So long, Honda. Hello, Mazda!

I really enjoyed my ten months with the CX-5. After nearly a year, Honda finally came through with an apology and some goodwill that made it easy to get back into another Ridgeline. This week, I bought a new 2021 Honda Ridgeline RTL-E and sold the CX-5. Carvana offered 92% of what I paid for it. It's a crazy market right now. I only got 7% off MSRP on the Ridgeline, but the RTL-E trim is nearly as rare as hens' teeth right now. I financed all of the Ridgeline at 0% for 36 months.

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It's been nearly two months and the CX-5 is still sitting on the dealer's lot. The sticker price was $39K. I paid $33K for it a year ago. They had it listed for $32.5K for about 7 weeks, but recently increased the price to $38.5K.

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That is nutty. Per a quick check on Autotrader, you could get a new 21 Signature (not a '20 with 11,000 miles on it) for $2,500 less than that. I guess they think it ages like a fine wine.
 
I must have missed this news, beginning of April was kind of crazy for me, but a late congrats to you on your new Ridgeline! I hope it serves you well.
 
The short version...

I've owned 31 automobiles since 1989 including 11 new Hondas since 2006. My Honda experience started off great, but since 2016, each new Honda I bought had more problems than the last. Most recently, I had a 2019 Ridgeline that met the requirements for Texas lemon law based on the number of days it spent being repaired. Honda refused to provide any trade assistance to get me into new Ridgeline and I was unwilling to pay the full trade difference to a company that demonstrated no interest whatsoever in retaining me as a loyal, repeat buyer and brand advocate. Last week, I traded it for a new 2020 CX-5 Signature. I got KBB book value for the Ridgeline and bought the CX-5 for 15% below MSRP.

The CX-5 reminds me very much of the 2019 Acura RDX Advance I owned for a few months, but without the problems. I never paid much attention to Mazda until I started automotive writing a few years ago as a hobby and driving many different vehicles. Last Fall, I purchased a new 2019 MX-5 Miata Grand Touring that helped make the decision to put another Mazda in my garage an easy one. I've been working on a review of the CX-5 which I'll finish and publish in the next week or so.

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Did your 2006 Honda happen to be a V6 sedan? Other than crappy rotors that was a terrific vehicle for me up to 14 years and 100k miles. The only thing that ever needed fixing was a bum trunk release latch that the dealer rebuilt for a about $50. I hated to give it up, but my wife wouldn't get in it since knee replacements. She needed a higher get-in, so a 2020 CX-5 it was, first Mazda in 40 years of car ownership.

I'm quite happy with it except for occasional low gear lugs and mild jolts, a common complaint it seems with the 2.5L normally aspirated, often attributed to the cylinder deactivation function, but I have my doubts about that. Your turbo it seems would be immune from what I've read (or not read, as it were) around these parts. I've got my eye on TSB 05-002/20 as a possible fix come oil change time right soon.
 
The CX-5 I traded in nearly four months ago is still sitting on the used car lot at a Honda dealer. Here's the advertised pricing history so far:

03/31/2021 $32,500
05/22/2021 $38,498
06/17/2021 $39,317
07/09/2021 $32,684
07/21/2021 $36,475

For reference, the original MSRP was $38,980.

Did your 2006 Honda happen to be a V6 sedan?

It was an EX-L sedan, but it had the 2.4L I4 instead of the 3.0L V6. That was many years and many cars ago - it seems like I considered the V6 and appreciated the smoothness and power, but I was more focused on efficiency, simplicity, and price at the time.
 
The Ridgeline is probably the most reliable vehicle with an open bed (Colorado/Canyon, Tacoma, Frontier, Gladiator, Ranger, but it's not as reliable as a Civic/Accord/CR-V...or Mazda.
This is an interesting statement. You had to lemon law your '19, but think its more reliable than the competitors? I picked up a '20 Frontier last September (traded an '11 Tacoma which had been bulletproof as well). Pretty darn reliable vehicle (as it should be in its 16th year of production). I had a similar dissapointing experience with a '16 Acura RDX Advance before I went to my '19 CX-5.
 
This is an interesting statement. You had to lemon law your '19, but think its more reliable than the competitors?

Sure! One experience isn't necessarily representative of the majority. I have a nine year-old Whirlpool OTR microwave oven that still works like new despite most of them having experienced failed inverters and magnetrons with 2-3 years. Just because mine works perfectly doesn't mean I think it's a reliable model that I recommend. ;)
 
The CX-5 I traded in nearly four months ago is still sitting on the used car lot at a Honda dealer. Here's the advertised pricing history so far:

03/31/2021 $32,500
05/22/2021 $38,498
06/17/2021 $39,317
07/09/2021 $32,684
07/21/2021 $36,475

For reference, the original MSRP was $38,980.



It was an EX-L sedan, but it had the 2.4L I4 instead of the 3.0L V6. That was many years and many cars ago - it seems like I considered the V6 and appreciated the smoothness and power, but I was more focused on efficiency, simplicity, and price at the time.
What did they give you for the trade it? Someone can get a good deal on that CX-5.
 
Sure! One experience isn't necessarily representative of the majority. I have a nine year-old Whirlpool OTR microwave oven that still works like new despite most of them having experienced failed inverters and magnetrons with 2-3 years. Just because mine works perfectly doesn't mean I think it's a reliable model that I recommend. ;)
I can not miss this opprtunity of telling my experience with my Gusto Whirlpool microwave oven to balance and support your statement. My whirlpool micro has been a crap. Hardly two years old and allready making terrible humming noise (magnetron, transformer noise?) and about to die on me. The loss of power is clearly evident. Our older Panasonic micro lasted more than 10 years. In contrast to that the Mazda CX 5 is still sparkling after 3 years and 47000km of use.
 
I can not miss this opprtunity of telling my experience with my Gusto Whirlpool microwave oven to balance and support your statement. My whirlpool micro has been a crap. Hardly two years old and allready making terrible humming noise (magnetron, transformer noise?) and about to die on me. The loss of power is clearly evident. Our older Panasonic micro lasted more than 10 years. In contrast to that the Mazda CX 5 is still sparkling after 3 years and 47000km of use.
Generally speaking the quality of US brand appliances, even those used to be the better ones such as the KitchenAid® by Whirlpool, has been going to the wrong direction. My previous GE fridge lasted 22 years until the compressor burned out. Another smaller GE fridge is still working strong after 30 years (knock on wood). My Maytag washer and drier are still fine since 1983!

But the KitchenAid® replacing the died GE fridge has been problematic on ice maker and water supply, and both of them failed after the 1 year warranty expired. I just hope the compressor can last as long as the previous GE.

On the other hand, my 30 years old Panasonic microwave oven still works daily. I’ll keep getting Panasonic appliances based on my experience and excellent design, but unfortunately Panasonic doesn’t sell most large appliances in the US like they’re the major player worldwide.

As on Honda, even though I really like my 1998 Honda CR-V which has given me almost trouble-free 185K miles. But I won’t get another Honda based on too many recent reliability issues (and has been proven by Consumer Reports for recent years) and the strange design concept. Honda insists of using timing belt and cylinder deactivation on V6 that are also the turn-off to me.
 
I find it uncanny how many vehicles have ended up totaled after I sold them including an '08 G35, '09 Civic, '18 Accord, '19 RDX...and I just discovered that the '20 CX-5 can be added to this list, too. :(

It sold at auction a couple of months ago for a little over $7K with 58K miles.

It looks a bit different now than it did in the photo in the first post of this thread. :(

I still have the '19 MX-5 Miata - it just recently turned over 10,000 miles. :)

For the past year, my daily driver has been a 2023 Tesla Model Y - my first EV.

After having lived with the Tesla for a year and 17,000 miles, I doubt I'll ever buy another gasoline-powered vehicle.

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I find it uncanny how many vehicles have ended up totaled after I sold them including an '08 G35, '09 Civic, '18 Accord, '19 RDX...and I just discovered that the '20 CX-5 can be added to this list, too. :(

It sold at auction a couple of months ago for a little over $7K with 58K miles.

It looks a bit different now than it did in the photo in the first post of this thread. :(

I still have the '19 MX-5 Miata - it just recently turned over 10,000 miles. :)

For the past year, my daily driver has been a 2023 Tesla Model Y - my first EV.

After having lived with the Tesla for a year and 17,000 miles, I doubt I'll ever buy another gasoline-powered vehicle.

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Yikes! So how was your experience with the 2021 Honda Ridgeline that you bought when you traded in the cx5?
 
Yikes! So how was your experience with the 2021 Honda Ridgeline that you bought when you traded in the cx5?
In typical, modern Honda fashion, build quality was disappointing. The vehicle did not require any warranty repairs over the two years I owned it, but I did have to replace the front rotors at my expense due to brake judder. The fit and finish of my Japan-built Mazdas just can't be beat.

Based on what I read, I was expecting my Tesla to be poorly assembled and require lots of warranty repairs. It might be on fire in the parking lot as I type this, but to my surprise and delight, the fit and finish were acceptable, if not impressive for a vehicle from a company that has only been mass-producing automobiles for about 12 years. It has not required any warranty repairs...so far. The worst issue it had was a rattle caused by an extra bolt that was rolling around inside the front passenger's door that was easily resolved.
 
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