A list of known CX-5 Stereo / Navigation problems

I'm about to file a complaint with the BBB in an attempt to get a response from Mazda about the problems with the stereo and navigation system. I thought I'd try and make a comprehensive list of known problems, if anyone has a moment and has things to add to the list, please let me know. The ones I know of so far:

1) iPod and USB storage of varying size take varying amount of time to 'mount' and can take as long as 25 minutes in the case of an iPod Classic. This has to be done every time power is restarted in the vehicle.

2) iPod and USB storage will not resume playback, but revert back to the first song after power is lost and restored.

3) While playing iPod, turning off the audio via the audio butting (as in, to mute the sound for instance). Upon powering up, the iPod screen is blank and requires the iPod to be unplugged and plugged back in, which also then exhibits both the issues above.

4) If while listening to iPod, FM or any other source is selected, switching back to iPod exhibits the same problem as in #3, a blank screen.

5) About 30% of the time I start the car, the iPod is simply not recognized, the screen greys out, and I'm required to unplug and replug the iPod to get it back.

6) The navigation unit has currently locked out being about to give a voice command to drive to an address while the car is moving. I understand the decision to lock out 'typing' an address while moving, but the entire point of voice command is that it's safe for me to do while driving. Please unlock this.

7) There seems to be no function to simply get directions to a city, if I don't know an address in that city. Every other GPS I've had can simple take directions to a city.

8) Why is there no function to display Direction (East, West) and also altitude on the home screen. The GPS clearly has this information in it, and every GPS I've ever had shows this information.

9) Even having disabled the 'safety screen' on startup in the preference, on every start I am greeted by the safety screen.

Curious what other specific problems people have found, so I can present a fairly comprehensive list.

And please, keep your opinions to yourself whether or not I should be complaining about things, I'm only interested in hearing other specific issues people have that they'd like to see fixed, with the Nav and Audio unit on the 2014 CX-5.

Good list, I think you've got it covered.

One more thing you could add is to request support for MTP, for USB connections. Google has removed USB storage mode starting in Android 4.1, and phones now only work with MTP. This doesn't affect bluetooth connections, but it means that without MTP, android phones are charge only and you can't play music via USB.

OK, I haven't heard of MTP, what does it stand for?

Media Transfer Protocol. Here is a link to some more info if you want: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_Transfer_Protocol
In my opinion, it was a mistake for Google to eliminate Mass Storage mode. Nevertheless, if this is what Google has chosen to do it would be nice to have the option for Android phones to work since Google seems stubbornly resistant to putting back mass storage. I would categorize this as more of a "nice to have", but could still valid for the list.

Mogambi said:

I'm about to file a complaint with the BBB in an attempt to get a response from Mazda about the problems with the stereo and navigation system. I thought I'd try and make a comprehensive list of known problems, if anyone has a moment and has things to add to the list, please let me know. The ones I know of so far:

1) iPod and USB storage of varying size take varying amount of time to 'mount' and can take as long as 25 minutes in the case of an iPod Classic. This has to be done every time power is restarted in the vehicle.
2) iPod and USB storage will not resume playback, but revert back to the first song after power is lost and restored.
3) While playing iPod, turning off the audio via the audio butting (as in, to mute the sound for instance). Upon powering up, the iPod screen is blank and requires the iPod to be unplugged and plugged back in, which also then exhibits both the issues above.
4) If while listening to iPod, FM or any other source is selected, switching back to iPod exhibits the same problem as in #3, a blank screen.
5) About 30% of the time I start the car, the iPod is simply not recognized, the screen greys out, and I'm required to unplug and replug the iPod to get it back.

6) The navigation unit has currently locked out being about to give a voice command to drive to an address while the car is moving. I understand the decision to lock out 'typing' an address while moving, but the entire point of voice command is that it's safe for me to do while driving. Please unlock this.
7) There seems to be no function to simply get directions to a city, if I don't know an address in that city. Every other GPS I've had can simple take directions to a city.
8) Why is there no function to display Direction (East, West) and also altitude on the home screen. The GPS clearly has this information in it, and every GPS I've ever had shows this information.
9) Even having disabled the 'safety screen' on startup in the preference, on every start I am greeted by the safety screen.

Curious what other specific problems people have found, so I can present a fairly comprehensive list.

And please, keep your opinions to yourself whether or not I should be complaining about things, I'm only interested in hearing other specific issues people have that they'd like to see fixed, with the Nav and Audio unit on the 2014 CX-5.

Click to expand...

on a 2013 cx-5 with 16GB stick with about 40 albums/folders it takes about 10secs to mount. I dont have ANY apple kit to plug in, and there are android owners with their own and different problems.

car & handset compatibility can be a nightmare at the best of times. It's always best to keep things simple if possible. The usb on my 2013 works fine, but I understand it's a pain on the 2014. You'd have a better chance of getting the resume issue fixed, i'd wager.

re: sat nav. - The tom-tom on the cx-5 sucks big time (my opinion based on the number of posts complaining about it). Mazda's problem is that they chose them for the integrated option and Mazda seem unable to get tom tom to resolve the problems. They should go back to TT and say if these problems continue we reserve the right to use another provider. It seems for many the TT is the biggest disappointment when it comes to owning a cx-5.

Occasionally when starting ours we get "stopping voice control" about three times. Sometimes it never comes out of navigation mode so you cant adjust the volume on radio, other times it does. Haven't done an update in a little while. Will see if that fixes it.



Jeff

On my CX5 Grand Touring with less than 2500 miles, occasionally the head unit will not recognize my Iphone 5 at all. I have to turn car off for at least 2 minutes then restart before it will recognize.

Ron

On my loaner 2013 cx5, the radio would lose sound randomly in front or side speakers for like 2 seconds. It did this from USB iPhone and fm alike. It was pretty weird and for sure was nothing I did. I think others have had a similar problem.

SapphireHearts said:

Occasionally when starting ours we get "stopping voice control" about three times. Sometimes it never comes out of navigation mode so you cant adjust the volume on radio, other times it does. Haven't done an update in a little while. Will see if that fixes it.

Jeff

Click to expand...

Besides the annowing "Stopping Voice Control" almost everytime I start the car I sometimes get "Voice Control not available for the country selected"

On a recent trip I entered OC Maryland but when I entered the address it switched my destination to Delaware! I would have sent a picture of the hotel to TT but they don't accept complaints about errors.

Here are my personal comparison of 2013 Sport and 2014 Touring in terms of USB stick responsivness:

16GB ADATA USB3 Stick with 3100 MP3 songs in one root folder on the drive.

2013 Sport CX-5: It took about 1 second to 'mount'. When resumed from power off it played again in less than a second. I had this car for 13 months and USB stick play was instantaneous.

2014 Tourning CX-5: Well, I stopped measuring after several minutes. It actually did not play at all. The USB support is plain horrible and I just listen to Pandora now.

I do hope this gets fixed as this is the biggest letdown from going to new CX-5.

I have a 2014 touring w/out nav. Sometimes the screen just freezes and I can't change stations. Also playing music through my phone I can't change folders.

gova said:

Here are my personal comparison of 2013 Sport and 2014 Touring in terms of USB stick responsivness:

16GB ADATA USB3 Stick with 3100 MP3 songs in one root folder on the drive.

2013 Sport CX-5: It took about 1 second to 'mount'. When resumed from power off it played again in less than a second. I had this car for 13 months and USB stick play was instantaneous.

2014 Tourning CX-5: Well, I stopped measuring after several minutes. It actually did not play at all. The USB support is plain horrible and I just listen to Pandora now.

I do hope this gets fixed as this is the biggest letdown from going to new CX-5.

Click to expand...

On the 2013, do you get the play by album, artist, genre categorization? The 2014 is reading the ID3 tags from each and every mp3 which is why it is taking so long. Maybe that is the tradeoff? I would be happier if that was happening in the background.

Even after all the initial reading is done and the first alphabetical tune begins to play, Voice Recognition is still not quite ready as it requires further processing with the gracenote data. I wish the ID3 reading was similarly backgrounded and that I could begin to play my playlists immediately. This would require reading all the file names to identify the playlists but that should be a lot quicker than opening all of the files and parsing the tags.

The bluetooth is horrible as well. I you have a spoken notificarion system based on bluetooth, it just doesn't work unless you were under bluetooth audio tab. The same if you have an external gps by bluetooth. Notifications (routes) are listened only if the bluetooth audio tab is enabled. You can not listen if you are playing radio and/or USB.

I have 2013GT and i have issues with USB playing....it takes a lot on reading 16gb usb pendrive...it starts playing but the sounds goes off and on continuously upto the system reads the full usb folder structure

ikerg said:

The bluetooth is horrible as well. I you have a spoken notificarion system based on bluetooth, it just doesn't work unless you were under bluetooth audio tab. The same if you have an external gps by bluetooth. Notifications (routes) are listened only if the bluetooth audio tab is enabled. You can not listen if you are playing radio and/or USB.

Click to expand...

That sucks, but you are right. BT notification only come in over the audio paring and wont preempt any other sources. I have actually gotten used to it though, but I was surprised when I rented a Ford Escape and was using my phone as a GPS while listening to the radio. When a turn would come up, I would hear the announcement through the speakers. That does not happen on the CX-5.

I had my Navigation totally lock up on me before making a turn onto a highway. Not sure what the cause was exactly, but the navigation tab just stopped working and it didn't start working again until I was able to stop my car for a little while. I did briefly turn the car off for about 15 seconds, but that wasn't enough time to fix the issue.

It really galls me that Mazda keeps parroting that the stereo is "working as designed". I realize that if there is no way to update the firmware on the fly (which would be asinine and stupid if it were the case) then it would be expensive to fix. But when the '13 had NO PROBLEM, and the functionality is CLEARLY BROKEN in the '14 they OWE us a fix! Yes, I've made do using Bluetooth streaming, but I would rather use the USB port with a stick.

All these issues sound like the MyFord Touch complaints. I was avoiding the Escape because of MFT problems. Seems like Mazda is at least as bad. With the Escape, I would have a more powerful engine and plenty of luxurious options: memory seats, cross traffic alert, hands free power liftgate, memory mirrors, etc.

birdman579 said:

All these issues sound like the MyFord Touch complaints.

Click to expand...

After 2 different 2013 Ford Focus Titanium's (both with MyFord Touch and Nav) I can assure you that while the mazda system is broken, at least its consistently broken and doesn't endanger your life. Ford's system is much more elaborate and takes over many more of the systems in the car. The result is that when it randomly decides to go nuts, really bad things can happen.

For example, my Focus would suddenly freeze the MFT system, and a loud squealing staticy sound started coming out of the car speakers (all 10 of them.) The volume control was useless, the power button was useless, and the only way I could get that VERY loud (and extremely distracting) squeal to stop was to pull over (on the side of a highway) stop the car, get out of the car, and wait 5 minutes. The initial shock of the noise could cause an accident. The continuous nature could cause an accident (or noise pollution ticket), and the fact I had to pull over on a freeway was also dangerous. The frequency of this repeating was about once every 600 miles. Of course, when brought to a dealership there were no codes and they couldn't repeat it.

Also, when considering the Ford Escape, also remember some of the more interesting recalls they've already had, including engine fires (on the 1.6 ecoboost engines) and gas tanks leaking. Sorry, but that's some scary stuff there.

I can replace the mazda head unit. No one has managed to replace the head unit on a MFT car that I've seen due to how tied in to vehicle systems it is.

Don't get me wrong here -the Ford "sync" voice recognition is some of the best I've ever seen in a car. However, after 3 months dealing with MFT and Ford Motor Company, I'll never buy another Ford as long as I live. They used to be one of my favorite brands. Now, I'd rather buy a Yugo.

The voice recognition has to be the worse I have ever seen, the places it comes up with dont even sound remotely similar to the places you tell it to navigate to.

It is also annoying that it doesnt show the street names on the nav as you approach intersections and at night time it barely shows any street names.