First car, first week, first post!

As the title suggested, I recently bought a 2015 CX-5 GS (Touring). This is the first car I've ever owned in my life, and I'm posting my very first thread!

I've been researching this car for years, literally since the first day she came out. It was such an eye-catcher for me and I knew this would be my first car. However there were some flaws in the initial model (small engine, new technology unknown readability, etc). In addition I was still in college so it wasn't the best time to get a brand new car.

A year later the updated model came out alone with a bigger engine, and she seemed to dominate almost every single press reviews. Since then I began to collect information about this car such as common issues and user complaints. That's also the time I came across this forum. During the past year I learned so much from here and got a better understanding.

Finally I made up my mind and started test driving last month, and boy it was so perfect! I test drove a GT model at first but that was too expensive for me, so I backed up a bit and got the middle trim (which has almost all the stuff I needed, just not as fancy as the GT).

A few complaints came up during the first week:

1. Average fuel economy seems sky-high (about 20 mpg), the sales lady told me this is normal for the first tank of gas, what's your experience?

2. Engine makes super loud noise at cold start. I already knew about this but it scared me lol

3. Can't find the window switch in dark... come on Mazda this isn't the place to be cheap...

4. Radio doesn't support DAB+, I mean, at least let me type in my favourite radio station names!

5. Tiny cargo light. I think what it does there is just to show you the lift gate is open, you know, just like an LED indicator...

EDIT: This post wasn't intended to complaint(well... a little), I already knew about these stuff long time ago, but they still caught me by surprise. Perhaps call it first week observation would be better. Anyway I really enjoy this car, now I know what is fun to drive!

1. My FWD touring gets ~ 27 mpg (USA) in suburban driving. 2. Extra noise at Startup is normal as Catalyst is warming up. 3. My drivers door switch is illuminated but, not others. 4. ??? 5. I learn to live with it. Ed

1. 99% of the time it's due to either driving style, start stop driving, cold weather or hilly terrain. Drive on the flat at 40mph in 6th, if your instantaneous reads as it should then the car is fine.

2. I bet it's not as loud (and smelly) the diesel version!

3. Yep, cost cutting, same as the roof console area.

4. I use the USB stick.

5. I live with it, but have a small flash light on the side.

Congrats on your first car and welcome to the board! You don't say where in BC you are, but if it is in the Vancouver metro area the traffic and stop and go driving will have a serious affect on driving and this is a drivers vehicle. All of the other problems, except the radio and this is a Mazda not a Mercedes, will be adapted to with driving time. I still reach for the wrong knob on my radio as it is in a different height location then my long term Mazda 6.

Have fun and enjoy your CX 5.

The owners manual should be your first read to discover things about your vehicle.

Hey, welcome. The CX-5 is also my first car.

1. Average fuel economy seems sky-high (about 20 mpg), the sales lady told me this is normal for the first tank of gas, what's your experience?

2. Engine makes super loud noise at cold start. I already knew about this but it scared me lol

3. Can't find the window switch in dark... come on Mazda this isn't the place to be cheap...

4. Radio doesn't support DAB+, I mean, at least let me type in my favourite radio station names!

5. Tiny cargo light. I think what it does there is just to show you the lift gate is open, you know, just like an LED indicator...

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1 - Depends, although my average is definitely anywhere between 23 and 26. It's not super amazing some days, but I know I live in an area with hills.
2 - I always sit for about 10-15 seconds before driving off whenever I start my car, but my engine noise seems less loud for me these days?
3 - I guess this isn't an issue for me, since I'll put my hand on the window switch and do it automatically without looking... I dunno.
4 - I use either FM radio or Bluetooth... never had experience with DAB.
5 - Yeah, that's a big complaint for me as well. I don't like how there's only one, it's tiny, and it's manual. ><

DAB+ support is the ability for car radio to display station name on screen! most cellphone that have FM support it since it's digital.

Dr_Watson said:

1. 99% of the time it's due to either driving style, start stop driving, cold weather or hilly terrain. Drive on the flat at 40mph in 6th, if your instantaneous reads as it should then the car is fine.

2. I bet it's not as loud (and smelly) the diesel version!

3. Yep, cost cutting, same as the roof console area.

4. I use the USB stick.

5. I live with it, but have a small flash light on the side.

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Good to know. The current fuel economy reading usually hits 50 l/100km when I press the gas pedal, I'll have to go easy on that...

Maineiac said:

Congrats on your first car and welcome to the board! You don't say where in BC you are, but if it is in the Vancouver metro area the traffic and stop and go driving will have a serious affect on driving and this is a drivers vehicle. All of the other problems, except the radio and this is a Mazda not a Mercedes, will be adapted to with driving time. I still reach for the wrong knob on my radio as it is in a different height location then my long term Mazda 6.

Have fun and enjoy your CX 5.

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Thank you! I do live in Metro Vancouver area, since I'm still a little concerned about highway driving for now so it's mainly city traffic. I'd imagine the i-stop function would come very handy. You get what you pay for, right? I'll live with them, possibly find some alternate solutions for those cheap cost cutting areas in the future.

dragonteeth said:

Hey, welcome. The CX-5 is also my first car.

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Thanks! I really enjoy driving in my new car! And kudos to you for choosing cx-5 for your first car as well!

knighthunter said:

Thank you! I do live in Metro Vancouver area, since I'm still a little concerned about highway driving for now so it's mainly city traffic. I'd imagine the i-stop function would come very handy. You get what you pay for, right? I'll live with them, possibly find some alternate solutions for those cheap cost cutting areas in the future.

Click to expand...

Congrats and welcome. Some of the noise will quiet down after engine break-in and you getting used to it. MPG should increase on the highway. Keep in mind, it's an SUV shaped body, so it's not as aerodynamic as a wedged shaped car. 2016 Mazda 6 now has all 4 window buttons illuminated, it's most likely that assembly will fit into the CX-5 if it bothers you too much. But, with time spent in it you may just live with what you have. Many of the little negatives can be solved with little modifications, some easy, some difficult depending on your skill level. Read around on the forum and you'll find them. Good luck!

Okay, you stated 4 things you don't like about your new car so now you should state 4 things you do like about your new car.

V8toilet said:

Okay, you stated 4 things you don't like about your new car so now you should state 4 things you do like about your new car.

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Well, I like the car itself so that basically equals to infinite amount of things I like about the car lol

KH,

Congrats on your first car purchase! I have the top-line Grand Touring AWD and don't notice any loud noise when starting plus I've averaged over 28mpg on every fill up.

I do agree on the lack of lighting (except for the driver window) on the power window buttons. My wife's old car - a '92 Camry has all the window AND door lock buttons illuminated. As far as the cargo light, it's a bit wimpy but I've upgraded mine with a 170 lumen LED festoon bulb. If you have the black interior that also makes it a bit darker.

I'm unable to get my Verizon Samsung S4 phone to download my SMS text messages.

I'm not particulary thrilled with SUVs but felt the CX-5 was the best of the compact SUV offerings. I wanted AWD and the space for my stuff.

Pipemajor said:

I'm unable to get my Verizon Samsung S4 phone to download my SMS text messages.

I'm not particulary thrilled with SUVs but felt the CX-5 was the best of the compact SUV offerings. I wanted AWD and the space for my stuff.

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Thanks Pipemajor!

Since this is my first car I won't do too much mod on it just yet, I read from somewhere that the cargo light is controlled by RBCM so I'll leave it alone for now. I will however add some little stuff to make it better for now(such as a usb led lamp, plug in to the rear cig lighter socket).

I couldn't get my text messages from my iPhone 5 either due to some laws in Canada (that's what the sales person told me), but I don't need that feature anyway...
The CX-5 is definitely one of the best in this class, and the more you look at it the more you will like it!

Congrats on the new car! The CX5 was my first new car purchase too!

Here's how you can brighten the cargo area (by A LOT)
http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showthread.php?123838940-How-To-Install-LED-Strips-in-CX5-Cargo-Area

deepfriedsushi said:

Congrats on the new car! The CX5 was my first new car purchase too!

Here's how you can brighten the cargo area (by A LOT)
http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showthread.php?123838940-How-To-Install-LED-Strips-in-CX5-Cargo-Area

Click to expand...

Cheers!

Thanks for the suggestion, I read that post at least 5 times before I even got my car lol. That's an excellent solution but it does require a fair amount of work, especially on the electrical system. I have some ideas with simpler ways to light up the cargo area, now I'm just waiting for my ebay orders to arrive, I'll definitely share my solution later if it works.