Which CX-5 should I buy?

My car was totaled 2 days ago and I only have a few days left to buy a new vehicle before my rental car coverage runs out.

I've been doing as much research as humanly possible and have shortlisted the CX-5 GT AWD 2017 or 2019 (CPO) or a new 2020 or 2021. I would prefer for 30k mi or less for a CPO.

I am about to do the "email every dealer on the planet" process to ask for OTD pricing to try and get the best deal but I'm not sure the best way to approach the dealers and what my target price point should reasonably be for each of the above models.

Can anyone please tell me the following:

1. Should I email each dealer and ask what the best price they can do "all in" or OTD for each of the models I am looking for and only let them know my budget after their response? Or should I reach out to each dealer and tell them what I'm able to spend and ask if they have anything that can match this? What is the best way to go about this process?

2. For the 2017, 2020 or 2021, what are good prices I should accept or ask for?

3. If I go CPO, should I be asking the dealer about a specific manufacturer warranty or something similar?

4. Are the models I am looking for the best choices for CX5's? If anyone recommend a different year I am more than open to this as well.

I don't know if this helps in the overall calculus but I am located in NY and also have a pre-approval letter from my bank with 2.48% for a used vehicle and slightly lower percentage for a new one. I am therefore in a position where I do not have to finance this purchase with the dealer.

I could probably find out these answers on my own if I had a little more time but having my car totaled was obviously not planned and has left me in a tight spot time-wise to get a new car. THANK YOU in advance to anyone that reads this and is able to provide any helpful guidance or suggestions.
 
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I am about to do the "email every dealer on the planet" process to ask for OTD pricing to try and get the best deal but I'm not sure the best way to approach the dealers and what my target price point should reasonably be for each of the above models.
Please don't to OTD pricing - too many ways for them to finagle numbers. Just get total sales price before TT&L
 
Please don't to OTD pricing - too many ways for them to finagle numbers. Just get total sales price before TT&L
Probably a dumb question, but just to confirm, there is no way they can do anything with the TT$L? Those are set in stone?
There is a channel on YouTube you need to binge on over the next day, it's called The Homework Guy. He teaches you how to get a car without getting ripped off.

Thank you! Yes, I've watched several of his videos yesterday and will continue to. I am mainly doing this shopping process from home but his videos are pure gold.
 
if it were me, I would ask if you can keep the rental car on your dime a few more days on the reduced rate that the insurance company is paying. Give yourself time to find the right vehicle.

1. Should I email each dealer and ask what the best price they can do "all in" or OTD for each of the models I am looking for and only let them know my budget after their response? Or should I reach out to each dealer and tell them what I'm able to spend and ask if they have anything that can match this? What is the best way to go about this process?

Email the dealers for the price of the vehicle; as @hal2 said NOT the OTD, so many places to hide fees and accessories you don't want / need.

2. For the 2017, 2020 or 2021, what are good prices I should accept or ask for?

Wow - a big ask.. but sure I will throw numbers

2021 - 8% discount msrp new sticker priceon sticker price
2020 - 11% discount msrp new sticker priceon sticker price
2017 - 20% discount msrp new sticker price

(what happened to 2018, 2019?)

3. If I go CPO, should I be asking the dealer about a specific manufacturer warranty or something similar?

Mazda CPO across the board has the same warranty.

Any other "warranty" or "service plan" is gonna be a discussion for another day. I'd say save the $1500 - $2500 in your personal rainy day fund.

4. Are the models I am looking for the best choices for CX5's? If anyone recommend a different year I am more than open to this as well.

No big worries with the model years you listed (the 2021 is the only minor refresh with the bigger screen).
 
Probably a dumb question, but just to confirm, there is no way they can do anything with the TT$L? Those are set in stone?
Not dumb at all. If they insist there is no flexibility in whatever fees are added beyond "sale price", then request they adjust said sale price. We did this when I helped my son car shop. The dealer that had the car my son wanted in stock had excessive dealer fees. The tax, title, & license are usually fixed by the state. We had them lower the sale price to offset the dealer fees compared to other deals we had.
 
See if Mazda's still offering 0.9% financing on new vehicles.
Thank you. From my limited understanding and from what I've been reading, I would be better off not worrying about this and focusing more on the up front discounts I can get for the price of the vehicle? I am already guaranteed around 2.5% by my bank. Please tell me if I'm wrong.
Email the dealers for the price of the vehicle; as @hal2 said NOT the OTD, so many places to hide fees and accessories you don't want / need.
Good idea regarding the rental.

I have been reading controversial posts about potential engine issues in 2018 mainly, and some 2019? Some people are saying it's nothing while others are saying it's something. Everyone is saying there's no issue with the 2017. That's the extent of my logic.

Thanks for that link, very helpful. Point of clarification; the 7-year/100k-mile that they have listed on that page applies from MY purchase date?


Not dumb at all. If they insist there is no flexibility in whatever fees are added beyond "sale price", then request they adjust said sale price. We did this when I helped my son car shop. The dealer that had the car my son wanted in stock had excessive dealer fees. The tax, title, & license are usually fixed by the state. We had them lower the sale price to offset the dealer fees compared to other deals we had.
Thank you. I will take both of your advice about asking for the total sales price before TT&L. Super helpful. Thank you everyone for all of your suggestions thus far!
 
"Point of clarification; the 7-year/100k-mile that they have listed on that page applies from MY purchase date?'

The 7 years is NOT additional 7 years, it is since the "in service date" or TOTAL miles and TOTAL years old of the vehicle.

Example: 2019 CPO with 25,000 miles
You would get ~5 years and 75,000 miles of coverage.

please note in the above example you have the remaining factory as such
  • New Vehicle Limited Warranty: 3 years/36,000 miles (bumper to bumper)
  • Powertrain Warranty: 5 years/60,000 miles
. CPO will also NOT be bumper to bumper type coverage for the entire time period. That style of coverage is 12 month / 12,000 miles. The rest of the time / mileage will be for the drivetrain and related systems.

so in reality you get the following from CPO:
12 months/12,000 miles bumper to bumper
2 extra years and 40k miles of drive train coverage

definitely read through the brochure for exact terms and conditions.

2018 - cylinder deactivation; ok sure there was some noise about this
2019 - nothing of note

IF you decide CPO is right for you... for a vehicle on the Mazda dealer lot you like, and it is NOT CPO? Thats fine, just ask them to make it CPO. The cost is about ~1500 to the dealer. Oh they will tell you "we can only do so many, only for the BEST cars..." BS alert.
 
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Thank you. From my limited understanding and from what I've been reading, I would be better off not worrying about this and focusing more on the up front discounts I can get for the price of the vehicle? I am already guaranteed around 2.5% by my bank. Please tell me if I'm wrong.

Good idea regarding the rental.

I have been reading controversial posts about potential engine issues in 2018 mainly, and some 2019? Some people are saying it's nothing while others are saying it's something. Everyone is saying there's no issue with the 2017. That's the extent of my logic.

Thanks for that link, very helpful. Point of clarification; the 7-year/100k-mile that they have listed on that page applies from MY purchase date?



Thank you. I will take both of your advice about asking for the total sales price before TT&L. Super helpful. Thank you everyone for all of your suggestions thus far!
Sure, work on getting the best deal but if you're leaning toward a new one then the 0.9% is icing on the cake.

The engine problems are probably the ones with Cylinder deactivation. 2018 - 2021 without the turbo. GTR and Signature don't have CD.
There's been reported problems and I'm not sure if Mazda's fix fixed the problem.
Haven't heard any problems lately so that's a plus.
 
I've leased three CX-5's GT's since they first came out, a '15, '17 and '20. The '17 was an overall nicer car than the '15. Not much diff in the driving experience but much quieter and with better interior and improved infotainment. The '20 isn't as much of a leap forward as the '17 was but does have some nicer features like the fancier dashboard. But they stopped including the GPS chip which makes the HUD pretty much useless. The chips for GPS are readily available for cheap on Amazon and eBay though.

I looked at the turbo for the '20 but my boy racer days are long over and since you need to feed it premium fuel to really get full use out of the turbo I didn't see it as a good choice personally.

But I was happy with both of the earlier ones, and really like my '20 too.
 
note: Premium fuel on the turbo is NOT required. The vehicle will operate without fault using non premium fuel. HOWEVER you can only get the maximum listed HP figures using premium fuel AND above 4000 rpm.
 
note: Premium fuel on the turbo is NOT required. The vehicle will operate without fault using non premium fuel. HOWEVER you can only get the maximum listed HP figures using premium fuel AND above 4000 rpm.

Yep, exactly. A bump of 41 HP and 123 lb-ft of torque is what you get with regular fuel compared to the non-turbo engine. If you want the extra power, springing for the turbo is well worth it IMO. If you don't want the extra hp/tq, and would rather have better mileage, the non-turbo engine is where it's at.
 
I have the 2.0 with the AT in my 2013 (I think that was the only engine that year?). It's not fast. Well, to be completely honest, it's damned slow. My 230,000 mile 2004 MZ3 with the 2.3 was far faster.

But, I get an honest to God 29 mpg in the thing, which in a vehicle of this size doesn't suck at all. Heck, it gets more mpg than even my 3 did. So I'm good with that.
 
We all have our own priorities. I personally don't drive enough for gas mileage to be a huge concern. I currently have 6500 miles on my 2019 GTR. I do find however that I get excellent smiles per mile :cool: .
 
Same here. The vehicle’s aesthetics and driving dynamics aside, the NA CX-5 is just too “slow” for this owner. Not bad, plenty motor for most drivers, just not for me.
 
Everything else aside, I wouldn’t be a CX-5 owner if it wasn’t for the turbo motor.
Excellent point. The Turbo really makes it darn near a different car, not just a little, but by a lot. I also would likely not be driving the CX-5 were it not for the Turbo. Probably a used QX50, wither the new 2019 of older 2017, or similar upscale with power.
 
⋯ I have been reading controversial posts about potential engine issues in 2018 mainly, and some 2019? Some people are saying it's nothing while others are saying it's something. Everyone is saying there's no issue with the 2017. That's the extent of my logic.
The turning point is the 2018 MY CX-5 when Mazda added cylinder deactivation feature to its excellent SkyActiv-G 2.5L for a mere 0 ~ 1 mpg benefit on EPA ratings. The problems are based on the CD history and whoever started implementing the CD would always come up issues from design principles on CD. Although Mazda had done its best modified and added many components on engine 、transmission、and even the exhaust system to compensate and prevent potential issues, but the results are still inevitable. So far since 2018 Mazds has issued a recall、several Servicd Alerts、and TSBs on engine and transmission especially on oil pressure control issue from switchable hydraulic lash adjusters. Just this year in 2021 Mazda has issued a latest TSB which offered modified switchable HLAs for 2.5L with CD apparently is trying to manage the oil pressure better by re-designed hardware instead of using the software.

So if you want a used CX-5, 2017 MY which has no CD definitely is a better choice, especially if you plan to keep the CX-5 long. But it’s the first year gen-2 CX-5, it also suffers some first-year problems on new designs such as front suspension, and engine mounts, where several TSBs have been issued.

IMO people should always try to get a new vehicle preventing too many unknowns on a used car, of course within their financial reach.
 
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