I want to buy a 2023 CX-5. What are the major issues?

[yrwei52]

Yea, pretty serious. The C-D issues were long ago cleared up. Please share what other engine issues the current gen CX5 is experiencing?

As for these LED worries...seriously? These LED's will outlast your ownership of the vehicle. There was an issue on some 16's.
16s.
There have been no headlight issues since.

Cracked Cylinder Head with Oil leaking...How common is this?

 

[ch3no2]

Well, I shall throw my $0.02 in here.

As I have posted prior, I have been a Honda guy my whole life from my first car. No regrets.

I have always had 2 vehicles at my disposal, (and in the younger years motorcyles as well, until I realized I have no wish for bone screws and plates like my friends were getting) and the better looking half 2 cars as well.

It was time for another Honda Accord for me, but something happened.

I wanted to try a CUV for the first time. The CX-5 beats the pants off the CRV and RAV-4, no other contenders. Would rather have had a N/A V-6, but I went with the Turbo Sig, 2023.

Cyl De-Activation sux. Does not matter who tries it (Hello GM). I have supplied machines to Eaton that manufactures components for it.

I spent a lot of money (to me) on my CX-5. I have great faith it will last me a long time.

If I am wrong, well, it's a fun car and a cracked head can be fixed.

 

[yrwei52]

⋯
Cyl De-Activation sux. Does not matter who tries it (Hello GM). I have supplied machines to Eaton that manufactures components for it.

Couldn’t agree with you more ⋯

 

[wlong01]

Couldn’t agree with you more ⋯

Yeah the good old days - Cadillac's 8-6-4.

 

[yrwei52]

⋯
As I have posted prior, I have been a Honda guy my whole life from my first car. No regrets.

I was a Honda fan for many years too. I still have a 1998 Honda CR-V with 189K miles. But I won’t buy another Honda as I simply can’t agree with their philosophy in recent years. Their reliability definitely is going downhill too.

 

[yrwei52]

⋯
Would rather have had a N/A V-6, but I went with the Turbo Sig, 2023.
⋯
I spent a lot of money (to me) on my CX-5. I have great faith it will last me a long time.

If I am wrong, well, it's a fun car and a cracked head can be fixed.

The best attitude to face this dilemma!

 

[gazelle]

What is life expectancy of a CX5 LED headlight unit btw?
Google's "AI" Bard says it's 20-30k hours but then somehow translates it into 5-7 years of an hour-a-day use.
It either can't do basic math or is super intelligent and uses multi-factor predictive models

 

[Ole Remus]

Yeah the good old days - Cadillac's 8-6-4.

The Caddy 8-6-4 ranks right up there with the other GM All Stars!

• The Chevy Vega with the all aluminum engine that lasted all of 25K-30K before burning more oil than gas,
• The 1978 Oldsmobile 350 V8 gas engine converted to Diesel. It ate head gaskets... and cylinder heads. Those were so bad that Oldsmobile wouldn't take them back on trade less than a year after being sold new, with only 10K miles on them - after replacing the heads and gaskets twice under the 12K mile 1 year warranty!

Ask me how I know! I suffered through 78K miles before finally giving up on it. Two more sets of head gaskets later, and a third needed. When I sold it, It was boiling the anti freeze out of the radiator overflow tank. The fellow who purchase it converted it to gas. He got it for next to nothing.

I have not set a foot in a GM dealership since. Wow! That was 45 years ago!

- T

 

[ceric]

What is life expectancy of a CX5 LED headlight unit btw?
Google's "AI" Bard says it's 20-30k hours but then somehow translates it into 5-7 years of an hour-a-day use.
It either can't do basic math or is super intelligent and uses multi-factor predictive models

My '16 Mazda6 has the LED headlights and DRLs.
Still going strong.

25k/365 = 68+ yrs.
That math is only off by 10X. Not too bad.

 

[yrwei52]

My '16 Mazda6 has the LED headlights and DRLs.
Still going strong.

25k/365 = 68+ yrs.
That math is only off by 10X. Not too bad.

And no worries (for a CX-5). Even if these LED DRLs fail (they eventually will due to the corrosive gas emitted by the rubber seal of the headlights), you can use the recall to get them replaced for free (in the US).

BTW, both of mine failed within 3 years, and the new-car warranty covered the replacement. At the time it’d be $1,200 EACH if they weren’t covered under warranty.

 

[7eregrine]

Cracked Cylinder Head with Oil leaking...How common is this?

Doesn't look all that common to me and per that thread looks like it's been resolved for the newer cars. What else ya' got?

 

[wlong01]

The Caddy 8-6-4 ranks right up there with the other GM All Stars!

• The Chevy Vega with the all aluminum engine that lasted all of 25K-30K before burning more oil than gas,
• The 1978 Oldsmobile 350 V8 gas engine converted to Diesel. It ate head gaskets... and cylinder heads. Those were so bad that Oldsmobile wouldn't take them back on trade less than a year after being sold new, with only 10K miles on them - after replacing the heads and gaskets twice under the 12K mile 1 year warranty!

A

Yeah - good old Vega. Had a part-time job in college. The company had a Vega station wagon they used for deliveries. In the back they carried a case of motor oil.

 

[dunhillmc]

Cracked Cylinder Head with Oil leaking...How common is this?

The OP is looking at a new 2023. Have we seen any mentions of this on '22 or '23 models?

 

[cz5gt]

too new to know for sure
from the recent TSBs for 2022 and 2023 so far its electrical gremlins and infotainment/tcu issues primarily with few small exceptions but nothing major which mandates recalls or engine re-work

 

[potownrob]

Yes, Gen-1 CX-5 with the original SkyActiv-G 2.0L / 2.5L NA engine has been pretty reliable with no “major issues”. We’ve seen some vehicles reaching 300K miles. Personally I feel the last MY 2016.5 CX-1 for gen-1 should be the best overall for the CX-5.

However, I can’t recommend any CX-5’s 2018 and newer. Their 2.5L NA has added cylinder deactivation. The cracked cylinder head and failing switchable hydraulic lash adjusters however rare are my 2 major concerns. The other engine, the 2.5T, has also suffered the cracked cylinder head issue.

Those are the design issue, not a batch of bad production like the failing valve stem seals which caused oil consumption problem on certain MYs of the 2.5T.

Mazda has said nothing about design change on the cylinder head to the 2.5L NA with CD, which makes me wonder why would I want to get such engine in a new CX-5 and worry about potential head problem after the warranty expired? The 2.5T should be a safer bet, but the modified cylinder head and exhaust manifold haven’t been tested for long term. Remember the original head on the 2.5T seemed to be fine for the first 5 years since 2016 then quite a few head started failing which left the owners in the bad situation as many of them don’t have powertrain warranty anymore.

yes...yes...(evil laugh meme)...glad eye got a 2017 instead of a 2018, knot even knowing at the time why it was better. thankfully, the dealer i got my 2017 GT from wouldn't let me look at the 2018 GT Premium they had, supposedly since it had a bad rear differential.

 

[potownrob]

I have a 2023 cx5 turbo and about 4000 miles and so far no major issues or minor issues for that matter. the paint has chips already tho and I do not tailgate. I think Mazda's paint is very thin. I have the rhodium white. It also is light years behind other manufacturers in the infotainment. hard to believe no wireless car play or no Nav without their $450 sd card. I will say the turbo is a must have from a driving enjoyment stand point, which is really the main reason to buy a Mazda in the first place vs the competition.

it's a shame they don't make the paint job/clearcoat thicker/better on these cars, especially since they have some nice colors. i have the red and it still looks good, especially after a (touchless!) washing and waxing, but up close you can see the chips and even exposed metal in spots that got scratched. don't even think of using a brush on the finish. i got my 2017 used late last summer, but it supposedly came with the PPF or whatever it's called, but still has a good number of chips and scratches (note: car was supposedly mainly a nurse's highway commuter car). from afar it looks great; it's just when you get up closer you can see the chips near the front of the car. if you're OCD about paint chips, i'd either get a heavy duty paint protection or look elsewhere. i personally love the red and white colors.

edit: i have the non-turbo (they didn't introduce the turbo til the 2019 model year), but can understand wanting the turbo and wanting it vs. the newer non-turbos w/ CD. performance wise, i have no complaints about the non-turbo engine, except when the a/c is hard at work (turned up high and/or temp. turned down low). even on hills it's usually good and the overall responsiveness of the engine and transmission is good. could use another gear or two of course.

 

[yrwei52]

Doesn't look all that common to me and per that thread looks like it's been resolved for the newer cars. What else ya' got?

You’re saying the current generation CX-5 (gen-2 CX-5) in general there’s no major engine problems, now you just admitted the CD problem on gen-2 CX-5 were long gone? Are you saying the fallen rocker arm problem wasn’t a major engine problem?

The CD issues were long ago cleared up only on fallen rocker arm part. Now we started to see cracked cylinder head and failing switchable hydraulic lash adjuster problem on the 2.5L NA with CD however you think it’s rare. The Russian YouTube video you didn’t watch in the link, has clearly showed the 2mm thin wall at the cracked area that’s the enough evidence to me. Apparently you didn’t read the entire thread, especially those posts by edmaz.

 

[yrwei52]

The OP is looking at a new 2023. Have we seen any mentions of this on '22 or '23 models?

???

That post was replying 7eregrine‘s claim that the current generation CX-5 (gen-2 CX-5 from 2017 ~ 2023 MYs) in general has no major engine problems!

 

[dunhillmc]

???

That post was replying 7eregrine‘s claim that the current generation CX-5 (gen-2 CX-5 from 2017 ~ 2023 MYs) in general has no major engine problems!

I think when most people say the 'current generation' they mean what is new right now, not model generation. There are huge differences between a 2017 and 2023 CX5. Hell, in 2018 there were something like 200 small changes made to improve NVH. CD came in in 2018, the new infotainment system came in 2021 along with remote start. Turbo models have upgraded suspensions and brakes. Not to mention the rolling changes to parts when issues pop up

 

[cx5boo333]

Can we not fight about if CD is an issue or not.. CD issues has it's own thread which has been linked. You've all said your own opinions, there's nothing more to be done. I understand both sides, but everything in life is an opinion, so say yours and move on if someone keeps disagreeing.. the OP and everyone else reading the thread has seen what you both think, so trying to convince one person who thinks otherwise is besides the point of the thread, which is for the OP and future viewers to see people's opinions on major issues with the Cx-5. Hope this post isn't too rude or moderator-like, but this debate seems like neither side will agree with the other, and everyone else can see your opinion and pick which they agree with, so no need to keep butting heads in my opinion