CX5 or Prius V?

[poison]

My wife's Passat is being Lemon Law'd (see that, VW? It's my middle finger). Check is arriving Tues. We test drove our short list yesterday, and narrowed it down to the Prius V and CX5. Obviously, the CX5 can be used in the same sentence as words like 'verve', 'passion', and 'joy'. The Prius V is a smug snoozefest, IMO, however...it's for her, not me. I have my P5, and want a new 3 or MS3, so don't worry about me.

My question is thus: How reliable will the CX5 be long term? I will NOT suffer another Passat-style debacle. I'm sold on the CX5, she's split, and I think the deciding factor might be reliability. The Prius is rock solid, as in ridiculously good. I see reports on True Delta, as well as here, of some issues with the CX5. I understand how forums work, and that people mostly post horror stories, not 'drive it, love it, zero issues'. Those seem to be non-existent with the Prius. We'll be keeping this car for a good while.

 

[V8toilet]

In Consumer Reports the CX5 has been more reliable than the Pruis V by a little bit. Only time will tell which one will be more reliable over the long haul but both companies have a good track record so I would just pick the the one that best suits your wife's needs. The Prius V gets much better fuel mileage but is less agile to drive while the CX5 gets top fuel economy in its class and is faster and a way better handler. The operating costs are less for the Pruis V.

Also the Prius V is a wagon more comparable to the Mazda 5 with a lower sill/ opening to get in and out of while the CX5 is an SUV, which is higher off the ground and therefore could be tougher to get in and out of for a small person. You might want to consider the Subaru Forester too with better gas mileage than the CX5 and similar reliability to the Prius. It also has huge wide openings that make it easy to get in and out of and very good visibility too.

 

[adv1701]

Just the smug factor would prevent me from getting a Prius,plus not so great looking. I have my CX5 now for 6 months and love it. My 07 3 is solid too. Mazda hands down.

 

[Seminole]

Most of the issues with the CX-5 are minor, such as the mirror vibration/hood vibration. None are sever enough to warrant a lemon law action. However, one thing to keep in mind is that the Prius V scored poor in the new small overlap tests. Now the CX-5 only got marginal, and a lot of cars are having issues with the new test, but the Prius was one of the few to actually score so low it was a poor rating. There's videos of the crash test for each vehicle in the links below:

http://www.iihs.org/iihs/ratings/vehicle/v/mazda/cx-5
http://www.iihs.org/iihs/ratings/vehicle/v/toyota/prius-v

 

[poison]

Great feedback, this is helpful!

 

[GAXIBM]

You should also look into the Prius warrantee and battery life if you plan to keep the car a long time you may have to replace the main battery which is a major investment. One of my buddies is planning to trade his Prius before the warrantee expires...

 

[F150Driver]

I just purchased a 2014 CX-5 and haven't driven it enough to comment on reliability. However, before I made my decision, I test drove the CRV, the RAV4, and also the Prius V. Of these cars, the Prius had the least amount of "balls" when coming up to freeway speed, or speeding up to pass a car. It was kind of a killer for me. My wife and I were still looking for a car with decent mileage numbers, that is the reason we looked at the small SUV's. Since this car was primarily for me, I went with the CX-5 because I liked the looks over the other cars we tested, it has a good reliability record, and it was priced right in our range.

 

[poison]

Nice. We'll see what we do, I'm getting the check from VW tomorrow, she needs a car ASAP.

 

[123373]

6800 miles on my 2014 and still tight as a drum. I think your choice will come down to how much room you need.

 

[poison]

cool, but...most cars are tight as a drum after 7k miles only. But here's to hoping she chooses the CX5!

 

[Nick3434]

I really like my cx5, but I come from 2 straight toyotas and our work uses toyotas for their vehichles. I have to say from my experience if it is based on reliability alone, I would get a Toyota 10 times out of ten. I have routinely watched toyotas go 200k with nothing more than oil changes, tire changes and brake pads...and I am talking working tundras, not grocery getting camrys. I was however willing to roll the dice on the Mazda because I like this car so much. My car also spent 10 days in the shop at 1000 miles over an o2 sensor/crappy service deptmart. Nonetheless I am trying to have a positive reliability outlook with this car. Forums are rough on honesty, you get either complete haters complaining on bad experience or fanboys, the reality is in between. If reliability trumps all and is sole decision, get the Toyota, if you factor in other things, cx5 hands down. That is my opinion anyway.

 

[deepfriedsushi]

I agree with Nick3434. Based on spreadsheet decisions, prius V wins. Based on driving emotion and quality, CX5 wins.

In my family, we're already on our second prius (first one got in an accident), and both cars have been super reliable. All we've done are oil changes and we've accumulated over 150k miles between the two.

I also see you have the P5, which I used to also own, and that car was super reliable too. I just kept up with basic maintenance and it took everything I threw at it (city daily driver, road trips, multiple track days) with no problem.

I would think the CX5 is also very reliable too, based on my experience with my P5, Miata and Consumer report's reliability history for Mazda3's with the skyactive engines and transmissions.

 

[123373]

cool, but...most cars are tight as a drum after 7k miles only. But here's to hoping she chooses the CX5!

Lol I know but all I got!

 

[Tom95134]

You should also look into the Prius warrantee and battery life if you plan to keep the car a long time you may have to replace the main battery which is a major investment. One of my buddies is planning to trade his Prius before the warrantee expires...

First of all, the Traction Battery is considered part of the drive system and therefore under the Hybrid Drive warranty. As I recall, this is 10 years or 150,000 miles in California.

Yes, there have been a few instances of Traction Battery issues but from all reports Toyota has stepped in and resolved the problem.

I have a 2005 Prius and it has been the most reliable car I've ever owned. Just now clocking 90k miles. I'm selling it to a close friend and the Hybrid Drive warranty will transfer.

If you are in need of more information try www.priuschat.com . That forum group has been very active since the very first generation of Prius (2002) and people are very helpful. I relied on it a lot when I was making my decision.

Hope this helps. I,m about to buy a CX-5.

BTW, does anyone know what the (A6) designation means?