3 downers...in an otherwise vast sea of happy anticipation

[Young-nyc]

Ya I think that if I decide to get a remote starter, I will go with this. If for nothing else, I'm sure the Mazda version is ridiculously marked up in price. Thanks.

One thing I found as a solution for the wireless Carplay thing is Carplay2air and Carlinkit dongles.
I'm sure most folks on here are aware of them. I'm reading pretty varied results. I might give one of them a shot at some point. I think their tech is in it's infancy so make after a few good firmware updates they'll be more dependable.

yes i've heard of varied results on this as well, keep in mind if it does work, you should probably purchase a wireless charging pad as well.

 

[IamVAguy]

What's frightening is that when you think about Honda's oil dilution issue being blamed on "short trips in cold weather," you realize that some amount of this "cold engine" fuel is not being consumed...it's going into the crankcase and [hopefully] being burned off later.

I was able to find this Mazda Service Information, Subject Engine Oil Dilution with Fuel. I couldn't attach in the old forum. Oil dilution concerns me. I seem to recall that I checked my oil last year in May when the weather was fairly warm and I had been driving short trips to get to my vanpool pickup location. The oil was over the full mark on the dipstick and I was aware of the Honda issue. Attached is a 12/13/2017 bulletin on this issue.

Warm up your cars by driving them!

 

[NathanH]

Anytime you drive the car, any oil that has gotten mixed with the fuel is burnt off once it's at operating temp. Just because fuel gets into the oil during a short trip with cold operating temps, doesn't mean it stays there forever. The problem is if you never drive long enough for the engine to get warm enough to start burning the fuel out of the oil, it will continue to accumulate. So it all depends on your driving situation.

 

[Avoidin Deer]

I was able to find this Mazda Service Information, Subject Engine Oil Dilution with Fuel. I couldn't attach in the old forum. Oil dilution concerns me. I seem to recall that I checked my oil last year in May when the weather was fairly warm and I had been driving short trips to get to my vanpool pickup location. The oil was over the full mark on the dipstick and I was aware of the Honda issue. Attached is a 12/13/2017 bulletin on this issue.

Warm up your cars by driving them!

Yeh, I read that when I was car shopping.
Good luck trying to avoid Direct Inject engines these days.
It was this issue (and Honda's lack of response to it) that caused my to reject the CR-V.

I've kept track of my oil level since I bought the car last March. It was slightly overfilled when I took ownership and the level never crept up (always a good idea to take a pic of the dipstick with your phone for quantitative comparison purposes.) My trips are 95% 8-10 miles one way to shopping, and then the return trip.

It was chatting on this forum that cause me to read my manual's advice to start driving after warming up for only 10 seconds. I don't worry that the RPMs have not declined as I used to in other vehicles.

 

[Avoidin Deer]

Anytime you drive the car, any oil that has gotten mixed with the fuel is burnt off once it's at operating temp.

The only thing I'd tack on to this is that you have to drive for some period of time once achieving operating temps to burn it off. I'd imagine that the required period of time is directly related to the amount of fuel in the oil.

It's interesting that Mazda has a TSB out there on it, but you don't really hear any complaints about it. I think I've read one on this forum, and that was me actively seeking it out. I researched in this issue in the CX-9 forum before buying my turbo CX-5 and found nothing mentioning it.

 

[GTA-CX9]

It was mentioned earlier that doors opening shuts car off. My dealer installed remote starter doesn't do that. I'm north of toronto. I've heard of that happening, but doesn't on mine. 2019 fall install by dealer before i took possession.

When I open door, get in, stays on. I press brake and go, don't need to even press start button (my 17 CRV requires the start button to be pressed or else when you shift, car turns off).

There is a failsafe. If i try to drive away without key, car shuts off. I tested couple times. Even though I allowed car to detect key to open door, I then placed key abut 6 ft away from car. No go. I was happy with that.

 

[GTA-CX9]

Oh, and I don't think I mentioned, and you seem to be leaning toward aftermarket anyway, but my remote starter doesn't allow seats to heat or steering wheel to heat. Bummer. If that's imp to you, definitely go aftermarket and research if your buying options allow this.

 

[Lynn]

I used to live in the NE and when it was -15c, being able to warm the car up for 10 minutes would at least give the seat heaters time to turn on and the air coming out of the vents to be semi-warm. Believe me, it helped. Totally destroys gas mileage as these engines just gulp fuel till warm.

Agree it helps a tiny bit..We live in CT & I drive a 2017 CX-5. This past winter was mild so I never used the remote starter. But the 1st 2 winters of owning the car were harsh & I did use it. That said, I have nothing positive to say about it. First, the engine shuts off after 10 mins (good thing) but that's not enough time to get the engine warm enough to offer heated air once inside the cabin. It takes 2 times using the remote starter to get close.

For the OP, keep in mind that the car will shut off once you open the door to get inside. (no big deal). Our lease is up this Aug & I'm thinking of the 2020 CX5 but probably won't invest in another remote starter. It's expensive & the 2nd (necessary) fob is ugly as sin (looks like a 1970's remote control for a toy car-racing set, with a huge antennae! This was installed by the dealer, after showing me a fob that looked identical to the fob that came with the 2017. Then the bait and switch after it was too late! Horrible as I told them I did NOT want that ugly-ass thing!).

I just hope the 2020 engine warms up faster (we might go with the larger engine). Without the remote starter, it takes a very long time to get any heat at all. We bought our 2017 in the late summer so didn't know about this or would have passed. (I've have owned cars since I was 17 & never had a car take so long to give heat in the winter, and not having a garage makes a remote starter huge, but no longer sure if it's worth the extra $600 & ugly extra fob with the Mazda.

 

[GTA-CX9]

For It's expensive & the 2nd (necessary) fob is ugly as sin (looks like a 1970's remote control for a toy car-racing set, with a huge antennae! This was installed by the dealer, after showing me a fob that looked identical to the fob that came with the 2017. Then the bait and switch after it was too late! Horrible as I told them I did NOT want that ugly-ass thing!).

Read a few threads on remote starters, always surprises me how different the dealer installed systems are.

I'm not sure my fob is identical to other non remote starter enabled car fobs, but it looks normal to me. No weirdness or ugliness. Just the regular size and buttons.

And the differences on car shut off. Some when doors opened, some shut off if you dont press start button before engaging gear. Mine, stays on, i get in, throw into gear and I'm off. I was worried that I had a defect, but tried the process without fob in car and it does shut down when shifting in that case, so theft not an issue.

But I do feel the few min warm up helps, if it means 5 min into my drive I get heat as opposed to 10 or 15, I'm happy. And I suspect i get that improvement.

Course, other manufacturers give you toasty warm seats simply from a 5 min remote start, but such is life I guess.

 

[Buzzman12]

Course, other manufacturers give you toasty warm seats simply from a 5 min remote start, but such is life I guess.

Some manufacturers have a (safety) switch in the seat cushion that prevents the seat from heating up if no one is sitting in it.
It's similar to the passenger seat switch that turns off the air bag if no-one is sitting there.
My Nissans were like that. No heat if not sitting in the seat(s).
I don't have remote start, so I can't verify Mazda's design, but I do know that my passenger seat won't heat up if it's empty.
Maybe someone can verify Mazda's design??

 

[Avoidin Deer]

Some manufacturers have a (safety) switch in the seat cushion that prevents the seat from heating up if no one is sitting in it.
It's similar to the passenger seat switch that turns off the air bag if no-one is sitting there.
My Nissans were like that. No heat if not sitting in the seat(s).
I don't have remote start, so I can't verify Mazda's design, but I do know that my passenger seat won't heat up if it's empty.
Maybe someone can verify Mazda's design??

The Seat Heat On condition resets to Off when the engine is turned off. When you turn the engine back on, you gotta punch the Seat Heat button to toggle it back on. Same for the Steering Wheel Heat. You gotta be in the car to hit the buttons because they reset to "Off" when the engine is turned off...they are part of the electronics, not toggle flip switches.

I've heated my passenger seat without a person sitting in it.

2019 CX-5 GT Reserve

 

[Jman136]

I have a Compustar remote start with the Drone Mobile added on. I can start my vehicle from my iPhone or my Apple Watch. I would definitely recommend going this route. I had the whole thing installed for $350.

 

[Buzzman12]

The Seat Heat On condition resets to Off when the engine is turned off. When you turn the engine back on, you gotta punch the Seat Heat button to toggle it back on. Same for the Steering Wheel Heat. You gotta be in the car to hit the buttons because they reset to "Off" when the engine is turned off...they are part of the electronics, not toggle flip switches.

I've heated my passenger seat without a person sitting in it.

2019 CX-5 GT Reserve

Interesting.
I've noticed that my passenger seat doesn't heat up without someone in it, so that's different for starters.
Also, the seat heat settings don't toggle off when I shut the car down. The steering wheel does though.
That means I only have to turn on the steering wheel heat again when restarting. The seat settings are retained.
I didn't think there'd be any difference between the CX-5 and the 6 in that regard. The interiors are the same.
At the end of the day, I'm used to the way it works, so no problem.

 

[Avoidin Deer]

Interesting.
I've noticed that my passenger seat doesn't heat up without someone in it, so that's different for starters.
Also, the seat heat settings don't toggle off when I shut the car down. The steering wheel does though.
That means I only have to turn on the steering wheel heat again when restarting. The seat settings are retained.
I didn't think there'd be any difference between the CX-5 and the 6 in that regard. The interiors are the same.
At the end of the day, I'm used to the way it works, so no problem.

This is from the 2019 CX-5 Owner's Manual:

When the engine is stopped while the seat warmers are operating and then the ignition is switched ON, the seat warmers will not turn back on automatically. To turn the seat warmers back on, press the switch. In addition, the seat warmer operation stops automatically after the seat warmers have operated for about 90 minutes.

I didn't think to look there before...it's kind of an esoteric thing to document. It's weird that there would be this difference between models. Is it "By Design," or did it just turn out that way?

 

[sm1ke]

This is from the 2019 CX-5 Owner's Manual:



I didn't think to look there before...it's kind of an esoteric thing to document. It's weird that there would be this difference between models. Is it "By Design," or did it just turn out that way?

My CX-9 retains the seat heat setting when I turn the car off (but doesn't retain the steering wheel heat setting). Curiouser and curiouser..

 

[Avoidin Deer]

My CX-9 retains the seat heat setting when I turn the car off (but doesn't retain the steering wheel heat setting). Curiouser and curiouser..

Probably a market issue and not a model issue, huh?

But didn't GTA-CX9 in Toronto imply that that his 2019 CX9 Sig does not retain the seat heat settings?

 

[GTA-CX9]

Probably a market issue and not a model issue, huh?

But didn't GTA-CX9 in Toronto imply that that his 2019 CX9 Sig does not retain the seat heat settings?

Yup. 2019 Sig, installed by dealer last fall before I took delivery. I have nothing staying in ON setting, wheel or seat.

Also had dealer explain to me the car will turn off and I'll need to restart, which isn't the case. I've always just gone with it, I never know who to believe.

I figure whatever benefit in warmth I get, so be it. I do think the systems all heat up quicker than if not remote started, but I've never really tested that.

 

[Avoidin Deer]

Yup. 2019 Sig, installed by dealer last fall before I took delivery. I have nothing staying in ON setting, wheel or seat.

Also had dealer explain to me the car will turn off and I'll need to restart, which isn't the case. I've always just gone with it, I never know who to believe.

I figure whatever benefit in warmth I get, so be it. I do think the systems all heat up quicker than if not remote started, but I've never really tested that.

And sm1ke says his 2018 Canadian CX-9 Sig heat setting stays ON.

Regarding remote start...I wonder if Mazda didn't get rid of this for economy reasons and to mitigate oil dilution issues. My CX-5 turbo really seems to dump gas when idling, even when warm. I got back from a drive where I'd normally pull 27-28 MPGs, and sat idling for about 1/2 hour as I chatted with a neighbor (didn't plan to sit that long.) When I finally pulled into my driveway and shut the car off, that trip was 17MPG!!! I'll never do that again!!

So I can see why my manual says "After starting the engine, let it idle for about 10 seconds." (the implication--but not statement--than you then drive.) But it doesn't say "at least" (to get the oil circulating) or "no more than" (to mitigate oil dilution.) Just "about 10 seconds."

 

[Buzzman12]

This is from the 2019 CX-5 Owner's Manual:



I didn't think to look there before...it's kind of an esoteric thing to document. It's weird that there would be this difference between models. Is it "By Design," or did it just turn out that way?

Hmmm, maybe Mazda changed the design in 2019 re: heated seats turning off.
Reading the responses, it's looks like 2018 and earlier models retain the seat settings.

 

[Avoidin Deer]

Hmmm, maybe Mazda changed the design in 2019 re: heated seats turning off.
Reading the responses, it's looks like 2018 and earlier models retain the seat settings.

I didn't catch that.

I wonder if it was intentional, or just incidental to a software change that caused it. I guess it would only matter if you have Remote Start.