I have never owned a Mazda but have had the other large Japanese cars from Toyota, Honda, and Nissan. I am looking very strongly at the 2021 CX-5 as this may hit all my check boxes for safety and ergonomics.



I am not sure why Mazda possibly has the weakest warranty of all the manufactures. 1 year of adjustments and 3 years of defects. I have always believed the underdog needs to work harder to get business.



I know when you look at forums you see mostly what people are having issues with, so I am trying to look past that. I keep my cars 10 plus years and want to make sure I am buying a reliable product.

I am not sure of some of the safety features with their names to know what they do and how effective they are at that function. It seems Subartu’s two camera setup seems to be the best out there. Not sure why others do not grab on to this technology. Does this car have emergency breaking at high speeds? I just can’t tell.



What are the real pros and cons to this SUV? Performance, Reliability, Ergonomics, Safety. Comfort. It has the good looks already. That is not an issue.

And lastly, looks like a redesign is coming. Do I wait the one year and get the 2022 possibly renamed CX-50?

I appreciate your feedback.

 

I am not sure what you are referring to with with the limited warranty. In the US, the warranty is roughly the same as most other brands with the exception of the brands that had huge issues that they now need to prove are no longer problems.

I am on my 6th Mazda and my wife is on her 5th Subaru. I would take Mazda reliability over the Subaru any day. Our Subarus have all the standard Subaru problems. (Wheel hubs, Wheel Bearings, Head Gaskets, and so on. When a Mazda hits 100,000 miles we pass it down to the kids. When a Subaru hits 100,000 miles, we trade it in. We currently have 3 Mazdas and one Subaru in the family fleet.

I don’t recall any warranty repairs on either but the Subarus seem to need a thousand or two in repairs between 60,000 and 100,000 versus zero for the Mazdas (excluding routine oil, brakes, tires and so on)

As for the safety features, the Subaru is like driving a video game with dozens of lights, numbers, graphics and constant beeps and bells while driving. The Mazda has all the safety stuff but it is not in your face constantly.

The big difference is the driving dynamics. The Subaru Forester is like driving a school bus. The Mazda CX-5 is like driving a BMW.

In my opinion!

 

THank you for your help. I appreciate it!

 

We are currently on our third Mazda. I've had no problems with any of them. That being said, all were low-mileage cars. We currently have a 2019 CX-5 signature with only 6K miles. Consumer Reports has given the CX-5 its highest rating for reliability.

Mazda is a small company as car companies go. We have two cars in our family, a BMW X3 M40i and the Mazda. My wife always takes the BMW, while I choose the Mazda. It is a delight to drive. and I consider the signature package to be a gigantic bargain Earlier, we decided to buy a new car for use in our Florida condo. It was going to be another CX-5 signature. Alas, we are now going to sell the condo due to the pandemic.

All Subarus now use continuously variable transmissions, which I don't like, and Consumer Reports gives that brand a ;lower reliability rating,.

Best of luck with your new car!

 

So in our shop in 6 years we have worked on 3745 vehicles. All makes and models and none are better then the other. Not an opinion just plain fact in black and White. Its really all mostly about how your treat the vehicle you own. Sure there are some turds called lemons but doing the math for production numbers those "lemons" are getting lower all the time. Sure there are factory recalls but again the numbers do not point to any manufacture superior over another.

Really these days it all about status and what you feel you want to drive. My past and current vehicle collection has some dream cars but yet I choose the 2018 Mazda 3 as a daily driver and now a fun car to drive and mod up. Now reliability issue what's so ever! I do keep ahead of maintenance scheduling and am very hyper aware of condition that could potentially cause problem and take care of them promptly.
I can tell you what ever you decide MAZDA is a great car and please don't rely on internet member's on a forum that gain internet wisdom from siting in front of a computer looking for information that will support their narrative. MAZDA !!! IMHO a good choice!

Because you live in USA you should be aware the automobile manufacturing warranty is actually federal mandated standard minimum warranty for all vehicle manufactured and sold in the USA which is pretty much the same across the board .

You can also look into the full details (read the complete law not just the common articles)and information under The Magnuson Moss Warranty Act

 

While Honda and Toyota have been the quality leaders in the auto world,
many reports by journalists and technical types, Mazda is often put right
behind those two. There are some claims recently that Honda quality has
dropped in the last couple of years.
Mazda is now working with Toyota for some models so the future looks
good. Certainly Mazda makes good vehicles with good quality.
Each brand has it's quirks, and I'm sure we all here have suggestions that
would improve our driving experiences. You will find your CX-5 will be
a great choice.

My 2¢

 

You should move to Australia, 5yrs unlimited mileage warranty.

 

This is our 2nd Mazda and we had no issues. But to have peace of mind, we bought this time an extended warranty for 6 years (i.e., 6 years bumper-to-bumper warranty that includes all electronics and sensors in the vehicle). You can negotiate the price of this during your purchase, they do not really cost much when spread out over 6 years.

 

I did not like the MAZDA extended warranty program. There were to many restrictions that I did not care for when independent companies offered generally similar coverage and less restrictions. You just need to shop around. I will say for convenience while you are buying a new MAZDA it is a good barging tool.

I should explain before some members "pop" their brain because of my response.. LOL


There is nothing that MAZDA can do that I can not myself. "NOTHING". Most of the time even their best and trained MAZDA Technicians only at best have 1/2-3/4 my experience. The MAZDA warranty does not allow for the use of anything except genuine MAZDA parts. And only a MAZDA dealer can honor the MAZDA warranty program.

 

I appreciate all the great information. Makes me feel Mazda is a very good company.

I have purchased warranties from the manufacture before and Hoda's seemed to be best. I found a dealer 1000 miles away to sell me the Honda Care at close to cost which is substantially lower then the finance guy wants to sell at. I would like to fine that same type of sale as well for Mazda. The finance guy erns two ways i am told. One "GP" Gross Profit, and the other Volume. Anyone know a dealer selling on Volume

And again thanks for the feedback on my initial questions. Keep them coming too. You guys are great.