Out CX5 hit the 7500 mile mark a few days ago. I thought I'd report on what I think so far about the purchase.
The complaints:
1. The rear head restraints are too large and interfere with vision. We've removed them and placed them on the rear floorboard. In the cases where we have rear passenges (which is a rarity) we'll install them. I need to source a seller of the overseas version of this part. The head restraint for the middle passenger is the perfect size, but cannot be fitted into those spots. If it would fit, I'd buy two more and use them instead.
2. I love TomTom. I have a TomTom unit in my other car. It's about 5 years old and is a small 3"x3" screen. It works wonderfully and is a snap to type in addresses. It blows away the unit installed in our CX5 in terms of speed of data entry and operational speed from screen to screen. The unit in the CX5 is very slow and typing in an address manually is very slow as well. It seems the screen is slow to keep up with keystrokes and at times I wonder if there is some sort of operating system problem or a RAM issue. There's been a couple of instances over the last few months where it has locked up forcing me to shut off power and restart the NAV system. Screen quality is fine. Navigation works well once the data has been entered; Can't complain much about that. Voice command is useless. I cannot get this thing to recognize anything I seem to say and what it assumes I'm saying is so far off, I wonder if it thinks I'm speaking another language. Yes, language is set to English. I wish there was a way to overide data entry while moving. I understand the liability issue, but simply warning the passenger before turning the override on is common sense enough; Plus, it would allow the front passenger to make entries while on a trip.
3. Floor mats or "ok." They are awefully thin, but seem to be wearing well at this point.
4. I'm a little concerned with the cloth covering on the doors. Seems to be very little padding underneath and I'm thinking this area will wear very quickly over time. But at this point it looks fine and since my wife is the primary driver, I suspect over the long haul it may very well hold up.
5. My left mirror seems to wiggle at higher speeds. Not a big problem, but needs to be addressed. I haven't noticed the right side has the same problem yet.
6. Althought the seats are very comfortable, I think the drivers seat will wear quickly on the left side where the raised portion will be rubbed while entering and exiting. So far it looks fine, but it's noticable when departing the vehicle.
7. We have the Touring model with the keyless start. I thought this setup would be capable of unlocking/locking the doors without having to remove the fob from my pocket or the wife's purse, like in our old Altima. Wrong. What a disappointment (Our salesman didn't know this either). Basically this key is no better than having a regular key other than the fact you can start the car without inserting a key. My wife is not happy with this at all-- having to search through her purse for the key fob to unlock the door at night is not fun. With our Altima, she kept the key fob securely attached inside her purse and simply pressed the unlock button once she was at the vehicle. This was a nice safety feature for her. Why Mazda chose two different "smart key" setups for Touring and Grand Touring is a mystery to me. Actually, only the Grand Touring is "smart," the Touring has the "red headed step-sister" version. Don't get me wrong, I can live with it, it's just a bit nutty to me.
The good:
There are too many to list, but I'll hit the biggest things I can think of.
1. MPG. I've been averaging 29.6 mpg for the last 6500 miles. The first 1000 miles was about 26 mpg.
On the highway it's averaged over 35 on quite a few trips. It's amazing considering this is a small SUV and has what many complain as an "underpowered" engine. I have no complaints about the engine. It's fine for the way we drive- especially my wife. I have no problems merging into traffic or passing on two lane roads.
2. Handling. All I can say is "wow". It's like a car in many ways and does not feel topheavy like the CRV we had a few years ago. You'd swear you were in a car at times.
3. Privacy glass. I love this feature and it seems to really help keep the car cooler in the summer. We live in southern Louisiana and it gets awefully hot from May through September. Very good feature to have.
4. A/C. It cools very quickly, partly because of the privacy glass I'm sure, but overall this is the best performing A/C system I've had in many many years.
5. Bose. Very good sound system. It sounds ok while listening to the HD stations but really shines when listening to .wav files from an actual music CD, or if you rip your music at a high bit rate (over 330 or variable bit rate). I listen to a lot of music from my 16gig thumb drive and I'm loving the sound. Our previous Altima had the Bose system as well and this one is just as nice.
6. Build quality. It is very good. I have no issues.
7. TPMS reset. This is handy to have. Our tires were rotated at 7500 miles and after a few miles the TPMS system came on. I checked all the tires, and they were fine. I did a reset and everything was fine.
8. Paint. We have the pearl white paint. It is beautiful and seems to be a bit more resistant to road debris than our other cars were. It's is easy to keep clean and looks stunning in the sunlight. It wasn't my forst choice, but I'm glad I have this color now.
9. Rear seat room is spacious. Two large adults will ride comfortably in the back. My prents sat in the back for a two hour trip and were very comfortable-- especially if you move the seats in just a bit.
10. Front seats are very comfortble; I love the bolsters. Almost feels like I'm in a recaro seat. The fact that this vehicle can handle really well makes the seat design a "must."
11. Ride quality is very good and seems as quiet as can be expected. Very little wind noice and
The complaints:
1. The rear head restraints are too large and interfere with vision. We've removed them and placed them on the rear floorboard. In the cases where we have rear passenges (which is a rarity) we'll install them. I need to source a seller of the overseas version of this part. The head restraint for the middle passenger is the perfect size, but cannot be fitted into those spots. If it would fit, I'd buy two more and use them instead.
2. I love TomTom. I have a TomTom unit in my other car. It's about 5 years old and is a small 3"x3" screen. It works wonderfully and is a snap to type in addresses. It blows away the unit installed in our CX5 in terms of speed of data entry and operational speed from screen to screen. The unit in the CX5 is very slow and typing in an address manually is very slow as well. It seems the screen is slow to keep up with keystrokes and at times I wonder if there is some sort of operating system problem or a RAM issue. There's been a couple of instances over the last few months where it has locked up forcing me to shut off power and restart the NAV system. Screen quality is fine. Navigation works well once the data has been entered; Can't complain much about that. Voice command is useless. I cannot get this thing to recognize anything I seem to say and what it assumes I'm saying is so far off, I wonder if it thinks I'm speaking another language. Yes, language is set to English. I wish there was a way to overide data entry while moving. I understand the liability issue, but simply warning the passenger before turning the override on is common sense enough; Plus, it would allow the front passenger to make entries while on a trip.
3. Floor mats or "ok." They are awefully thin, but seem to be wearing well at this point.
4. I'm a little concerned with the cloth covering on the doors. Seems to be very little padding underneath and I'm thinking this area will wear very quickly over time. But at this point it looks fine and since my wife is the primary driver, I suspect over the long haul it may very well hold up.
5. My left mirror seems to wiggle at higher speeds. Not a big problem, but needs to be addressed. I haven't noticed the right side has the same problem yet.
6. Althought the seats are very comfortable, I think the drivers seat will wear quickly on the left side where the raised portion will be rubbed while entering and exiting. So far it looks fine, but it's noticable when departing the vehicle.
7. We have the Touring model with the keyless start. I thought this setup would be capable of unlocking/locking the doors without having to remove the fob from my pocket or the wife's purse, like in our old Altima. Wrong. What a disappointment (Our salesman didn't know this either). Basically this key is no better than having a regular key other than the fact you can start the car without inserting a key. My wife is not happy with this at all-- having to search through her purse for the key fob to unlock the door at night is not fun. With our Altima, she kept the key fob securely attached inside her purse and simply pressed the unlock button once she was at the vehicle. This was a nice safety feature for her. Why Mazda chose two different "smart key" setups for Touring and Grand Touring is a mystery to me. Actually, only the Grand Touring is "smart," the Touring has the "red headed step-sister" version. Don't get me wrong, I can live with it, it's just a bit nutty to me.
The good:
There are too many to list, but I'll hit the biggest things I can think of.
1. MPG. I've been averaging 29.6 mpg for the last 6500 miles. The first 1000 miles was about 26 mpg.
On the highway it's averaged over 35 on quite a few trips. It's amazing considering this is a small SUV and has what many complain as an "underpowered" engine. I have no complaints about the engine. It's fine for the way we drive- especially my wife. I have no problems merging into traffic or passing on two lane roads.
2. Handling. All I can say is "wow". It's like a car in many ways and does not feel topheavy like the CRV we had a few years ago. You'd swear you were in a car at times.
3. Privacy glass. I love this feature and it seems to really help keep the car cooler in the summer. We live in southern Louisiana and it gets awefully hot from May through September. Very good feature to have.
4. A/C. It cools very quickly, partly because of the privacy glass I'm sure, but overall this is the best performing A/C system I've had in many many years.
5. Bose. Very good sound system. It sounds ok while listening to the HD stations but really shines when listening to .wav files from an actual music CD, or if you rip your music at a high bit rate (over 330 or variable bit rate). I listen to a lot of music from my 16gig thumb drive and I'm loving the sound. Our previous Altima had the Bose system as well and this one is just as nice.
6. Build quality. It is very good. I have no issues.
7. TPMS reset. This is handy to have. Our tires were rotated at 7500 miles and after a few miles the TPMS system came on. I checked all the tires, and they were fine. I did a reset and everything was fine.
8. Paint. We have the pearl white paint. It is beautiful and seems to be a bit more resistant to road debris than our other cars were. It's is easy to keep clean and looks stunning in the sunlight. It wasn't my forst choice, but I'm glad I have this color now.
9. Rear seat room is spacious. Two large adults will ride comfortably in the back. My prents sat in the back for a two hour trip and were very comfortable-- especially if you move the seats in just a bit.
10. Front seats are very comfortble; I love the bolsters. Almost feels like I'm in a recaro seat. The fact that this vehicle can handle really well makes the seat design a "must."
11. Ride quality is very good and seems as quiet as can be expected. Very little wind noice and
