Welcome To The Mazda Family... The New CX-5!!!
#21
03-08-2012, 07:00 AM
Go elsewhere. I'm waiting 5 weeks for my order. A decent dealer will keep you informed.
I was thinking after the posts above that there might be a longer delay with US vehicles for a couple of reasons.
1. A lot more people - therefore more orders to deal with
2. The CX-5 in the US seems to be a few models with a lot of varied options.
A lot of the options are put on in factory, so it would make for a large amount of models to send to the US - but depending upon options, you're either waiting a little or a long time.
Down in Australia - simple: 3 specs, with only top one getting Blind spot monitoring as an option.
To make life easy - things like bluetooth, reverse camera and i-stop are standard across the range.
I was thinking after the posts above that there might be a longer delay with US vehicles for a couple of reasons.
1. A lot more people - therefore more orders to deal with
2. The CX-5 in the US seems to be a few models with a lot of varied options.
A lot of the options are put on in factory, so it would make for a large amount of models to send to the US - but depending upon options, you're either waiting a little or a long time.
Down in Australia - simple: 3 specs, with only top one getting Blind spot monitoring as an option.
To make life easy - things like bluetooth, reverse camera and i-stop are standard across the range.
Anyway, went to a different dealer and the difference is night and day. Not only did I get lower price without asking but he did not try to impose any stupid fees on me (like fuel surcharge for full tank). As a result my car wil be almost $1k cheaper (taxes/fees depend on base price so all changes stack up nicely when base price go down).
As it turns out this 'new' dealer sells a lot of Mazdas to people from my town so it seems like I'm not alone in my opinion about our local dealer. I wish I knew it on Saturday, I would not have lost 4 days and a lot of nerves.
#22
03-08-2012, 07:02 AM
I wish we got the iStop and that fancy center console control **** you can see in European models :-) Was wondering if the iStop is just a software thing and could be 'ported' or if it requires some different engine equipment?
#23
03-08-2012, 10:30 AM
Of course I have only limited experience with it at this point so I wish I had more info to report. As for the area in which I live, Florida.
I test drove several vehicles that were similar but ended up with the cx-5. The cx-5's MPG was untouchable, esp in city driving. No other vehicle had the same level of refinement at that cost. The list of available accessories is more accessible as far as pricing and the ability to get them for most of the cx-5's lineup. Try looking up other vehicles roof rack options, you get dead-ends or ridiculous pricing. i.e.
Equinox: Cannot buy factory base rack rail unless you buy LT model or higher.
CR-V: Factory base rack rail cost is near $700 usd.
Sportage: Can't even buy the base rack rail for the base model.
You guys that need roof racks know how important and simpler it is to have the roof rails on your ute.
As for my limited driving experience with it (approx 40mi) I can tell you that I'm most impressed with it's suspension; It's taut but forgiving and smooth. The steering is crisp as well. It's an overall tight little (but not too little) package.
One thing that surprised me about the cx-5 was the power. The power seems to match and at times out-do the competition, yet it is rated with quite a bit less HP.
Here are the list of the vehicles I compared it too before buying, I will also list them in order of favor:
CR-V (2012)
Equinox (2012)
Forester (2012)
Sportage (2012)
Nissan's rogue was way too feminine looking (plus I didn't want a CVT), so it was out. Same goes for the RAV-4 (that and I hate Toyota stealerships).
I test drove several vehicles that were similar but ended up with the cx-5. The cx-5's MPG was untouchable, esp in city driving. No other vehicle had the same level of refinement at that cost. The list of available accessories is more accessible as far as pricing and the ability to get them for most of the cx-5's lineup. Try looking up other vehicles roof rack options, you get dead-ends or ridiculous pricing. i.e.
Equinox: Cannot buy factory base rack rail unless you buy LT model or higher.
CR-V: Factory base rack rail cost is near $700 usd.
Sportage: Can't even buy the base rack rail for the base model.
You guys that need roof racks know how important and simpler it is to have the roof rails on your ute.
As for my limited driving experience with it (approx 40mi) I can tell you that I'm most impressed with it's suspension; It's taut but forgiving and smooth. The steering is crisp as well. It's an overall tight little (but not too little) package.
One thing that surprised me about the cx-5 was the power. The power seems to match and at times out-do the competition, yet it is rated with quite a bit less HP.
Here are the list of the vehicles I compared it too before buying, I will also list them in order of favor:
CR-V (2012)
Equinox (2012)
Forester (2012)
Sportage (2012)
Nissan's rogue was way too feminine looking (plus I didn't want a CVT), so it was out. Same goes for the RAV-4 (that and I hate Toyota stealerships).
I am very interested in the CX-5 and I am also concerned about the roof rack situation for my bikes as well.
Can you get the roof rails from third party vendors like Yakima or you have to order them via Mazda?
My current 03 Accord can hold 3 bike racks on the roof and I ordered everything through Yakima including the crossbars and Q-tips.
Thank you.
#24
03-08-2012, 03:13 PM
Hello bOLsAK3,
I am very interested in the CX-5 and I am also concerned about the roof rack situation for my bikes as well.
Can you get the roof rails from third party vendors like Yakima or you have to order them via Mazda?
My current 03 Accord can hold 3 bike racks on the roof and I ordered everything through Yakima including the crossbars and Q-tips.
Thank you.
I am very interested in the CX-5 and I am also concerned about the roof rack situation for my bikes as well.
Can you get the roof rails from third party vendors like Yakima or you have to order them via Mazda?
My current 03 Accord can hold 3 bike racks on the roof and I ordered everything through Yakima including the crossbars and Q-tips.
Thank you.
Last edited by bOLsAK3; 03-09-2012 at 04:18 AM.
#26
03-09-2012, 04:35 AM
Great news! It pays to shop around.
#27
03-09-2012, 04:37 AM
The control **** is missing from the Australian models as well. But I think the touch screen is very easy and reachable anyway.
#28
03-09-2012, 09:07 AM
If iStop is software, then it should have been included on US models. Didn't know that it was excluded. That would make the US probably the only market to be missing it.
The control **** is missing from the Australian models as well. But I think the touch screen is very easy and reachable anyway.
The control **** is missing from the Australian models as well. But I think the touch screen is very easy and reachable anyway.
According to Mazda the numbers on windows sticker would improve only about 0.1 or 0.2mpg in city driving test and they felt like it doesn't give them enough marketing leverage to justify the cost to the customer.
Further down in that article I've read that it's exactly the same with all other european brands (VW, Merc, Audi) - they all strip stop-n-go modules from their cars due to lack of interest in US. Only Porshe leaves it in panamera and cayenne because for them it's actually cheaper to leave it in than to strip it out. And people buying Porshe aren't really most interested in mpg either.
Too bad because the iStop is very, very clever system. It turns out they do not use starter to restart the engine at all. The simply 'park' the engin on top of the compression stroke in one cylinder and then when the engine gets signal to go they just inject fuel and ignite it with spark. It restarts the engine faster and cleaner/quieter than starter. Which suggested to me that it may be pure software thing, but apparently there are some additional sensors/wires or maybe different ECU installed for that.
Last edited by Tomasz; 03-09-2012 at 09:09 AM.
#29
03-09-2012, 05:12 PM
The roof racks from Mazda can be had for less than $300 for the rails and cross bars from mazdagear. They have several attachments for the racks. It looks like both Yakima and Thule are being used for the rack accessories from Mazda. You can also do the whole trailer hitch bike rack thing too if you needed (Which is easier for bike IMO) because the CX-5 has a hitch option/accessory. I looked on both of yakima's and thule's websites andthey have yet to list any parts on their websites. It usually takes them at least a year before they list their parts for new vehicles anyway, that's why I look to the mazda instead.
Please post some pictures with the rack installed soon.
#30
03-10-2012, 08:10 AM
I think the attitude will shift over the next few years with fuel prices ever increasing.
Testing here in Australia is already showering the i-stop system with awards. It's a faster system than most of the others out there, and tends to use less fuel in the restart.
Mazda i-stop engine-idling-stop system wins another major award
http://www.mazda.com/mazdaspirit/env/engine/siss2.html
In city driving in particular, is where the system shines. Under Japanese testing in urban driving, it lowered consumption by about 10%.
It's a fairly clever system in more ways that one. If the aircon is for example, at the highest setting - it prevents i-stop. If the car is on an incline, it also denies i-stop.
Given the system can be turned on and off in a similar manner to any other system, I'll give it a go in ideal conditions on the diesel and report my findings. That said, city driving tests on the diesel are already producing crazy fuel economy stats.
Currently my CX-5 is strapped down to the decks of Azalea Ace, and going from port to port in Japan picking up Subarus, Toyotas and Lexus's to sit among the Mazda's that are already there.
Expected to land in Sydney - 23rd March. Can't wait!