Cx 5 shopping

[gordonheimer]

Hi everyone.

I am replacing a 01 Blazer with 250,000 miles on it. I have narrowed down my vehicles to the Equinox,Forester, and CX 5. I enjoyed driving the CX 5 my only complaint was the visibility compared to the Forester. A local dealer has a CX 5 AWD Touring that I may take a look at today. I have never owned a Mazda and know nothing about them. I have always been a chevy guy but the Equinox isnt AWD and the engine seemed a little under powered, but had a very smooth ride. Can you guys give me any insight on the CX 5? Reliability? What you like and dont like about it?

Thanks!!

 

[wlong01]

Hi everyone.

I am replacing a 01 Blazer with 250,000 miles on it. I have narrowed down my vehicles to the Equinox,Forester, and CX 5. I enjoyed driving the CX 5 my only complaint was the visibility compared to the Forester. A local dealer has a CX 5 AWD Touring that I may take a look at today. I have never owned a Mazda and know nothing about them. I have always been a chevy guy but the Equinox isnt AWD and the engine seemed a little under powered, but had a very smooth ride. Can you guys give me any insight on the CX 5? Reliability? What you like and dont like about it?
Thanks!!

Read the reviews in Consumer Reports, Car and Driver, etc. Of the three you mentioned I would definitely choose the CX-5. This is my third Mazda in 30 years and all have been above-average in reliability. In the interim I've had Nissans, Acura, Honda and a Chevy thrown in. Chevy was the least reliable followed by the Nissan.

Plus the safety features and tech in the Mazda are great. Some of the features aren't offered in other brands until you get past $35k.

As far as visibility I don't see any problems, can you be more specific? Is it the rear headrests? If so they can be replaced with smaller after-market HR's.

 

[jcpharm]

i think the Forester and CX-5 are comparable and really depends on what you want/need to determine which to get. CX-5 pros are better drivability/sportier and fun feel, not-a-CVT transmission. Forester pros are fully-active AWD system, better rear-window visibility (although CX-5 has BlindSpot Monitoring on some higher trims) - there have been some reports that subarus burn more oil than they are supposed to (google it). Both are reliable. Both have pretty good fuel efficiency and better than average power for this segment. Test drive both and you'll probably figure out which one is better for you.

 

[MikeM.]

Hi everyone.

I am replacing a 01 Blazer with 250,000 miles on it. I have narrowed down my vehicles to the Equinox,Forester, and CX 5. I enjoyed driving the CX 5 my only complaint was the visibility compared to the Forester. A local dealer has a CX 5 AWD Touring that I may take a look at today. I have never owned a Mazda and know nothing about them. I have always been a chevy guy but the Equinox isnt AWD and the engine seemed a little under powered, but had a very smooth ride. Can you guys give me any insight on the CX 5? Reliability? What you like and dont like about it?

Thanks!!

Maybe take them for a longer test drive. If you still don't know which one you want, then it probably doesn't matter much.

 

[gordonheimer]

Thanks for the info everyone. To the earlier question about the visibility, the small rear window bothered me. I am going to test drive the Touring AWD today. Does Mazda still have issues with rusting?

 

[mazdadude]

Thanks for the info everyone. To the earlier question about the visibility, the small rear window bothered me. I am going to test drive the Touring AWD today. Does Mazda still have issues with rusting?

The small rear window is mitigated by the blind spot detection system, and the rear view camera.

As far as rusting, I know that if you are in an area that uses road salt or deicers, you are going to rust. (gah)

 

[Chris_Top_Her]

Equinox is on like a 10+ yr old platform. Did you look at what aftermarket mods you may want?

 

[gordonheimer]

The small rear window is mitigated by the blind spot detection system, and the rear view camera.

As far as rusting, I know that if you are in an area that uses road salt or deicers, you are going to rust. (gah)

Equinox is on like a 10+ yr old platform. Did you look at what aftermarket mods you may want?

The rusting is concerning, my last car lasted almost 15 years before I got tired of replacing parts. I was looking for something to last 10+. I live in SE VA, we dont get much snow yearly, maybe two or three storms if we are lucky.

Havent looked into aftermarket mods yet.

 

[ALafya]

I don't have any visibility issues with the CX-5. I did take out one of the head rests and moved it into the trunk (and you can get smaller ones). The size of the rear window is 'just right' when I look at the rear view mirror. With the backup camera it is really easy to drive in reverse. Forward visibility is very good - no complaints.

The Forester comes with a CVT, see that you can enjoy driving with it as some people dislike the feel. Otherwise, I think Subaru has for the most part addressed the oil consumption issue which plagued previous MY. Keep in mind it is due for a refresh, if it matters to you not to buy the last MY before a refresh. If you get the EyeSight package, that is a nicely done safety package. People say it has better AWD system.

The CX-5 is more enjoyable to drive. It's direct-feel 6AT is very good, though it aggressively tries to save gas. It responds very nicely in turns and is very nicely equipped even at lower trims (e.g. can get Navigation without the Tech Package). It also looks much better.

 

[wbw]

Not trying to push the Equinox, but they do offer AWD and a 3.6, 301hp V6. My wife just got a '14 with those features.

I'm on this forum because I'm looking at the CX-5 as my next vehicle.

 

[Kedis82ZE8]

Just my subjective opinion but I could never find any love for the shape of the Forester. Hopefully the oil issues are behind them now. Latest CR reliability survey does put Mazda a notch above Subaru.

One does have to just go out and test drive... some like a soft & isolated drive...other like something sportier or in-between.

 

[gordonheimer]

I went ahead and bought the Mazda CX-5 Touring AWD!

 

[mriber]

Woah, congrats

 

[pdlpsher]

Welcome to the CX-5 family.

 

[wbw]

I went ahead and bought the Mazda CX-5 Touring AWD!

Very nice. (cool) Give us a picture when you get a chance.

 

[mnm]

Thanks for the info everyone. To the earlier question about the visibility, the small rear window bothered me. I am going to test drive the Touring AWD today. Does Mazda still have issues with rusting?

Maybe I was the exception but I just got rid of a 10 year old 2005 Mazda 3 and I live in Chicago and that car had no rust. It was garage kept though.

 

[MikeM.]

I went ahead and bought the Mazda CX-5 Touring AWD!

Congrats!

Was it the second test drive that convinced you? Since cars are primarily driving machines, I think consumers would do well to put more emphasis on the test drive (as opposed to comparing add-ons and little convenience features).

 

[Kedis82ZE8]

As for rust... we had a '96 Protege 1.5L ('96-'07). It spent more than half of it's life outside and never noticed any rust. That was a great little car.... only problem... people liked to run into it about once a year. The dark blue probably didn't help.

A solid all around 32MPG no matter how hard you drove it....of course I think it was only 92hp and it was also saddled with an AT.

 

[supafish9]

I've just started car shopping and I've narrowed down my list to a CX-5 and VW Sportwagen. I'm pretty interested in the FWD touring trim but had a question about the tech package. Would you guys recommend it and if so, why?

Cell phones have a constantly updated map system but I'm trying to justify if all the LED lights and systems and the city brake support are worth the extra premium.

 

[CX-5um]

I've just started car shopping and I've narrowed down my list to a CX-5 and VW Sportwagen. I'm pretty interested in the FWD touring trim but had a question about the tech package. Would you guys recommend it and if so, why?

Cell phones have a constantly updated map system but I'm trying to justify if all the LED lights and systems and the city brake support are worth the extra premium.

The LED headlights are really good as are the LED tailights I'm assuming the CX-5 gets. Much brighter than any of Volkswagen's Xenons. I don't care about city brake support but I like the blind spot monitoring. Very Very useful. Volkswagen charges $250-$300 or so to update their maps. Mazda's are free.