All about CX-5 longevity

[buyingconstant7]

Hello all! I am new to the Mazda forum, and should state right away, I am not a current Mazda owner, but I work at a Mazda dealer and know there are some people weary of how the new Mazdas hold up, with the Skyactiv tech. We have a 2014 CX-5 shuttle. It has just over 100,000 kms on it(62,000 miles). We store it in our shop overnight, it's washed every night, oil changes every 8,000km(5,000 miles), but is driven by a lady who is very hard on it. She often redlines it, whips it through corners, and is hard on the brakes. Obviously, she settles down when theres customers on board...

Despite it having a rough driving style, it's held up relatively well. The only repairs we've done are rear brake pads which is a very common thing oddly enough, they usually need to be replaced every 60,000kms, that we've seen anyways. Fuel economy has been exceptional. Like I said, she drives very hard and it has lots of idle time, A/C is always on, and it's all 100% city driven, yet the computer states 8.2 l/100km(28.6 mpg), and it's reset every fillup. The best we've seen was 6.9 l/100km(34mpg) and the worst has been 9.8 l/100km(24mpg)the worst number is from when temps were -35 and we never shut it off all day, even though it would sit for 20 mins with no driving. Fuel economy has been consistent I should say, as well.

Keep in mind, this CX-5 is a base model with AWD so it has the 2.slow SKyactiv in it. We also have a 2016 CX-5 GT 2.5, and mileage is right on the same, with the same driver at the wheel, so mileage really doesn't vary with these engines in this application.

However, not everything is fine and dandy. It does burn oil, we thought it was from our lunatic driver, but we measured other customer cars and theirs do too. We noticed that as the miles go up, the more oil they burn. Also, it is much louder than it was 50,000km ago. Cold starts are much noiser, the starter motor is noiser, and road noise is worse. Our techs blame it on cheap insulation degrading over time. There have been many TPMS faults, even though we had all the proper equipment, the car would still have a light on for it, then it would go off for a while and come back on, never did figure it out. Also, the interior wear has been okay in some areas and not okay in others. The radio trim is starting to peel away. At first it became shiny, but now it's flaking. The stitching in the seats is starting to come out, and both the sunvisors are loose and rattle over bumps as they hit the headliner.

Other than that, it's been a solid vehicle. Our previous Mazda5 shuttles were much more robust I should say. And before that, the CX-9's were even more so. But CX-5's, though they have their glitches, they certainly are a fantastic vehicle. Our goal is to get our 2014 CX-5 to 300,000km before we retire it.

Cheers!

 

[piotrek91]

Thanks for sharing! Please keep us updated as the car gets older.

A few points:

• You are one of the first to point out any oil consumption on a skyactiv car. Maybe the long idle periods contribute?
• The cx-5 is very inefficient when the engine is cold. Keeping it running and warm all day probably helps keep the MPG descent in the winter. Many "city" drivers take their car for a 5 minute drive, let it cool off and repeat.
• I agree about the noise. I was driven in a mazda5 with roughly the same miles as my CX-5 and the mazda 5 felt noticeably quieter and solid.
• As a Mazda dealer I would hope you guys could sort out some silly TPMS problems... (my car never had any)
• Best of luck getting to 300,000Km!

 

[yrwei52]

However, not everything is fine and dandy. It does burn oil, we thought it was from our lunatic driver, but we measured other customer cars and theirs do too. We noticed that as the miles go up, the more oil they burn. ... Also, the interior wear has been okay in some areas and not okay in others. The radio trim is starting to peel away. At first it became shiny, but now it's flaking. The stitching in the seats is starting to come out, and both the sunvisors are loose and rattle over bumps as they hit the headliner.

I understand this 2014 CX-5 is used as a shuttle. But for a 2-year-old car with only 62,000 miles, those kind of things shouldn't happen! Our 180,000-mile, never garaged '98 Honda CR-V holds up a lot better than this! It burns almost no oil, the interior looks as good as new, no peeling、flaking or loose stitches on any plastics or seats.

It seems the outlook of longevity on our CX-5 is not that good to me...

 

[limleong]

I understand this 2014 CX-5 is used as a shuttle. But for a 2-year-old car with only 62,000 miles, those kind of things shouldn't happen! Our 180,000-mile, never garaged '98 Honda CR-V holds up a lot better than this! It burns almost no oil, the interior looks as good as new, no peeling、flaking or loose stitches on any plastics or seats.

It seems the outlook of longevity on our CX-5 is not that good to me...

Mazda Marketing specifically mentioned that the face lift CX5 has better quality interior materials. I agree that a 2 year old car (albeit with 100,000 Km) should hold up better but I suspect some corners were cut in the first version to get to certain price points.

 

[inlinev]

How much oil does it burn? How did you quantify the loudness of the vehicle? Can you be more specific?

 

[timberstx]

Thanks for the information. I am pretty sure the Mazda will hold up well over time, as long as you change and keep oil in your engine, and use genuine mazda replacement parts. This is my 5th mazda and all have been exceptional in the reliability department. I started with an 85 mazda GLC. It never had one problem. My last car before buying the CX-5 is a 1990 626 which I have been driving for 25 years. I kept the car and drive both now. The 626 has over 350,000 miles, and is on the original engine and head and transmission. I recently drove the 626 from Portland Oregon to Houston Texas. Roughly 2,5000 mile. The car only used about 1/8 on the dipstick gauge. So basically still full when I arrived in Houston.

 

[silverevo05]

I understand this 2014 CX-5 is used as a shuttle. But for a 2-year-old car with only 62,000 miles, those kind of things shouldn't happen! Our 180,000-mile, never garaged '98 Honda CR-V holds up a lot better than this! It burns almost no oil, the interior looks as good as new, no peeling、flaking or loose stitches on any plastics or seats.

It seems the outlook of longevity on our CX-5 is not that good to me...

Prepare for MikeM to come out and contest this statement. I haven't been on this forum very long but a good portion of his posts are praising the car and downplaying anyone's comments that might be negative towards the vehicle.

From my limited research on the cx5 which I am very interested in, is that it is not an extremely reliable vehicle though it is, at least to me, still an appealing vehicle.

There is nothing wrong with admitting the shortcomings of a vehicle. I have had 5 Mitsubishi Evo IX's which I will freely admit are not the most reliable cars but god are they FUN !!

 

[TheGanzman]

Well, *I* for one did MYRIAD research before I pulled the trigger on my 2016 AWD GT; fully loaded except for the Adaptive CC. Almost entirely "Made In Japan" was a big seller for me; the CX-5 replaced my very much loved 2001 Isuzu Vehicross that I owned for 6 years and had virtually ZERO problems with. Having said that, I DID purchase the full 7 year/100K miles Bumper-To-Bumper extended warranty at ~$1,800.00; too much "new technology" even for Mazda for me to gamble on...

 

[yrwei52]

I understand this 2014 CX-5 is used as a shuttle. But for a 2-year-old car with only 62,000 miles, those kind of things shouldn't happen! Our 180,000-mile, never garaged '98 Honda CR-V holds up a lot better than this! It burns almost no oil, the interior looks as good as new, no peeling、flaking or loose stitches on any plastics or seats.

It seems the outlook of longevity on our CX-5 is not that good to me...

Prepare for MikeM to come out and contest this statement. I haven't been on this forum very long but a good portion of his posts are praising the car and downplaying anyone's comments that might be negative towards the vehicle.

From my limited research on the cx5 which I am very interested in, is that it is not an extremely reliable vehicle though it is, at least to me, still an appealing vehicle.

There is nothing wrong with admitting the shortcomings of a vehicle. I have had 5 Mitsubishi Evo IX's which I will freely admit are not the most reliable cars but god are they FUN !!

Well said! I used to buy only VW even though most friends questioned my choice as the reputation on quality and reliability for VW is not good. I knew what I'd get into by having VWs but I felt confident I could fix any problems I encountered by myself as I like working on cars. Eventually I got worn out and bought our first Japanese made Honda CR-V just for its reliability and good for kids driving it. I'm REALLY impressed with the reliability of this CR-V, and eventually picked another Japanese made CX-5 due to its excellent-on-paper SkyActiv Technology and improved reliability record from Mazda according to Consumer Reports and other sources. I still have memories on how poor the quality and reliability were on Mazda's excellent-on-paper rotary engines, and a relatives' made-in-Japan MPV bought under my recommendation but found its inferior quality and poor reliability afterwards. I still remember the front passenger seat, hardly been used but the seat cushion simply just falling out from back side at 50K miles! A friend of mine, who bought two 626s and an RX7 before but no longer interested in Mazda's, keeps telling me NOT to buy any Mazda's even at time I decided to get our new 2016 CX-5! His mechanic and garage owner told him don't ever buy any cars with the 'M": Mercedes, BMW, and Mazda, as he has seen so many of them in his shop for all kind of problems.

 

[CX5-SO]

OP, can you tell us what oil and what filter was used and were the same ones used for every change? Can you verify that the oil was burned and not leaked past the drain plug? Can you tell us at what interval(s) the engine air filter was changed and what brand was used?

Thanks
You have an interesting post, good share.

 

[buyingconstant7]

OP, can you tell us what oil and what filter was used and were the same ones used for every change? Can you verify that the oil was burned and not leaked past the drain plug? Can you tell us at what interval(s) the engine air filter was changed and what brand was used?

Thanks
You have an interesting post, good share.

We use non-synthetic 0W20 oil, as for all Skyactiv cars we use that too, unless the customers request full synthetic. Filter is OEM. We always used this type of oil and filter. I think once, our new lube tech used 5w 30 accidentally, so we put it on a short 3,000mile interval so no harm would be done. We have it fully inspected every 30,000km and there are no oil leaks anywhere. We were surprised to see no sweating of gaskets either, so it's definitely being burnt. We replaced the PCV valve and that did nothing. We have to add about 1 litre every 4,000km. Air filter as well is fully OEM replaced every 30,000km as well as the cabin air filter.

 

[buyingconstant7]

I understand this 2014 CX-5 is used as a shuttle. But for a 2-year-old car with only 62,000 miles, those kind of things shouldn't happen! Our 180,000-mile, never garaged '98 Honda CR-V holds up a lot better than this! It burns almost no oil, the interior looks as good as new, no peeling、flaking or loose stitches on any plastics or seats.

It seems the outlook of longevity on our CX-5 is not that good to me...

We're pretty happy with how it's held up. And it's not quite 1 year old, it will be a year in November.

 

[Bcdad182]

We use non-synthetic 0W20 oil, as for all Skyactiv cars we use that too, unless the customers request full synthetic. Filter is OEM. We always used this type of oil and filter. I think once, our new lube tech used 5w 30 accidentally, so we put it on a short 3,000mile interval so no harm would be done. We have it fully inspected every 30,000km and there are no oil leaks anywhere. We were surprised to see no sweating of gaskets either, so it's definitely being burnt. We replaced the PCV valve and that did nothing. We have to add about 1 litre every 4,000km. Air filter as well is fully OEM replaced every 30,000km as well as the cabin air filter.

Interesting, my dealer offered me 'oil for life' program and they always change with full synthetic (at least that's what it says on the invoices) I'm suprised that you don't use full synthetic as that's what I've been told is standard for these vehicles. Probably doesn't make a difference, but its interesting. Mine is a 2013 with only 45K on it (and driven pretty lightly, but all city) and I never lose a drop between oil changes. I do agree about the cheap interior, those cloth interior door handles were a big mistake on Mazda's behalf.

 

[MikeM.]

We store it in our shop overnight, it's washed every night, oil changes every 8,000km(5,000 miles), but is driven by a lady who is very hard on it. She often redlines it, whips it through corners, and is hard on the brakes. Obviously, she settles down when theres no customers on board...

Why would your shuttle driver "settle down" when there's no customers on board? It would make more sense for her to drive the piss out of it when she didn't have customers on board and "settle down" when she had customers on-board. At least that's how I did it when I drove the Ski Shuttle Van for a lodge in Montana back in the 1980's. (laugh)

In any case, are you sure the car has been run it's whole life with ordinary, non-synthetic oil? I thought all 0-20W that met the GF-5 specification was synthetic. No? Please don't tell me your dealership simply uses 5-20W regular oil because the 0-20W will flow faster for those cold Calgary starts in the winter. Most engine wear happens when the engine is cold.

Despite it having a rough driving style, it's held up relatively well.

Not if it's burning over a quart of oil every 2,400 miles! I do not consider that acceptable. And this after only 60,000 miles? Me thinks your service guys don't really know what they're doing. Which is a shame considering they work at a Mazda dealership.

 

[MikeM.]

We use non-synthetic 0W20 oil, as for all Skyactiv cars we use that too, unless the customers request full synthetic.

If true, this could explain your observations of oil burning.

I think once, our new lube tech used 5w 30 accidentally, so we put it on a short 3,000mile interval so no harm would be done.

That makes no sense. The viscosity of oil gets thinner with age. If you were trying to prevent harm, you would have drained the 5-30W immediately as that is when it would be most out of spec. As it aged it would naturally get thinner. Thinner oil flows more quickly which is very desirable during cold starts.

In any case, I can't believe you are posting this publicly. If I were your boss and I saw you volunteering this type of information about the incompetence of my dealership publicly, I would likely fire you for poor judgment. This does not reflect well on the dealership you work at. We have other forum members from Calgary too.

 

[ALafya]

My 2014 2.5L does consume (or leak) some oil. I am still trying to establish how much, though it is not that serious compared with OP. It started about a year ago, at about 20K miles and it was always running only 0W-20 synthetic oil changed by the local dealer. I broke it in using the recommended method.
There is a small chance that it leaks oil; day to day, it does drip on the ground, though the underside was a bit wet after the last oil change. I believe this was due to messy work by the dealership. I specifically asked if they could check for leaks last time and they said they found no issue and said some oil consumption is normal. I might take it to another, farther away dealer next time.

 

[Rarebit]

It seems the outlook of longevity on our CX-5 is not that good to me...

I'd wait until I've seen at least 2 reports before drawing any conclusions. ;-) OK, that's a joke.

Seriously, one report tells you nothing about the overall durability of the model in question. Something like this may be a lot more helpful.

http://www.truedelta.com/Mazda-CX-5/reliability-1093

 

[Chris_Top_Her]

There is a guy on the cx-5 club who has 2.5 with oil leaking from the block itself; middle rear. It's at the dealer I'll see what he says about it.

 

[Chris_Top_Her]

Hello all! I am new to the Mazda forum, and should state right away, I am not a current Mazda owner, but I work at a Mazda dealer and know there are some people weary of how the new Mazdas hold up, with the Skyactiv tech. We have a 2014 CX-5 shuttle. It has just over 100,000 kms on it(62,000 miles). We store it in our shop overnight, it's washed every night, oil changes every 8,000km(5,000 miles), but is driven by a lady who is very hard on it. She often redlines it, whips it through corners, and is hard on the brakes. Obviously, she settles down when theres no customers on board...

Despite it having a rough driving style, it's held up relatively well. The only repairs we've done are rear brake pads which is a very common thing oddly enough, they usually need to be replaced every 60,000kms, that we've seen anyways. Fuel economy has been exceptional. Like I said, she drives very hard and it has lots of idle time, A/C is always on, and it's all 100% city driven, yet the computer states 8.2 l/100km(28.6 mpg), and it's reset every fillup. The best we've seen was 6.9 l/100km(34mpg) and the worst has been 9.8 l/100km(24mpg)the worst number is from when temps were -35 and we never shut it off all day, even though it would sit for 20 mins with no driving. Fuel economy has been consistent I should say, as well.

Keep in mind, this CX-5 is a base model with AWD so it has the 2.slow SKyactiv in it. We also have a 2016 CX-5 GT 2.5, and mileage is right on the same, with the same driver at the wheel, so mileage really doesn't vary with these engines in this application.

However, not everything is fine and dandy. It does burn oil, we thought it was from our lunatic driver, but we measured other customer cars and theirs do too. We noticed that as the miles go up, the more oil they burn. Also, it is much louder than it was 50,000km ago. Cold starts are much noiser, the starter motor is noiser, and road noise is worse. Our techs blame it on cheap insulation degrading over time. There have been many TPMS faults, even though we had all the proper equipment, the car would still have a light on for it, then it would go off for a while and come back on, never did figure it out. Also, the interior wear has been okay in some areas and not okay in others. The radio trim is starting to peel away. At first it became shiny, but now it's flaking. The stitching in the seats is starting to come out, and both the sunvisors are loose and rattle over bumps as they hit the headliner.

Other than that, it's been a solid vehicle. Our previous Mazda5 shuttles were much more robust I should say. And before that, the CX-9's were even more so. But CX-5's, though they have their glitches, they certainly are a fantastic vehicle. Our goal is to get our 2014 CX-5 to 300,000km before we retire it.

Cheers!
View attachment 212237View attachment 212238View attachment 212239

First: Get that thing tuned
Second: I drive my (tuned since 500mi, now 31000) 2.5 to redline/rev limiter (which is higher for me), wot shifting, whipping around corners, not really hard on the brakes, but plenty of high speed braking and the occasional e brake tap, change my own oil every 7-10000 mi aftermarket intake and exhaust; no issues with it so I wouldn't be worried about the mechanical with regular maintenance. I use the OEM mazda oil.

 

[123373]

If true, this could explain your observations of oil burning.

+1 these engines come factory filled with synthetic oil. Conventional oil is garbage and the op's shop needs their head examined for forcing that junk in any modern engine.


That makes no sense. The viscosity of oil gets thinner with age. If you were trying to prevent harm, you would have drained the 5-30W immediately as that is when it would be most out of spec. As it aged it would naturally get thinner. Thinner oil flows more quickly which is very desirable during cold starts.

In any case, I can't believe you are posting this publicly. If I were your boss and I saw you volunteering this type of information about the incompetence of my dealership publicly, I would likely fire you for poor judgment. This does not reflect well on the dealership you work at. We have other forum members from Calgary too.