A 21,000 Mile CX-5 Report at Edmunds

Amusing, but after reading some of this long-winded essay, I couldn't figure it if he installed the latest Nav update...
 
paris1 said:
Mildly interesting, but not very insightful or comprehensive in scope.
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I agree - but what this "review" omits is actually much more interesting than what it contains. They have driven it more than I would in 2 years, and yet their biggest complaint is the navigation system, which many of us simply could not care less about - if I could get every other aspect of the tech package and drop the nav and $500 off the price, I would do so in a heartbeat. What this amounts to is quibbles. One note - this is the first I have read of someone having problems with the leather seats though - most people seem to be having problems with the clips on the cloth ones.
 
even if you ignore the nav the tech package still seems to be a decent deal. So many cars we looked at it was, oh, you want this little feature, well you have to buy this $3000 package.

With the CX5 GT you get the upgrade to the advanced keyless entry, alarm, HID lights, Adaptive lights and auto dimming mirror for $1325 (and that is if you ignore the Nav) And Mazda doesn't even offer an add-on alarm (which I wish they did, I'm not interested in anyone messing with the wiring on the car but would love a plug and play alarm)
The touring package is somewhat similar and only $1,185. To me that is a crazy amount of stuff for that price, compared to what other manufactures charge.
I wanted seat memory on a IS250 we looked at and it was part of a $5000 package.

I'm somewhat glad I didn't look at what all it included before I bought mine or I would have done my classic move of waiting for an exact specific model to become available. It would all be fun stuff to have but then I'd have gone for who knows how long without the vehicle.
But I am thinking of eventually adding the Nav and auto dimming mirror and at that point I'd be almost half way to the complete package cost and still can't have an alarm, advanced keyless or HID.

rcs914 said:
They have driven it more than I would in 2 years,
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I'm putting the miles on mine too fast just because it doesn't take much of anything for me to go "sure, lets drive to that place". I have to now stop and go "hmmm, do we really need to drive for an hour and a half for lunch again today"
 
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rcs914 said:
I agree - but what this "review" omits is actually much more interesting than what it contains. They have driven it more than I would in 2 years, and yet their biggest complaint is the navigation system, which many of us simply could not care less about - if I could get every other aspect of the tech package and drop the nav and $500 off the price, I would do so in a heartbeat. What this amounts to is quibbles. One note - this is the first I have read of someone having problems with the leather seats though - most people seem to be having problems with the clips on the cloth ones.
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That seems to be a problem with early production cars only; so if you haven't gotten one yet, I wouldn't worry about it. In fact, my Touring with a mfg date of 09/13 has exhibited zero defects in its first 1000 miles.
 
I stopped reading after this:

There is no back air, so people sitting in the back seat are forced to sweat while the air is turned off, or the one programming the GSP must take breaks to warm their hands to keep them from freezing.
 
Kelme said:
There is no back air, so people sitting in the back seat are forced to sweat while the air is turned off, [/B][/I]
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You know, I was mildly concerned about this until my wife rode with a friend in the back seat shortly after I got the car and complained that it was getting hot back there. Within 15 seconds of turning on the A/C I got an unsolicited "that's much better" from her. The cabin volume apparantly is not that great that the back seat cannot be served by the front outlets alone.
 
As I mentioned earlier, the CX-5 GT has most of the premium car/SUV features, without the premium car/SUV pricetag. But this difference in MSRP (for comparison purposes) of CX-5 versus premium cars and SUVs is huge and several thousands of dollars.

But some cost-cutting measures on CX-5 are obvious (at least to me with 2 other premium cars in garage). Included are the lack or rear AC vents in console, lack of lighting on most door controls, lack of one-touch button auto closure of sunroof, lack of power passenger seat, lack of inside rear hatch release. No big deal, but noticable.
 
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I had rear seat passengers ask me to turn the AC down a little, so even without the vents it seems to flow around nicely.
 
CX-SV said:
As I mentioned earlier, the CX-5 GT has most of the premium car/SUV features, without the premium car/SUV pricetag. But this difference in MSRP (for comparison purposes) of CX-5 versus premium cars and SUVs is huge and several thousands of dollars.

But some cost-cutting measures on CX-5 are obvious (at least to me with 2 other premium cars in garage). Included are the lack or rear AC vents in console, lack of lighting on most door controls, lack of one-touch button auto closure of sunroof, lack of power passenger seat, lack of inside rear hatch release. No big deal, but noticable.
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After owning mine for almost a month, I've noticed the same cost-cutting items you mention and a few more. Mazda is at a distinct disadvantage having most, if not all, of their manufacturing in Japan and having to contend with a very strong Yen and all that entails. They're not in great financial shape and these kinds of measures are understandable, though disappointing to us as consumers. At least they managed to put a decent amount of $$ into R&D and engineering and that's why we keep coming back for more.
 
yeah, there are little things here and there there were clearly cost cutting but my hope is that it kept them from cutting anywhere really important and so far that seems to be true.
Plus with cross shopping the Terrain for awhile they CX5 is a lot cheaper and still better made.
 
paris1 said:
After owning mine for almost a month, I've noticed the same cost-cutting items you mention and a few more. Mazda is at a distinct disadvantage having most, if not all, of their manufacturing in Japan and having to contend with a very strong Yen and all that entails. They're not in great financial shape and these kinds of measures are understandable, though disappointing to us as consumers. At least they managed to put a decent amount of $$ into R&D and engineering and that's why we keep coming back for more.
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Agreed, and I'm not complaining, just noting my observations.

The CX-5 GT loaded is so much cheaper than premium compact SUVs, well-engineered, and the quality output of the the factory in Japan is very high.
 
CX-SV said:
Agreed, and I'm not complaining, just noting my observations.

The CX-5 GT loaded is so much cheaper than premium compact SUVs, well-engineered, and the quality output of the the factory in Japan is very high.
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Agreed, but allow me to take this opportunity to take issue with the use of the acronym SUV in relation to the CX-5. It's really a CUV in every sense of the word. It's a small point, but important to me as I basically detest true (body on frame) SUVs.
 
paris1 said:
Agreed, but allow me to take this opportunity to take issue with the use of the acronym SUV in relation to the CX-5. It's really a CUV in every sense of the word. It's a small point, but important to me as I basically detest true (body on frame) SUVs.
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Yes, the BOF SUV is a small and shrinking segment of total SUV/CUV market. To me (and others) SUV doesn't mean BOF or unibody. I don't detest either and have driven good examples of both (ignoring fuel economy differences, lol).

Compact SUV is as reasonable description as CUV for CRV, CX-5, rav4, Evoque, GLK, etc.
 
CX-SV said:
Yes, the BOF SUV is a small and shrinking segment of total SUV/CUV market. To me (and others) SUV doesn't mean BOF or unibody. I don't detest either and have driven good examples of both (ignoring fuel economy differences, lol).

Compact SUV is as reasonable description as CUV for CRV, CX-5, rav4, Evoque, GLK, etc.
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You're probably right, but I'm a purist at heart. Example: having worked in the imported auto parts industry and had close relationships with German suppliers and their reps, to this day I cringe when I hear someone refer to a BMW as a "Bimmer". To a German, that is like using the term "Frisco" to a native San Franciscan (of which I am one!)
 
paris1 said:
You're probably right, but I'm a purist at heart. Example: having worked in the imported auto parts industry and had close relationships with German suppliers and their reps, to this day I cringe when I hear someone refer to a BMW as a "Bimmer". To a German, that is like using the term "Frisco" to a native San Franciscan (of which I am one!)
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I tend to be a purist to some degree too, especially with Porsche products. For example I think the styling of 1st gen Cayennes and Panamericas are lame and contrived (even though I recognize the importance from a business perspective of the revenue and profits they add to income statement), versus the real Porsche rear and mid-engined models.

btw - Edmunds forums are not especially useful from automotive standpoint.
 
CX-SV said:
btw - Edmunds forums are not especially useful from automotive standpoint.
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They can be useful when there are a lot of comments on a particular vehicle. Back when I first started my search, I was looking at a used Nissan Murano too, until I started reading a few stories about coolant leakage. A search of the Nissan Forums showed me that this was far from an isolated incident. So as with everything, I take it with a grain of salt. Over all, this particular "review" I linked is exceedingly unhelpful in making any sort of buying decision, but it does help to not have it be "I drove the car 20,000 miles, and then the engine blew up", a la some of the reviews of the original CX-7. So to me, it was useful only in that it was minor details that the person was complaining about. I'm happy to hear that there have been pretty much no major mechanical malfunctions from any of the early adopters.
 
rcs914 said:
They can be useful when there are a lot of comments on a particular vehicle. Back when I first started my search, I was looking at a used Nissan Murano too, until I started reading a few stories about coolant leakage. A search of the Nissan Forums showed me that this was far from an isolated incident. So as with everything, I take it with a grain of salt. Over all, this particular "review" I linked is exceedingly unhelpful in making any sort of buying decision, but it does help to not have it be "I drove the car 20,000 miles, and then the engine blew up", a la some of the reviews of the original CX-7. So to me, it was useful only in that it was minor details that the person was complaining about. I'm happy to hear that there have been pretty much no major mechanical malfunctions from any of the early adopters.
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Yes, for those that want to first sift through the garbage on Edmunds to find a trend, then go to real resources like mazda247.com for better organized facts. In some cases Edmunds can be useful.
 
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