As my CX-5 is just out of Warranty, I'm wondering if there are any alternatives to the ridiculously expensive Mazda maps updates?

 

Nope, not for the factory satnav. If you don't already have apple carplay / android auto installed, get it and use your phone for navigation.

 

Buy a Ebay map cheap, and start over for 3 years !

 

Let me ask a dumb question. I bought a Mazda Nav card for my 2021 CX-5 from EBay. Works well, but do I get automatic updates on that?

 

At least for Australia, buying a brand new SD card off eBay doesn't come with free map updates.

 

Yes, I saw some forum members here getting map SD cards from Amazon or Ebay that did work. I would suggest to search for "Mazda SD Navigation Card"

 

As a side note, How much does the maps actually change?

I didn't use navigation much for 11 years with my prior vehicle, but even after years,
the streets and main arteries and highways didn't change much at all.


My 2¢

 

On some of our other cars, we would get offers for updates, typically the cost was $200 +.

Having bought the SD card for my 2021 for $75 + S&H (the whole thing totaled $82.50), I'll just buy another one in a few years. Much cheaper than the "updates" from the manufacturer.

 

I got my latest free update in September 2020 since we are now past the three-year window. Not sure if I am going to update down the road since I am mostly using Google maps on my phone anyways. I might purchase an update from Amazon or eBay maybe in some distant future.

 

I don't know about the current ones, but on my 2015 Mazda 3 you could download map updates on a pc and install them on the SD card at no cost. I did that with the one I bought off ebay.

https://infotainment.mazdahandsfree....language=en-RW