I'm a retired electrical engineer. I worked in consumer electronics for over 40 years and helped design a wide range of very successful products, including working on ergonomics for user-interface design and service/maintenance procedures, as well as quality control.
I've also owned 20 new cars (between my Wife and I) over the years, from just about every major manufacturer. No car I've owned has been as frustrating as my 2021 CX-5 and I am contemplating trading it in with 23,000 miles on it.
I expect I may be scolded for posting this, but I need to let off steam. There is a lot I really like about my CX-5, but there is more I hate about it.
There are so many non-ergonomic, counter-intuitive things about it that seem to have been done differently from every other car I've owned, not because it was a better (or even as good an) idea, but just to be different. I discovered this within the first few weeks of ownership, but decided to live with it. This isn't counting the things I didn't even imagine were missing on such an expensive car (such as no side mirror memory and no tire pressure display).
Since then I've had two (very expensive) wheels permanently damaged to the point where the tires leaked constantly as a result of typical Northeast Pennsylvania road conditions (never happened on any other car I've owned on the same roads under the same conditions), I have constant problems interacting with my cell phone (never happened on any other car I've owned) and the automatic headlight dimming is a joke (routinely dimming just when I need it on full, as a result of the roadway ahead of me being lit by the high beams, not by oncoming cars).
The last straw was today when the keyfob reported the battery needed to be changed. I should start by saying I have always hated the key fob. Putting the buttons on the side of the keyfob (rather than recessed on the front face of the fob like every other car I've owned) means I routinely lock or unlock the doors, open the trunk or set off the panic alarm, just by bending over to pick something up when the fob is in my pocket. Changing the battery, however, turned into an ordeal.
Changing the keyfob battery on every other car I've owned was always a quick and easy exercise--release the metal spare key, use it to pop off the cover, change the battery, snap the fob back together, The CX-5 keyfob made me want to take a blow torch to it. Pushing the release button did nothing at all to release the cover. I had to keep the button pushed while simultaneously prying the cover off with a small screwdriver.
In the process I locked and unlocked the doors and set off the panic alarm several times because, since you are prying the faceplate off the fob, you have no choice but to hold the fob by the sides (where the buttons are stupidly located). While trying to keep the release button pressed and also prying with the screwdriver, the screwdriver slipped and stabbed my finger, drawing blood. This is the exact opposite of ergonomic!
I would also say the AWD system isn't nearly as sure-footed as other AWD cars I've owned (once I was slipping on snow at the edge of my driveway and instead of allowing me to pull back onto the driveway, the AWD system powered me right off the drive and into a shallow ditch along the side of it). Again, something that never happened to me with any of the other AWD vehicles I've owned under much worse conditions.
While the drivetrain is certainly peppy, gas mileage is really mediocre (22-23 MPG average). So I hate to say it, but I think my relationship with Mazda is at an end...
I've also owned 20 new cars (between my Wife and I) over the years, from just about every major manufacturer. No car I've owned has been as frustrating as my 2021 CX-5 and I am contemplating trading it in with 23,000 miles on it.
I expect I may be scolded for posting this, but I need to let off steam. There is a lot I really like about my CX-5, but there is more I hate about it.
There are so many non-ergonomic, counter-intuitive things about it that seem to have been done differently from every other car I've owned, not because it was a better (or even as good an) idea, but just to be different. I discovered this within the first few weeks of ownership, but decided to live with it. This isn't counting the things I didn't even imagine were missing on such an expensive car (such as no side mirror memory and no tire pressure display).
Since then I've had two (very expensive) wheels permanently damaged to the point where the tires leaked constantly as a result of typical Northeast Pennsylvania road conditions (never happened on any other car I've owned on the same roads under the same conditions), I have constant problems interacting with my cell phone (never happened on any other car I've owned) and the automatic headlight dimming is a joke (routinely dimming just when I need it on full, as a result of the roadway ahead of me being lit by the high beams, not by oncoming cars).
The last straw was today when the keyfob reported the battery needed to be changed. I should start by saying I have always hated the key fob. Putting the buttons on the side of the keyfob (rather than recessed on the front face of the fob like every other car I've owned) means I routinely lock or unlock the doors, open the trunk or set off the panic alarm, just by bending over to pick something up when the fob is in my pocket. Changing the battery, however, turned into an ordeal.
Changing the keyfob battery on every other car I've owned was always a quick and easy exercise--release the metal spare key, use it to pop off the cover, change the battery, snap the fob back together, The CX-5 keyfob made me want to take a blow torch to it. Pushing the release button did nothing at all to release the cover. I had to keep the button pushed while simultaneously prying the cover off with a small screwdriver.
In the process I locked and unlocked the doors and set off the panic alarm several times because, since you are prying the faceplate off the fob, you have no choice but to hold the fob by the sides (where the buttons are stupidly located). While trying to keep the release button pressed and also prying with the screwdriver, the screwdriver slipped and stabbed my finger, drawing blood. This is the exact opposite of ergonomic!
I would also say the AWD system isn't nearly as sure-footed as other AWD cars I've owned (once I was slipping on snow at the edge of my driveway and instead of allowing me to pull back onto the driveway, the AWD system powered me right off the drive and into a shallow ditch along the side of it). Again, something that never happened to me with any of the other AWD vehicles I've owned under much worse conditions.
While the drivetrain is certainly peppy, gas mileage is really mediocre (22-23 MPG average). So I hate to say it, but I think my relationship with Mazda is at an end...
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