My take on the CX-5 after 20,000 miles

[Goin' Ham]

Hello everyone,

I'm new to the forum, I bought a 2015 CX-5 grand touring AWD in August of 2014. Just wanted to post a write-up on it. I've really enjoyed it so far and love the fact Mazda has active owner forums.

I think I paid around $30k for it, out the door for just shy of $32k with 60 month 0% financing. Didn't do a ton of haggling on the price but did get $500 off for a loyalty discount and maybe $500 off for a supplier discount. I bought it because my wife and I were having our first baby and needed something that could fit 3 + our gigantic yellow lab.

Our 2007 Mazda 6 wasn't going to cut it, especially because it went over 120K miles on stock pretty much everything except brakes, plugs, and oil. It needed work but wow what a car! It sold on craigslist in 24 hours. So back to the Mazda dealership I went....

And here it is:

Little background on my driving style. I drive fast; always at least 5 over on surface streets and at least 80 on the highway. I also love smashing the gas on the on-ramp, and stop lights that open up to a clear long stretch of open road. So ya, I really enjoy driving.

Overall driving experience

I love it. Good mix of power and comfort. Not over the top in either department, good family car to make that 9-5 commute and still be fun to drive on long road trips.

Best attribute
Handling, without a doubt! This thing feels glued to the road. Steering and braking responsiveness are what make this thing awesome.

Worst feature
Bluetooth on the radio. Wholly crap why does it take so long to sync with my phone? At least once it pairs up, it's locked until you turn the car off. I'm an IT guy and slow technology drives me nuts.

Mileage
I honestly don't care about mileage. My take here goes something like this. I bought this car with the knowledge that I'll realistically see ~25 MPG. So I'm very content with the mileage. I don't expect 30+ like my old 6. My other vehicle has always been a V8 pickup truck. Anything is better than that.

Transmission
C'mon Mazda. Give customers a manual transmission option with the best engine and top trim. Don't saddle customers with the small engine and base trim just to have a stick shift. I would trade a cup holder and garbage collecting pockets for a stick shift. Sign of the times I guess. That being said, the auto in this car seems fine. Just like every other automatic transmission on the planet without aftermarket trans tuning this thing lugs, short shifts, all that crap to keep the EPA happy. But at around half throttle it really shifts nicely; keeps the RPM up. I just hate the 1-2 shift coming on so early during normal driving. At least it doesn't lug around town in 6th at 40 mph. I'll change the fluid around every 40k miles and hope it lasts me to 150k without issue.

Engine
Power is tough for me to judge. I have other vechicles with bigger engines so it makes this one seem a little slow - but I don't think that is a fair review. But since I've never driven anything else in the same class as the CX-5 I can't really rate the power any other way. Seat of the pants tells me the CX-5 is slightly faster than my old 6. Wife thinks the 6 was faster, but it had a stick which makes every car seem like a mustang

Best I can say is this, it has enough power to put a smile on my face. Now this is hilarious - I saw someone towing at least a 20' pontoon boat with a CX-5 not long after I bought mine! haha...good try.

AWD
I'm very content with AWD. Gets me into areas with at least 12" of snow...and gets me out. Love that the traction control button completely disables it so I can spin the tires to get out! Handles wet weather very well. I was headed up to northern Michigan during a major downpour right at the base of the Zilwaukee bridge. Cars were hydroplaning everywhere and the CX5's AWD kept me planted. Not quite 4lock though. The simplicity of 'always on' is a big win for AWD. The operator doesn't need to worry about shifting into 4wd or anything like that.

Tires
Snow = just ok
everything else = great!
probably get around 40K out of them based on current wear. But I haven't even rotated them yet.

Only small negative is under-steer in corners in slippery snow when off-power. No doubt that's related to my driving style but other vehicles I've owned and driven similarly have done better. I attribute this somewhat to a little bit of lag when getting on the accelerator quickly after braking. I'm used to a manual transmission - you hit the gas when the clutch is engaged and the vehicle goes. I think the CX-5 takes longer to get back on power and therefore won't bring itself around the turn with AWD quick enough. Not sure if I really nailed that technical explanation well enough for anyone else but me to understand but hopefully so! Again a very small negative in my opinion.

Seats and Interior
I have back problems; seat comfort is about as important as it gets for me. The top trim leather is nice. Good adjustments and comfortable driving posture. Lumbar is comfortable. I read reviews complaining about how hard the seat is. I also saw the new CX-5 at the Detroit auto show a month back. I honestly like the old seats I have better. The gague cluster is just ok. Good layout but nothing overly classy. Same with the rest of the interior. About what I would expect from a $30k SUV.

A rear facing car seat in the back is only accomplished comfortably by placing it in the middle. That's a bit of a pain to load the kiddo. A car seat on either side causes the front passenger to kiss the dash. My 100LB dog fits in the back nicely. So does a road trip full of stuff. Just not at the same time.

Service
I've done 3 oil changes myself, and replaced the rear windshield wiper arm. I love how easy an oil change is with the location of the drain plug and filter. The plastic trim crap is annoying though but sure does keep things clean. A quick scan though the factory shop manual and it looks like a pretty standard car to service. Thank you Mazda for actually allowing customers affordable access to a decent factory shop manual. I need pick up some new jack stands for the unibody frame supports but just an excuse to buy another tool!

BTW, the first free oil change was done by the dealer as part of that sales crap that says "bring it back to us so we can make sure it's running optimally and we'll check everything and blah blah blah." Mr gorilla hands oil jockey wrenched that filter on so hard he dented it. Good lord. I hate dealer service departments. And oh if anyone needs service for a broken rear wiper arm good luck. Not covered... But the part is $40 and a 10 minute job so who cares.


So ya - there you go. I'm tired of writing but hopefully other will chime in with similar experiences and give this thread some life and make it a fun read for everyone!

 

[xtrailman]

Nice post.

 

[Triton46]

Nice review. At 25k (including the bad back and 2 kids) I agree with your review.

I have the same color as yours except mine is a 2013.

 

[mazdadude]

Welcome to the forum!

Well written, and I have to say that I agree with everything, except for your lack of tire rotations. (naughty)

Your under-steer issue might be better if you put the transmission into Manual mode to hold the gear.

 

[yrwei52]

Welcome to the forum!
Well written, and I have to say that I agree with everything, except for your lack of tire rotations. (naughty)

Yeah, the 5K-mile tire rotation is very important to keep an AWD system working properly.

 

[Lbear]

Yeah, the 5K-mile tire rotation is very important to keep an AWD system working properly.

Front back to back or do they have to be side to side tire rotations?

 

[mazdadude]

Front back to back or do they have to be side to side tire rotations?

Ideally you should alternate.

 

[VRCX5]

Great post. I love reading reviews from someone that's lived with the car for a chunk of time. It's reviews like this that drove me to buy mine!

 

[yrwei52]

Yeah, the 5K-mile tire rotation is very important to keep an AWD system working properly.

Front back to back or do they have to be side to side tire rotations?

I move 2 front tires to rear on the same side, then cross 2 rear tires to front, LR to RF and RR to LF, as indicated on page 6-43 of owner's manual.

 

[SpoofeeDotCom]

Not a CX-5 owner yet, but I really appreciate this write-up.

I've been / still on the fence because I'm coming from a luxury car.

Debating new CX-5 vs used RX350. (both looking around $30-35k).

 

[yrwei52]

Not a CX-5 owner yet, but I really appreciate this write-up.
I've been / still on the fence because I'm coming from a luxury car.
Debating new CX-5 vs used RX350. (both looking around $30-35k).

To me, it's an easy choice as I've always been getting new cars for much longer warranty and less chance of having problems. Not to mention you can enjoy all the latest technologies coming with a new car. Besides, I always have doubts that why the previous owner traded in a 3-year-old car if it's in perfect condition.

RX is a larger CUV, NX is a compatible-sized Lexus to CX-5. Do you really want a bigger CUV and V6 which will be less fuel efficient?

I understand the thought of downgrading from a luxury car to CX-5 may not be easy. But a brand new CX-5 with many new technologies from iActivSense package, which are not available on a used RX, should compensate the satisfaction of driving a used luxury CUV.

 

[Unobtanium]

Not a CX-5 owner yet, but I really appreciate this write-up.

I've been / still on the fence because I'm coming from a luxury car.

Debating new CX-5 vs used RX350. (both looking around $30-35k).

Whatever you do, I'd buy used. I got my 2015 Touring AWD 2.5 CX-5 for $21k, with 28k miles on it, and got offered $2k over KBB trade-in on my trade. Much better deal than new! I can also tell you now, having bought new cars "because noone else would have a chance to mess them up", you can just as easily get a new POS as a used POS. The warranty is there, regardless! Take advantage of someone else having the initial hit.

 

[Av8torjim]

Not a CX-5 owner yet, but I really appreciate this write-up.

I've been / still on the fence because I'm coming from a luxury car.

Debating new CX-5 vs used RX350. (both looking around $30-35k).

I came from a BMW 328i and really enjoy driving the CX-5. It doesn't have the smooth, "quiet" power delivery of a BMW I-6 (what does?), but it's plenty powerful for around town driving.

My wife has been driving her father's leased 2013 RX350 to use up the miles he has left before he turns it in. I've had a lot of opportunities to drive it. I like it, but it's certainly not as sporty as the CX-5. It's a little larger and feels a lot heavier and ponderous in it's handling, which isn't bad, but is not sports car-like. It's plusher, but I don't care for the looks of the interior. The dashboard controls, particularly the climate controls, are confusing. I'd probably get used to them, but I don't like the fact that you can't see what the temperature is set to without pushing a button. The display autohides after a few seconds. The ride is firm and it's considerably quieter than the CX-5. Of course, the fuel economy is not quite as good, but it's not terrible. The cars sit next to each other in our driveway and to my taste, the CX-5 is a better looking car. The newer RX's are even more polarizing.

We are considering buying the Lexus off lease, and can probably get it for about $2,000 less than I just paid for the 2016 CX-5. I'm struggling with the decision. My wife likes the Lexus (She's not a big car person. She has driven two different Honda Odysseys since 2002 and loves them.), so we may end up with it and give her parents the van, which is more suitable for them in their advancing age.

Good luck with the decision. You probably can't make a bad decision, although I elected to buy the CX-5 over an Audi Q5, BMW X-1 and Lexus RX350 (all of which would have been considerably more expensive optioned out similarly).

 

[sillyxone]

Whatever you do, I'd buy used. I got my 2015 Touring AWD 2.5 CX-5 for $21k, with 28k miles on it, and got offered $2k over KBB trade-in on my trade. Much better deal than new! I can also tell you now, having bought new cars "because noone else would have a chance to mess them up", you can just as easily get a new POS as a used POS. The warranty is there, regardless! Take advantage of someone else having the initial hit.

For cameras (DSLR), I actually prefer manufacturer refurbished (Nikon) because unlike brand new items that only got sampled for quality control, the refurbished items actually got inspected and adjusted by a technician. So far, all of my 3 refurbished cameras had brand new look (no scratch, no dent, ...) with few shutter counts (17, 41, 324). They also come with 90-days warranty so I make sure I do use them to their fullest initially.

However, for cars, I'm not confident in buying used. My brother-in-law is a mechanic, and he knows how to check and look for signs of problems, as well as using Carfax to check the car's history for major damage, but he wouldn't be so sure if the previous owner kept up with maintenance or abused the engine. Today's car is just too complex, especially with high compression ratio like the SkyActiv engine, I don't know if I want to take that risk especially if I plan to keep the car for long term.

Given how you have more complaints about yours comparing to the average /rest of us, could it be something you inherit from the previous owner? Just speculating based on the statistics, no particular reason.

 

[Unobtanium]

For cameras (DSLR), I actually prefer manufacturer refurbished (Nikon) because unlike brand new items that only got sampled for quality control, the refurbished items actually got inspected and adjusted by a technician. So far, all of my 3 refurbished cameras had brand new look (no scratch, no dent, ...) with few shutter counts (17, 41, 324). They also come with 90-days warranty so I make sure I do use them to their fullest initially.

However, for cars, I'm not confident in buying used. My brother-in-law is a mechanic, and he knows how to check and look for signs of problems, as well as using Carfax to check the car's history for major damage, but he wouldn't be so sure if the previous owner kept up with maintenance or abused the engine. Today's car is just too complex, especially with high compression ratio like the SkyActiv engine, I don't know if I want to take that risk especially if I plan to keep the car for long term.

Given how you have more complaints about yours comparing to the average /rest of us, could it be something you inherit from the previous owner? Just speculating based on the statistics, no particular reason.

I doubt it. What complaints do I have that are the fault of the car? Absolutely nothing has broken except the diff, which was due to water incursion, which did not happen previous to my ownership. I have had zero issues with the car that I could trace to a previous owner.

 

[sillyxone]

I doubt it. What complaints do I have that are the fault of the car? Absolutely nothing has broken except the diff, which was due to water incursion, which did not happen previous to my ownership. I have had zero issues with the car that I could trace to a previous owner.

You had some performance problems, it's not fast enough for you My speculating was partly just teasing you, no offense. I know there're millions of used cars out there working just fine, my previous '99 Civic was also a used car that still works (except for the failed oxygen sensor), although the previous owner was a young man modding it with a bigger muffler and probably a little to the engine too.

I guess I'm just not good with bargaining, or just too lazy/scared to deal with potential hassles :-(

 

[Unobtanium]

You had some performance problems, it's not fast enough for you My speculating was partly just teasing you, no offense. I know there're millions of used cars out there working just fine, my previous '99 Civic was also a used car that still works (except for the failed oxygen sensor), although the previous owner was a young man modding it with a bigger muffler and probably a little to the engine too.

I guess I'm just not good with bargaining, or just too lazy/scared to deal with potential hassles :-(

It's a cheap little SUV. I've not had any issues that I did not expect from buying something in its class. Mechanically, it's been rock solid, minus user inflicted issues, lol

 

[craigo]

At 27,500 and almost 3 years I also don't have much to report. Nothing major. Only these minor things:

- One squeaky door lock actuator replaced
- Control arm bushing replacement via TSB for suspension creak (I think this is finally fixed...yay!)
- Cowl tightening seems to have helped some minor rattles - they tried this before the control arm
- Gas cap recently failed pressure inspection (but no dash lights), so that was replaced

... and that's it

 

[yrwei52]

However, for cars, I'm not confident in buying used. My brother-in-law is a mechanic, and he knows how to check and look for signs of problems, as well as using Carfax to check the car's history for major damage, but he wouldn't be so sure if the previous owner kept up with maintenance or abused the engine. Today's car is just too complex, especially with high compression ratio like the SkyActiv engine, I don't know if I want to take that risk especially if I plan to keep the car for long term.

Agreed. This guy bought a used 2015 CX-5 Touring with 25K miles from a Mazda dealer. Carfax and Autocheck all came up clean, and it's been CPO'ed by the Mazda dealer! Turned out the CX-5 had rear ended someone, and had body work done! And now he had airbag issue dealer couldn't fix!

This is one of the reasons why I've always been getting brand new cars. Carfax, Autocheck, even the CPO, can't guarantee you anything. And I also believe there is a reason why the previous owner trading in two-year-old car with low miles getting the worst hit on depreciation but not to keep it for several more years.

There is no free lunch. You pay less for a used car, you're taking more risks having problems. Your resale value for a used car is also less. With complexity of modern cars, some problems are really hard and expensive to fix!

 

[Goin' Ham]

Nice post.

Thank you!

Welcome to the forum!

Well written, and I have to say that I agree with everything, except for your lack of tire rotations. (naughty)

Your under-steer issue might be better if you put the transmission into Manual mode to hold the gear.

Good call. I feel like a dweeb trying to figure out how to manually shift an auto. A total rookie. And the worst part?? It's something I felt like I was going to be good at. I'm a good driver behind a stick! But still can't get that one to feel right.

Yeah, the 5K-mile tire rotation is very important to keep an AWD system working properly.

So when I was shopping I looked at the Jeep Cherokee (talk about ugly) - just because it had the 4wd reputation. But today's 4x4 in this class is different animal then I'm used to - so I never even test drove one! I didn't want to feel let down. I would have expected and wanted late 90s/early 2000s 4x4 and that's not what I would have got.

And I finally came arount to it; I absolutely love AWD! It's sweet knowing you have all 4 wheels with the potential to put power to the ground on dry pavement. Hitting a corner hard and coming out of it flying is damn fun. My truck just blows the back tires out; CX-5 handles it in a badass way.

Great post. I love reading reviews from someone that's lived with the car for a chunk of time. It's reviews like this that drove me to buy mine!

Wow thank you man!