02 CR-V you couldn't do that.

As for the taillights, my guess is a bad seal between the light assembly and the body. Hondas are notorious for this, but not until they are 5+ years old (headshake).

 

[skyhawk]

I tried to understand the autoclimate control too.

I think what it is is when you set it to 'Auto', The system takes over control of the 'climate'.. You can ask it to aim for higher temperature and it will abide by increasing fan speed but still remains in auto. It decides which vents to send the air. The moment you change which vents you want air to go to, the 'auto climate' gives up and hands control to you.

I always use auto climate as it handles 'defogging' of all windows more effectively. On rare times when the steering wheel is biting cold I switch to manual directing the 'still in the process of warming' air towards the front.

 

[was98strat]

No, not quite what I was after in my first post, but I can see how that would be annoying too. At least we can turn off the AC when defogger is selected though; in our '02 CR-V you couldn't do that.

As for the taillights, my guess is a bad seal between the light assembly and the body. Hondas are notorious for this, but not until they are 5+ years old (headshake).

Leaving the AC "ON" makes the defrost more effective. It seems counter intuitive, but the AC "dries" the air making the defrost work faster!!!

 

[Rockin03mp5]

Bought a new 2008 5 in Sept of last year, and overall it's been a nice car (though not as fun as the Forester it replaced (drive). We've put just over 2000 miles on it so far, and I'm noticing a couple problems with it.

1. Selecting "Auto" on the HVAC panel only allows the defrost/footwell vents to work, and this can't be changed with the "Mode" button. Is this normal or some kind of bug?

2. Taillights are fogging up already! Anyone had their replaced yet?

3. Rear vents only blow COLD air, no matter what the temp is set to...this is probably the worst problem of all these 3 since getting an '08 was partially driven by the updated features, rear vents being one of them.

1) In auto mode, it often starts in defrost, because that is often what is needed right away, and the car isnt warm. If you notice in the winter, the fan really doesnt start kicking in until the car is warmed up. No sense blasting you with cold air anyways. You can turn the auto off, then turn the dial to up the fan speed and then you can change the mode all you want.

2) Havent had that problem yet, but i am going to check now.

3) Rear vents are A/C only. You still have the heat ducts under the front seats.