Hello to everyone, I do not yet own a CX5. Recently was considering getting a CX-5, choose it over an Escape, Crosstrek, and some others. But two days ago decided to read some reviews and some forums, looks like most owners dont love the lack of power and I saw what looked like a lot of issues with them, is this true. Would you guys and girls recommend this car to a friend?

I currently have a 07 Nitro, and I dont hate it, in fact I love it, but its time to trade I think, more Gas Mileage, New zero miles ( Nitro Has 71,000 ).

I dont want to get a car thats noisier and does not ride as nice as the Nitro, yet I want something new and more current tech with better MPG.

I think the CX5 looks are killer, Love the medium blue and the red colors.

Looking at the mid model, but I dont think that affects anything when it comes to ride, mpg, power and so on.

Well any info or comments will be appreciatted, thanks

Chris

 

I'm always very hesitant to recommend that someone buy a specific car. I would recommend taking a couple good length test drives though. I recently worked to talk my sister out of buying one because they drive aggressively so there wouldn't be any mpg gain for them and it would feel under-powered for their style of driving.

There is so much about cars that is subjective so what works great for me might be awful for you. I always get a kick out of people that tell me "you have to buy this car" when we mention we are looking.

The GT has larger wheels and lower profile tires so it may affect the ride. However when we bought we test drove both and didn't notice that big of a deal. The tires on the GT are pretty good. I've added a bit of sound deadening to ours, nothing major but generally it is quiet. On roads that are worn or have texture to them you will hear the road a lot more.
When it is windy out I notice more wind noise when driving on the freeway but nothing terrible.

I love the handling and the braking and most of the time the ride is good. On some of the more worn out chunks of freeway around here I wish it was softer but when I want to make a quick maneuver it is nice having the solid handling.

The 2014s have a 2.5 engine available which should put to rest much of the under-powered thing. But in reality I rarely ever think it could use more, the modern mentality that if it can't do 0-60 in 6 seconds it is slow causes just about all cars to be under-powered. I haven't had problems passing people, even on uphills.
If you think it is under-powered than you likely also won't get the good mpg as that requires a mellow driving style and not trying to wring all the performance out of it you can on a regular basis.

The seats are firm but comfortable. The headrests lean forward like many modern cars to help with whiplash in a wreck and that bothers some as it can be hard to get the seat back at a good angle and the headrest also in the right spot.

For me the passenger side has a decent sized blind spot and the blind spot monitoring has saved me twice, even with my mirror adjusted out where it should be.

When you test drive, if you can find a dealer that will let you take a decent length one, reset the average mpg (push and hold the center of the Info button when on the average mpg screen) and see what you get on the test drive.

Also keep in mind that there doesn't seem to be a huge number of people on the forums with CX5s so it is a pretty small sampling for the problems. And in most cases people that are happy with a car don't seek out forums as much as people with issues.

I don't think any car can be perfect as everything is a trade-off in car design. Style or Visibility, Power or mpg, quiet or light, smooth or sporty, and on and on. But for me I couldn't find any combination that was better than the CX5.

 

Recently there was an article in car and driver where they compared near $30K models of the crossover class between the Ford Escape, Honda CR-V, Hyundai Tucson, Kia Sportage, Mazda CX-5 and Toyota RAV4. The Mazda CX-5 came out on top based on their reviews. Here's the link if you wanna read for yourself:

2013 Ford Escape vs., 2012 Honda CR-V, 2012 Hyundai Tucson, 2012 Kia Sportage, 2013 Mazda CX-5, 2012 Toyota RAV4 - Comparison Test - Car and Driver

I just bought a 2014 CX-5 GT and took delivery on it about 5 days ago. So far I've enjoyed the car thoroughly. I didn't get to test drive the 2.0L of the 2013, but I can say that I'm pretty pleased with the output from the 2.5L in my 2014, and I'm sure the people who complained about the lack in power of the 2.0L will appreciate it too. The Touring and Grand Touring trims will have the 2.5L standard.

HandA made some good points. You can read all of the articles like this to compare options and features, but when it comes down to handling and feel you'll just have to take some test drives.

 

Those replie's are great, tons of info, thanks for that. My question is the fella that said he just got a 2014, So the 2014 is already out , or did you mean 2013

I sat in one last night for the 1st time, I liked the interior quite a bit and think overall its a good looking vehicle.

Did not cut a deal. There are two dealers here, and there both owned by the same people, leading me to this, right now there is no rebate, there telling me there is no discount and they low-balled my trade. So I am not too happy with my visit, but the CX5 looks and feels really good, I think it looks a lot nicer than the Escape and others I was considering.

Might still take a test drive on Saturday and see if they want to do any kind of deal if I like how it drives. But if there is no discount and no rebate, as well as a lousy trade allowance, they may force me into the Escape.

In case anyone cares, the Escape and the CX5, were both 27,600 sticker, the Escape has a 3000.00 rebate and they were discounting it 650.00, they also offer around 1000.00 more on the trade than the Mazda dealer.

We will see, thanks again for all the info. Chris

 

I wasn't the one that got a 2014 but they are on the dealers lots now. Mine's a 2013 with nearly 20,000 miles on it already.

The specials vary by location but Mazda is showing just 0.9 interest on the CX5 and if you currently own a Mazda you get $500 Mazda Shopping Tools - Incentives, Regional Deals, Financing, Specials, Sales - Mazda USA

Are there any other dealers within a reasonable drive from you? They may think they've got a captive market so they aren't willing to negotiate. There isn't a ton of room between invoice and msrp on these (and I know the dealers get other money so invoice isn't the true cost but it is still a decent calculation point) but some discount should be possible.

Do you have a carmax in your area for your trade? The one here gave me nearly twice what the Mazda dealer offered for our Protege5

 

Look into S-Plan pricing if you can get it, or vehicle buying services (USAA has one, not sure if you have to be a member or not), and then as a buyer act aggressively toward the negotiation and tell them straight out that the Escape is on your list and what can they (the Mazda dealer) do to sell you the CX-5 (if that what you truly want...). And finally try another dealer in town or area and play them off of each other.

 

that's a very good point. They may think they have no Mazda competition around but explain to them that they really do have competition... unless they also own the Ford dealer....

 

Yes, the 2014's just started hitting the dealers, and it just happened to be good timing for me. I was in the same boat with getting low balled on the trade in; however, I did have engine trouble with the trade as well as it only being a 2x4 truck. In Chicago they're less likely to sell it than say Texas, so the location will also factor into your trade value if its less marketable in your area. If your trade stays on their lot too long, they have to send it to auction, so that's why they usually quote you off a black book instead of blue.

What I can tell you is that Mazda's are not marked up as much as Ford's are from the dealer invoice. I think when I built and priced comparable models of the CX-5 and Escape, the msrp of the Mazda was only marked up maybe 1100 whereas the Ford was marked up closer or 4000.

kbb.com is actually pretty accurate when it comes to the dealer invoice. You can build the exact vehicle specs with color and options and it will tell you the msrp, dealer invoice and average paid asking price from actual national sales.

I started through usaa (you do have to be a member) but basically you can use most any car buying service that will start you off with an Internet sales or fleet rep. The original price they quoted me was closer to the invoice than it was msrp.

 

Thanks for all the really good tips, I am going to check out KBB

Wondered why the 2014 is out already? Do they have the 2.5 Engine? I read on here it only loses 1 mpg but gives you 30 more Hp and 34 more torque.

Anyone know how much it adds the the price?

Thanks, Chris

 

Per EPA, it loses 1 city/1 highway/2 combined.


Numbers for 2014 are now on EPA website.