Picked up my new 22 GT

[mrplt]

As the title says, I picked up my 2022 CX-5 GT today. I'm 23, and this is my first car; so I was reaaaaally excited. (Photos at the end of the post)
The dealership experience was underwhelming, just signed a bunch of papers and they handed me the keys. They gave me a brochure about Mazda Connect, but I already had the app installed and the VIN keyed in so didn't really need that. I thought they would give me a quick walkthrough of the car.
I've seen the car before and test-driven it, but my first impression was that the keyfob doesn't feel nearly as premium as the rest of the car. Picked up the car and drove around for a good 5-6 hours.
It drives like a dream. I don't have the Turbo, but still the power is more than adequate. It's really quiet as well, especially compared to other SUVs. No noticeable engine/wind noise until 110/120 kmh, I did get some tire noise but it could be because of the winter tires. Handles pretty well too, the steering wheel has a weight to it but it suits the rest of the car.
Most of the materials on the inside feel premium. (I am being nitpicky) I don't know why the bottom spoke of the steering wheel doesn't have a hole and instead is filled with a cheap-feeling plastic. The hazard light button also feels not as nice as the rest of the interior. Cup holders are made of really hard plastic. Aside from those three things, I love the interior. Everything is high quality, the gauge cluster is fantastic, I love the blend of analog and digital. The center multimedia screen is really high-resolution, and although it's not a touch screen I got used to the knob in a couple of hours. HUD is useful, I like that it shows blind spot monitor warnings. It's quite big, and you can change its position. I think it could get a bit brighter though.
Mazda app is not bad, I used it to send a destination to the car GPS; and it worked quite well. Although the Nav app did glitch once, showing me an empty dialog with no buttons to press. Went away when I restarted the car. Oh well. Other than that, I like the onboard Nav; especially because it shows me directions on the HUD. I don't need to take my eyes off the road.
I'd bought a Wireless CarPlay adapter, and it worked after changing a couple of settings of the adapter. Doesn't seem any different than Wired CarPlay, and connects fairly fast. Although it's not hard to use the knob for CarPlay, I found myself using Siri more. Took me some time to get the wireless charger to work, but once I managed to turn it on, it worked fine for 4 hours; at which point it gave me an overheating warning. 4 hours is more than enough time to fully charge my iPhone.
I also have a thumb drive with 60 gigabytes of FLAC files, and the infotainment system didn't slow down/glitch at all even with all those songs. It also quickly switched between songs. I'm not an audiophile, and I found the Bose system to be very very good; although a bit bass-heavy. Couldn't start my SiriusXM trial today, will try again tomorrow.

These are just some things I noticed today. Regardless, I am in love with this car; and beyond that; I am just in disbelief that I own this car.

 

[Hawke]

I don't know why the bottom spoke of the steering wheel doesn't have a hole and instead is filled with a cheap-feeling plastic.

With heated steering wheel will have that, without it will be a hole there.

 

[GTEyes]

With heated steering wheel will have that, without it will be a hole there.

That's so interesting. I always wondered why some pics showed it open and others did not.

 

[GTEyes]

These are just some things I noticed today. Regardless, I am in love with this car; and beyond that; I am just in disbelief that I own this car.

Congratulations! Here's hoping it's a good rig for you for many years to come.

 

[HyFlyer]

Congratulations on your new ride and I enjoyed your penmanship in the well written post

 

[sm1ke]

Congratulations on the new Mazda, and on buying your first car! It's always an exciting experience. Great colour choice too!

Regarding the Bose audio, if you want to "tighten up" the bass a bit, check out this Resource. All you need are some basic tools and some poly fill or pillow stuffing. You can also use sound deadening mats if you want, but the poly fill by itself reduces the muddiness of the bass.

 

[wlong01]

You can play around with the bass settings in the settings menu.

 

[concept]

That's a great summary, mrplt. What difference a few generations make. When I was 19 I bought my first car, a 1974 Mazda RX4 coupe. Whin two years I bought a 1968 Corvette Convertible. Sports cars are in my blood, I guess.
My son's first car was a 1997 Honda Civic CX Hatch (manual transmission) that we modded quite a bit - pillar pod with tachometer and clock, Eibach springs and shocks, 16-inch wheels, CAI, and Magnaflow cat-back exhaust.
He was popular at the high school. My daughter chose a Mazda Protege ES sedan. Each cost $5,000.

I guess you're a bit more practical that I was but then again, SUVs were few back then.

 

[hal2]

Peel off the dealer decal. The frame doesn't bug me like it others, I just paint it black

 

[eddie1976E]

Hell of a first car.

 

[Antoine]

Welcome and congratulations, @mrplt! Excellent introduction and write up…Thanks for sharing and nice color and pics as well…

 

[mrplt]

First of all, thank you for the good wishes!

Congratulations on the new Mazda, and on buying your first car! It's always an exciting experience. Great colour choice too!

Regarding the Bose audio, if you want to "tighten up" the bass a bit, check out this Resource. All you need are some basic tools and some poly fill or pillow stuffing. You can also use sound deadening mats if you want, but the poly fill by itself reduces the muddiness of the bass.

It’s been a very cold weekend so I didn’t really have the time to tweak things yet. Thanks for the link, I’ll work on it whe. The weather improves a bit!

That's a great summary, mrplt. What difference a few generations make. When I was 19 I bought my first car, a 1974 Mazda RX4 coupe. Whin two years I bought a 1968 Corvette Convertible. Sports cars are in my blood, I guess.
My son's first car was a 1997 Honda Civic CX Hatch (manual transmission) that we modded quite a bit - pillar pod with tachometer and clock, Eibach springs and shocks, 16-inch wheels, CAI, and Magnaflow cat-back exhaust.
He was popular at the high school. My daughter chose a Mazda Protege ES sedan. Each cost $5,000.

I guess you're a bit more practical that I was but then again, SUVs were few back then.

I kept looking at the MX-5 at the dealership, it’s honestly a really fun car that I’d love to drive, but it gets quite cold and snowy in the winter here in Montreal. I’ve been renting cars (quite frequently) for the last 2 years and even with winter tires I could easily tell the difference between a front wheel drive sedan and an AWD. And I wanted to have more space in case I was carrying boxes and stuff
Practical maybe, boring for sure. At least the CX-5 is not nearly as boring as the other SUVs in its segment

 

[ch3no2]

Awesome OP!!! Sharp ride- and first car, WOW!

Very much enjoyed the pictures- thank you for sharing with us.

 

[Freedom55]

First of all, thank you for the good wishes!

It’s been a very cold weekend so I didn’t really have the time to tweak things yet. Thanks for the link, I’ll work on it whe. The weather improves a bit!


I kept looking at the MX-5 at the dealership, it’s honestly a really fun car that I’d love to drive, but it gets quite cold and snowy in the winter here in Montreal. I’ve been renting cars (quite frequently) for the last 2 years and even with winter tires I could easily tell the difference between a front wheel drive sedan and an AWD. And I wanted to have more space in case I was carrying boxes and stuff
Practical maybe, boring for sure. At least the CX-5 is not nearly as boring as the other SUVs in its segment

Congrats on your new ride! I also live in Montreal so I know what you mean...You will also enjoy the front wipers deicer which come on with the rear defroster and side mirrors heaters Makes my life easier since my CX-5 stays outside.

 

[concept]

First of all, thank you for the good wishes!

It’s been a very cold weekend so I didn’t really have the time to tweak things yet. Thanks for the link, I’ll work on it whe. The weather improves a bit!


I kept looking at the MX-5 at the dealership, it’s honestly a really fun car that I’d love to drive, but it gets quite cold and snowy in the winter here in Montreal. I’ve been renting cars (quite frequently) for the last 2 years and even with winter tires I could easily tell the difference between a front wheel drive sedan and an AWD. And I wanted to have more space in case I was carrying boxes and stuff
Practical maybe, boring for sure. At least the CX-5 is not nearly as boring as the other SUVs in its segment

That's a good point. When I bought the 68 Corvette I was living in Connecticut, so I quickly realized that having that as my only vehicle was not going to "cut it" when it snowed. So I bought a 1968 Mercury Cougar for $300. Maybe you'll have a used MX5 and your CX5 someday. You can call them the "best of both worlds".

 

[hooked]

Congrats! Definitely take off the dealer sticker. It sounds like you didn’t have a really positive experience with them, so why advertise for them? Also switch out their license plate frame.

When I had my Honda Accord, I took off the dealer frame but every time I brought the car in for service, they’d put another one on.

 

[Buzzman12]

That's a good point. When I bought the 68 Corvette I was living in Connecticut, so I quickly realized that having that as my only vehicle was not going to "cut it" when it snowed. So I bought a 1968 Mercury Cougar for $300. Maybe you'll have a used MX5 and your CX5 someday. You can call them the "best of both worlds".

Hope you still have them, especially the Vette. 1968 was the first year C3, correct? Would be worth something now.
I think all of us remember our first new new car purchase. I know I do. I wish I still had it.

 

[CX-5um]

Handles pretty well too, the steering wheel has a weight to it but it suits the rest of the car.

Congrats on the new 22.

The weighted steering wheel helps give you more precise steering at freeway speeds and during corning. Having too light a steering wheel weight and it becomes jittery and artificial.

 

[concept]

Hope you still have them, especially the Vette. 1968 was the first year C3, correct? Would be worth something now.
I think all of us remember our first new new car purchase. I know I do. I wish I still had it.

I sold the 68 Corvette in 2001, right before I bought a new 2001 C5 Z51-optioned Coupe. You are correct in that the 68 was the first model year of the C3. The problem was with its brake light switch which burned out every couple of years. In my younger years I could leave the driver's seat in place while replacing the switch but eventually, I had to remove the seat to get at the switch. It was a pain to replace. I did own that car for almost 22 years, so I wanted something with modern day amenities (like air conditioning, power steering, and power windows). Rule of thumb: If you want a reliable sportscar, don't get a Corvette.
As for my first car, the Mazda RX4 coupe, well I smashed that into a cement wall after slamming on the brakes. It did not have ABS brakes which would've saved the car from destruction.

 

[cxha]

I kept looking at the MX-5 at the dealership, it’s honestly a really fun car that I’d love to drive, but it gets quite cold and snowy in the winter here in Montreal. I’ve been renting cars (quite frequently) for the last 2 years and even with winter tires I could easily tell the difference between a front wheel drive sedan and an AWD. And I wanted to have more space in case I was carrying boxes and stuff
Practical maybe, boring for sure. At least the CX-5 is not nearly as boring as the other SUVs in its segment

Many of us have both the MX-5 and a CX-5... as a matter of fact owning 4 Miatas over the course of 25 years is what convinced me to buy the CX-5. In the mountainous area of Northern California the CX performs remarkably well if you're willing to push it. We use it for our shopping and road trips and keep the Miata for spirited fun runs and leisurely top-down cruising. I can't think of a better pair unless you're willing to step up to the Porsches.