Sure hope they fixed this on the 2017...

[paris1]

<div class="bbWrapper">So after suffering through heavy winter rains here in Northern California which, most of the time, rendered my back up cam totally useless because of water on the lens, my CX-5 was rear-ended two weeks ago and I&#039;m currently driving a Chevy Malibu loaner while it&#039;s being repaired. Two deficiencies in the Mazda are readily apparent in this comparison. First, what everyone already knows, is the infotainment system in the 2013 is just pathetic compared to this current-model Chevy. The one in the loaner is incredibly intuitive and easy to use. But the real shocker is when it rains and I get in the car expecting the camera rear-view to be totally obscured like in the Mazda, and <b>it&#039;s not</b>. It&#039;s always clear as a bell! Upon closer examination, GM had the common sense to tuck the camera lens further back into the deck lid at the top of the license plate mount so that it is protected from rain. Now why in the hell didn&#039;t Mazda think of that 4 short years ago?!(scratch)</div>

 

[wlong01]

<div class="bbWrapper">Yeah, GM pays attention to the little things and ignores the big things, like things that can actually endanger your life.</div>

 

[7eregrine]

<div class="bbWrapper">I heR a few folks complain about this. It is cool that GM did it right. But...We really shouldn&#039;t be THAT reliant on them that we get ticked over it, or call it a glaring deficiency.<br /> /Edit not saying your one of those people. I get you&#039;re only saying you hope it&#039;s improved. <br /> <br /> Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk</div>

 

[craigo]

<div class="bbWrapper">I know exactly why it is where it is. Look in the corners of the screen - the lens is wide enough you can see the lid. Moving it further back would obscure the view.<br /> <br /> The answer here is more about water management. The shape of the lid can be used to direct water away from the lens. My guess is the malibu simply gets lucky that its shape does that, rather than engineering it deliberately.</div>

 

[paris1]

<div class="bbWrapper"><blockquote data-attributes="member: 123874" data-quote="craigo" data-source="post: 6498025" class="bbCodeBlock bbCodeBlock--expandable bbCodeBlock--quote js-expandWatch"> <div class="bbCodeBlock-title"> <a href="/forum/goto/post?id=6498025" class="bbCodeBlock-sourceJump" rel="nofollow" data-xf-click="attribution" data-content-selector="#post-6498025">craigo said:</a> </div> <div class="bbCodeBlock-content"> <div class="bbCodeBlock-expandContent js-expandContent "> I know exactly why it is where it is. Look in the corners of the screen - the lens is wide enough you can see the lid. Moving it further back would obscure the view.<br /> <br /> The answer here is more about water management. The shape of the lid can be used to direct water away from the lens. My guess is the malibu simply gets lucky that its shape does that, rather than engineering it deliberately. </div> <div class="bbCodeBlock-expandLink js-expandLink"><a role="button" tabindex="0">Click to expand...</a></div> </div> </blockquote><br /> So my photographic evidence trumps your &quot;guess&quot; in this case. The top of the (slanted) Malibu lens is 3/4&quot; back from the lip of the deck lid. When you approach the car, you can&#039;t see it at all. Compare that to the CX-5. Mine is in the shop, so I can&#039;t measure it, but it&#039;s right there in plain view collecting rain drops when you walk by the back of the car. And flicking the water off doesn&#039;t do a whole hell of a lot of good. Granted, the aerodynamics of the blunt rear end of an SUV may make it even worse, but they coulda&#039; done a better job nonetheless.</div>

 

[craigo]

<div class="bbWrapper"><blockquote data-attributes="member: 110036" data-quote="paris1" data-source="post: 6498038" class="bbCodeBlock bbCodeBlock--expandable bbCodeBlock--quote js-expandWatch"> <div class="bbCodeBlock-title"> <a href="/forum/goto/post?id=6498038" class="bbCodeBlock-sourceJump" rel="nofollow" data-xf-click="attribution" data-content-selector="#post-6498038">paris1 said:</a> </div> <div class="bbCodeBlock-content"> <div class="bbCodeBlock-expandContent js-expandContent "> So my photographic evidence trumps your &quot;guess&quot; in this case. The top of the (slanted) Malibu lens is 3/4&quot; back from the lip of the deck lid. When you approach the car, you can&#039;t see it at all. Compare that to the CX-5. Mine is in the shop, so I can&#039;t measure it, but it&#039;s right there in plain view collecting rain drops when you walk by the back of the car. And flicking the water off doesn&#039;t do a whole hell of a lot of good. Granted, the aerodynamics of the blunt rear end of an SUV may make it even worse, but they coulda&#039; done a better job nonetheless. </div> <div class="bbCodeBlock-expandLink js-expandLink"><a role="button" tabindex="0">Click to expand...</a></div> </div> </blockquote><br /> The CX-5 camera is also under the lid, and looks about the same distance from the edge. What&#039;s different here, and you can see it in your photo, is the malibu has a slight curved lip in the plastic above it.<br /> <br /> Try pouring some water, see if it drips off or straight down. I just poured some on my car and the water hugs the lid and actually runs down around the edge some - enough to touch the lens, if its a good pourdown. It&#039;s the same effect when you tilt water from a glass and it runs down the side instead of just pouring out. But if you add a slight lip to the edge, it breaks the surface tension that causes the water to run around the edge.</div>

 

[Ricsta]

<div class="bbWrapper"><blockquote data-attributes="member: 123874" data-quote="craigo" data-source="post: 6498045" class="bbCodeBlock bbCodeBlock--expandable bbCodeBlock--quote js-expandWatch"> <div class="bbCodeBlock-title"> <a href="/forum/goto/post?id=6498045" class="bbCodeBlock-sourceJump" rel="nofollow" data-xf-click="attribution" data-content-selector="#post-6498045">craigo said:</a> </div> <div class="bbCodeBlock-content"> <div class="bbCodeBlock-expandContent js-expandContent "> The CX-5 camera is also under the lid, and looks about the same distance from the edge. What&#039;s different here, and you can see it in your photo, is the malibu has a slight curved lip in the plastic above it.<br /> <br /> Try pouring some water, see if it drips off or straight down. I just poured some on my car and the water hugs the lid and actually runs down around the edge some - enough to touch the lens, if its a good pourdown. It&#039;s the same effect when you tilt water from a glass and it runs down the side instead of just pouring out. But if you add a slight lip to the edge, it breaks the surface tension that causes the water to run around the edge. </div> <div class="bbCodeBlock-expandLink js-expandLink"><a role="button" tabindex="0">Click to expand...</a></div> </div> </blockquote><br /> Do you agree that the CX-5 design could be improved?</div>

 

[Guest2019C20]

<div class="bbWrapper">Do what I did as soon as I got the car home, and put some Rain-X on that camera lens.</div>

 

[joe6864]

<div class="bbWrapper">Workarounds may exist, but I agree with the people saying the design should be improved to fix this.</div>

 

[123373]

<div class="bbWrapper">Not just rain, but night vision is terrible even after adjusting the settings.</div>

 

[7eregrine]

<div class="bbWrapper">Min trying hard to stay out as a more recent owner but I really wonder if some folks are just really picky. I&#039;ve had mine not even 90 days. But I think the camera is great. I&#039;ve only been unable to use it once because if snow. Rain isn&#039;t an issue and I can see fine at night. <br /> <br /> Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk</div>

 

[craigo]

<div class="bbWrapper"><blockquote data-attributes="member: 141690" data-quote="Ricsta" data-source="post: 6498060" class="bbCodeBlock bbCodeBlock--expandable bbCodeBlock--quote js-expandWatch"> <div class="bbCodeBlock-title"> <a href="/forum/goto/post?id=6498060" class="bbCodeBlock-sourceJump" rel="nofollow" data-xf-click="attribution" data-content-selector="#post-6498060">Ricsta said:</a> </div> <div class="bbCodeBlock-content"> <div class="bbCodeBlock-expandContent js-expandContent "> Do you agree that the CX-5 design could be improved? </div> <div class="bbCodeBlock-expandLink js-expandLink"><a role="button" tabindex="0">Click to expand...</a></div> </div> </blockquote><br /> There&#039;s always room for improvement. Our 3 is much worse in the water collecting regard. Rain-X on the lens is a good idea.</div>

 

[xtrailman]

<div class="bbWrapper">My last xtrail wasn&#039;t as prone to rain or dirt, with both cx-5&#039;s I&#039;ve had, you have to routinly clean the lens.<br /> <br /> My 2013 car also had a better night picture than the 2015 car, but the 2015 car has a better day picture.</div>

 

[santa]

<div class="bbWrapper">You can actually buy an accessory in Japan that fixes this by spraying air over the lense when You engage reverse.<br /> <a href="http://www.mazda.co.jp/purchase/accessories/detail/KF124505" target="_blank" class="link link--external" rel="nofollow ugc noopener">http://www.mazda.co.jp/purchase/accessories/detail/KF124505</a></div>

 

[CX-5um]

<div class="bbWrapper">I would try hitting the lens up with some good paint wax or maybe RainX cleaner. It&#039;ll make the rain drops bead off better or minimize streaking and fogging. Some cars have features to help keep it clean. Most cars require you to clean it yourself.</div>

 

[craigo]

<div class="bbWrapper"><blockquote data-attributes="member: 151713" data-quote="santa" data-source="post: 6498165" class="bbCodeBlock bbCodeBlock--expandable bbCodeBlock--quote js-expandWatch"> <div class="bbCodeBlock-title"> <a href="/forum/goto/post?id=6498165" class="bbCodeBlock-sourceJump" rel="nofollow" data-xf-click="attribution" data-content-selector="#post-6498165">santa said:</a> </div> <div class="bbCodeBlock-content"> <div class="bbCodeBlock-expandContent js-expandContent "> You can actually buy an accessory in Japan that fixes this by spraying air over the lense when You engage reverse.<br /> <a href="http://www.mazda.co.jp/purchase/accessories/detail/KF124505" target="_blank" class="link link--external" rel="nofollow ugc noopener">http://www.mazda.co.jp/purchase/accessories/detail/KF124505</a> </div> <div class="bbCodeBlock-expandLink js-expandLink"><a role="button" tabindex="0">Click to expand...</a></div> </div> </blockquote><br /> I wonder how this works? Is there a tiny air compressor in there?</div>

 

[Mattyredsox]

<div class="bbWrapper"><blockquote data-attributes="member: 123874" data-quote="craigo" data-source="post: 6498328" class="bbCodeBlock bbCodeBlock--expandable bbCodeBlock--quote js-expandWatch"> <div class="bbCodeBlock-title"> <a href="/forum/goto/post?id=6498328" class="bbCodeBlock-sourceJump" rel="nofollow" data-xf-click="attribution" data-content-selector="#post-6498328">craigo said:</a> </div> <div class="bbCodeBlock-content"> <div class="bbCodeBlock-expandContent js-expandContent "> I wonder how this works? Is there a tiny air compressor in there? </div> <div class="bbCodeBlock-expandLink js-expandLink"><a role="button" tabindex="0">Click to expand...</a></div> </div> </blockquote><br /> Mine has a little elf.</div>