Thinking of getting a CX-5, how's the reliability?

[Dr. Awkward]

Exactly! But there're more hurdles for Mazda to overcome - the perception of bad quality and reliability from the past. Poor sales figures on their new 2nd-gen CX-9 is a perfect example!

Anybody seriously interested in the auto biz knows that Mazda is low volume and I just assumed you knew I was referring to features, comfort, and real world performance instead of comparing sales.
I mean I did mention the lethargic Honda CVT in the next sentence.

Consumer reports has the CX 3 1pt. higher overall than the Honda in their ratings but in Car & Driver the Mazda led the field (240 pts.) and the HR-V (160) limped in at #5.
Only the Chevy Trax was lower.

From C & D:
Its this insistence on perfection in all things big and small that gives the CX-3 the win; its makers sixth straight comparison-test victory. Were witnessing the birth of a new dominant species all rightnot necessarily the subcompact crossover, but Mazda.

US News:
http://usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/cars-trucks/rankings/Affordable-Subcompact-SUVs/

 

[fdew]

Years ago CR disqualified a car and didn't even test it because the headlight switch worked in a non standard way and was not located where they thought it should be. I haven't checked there opinion of any car since. That was just over the top dumb. When I was looking at Mazda Car & Driver was a major influence. I want to know what people who like to drive think.

All the CR innovations are safety related. That is important but for me the most important attribute is handeling. I don't think CR knows what handeling means.

 

[ALafya]

The CX-3 is a much better handling car and looks awesome, but has a really small cargo volume and is not very practical vehicle. In fact, a Mazda 3 hatchback is better in every respect, except that it is not sold with AWD.
The HR-V is slow and not much fun to drive, but it is a very practical vehicle, with significantly more cargo volume as well as other ways to fit things inside. I think that with a bit more power, it will be much better. It might very well get the new Civic engines soon.

Consumer Reports ranks the Forester better than the CX-5 at their test drive. Most anyone else beg to differ. When the current gen Forester was coming out, it immediately ranked it high in long-term reliability. This happened when there was already known complaints about oil consumption in the previous gen Forester, which used the same new engine as well as in the Impreza that has a very similar engine.

 

[Kedis82ZE8]

I wish they sold the AWD Mazda 3 here in NA. That would be a strong candidate to replace my old G35x. I only purchase AWD vehicles at this point.

In fact, a Mazda 3 hatchback is better in every respect, except that it is not sold with AWD.

 

[Chris_Top_Her]

I wish they sold the AWD Mazda 3 here in NA. That would be a strong candidate to replace my old G35x. I only purchase AWD vehicles at this point.

Get some h&r for a mazda 6ish ride height and it'll handle better without affecting utility. Plus the awd components help lower the CG vs the WWD versions so it handles more like mazda3. With more internal cap.

 

[Chris_Top_Her]

I wish they sold the AWD Mazda 3 here in NA. That would be a strong candidate to replace my old G35x. I only purchase AWD vehicles at this point.

Get some h&r for a mazda 6ish ride height and it'll handle better without affecting utility. Plus the awd components help lower the CG vs the WWD versions so it handles more like mazda3. With more internal cap.

 

[Kedis82ZE8]

A ...6 AWD wagon would be perfect. My wife's grandma has a 2005 6 wagon that she loved so much that she was able to get insurance to cover almost up to 100% value due to damage in a wreck.

 

[Unobtanium]

The CX-3 is a much better handling car and looks awesome, but has a really small cargo volume and is not very practical vehicle. In fact, a Mazda 3 hatchback is better in every respect, except that it is not sold with AWD.
The HR-V is slow and not much fun to drive, but it is a very practical vehicle, with significantly more cargo volume as well as other ways to fit things inside. I think that with a bit more power, it will be much better. It might very well get the new Civic engines soon.

Consumer Reports ranks the Forester better than the CX-5 at their test drive. Most anyone else beg to differ. When the current gen Forester was coming out, it immediately ranked it high in long-term reliability. This happened when there was already known complaints about oil consumption in the previous gen Forester, which used the same new engine as well as in the Impreza that has a very similar engine.

Exactly. This is purely stupid. New driveline? hey! Let's rate it! We have no clue how it will really work...but it's the BEST!

 

[old-school]

My life would be so much simpler/cheaper if we shared the definition of "bad-ass", lol!

No problem. Your idea of 'bad a$$' wouldn't do to well on the stretch of dirt to the asphalt from my house. Not much in the 'bad' department but more on the 'a$$' side of the equation, lol! Like I said, no need, no interest...

 

[ALafya]

This 6 AWD Wagon would be an ideal vehicle for me.
Now that VW and Volvo bring their AWD/Wagon vehicles over, I hope other brands will feel compelled to do the same. I'd personally prefer this over a CX-5 because it handles better (with lower center of gravity), gets better fuel economy, is at least as roomy and with same utility, if not more. A 3 AWD hatchback would be OK too, though a bit less roomy in the back seat.

Please Mazda, bring it over!

 

[sunnyd]

This 6 AWD Wagon would be an ideal vehicle for me.
Now that VW and Volvo bring their AWD/Wagon vehicles over, I hope other brands will feel compelled to do the same. I'd personally prefer this over a CX-5 because it handles better (with lower center of gravity), gets better fuel economy, is at least as roomy and with same utility, if not more. A 3 AWD hatchback would be OK too, though a bit less roomy in the back seat.

Please Mazda, bring it over!

I would also love an Mazda 6 AWD Wagon (my short list came down to the CX-5 and Subaru Outback - I couldn't believe how roomy the Outback is). Unfortunately, North America just doesn't have the love for wagons that many other parts of the world do.

 

[yrwei52]

I came from a toyota / Scion family. my 2nd car is still a corolla - fully paid entering its flattest depreciation curve yet. We used to drive < 10K a year, from this year on we will do 37K in DFW. So the corolla will be the work horse.

Reason I did not go with Toyota is their scrapping of anything electric for Mirai BS. What I absolutely hate is their milking market with Prius's and not devoting enough to electric. if they are in bed with the big energy companies who will be supplying the 0 emission hydrogen fuel - atleast be open and pull out the Prius's as well.
They spent millions and sold the Rav4 EV for a loss. They could have continued what would have been a unique vehicle and rolled it out of California. But they just kept it as a compliance car.
My next car most likely seems to be from anyone but Toyota / Lexus.

Although we haven't bought any Toyota's yet, but I have to admire their dedication to quality and reliability, which are the only major reasons make them become the largest car company in the world (although VW overtook the title for a short time in 2015). From business point of view, Toyota made a right decision giving up full electric car and concentrating on hybrid. To me, unless the battery technology has a break through, electric cars simply are not realistic replacing ICE cars and hybrids. The driving range is not long enough, the best from Tesla is only 208 miles according to EPA. Even if you spend another $10,000 for bigger battery, it'd give you 265 miles. And mind you this is under perfect weather condition such as in California! Worse, once you run out of battery, you have to take a very long break to get your battery fully charged, even if you paid another $10,000 for much faster SuperCharger option, provided that you can find a charging station! I read an article that a person who drove his Tesla S from LA to SF. He needed to plan ahead for the stopping point which offers Tesla charging station within the driving range, and while there he had to take more than 2 hours of coffee break even though he do have optional SuperCharger! Not convenient at all nevertheless! I can't imagine how inconvenient will be with shorter driving range while electric cars are operating in the very cold winter in MidWest or even in hot and cold Texas as the battery performance would be dramatically dropped!

Of course electric cars are not true zero emissions. They only tranfer emissions from vehicles to power plants! And about 67% of the electricity generated in the US was from fossil fuels and 20% was from nuclear in 2015!

Hydrogen fuel? I heard even better "cold fusion" energy alternative in 1989 but I'm still waiting to see it been implemented in the real world!

 

[myke232]

I saw a Mazda 6 on the road yesterday and was like what the heck is that? Looked nice...

 

[Unobtanium]

No problem. Your idea of 'bad a$$' wouldn't do to well on the stretch of dirt to the asphalt from my house. Not much in the 'bad' department but more on the 'a$$' side of the equation, lol! Like I said, no need, no interest...

I'd buy an SRT8 Jeep if that were my situation, which is exactly what I'm contemplating if I end up selling my land and buying a house down a gravel or dirt road, which is a distinct possibility.

 

[ALafya]

I know that in general Toyota are very reliable, but the 2 Toyotas we owned were not very reliable.
A 94 Camry we owned had repeated issues with antenna mast, repeated issues with electrical cables breaking up at the trunk hinge (which was simply a bad design), had heating element leak, which caused a slew of other issues including needing to replace engine head gasket, then finally engine mount issues (and perhaps other things I've since forgotten). We sold it at about 100K.
A 2007 Prius we owned had engine oil leak, creaking shocks. It also had repeated issue with cheap interior trim piece falling off. Sold it before getting to 100K.

In contrast, all the Hondas we owned were all very reliable.

The Chevy Bolt is $37500, or $30K after federal rebate. It gets 238 miles of range. It is starting to make sense to get one as a commuter vehicle, considering HOV lane access with white sticker (in California), I can charge at work for free and not needing to pay for gas again
As a commuter car, to be used for 95% of daily needs, in households which have a 2nd car or don't do long trips anyway, it makes a lot of sense. With > 200 miles of range, which auto journalists found to be more than realistic, there is no range anxiety.
As posted earlier, even with coal only power-plants, EV still produces a bit less CO2 than gas engine and here in California, a lot less.

 

[ALafya]

In addition, auto manufacturers have unbelievable leasing deals and insane deals on used inventory of other EVs.
A friend at work owns a Prius plugin, which has no range issues but on a daily commute uses almost no gas, and, yes, charges free at work.

 

[yrwei52]

In addition, auto manufacturers have unbelievable leasing deals and insane deals on used inventory of other EVs.
A friend at work owns a Prius plugin, which has no range issues but on a daily commute uses almost no gas, and, yes, charges free at work.

Subsidizing... That always indicates something is not right...

In addition to knowing electric vehicles are not true zero emissions and only transfer emissions to power plants, we should also aware that electricity generated by power plants is not an unlimited energy resource to support all electric vehicles switched from ICE vehicles and hybrids. According to "Could Electric Cars Threaten the Grid?" article from MIT Technology Review, this may will be the case! And I'm sure you don't want experiencing another big rolling blackouts in California like the one in 2000/2001 due to different man-made cause:

"Some neighborhood grids just arent built for huge spikes in power demand. The rise of the electric car has utilities scrambling to adjust.
Electric cars can draw large amounts of power from the grid.
Plugging in an electric vehicle is, in some cases, the equivalent of adding three houses to the grid. That has utilities in Californiawhere the largest number of electric vehicles are soldscrambling to upgrade the grid to avoid power outages."

 

[Chris_Top_Her]

38k for less than 250 miles range... wanna be hippies buy this stuff. A mirage gets 40+ mpg real world (better than epa) with a small 150lb 3 cylinder engine that would be easy to repair. No electrical systems motors and control units , expensive batteries to consider and runs 10k-17k and have a 10yr warranty. It's good for oems when the govt is helping a consumer pay for their product (after bailing them out) and they get taxed less because the electric car lowers their fleet MPG average (think Smart brand of cars).

 

[old-school]

I'd buy an SRT8 Jeep if that were my situation, which is exactly what I'm contemplating if I end up selling my land and buying a house down a gravel or dirt road, which is a distinct possibility.

That's funny. Uh... no, dumb. I can't wait to hear you bellyache about it not meeting EPA mileage estimates...

 

[Unobtanium]

That's funny. Uh... no, dumb. I can't wait to hear you bellyache about it not meeting EPA mileage estimates...

Explain why it's dumb

My last hemi-powered Jeep exceeded EPA ratings, FYI.