Cracked cylinder head (2018 CX-5)

[blaf]

In my family, we have bought 5 Mazdas. My son’s 2015 Mazda 6 with 50,000 miles started out with a gasket problem. Fixed, drove out of dealer and engine light comes on. Goes back, there are metal flakes in the oil pan. All maintenance and oil changes done at the dealer. Needed a new engine. That was 2 months ago.
I have a 2018 CX5 with 40,000 miles. It has a crack in the cylinder head. No loaner cars available. Not a good sign. Will sell it when fixed. We’re done with Mazda!

 

[sm1ke]

Good luck with your next car! What are you considering to replace the CX-5?

 

[blaf]

Good luck with your next car! What are you considering to replace the CX-5?

Not sure and it’s tough with the prices of new cars these days. I generally keep my cars til the wheels fall off but I’m definitely not crazy about this one.

 

[181962]

Yes, new car prices have gone through the roof but so has the value of your trade once it is repaired.

I just checked mine at KBB.com. 13,200 miles, I designated excellent condition, and it shows a midpoint trade value of $29,900 for my zip code. That's $130 more than it's original sticker price, and that's the highest figure I've seen with quarterly checks. Nuts.

EDIT: I started looking at at trading into a comparable 2022 2.5 Select S stickering at $30,245 with only splash guards added. That $29,900 trade value is in error. I might have selected Touring w/ Preferred or made some other error. The actual figure is $28,604, $1,166 under original sticker, still nuts for a two year old vehicle. However, that's probably not a plausible trade credit given what I'm seeing advertised for near-comparable CPOs. I'd probably be negotiating up from very good condition @ $27,706. I doubt I could squeeze the spread under $2,000 after tax on the difference and $75 prep. If I kept cars for 3 years it would be a no brainer.

Mazda is on track to report another record for CX-5 USA sales and is on track for record numbers for Mazda USA in total going back to 2005 which probably accounts for some recent buyers reporting purchases at or a bit under sticker. Why not less? Probably because other makes / models in this class are still suffering with low production whereby prospective RAV4 buyers, to take one example, are jumping to Mazda where there is some lot availability or shorter wait times thereby juicing demand.

Though you are moving on from Mazda there is a moral to this story. If your price sensitivity is high, check sales volumes of models under consideration. Those that are ramping back up to pre-pandemic levels, if any, may have less onerous pricing.

CX-5 sales: Mazda CX-5 Sales Figures

RAV4 sales: Toyota RAV4 Sales Figures

CR-V sales: Honda CR-V Sales Figures

 

[mazpro00]

In my family, we have bought 5 Mazdas. My son’s 2015 Mazda 6 with 50,000 miles started out with a gasket problem. Fixed, drove out of dealer and engine light comes on. Goes back, there are metal flakes in the oil pan. All maintenance and oil changes done at the dealer. Needed a new engine. That was 2 months ago.
I have a 2018 CX5 with 40,000 miles. It has a crack in the cylinder head. No loaner cars available. Not a good sign. Will sell it when fixed. We’re done with Mazda!

Maybe the dealership your taking the car too is doing something to the vehicle. To make that happen. That problem is not common problem amongst these vehicles. I have 2016 CX-5 GT with 115,000 miles with no engine issue, I use to have a 2015 Mazda 6 that I had from new till 127,000 miles with no engine issues ever.

 

[mazpro00]

I use too be a Uber driver and pack miles on my vehicles fast

 

[blaf]

Maybe the dealership your taking the car too is doing something to the vehicle. To make that happen. That problem is not common problem amongst these vehicles. I have 2016 CX-5 GT with 115,000 miles with no engine issue, I use to have a 2015 Mazda 6 that I had from new till 127,000 miles with no engine issues ever.

Lucky you! My son had his Mazda 6 serviced at the dealer the whole time. At 40,000, there isn’t much service. I have my oil changed every 3000 miles by a guy that used to work at Honda. I get it. Like I said, I have owned 4 with lots of miles.
Apparently, its not that unusual. Are u reading the posts?

 

[blaf]

I’m disappointed because I have trusted them until now. There are tons of CX 5s on the road. Doesn’t mean they won’t have problems. I truly hate buying cars. So much research and I don’t like getting screwed over by the dealer

 

[ɛ̃fini]

Sorry about your issues. Is your CX-5 turbo? Non-turbo?

 

[181962]

Maybe the dealership your taking the car too is doing something to the vehicle. To make that happen.

While it's not common, Mazda did make some kind of cylinder head redesign or manufacturing change for for 2018 - 2021 2.5L non-turbos:

Mazda TSB SA-031-21 — 2019 CX-5 | CarComplaints.com

Mazda TSB SA-031-21: Technical Service Bulletin for the 2019 Mazda CX-5.

www.carcomplaints.com

Now, unlike a similar TSB for turbos (cracked manifold near a cylinder head) where an error in a material manufacturing process was mentioned, there's no reason mentioned in the complete TSB for the normally aspirated. However, one must reckon there's a reason.

It's not anything I worry about. I check oil and coolant levels a little more often, so far so good. As these vehicles age we'll see if frequency goes up. I've got a CPO drive train warranty--I'll reevaluate that before it runs out.

So far, Consumer Reports gives 2018's an average reliability grade for "engine-major repair", 2019-2021 get the highest grade. Those grades blend turbos and non.

 

[181962]

I use too be a Uber driver and pack miles on my vehicles fast

Weren't turbos first introduced in the 2019 model year? I assumed the OP's 2018 is a normally aspirated.

 

[ColoradoDriver]

Not sure and it’s tough with the prices of new cars these days. I generally keep my cars til the wheels fall off but I’m definitely not crazy about this one.

Sorry to hear about your troubles. My 2014 CX-5 is over 9 years old (bought in April 2013, manufacture date of 1/2013) with 114k miles on it now and I've yet to have anything really major wrong with it. Lock actuators a couple years back needed replacement, and also had the oil pan resealed as there was a leak, and an early model part in the shifter that I replaced myself for $50, but otherwise been pretty rock solid.

I think sometimes you just get unlucky.

Weren't turbos first introduced in the 2019 model year? I assumed the OP's 2018 is a normally aspirated.

2018 was when they started doing cylinder deactivation on the NA engines, and the turbos I believe were 2019, but don't recall.

 

[ceric]

2.5T was optional (some models) on '18 Mazda6 and CX-5 and was standard on CX-9.

 

[181962]

2.5T was optional (some models) on '18 Mazda6 and CX-5 and was standard on CX-9.

Upon further investigation the the turbo was not available on 2018 CX-5. No matter. The OP may have already permanently exited.

 

[Jack Rabbit]

Maybe the dealership your taking the car too is doing something to the vehicle. To make that happen. That problem is not common problem amongst these vehicles. I have 2016 CX-5 GT with 115,000 miles with no engine issue, I use to have a 2015 Mazda 6 that I had from new till 127,000 miles with no engine issues ever.

Like wine, i think you have a good year(2016) as far as engines go.

I had a Toyota manufactured in the early 90's before they had all the problems with the death accelerator in the 2000.

Elon Musk and Tesla have the automated car death problems.

Every manufacturer has some year cars that are perfect and then car years that tank.

I am unlucky that recently purchased a 2018 Mazda CX5 na.

The cylinder head crack problem was kept low profile and not on consumer reports, car and driver, etc.
For my next vehicle I'll be checking message boards and TSB before purchase.

For now, I just keep getting oil analysis and hope it breaks before warranty.

As far as dealerships, or any other shady mechanic, they can pull some shady things like pulling fuses or disconnecting sensors so you bring the car back but they would never pull anything of that magnitude to deliberately damage an engine.

 

[Jack Rabbit]

In my family, we have bought 5 Mazdas. My son’s 2015 Mazda 6 with 50,000 miles started out with a gasket problem. Fixed, drove out of dealer and engine light comes on. Goes back, there are metal flakes in the oil pan. All maintenance and oil changes done at the dealer. Needed a new engine. That was 2 months ago.
I have a 2018 CX5 with 40,000 miles. It has a crack in the cylinder head. No loaner cars available. Not a good sign. Will sell it when fixed. We’re done with Mazda!

You might be overreacting.

Sure it sucks having a major repair and maybe you may want to get a different brand vehicle when you buy new.

But this was one of the few major problems with the CX5 and luckily yours broke before warranty. I'm hoping mine does the same before the warranty expires.

At this point you might as well keep and switch brands after you've ran this one into the ground.

You know the saying "Better the devil you know than the devil you don't."

 

[blaf]

You might be overreacting.

Sure it sucks having a major repair and maybe you may want to get a different brand vehicle when you buy new.

But this was one of the few major problems with the CX5 and luckily yours broke before warranty. I'm hoping mine does the same before the warranty expires.

At this point you might as well keep and switch brands after you've ran this one into the ground.

You know the saying "Better the devil you know than the devil you don't."

I thought about that a lot today…everything you said. Would be nice if I could get a good deal on a trade-in for another Mazda!

 

[Anchorman]

Is the cracked head a known problem? Has it been fixed in production?

 

[Kedis82ZE8]

https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2022/MC-10209757-0001.pdf

 

[Buzzman12]

.I had a Toyota manufactured in the early 90's before they had all the problems with the death accelerator in the 2000.

Elon Musk and Tesla have the automated car death problems.

Every manufacturer has some year cars that are perfect and then car years that tank.

So true. I'm a senior now, so I have been buying and driving cars for over 50 years.
Every make and model has had some sort of issue at some point.
My 1973 Celica had the 1.8 engine with defective valve seats (design flaw), resulting in major power loss and oil burning.
Moving up, the 1996-2004 Nissan Pathfinder had rust issues resulting in collapsing strut towers. Lifetime recall issued by Nissan. (I had a 2002).
My 2003 Sentra Se-R had catback issues resulting in destroyed engines (2.5l). Another recall by Nissan.
More recently, Honda 1.5l turbo serious oil dilution issues and no heat in winter (CR-V), so bad that China halted CR-V sales until Honda fixed the problem.
I could go on, but you get the idea. Hopefully Mazda stands behind their product and takes care of this cracked cylinder head issue.