Hello!

I bought a pre-owned Mazda CX-5 from a Mazda dealership about three years ago now. For the most part, I really like it. It's roomy, able to comfortably fit all my friends for a trip, gets me around, took me all over the Maritimes this summer and through Quebec without any trouble. Save for one thing.

I've gone through brakes on this car like you wouldn't believe. I'm convinced there's a little gremlin living in my car that just consumes them. I've been lucky enough to alternate. One year it's the fronts, the next the rears. My friend also owns a Mazda CX-5 and she says she also has a similar problem. It went in for it's inspection this Monday and it passed everything, save for the one thing. I had had this mechanic look at my car back in July. No issues, but my brake pads were at 4 mm. I figure this meant by my next inspection, at this rate, I'd be replacing my fronts. No big deal, I thought, and I made sure to save up enough to pay for it.

When the call came in I accepted that I had to get new front brakes, but then the receptionist said I had to get my rears done too it was really shocking and upsetting. See, the thing is, I had had those particular brakes done in January of this year.

At that time, I was taking my car to the Mazda dealership. Overpriced, sure, but I felt they were trustworthy enough. Until they called me in January to tell me I had 0mm of brake pad on my rear wheels. I heard no squeaking, grinding, or groaning to indicated I had a problem. I let them replace it, since I had gone home (it was a larger inspection, so it usually takes longer), but it sounded so odd I decided to look elsewhere, hence my friend recommended me this current mechanic and, until now, I had trusted him.

He insisted that it wasn't the pads, but the rotors that needed doing, since they had rust on them. He suggested that my car might've idled for a long time, which is sort of impossible, since it's driven every day for my work (anywhere from 50 - 100km a day) and I managed to get 8,000 km done in 2 and a half months. I also have about 30 - 40% of brake pad left on my rears, and no clue on my fronts (low, they said. At least less than 4. I wasn't given a number despite me asking). I should also mention; I have a standard, so I use my brakes a little less than usual.

Long-winded rambling aside, I'm left with a conundrum. Either both mechanics are lying to me and being deliberately vague, Mazda dealership did something wrong when putting on my rears which made them go faster, or a third option, which is that there is something genuinely wrong with my breaks and I need someone to find it and fix it.

Has anyone else had this issue with their Mazda? How'd you solve it? I only know enough about cars to know when something's wrong, but not enough to be able to fix it or what it is. I can't be this unlucky with mechanics, and I'm genuinely scared there's a bigger (much more expensive) issue with my car. .

Tl;dr: Mazda is going through brakes at an alarming rate, my rears seem the most concerning, I don't know what to do, and wondering if anyone else has this problem too.

 

You need to specify the various mileages when you changed your pads. My girlfriend is at roughly 37k miles and will be needing her pads & rotors done in the next couple of weeks. My CX-5 on the other hand has 31k miles and the dealer replaced only the front pads prior to me buying the car with 24k miles. The car will run through brakes faster due to it utilizing them when turning as it provides a smoother experience.

 

That makes sense.

I bough with new rear brakes on at 35k km (21k miles) (the old owner let them rust during the first lockdown). It's rears got replaced at about 70k km (43k miles), and it apparently needs a new rotor at 92k km (57k miles), but the pads can go until about 100k km (62k miles).

For those in freedom units 1km=0.621 miles

 

Running old rotors could be having an effect on the brakes. Those km intervals are too short which means something is definitely not right. I always get new rotors along with the pads to avoid any issues.

 

Rear rotors were done back in January with the pads. I could be the way I drive, but my other cars haven't gone through it this fast before.

 

What's this about? Why would it apply the brakes when turning?

 

Brakes and wear is directly affected by how one brakes . Unless there is an obvious defect in this case on this thread, I cant see any indications to consider that?
This type of thread is not restricted to just Mazda but is often seen on many other platforms and really it more than often goes back to how a person brakes.

I have a BBK I offer for one platform and season driver wore them down in a very short time(miles) yet that same exact model and year other go 2-4 times longer. No known defect or influences causing the premature brake wear but try to convince the owner/driver of that ... wow!!!! They get totally defensive. Whatever, I still give them a courtesy replacement ONE TIME!

Reading this thread and the good and complete information without personally inspecting the Mazda I would conclude it is the way the brakes are being used and not and Gremlin or other brake system problem causing the low milage brake wear. There are to many missing indicators of other brake parts that could affect premature brake wear and they are not mentioned so driver influence IMHO!

My suggestion I am sure will not be considered because it is a daily driver is to use a accelerometer gauge (see Autometer D-Pic) and set to G force for stopping so you can "RE-LEARN" how to brake and steer more efficiently?

 

Like many modern vehicles, the Mazda’s ESC uses the brakes in a turn to control understeer and oversteer. The result is more neutral cornering.

 

This is also another reason why owners of a new vehicle with new features need to learn how to drive them.

How many forum members can honesty say to themselves that they took the 1-3 hours and completely read their new owners manual cover to cover?

 

Sorry, I couldn't resist