CX-5 blind spot

My CX-5 has a large blind spot on the passenger side.

Last week I was driving along on a multi-lane freeway and a Huyndai Genesis coupe was hanging out around the back right corner of my cx-5. I knew the car was there, because I saw it approching, but there were times when I could not see the car at all (not even when looking over my shoulder!!!)

The high belt line of the CX-5 was very good at completly obstrucing my view of the other car.

The issue is also made worse by the design of the mirror housing. When I have my mirror adjusted so I can bearly see the passanger side of the car, about 10% of the mirror is useless because it reflects the inside of the mirror housing.


I know this is a non-issue for most of the posters here. The turing and GT come standard with blind spot monitoring for good reason, but in the sport model it is almost impossible to see if a low to the ground car is hiding in the blind spot.

99% of the time I know when a car is driving right next to me without even looking because I scan my mirrors, but in the CX-5 every lane change to the right has become a bit of a guessing game.

I've had the same problem.

For me, adjusting the driver seat a little bit higher helps. It's not the best solution as you have to find a compromise between the perfect seating position vs. visibility... I've never been a fan of the stick on convex mirror.

A similar problem exists for rear visibility when parallel parking. I guess the upper trims of CX-5 have the reverse camera to remedy that problem as well.

We got the short end of the stick on visibility, but we have the awesome manual transmission!!!

Yeah.. raising the seat might help a little. I do have it lowered all the way right now.

I am also not a fan of the stick on convex mirror. I had a rental focus for a month before getting my CX-5 and I found it difficult to tell at night if the headlights I see in it are 3 lanes over or right next to me, pretty much defeating the benefit of the convex mirror.

Yeah, I almost sideswiped a small sedan a few weeks back on Genesee heading back from lunch precisely for the same reason. I wonder if one can shim the right mirror out some to compensate for the housing...? I'm going to remove the rear head rests since they don't provide much purpose most of the time.

Ninja, the driving position has been an issue for me so I'm not sure if I can compromise there, but it may be worth a test since the discomfort of body damage versus some bodily irritation is a no brainer lol

One of my co-workers was looking at the CX-5 and this was his complaint. I guess because I am so tall I didn't seem to have any issues. The BSM is nice, but I would never rely on it (and of course it isn't intended for that but I imagine some people will and they will have one day have a wreck).

if you can see the passenger side of your car through your passenger mirror try moving it out more so you don't see the side after all you know where the side of your car is you just need to see beyond that.

Typical problem with a majority of SUVs being about 10" taller than most coupes and sedans. BSM helps a lot.

just buy those little blind spot mirrors

Make sure you're adjusting your sideview mirrors correctly. They should be angled "outward" more than most people generally do. If you can just barely see the side of your car in the mirrors when you're sitting normally (which I feel is how most people adjust them), they're not set up properly.

The guys on NPR's Car Talk were talking about this in an episode a week or two ago, and their advice was:

-To adjust the driver side window, lean your head to the left until your noggin is touching the window. Now adjust the mirror so that you can just barely see the side of of the vehicle.
-To adjust the passenger side window, lean about as far to the right and repeat.

With your head in normal position, you should now have a good wide field of view. If someone's coming up from behind to pass you, there should be very little if any overlap between where you can see them in your rear-view and in your side-view. I made the adjustment after hearing Click and Clack suggest it... and while it looks and feels a little strange at first, I definitely have better visibility than I did before.

As always, your mileage may vary.

jcarroll07 said:

-To adjust the driver side window, lean your head to the left until your noggin is touching the window. Now adjust the mirror so that you can just barely see the side of of the vehicle.
-To adjust the passenger side window, lean about as far to the right and repeat.

Click to expand...

That is the advice that most trackday instructors also give to students and how I set up my mirrors. BSM is nice but I still like having as wide of a view as possible.

I am familiar with the mirror adjustment method suggested by car-talk and car and driver, and I disagree with it.

When I frist tired out this method a few years ago, I thought it was great.. but than I started thinking.. why doesn't the DMV suggest adjusting your mirrors this way?

This website shows the new blind spots that are created by setting your mirrors out too far:
http://www.driveandstayalive.com/ar...ng-myths-and-mistakes/setting-the-mirrors.htm

With your mirrors adjusted wide..
How do you check for bicycles before opening your driver side door after parellel parking?
How do you check for traffic (especially bikes) before pulling out into traffic from a parallel parking spot?
How do you check for traffic when merging from a slow moving lane to a fast moving lane when a large vehicle obstructs the view from your rearview mirror?

I know that a good driver will suggest simply moving your head towards the window, or the center of your car to get a better view in those situations. But experience shows that most people are lazy, and will casually check their mirror and not see the bike until the rider is on the ground.

On the CX-5, adjusting the passanger side mirror further out does not work well because even with the standarad adjustment 10% of the mirror is wasted reflecting the mirror housing. With the mirror adjusted further out that goes up to 25%.

For now I'll try raising my drivers seat up a little as Ninja suggested, to allow me to see a little better out of the side rear window and consider getting one of those stick on convex mirrors (which I do not like)