In the market - How are the 2014's holding up?

heybrady said:
What's the best hitch for the CX5? Will be the first thing I do so I can transport my bicycles. Assume the install is straightforward, but looking for a hitch that is as hidden as possible.
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In general, the Mazda 1.25" hitch is the most hidden. It rides up so high that the bottom of the plastic bumper cover needs to be "notched" out for clearance (easy enough to do). This hitch is perfectly adequate and works well up to the rated towing capacity of the CX-5. I have this hitch installed with a hitch cover plate that hides the notch in the bumper. I have a Thule bike rack that I use with it as well as I sometimes pull a small, 1,000# capacity utility trailer.

That said, many members on here prefer the 2" Class 3 Curt hitch. If you do a search, you'll find more than a few threads about it. It also is a perfectly fine hitch, but it will be more visible than the Mazda one. On the other hand, no notch in the bumper cover and, in most folk's mind, "extra capacity" due to the higher tow rating of a Class 3 hitch.

In the end, it comes down to a choice among good alternatives. It just depends on what you want for looks, utility and cost. All of the hitches are easy enough to self-install if you have a helper to do some holding while you thread bolts etc.
 
heybrady said:
What's the best hitch for the CX5? Will be the first thing I do so I can transport my bicycles. Assume the install is straightforward, but looking for a hitch that is as hidden as possible.

Again, thanks all for the discussion. Much appreciated.
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I installed the Curt 1.25" hitch to carry my bike rack. Didn't want to cut the bumper cover for the Mazda hitch.

The Curt hitch was easy to install and blends in well with the back of the vehicle.

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heybrady said:
Re: HD Radio - How do you like HD radio?
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HD radio quality is better, when you can get a good signal. When the signal strength drops, so does quality, back to FM quality.
While I don't listen to HD radio much now, I did experience some channels dropping in and out of HD quality, even around town.
With all other digital forms of music delivery available, to me it is not a big must-have feature (and you do get it in a 2014 anyway).
 
My driver seat needs new tracks(it is really loud sometimes), lumbar support shaft sheared off and driver mirror still shakes after a dealer fix.
 
55k miles on my 2014 Touring and absolutely no problems. I'm OK with the Bose sound system and the factory nav is OK (I use Waze most of the time). Bluetooth works well enough. The only thing I've done is put Conti Truecontacts on at 48k miles. That made a huge difference! My only issue is that I can't lower the back of the seat cushion. I don't have the thigh support I would like. But I live with it.
 
rickprins said:
My only issue is that I can't lower the back of the seat cushion. I don't have the thigh support I would like. But I live with it.
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I noticed this during test drive and will play with it a bit when I borrow a friend's CX5 tomorrow for a longer test drive. I am 6'2" and sometimes in cars with smaller seats I find a lack of thigh support. Usually I raise the front as high and lower the rear of the bottom cushion as low as it will go.
 
heybrady said:
I noticed this during test drive and will play with it a bit when I borrow a friend's CX5 tomorrow for a longer test drive. I am 6'2" and sometimes in cars with smaller seats I find a lack of thigh support. Usually I raise the front as high and lower the rear of the bottom cushion as low as it will go.
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Be watchful that CX-5 Touring has 6-way power driver's seat and you can't adjust the front of seat bottom only the whole seat height. The same on new 2nd-gen CX-9 all trims although the spec wrongfully says 8 ways. Only CX-5 GT has true 8-way power driver's seat so that the seat bottom can tilt.
 
yrwei52 said:
Be watchful that CX-5 Touring has 6-way power driver's seat and you can't adjust the front of seat bottom only the whole seat height. The same on new 2nd-gen CX-9 all trims although the spec wrongfully says 8 ways. Only CX-5 GT has true 8-way power driver's seat so that the seat bottom can tilt.
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This is correct, though when changing height on a Touring it will raise/lower the back portion of the seat more than the front and also affect the angle of the back cushion (why?). After raising the seat, the bottom cushion become more flat.
 
We just got our '14 CX-5 Touring about 2 months ago, built January 2013, has 55K on it now. We're loving it so far! I did have to replace the tires (original model tires, maybe original to the car?) shortly after getting it. But other than that it's been great. MPG hasn't been so great due to wife sitting in son's school pickup line with engine and AC running for up to 30 minutes each afternoon, 5 days a week. On weekends with mixed driving it seems to be getting 28-29 MPG which seems quite good. Overall it's been more like 24 average with all the sitting idling.

Oil was changed right before we bought it. I'll probably change it again before our first road trip in November, using Mazda's moly oil 0w-20.
 
PatrickGSR94 said:
We just got our '14 CX-5 Touring about 2 months ago, built January 2013, has 55K on it now. We're loving it so far! I did have to replace the tires (original model tires, maybe original to the car?) shortly after getting it. But other than that it's been great. MPG hasn't been so great due to wife sitting in son's school pickup line with engine and AC running for up to 30 minutes each afternoon, 5 days a week. On weekends with mixed driving it seems to be getting 28-29 MPG which seems quite good. Overall it's been more like 24 average with all the sitting idling.

Oil was changed right before we bought it. I'll probably change it again before our first road trip in November, using Mazda's moly oil 0w-20.
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55K Touring 2014 - dealer or personal sale? What did you pay?
 
Update: Yesterday I purchased a 2014.5 CX5 GT AWD in Liquid Silver. 24K miles, new tires and OEM roof rack for $22K+TTL. Car was in great shape and I was very impressed with just about everything about the car.

Yes, the Bluetooth is very odd. Why does it cancel the shuffle on my iPhone???? Will look into the TSB that's out there for the BT module.
 
heybrady said:
Update: Yesterday I purchased a 2014.5 CX5 GT AWD in Liquid Silver. 24K miles, new tires and OEM roof rack for $22K+TTL. Car was in great shape and I was very impressed with just about everything about the car.

Yes, the Bluetooth is very odd. Why does it cancel the shuffle on my iPhone???? Will look into the TSB that's out there for the BT module.
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Did you look at mods? 87/91/93/e85 aftermarket tune?
 
Have not. Not much of a mod person, but am considering the LED fog trim DRL kit.

What do you suggest?


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heybrady said:
Update: Yesterday I purchased a 2014.5 CX5 GT AWD in Liquid Silver. 24K miles, new tires and OEM roof rack for $22K+TTL. Car was in great shape and I was very impressed with just about everything about the car.

Yes, the Bluetooth is very odd. Why does it cancel the shuffle on my iPhone???? Will look into the TSB that's out there for the BT module.
Click to expand...

Had my Bluetooth model replaced and it fixed the shuffle feature as long as my iPhone is connected via USB. Blue tooth offers no option unless I hit shuffle on the phone. In USB mode I have to tap the shuffle button on the nav screen 2 or 3 times to get it to stick. Annoying, but at least it works.
 
Our 2013 model purchased in 2012 with nearly 60k miles has no cheap cabin rattles. Smaller 2.0 engine and tranny is still smooth and responsive. Original brakes. Paint and headlights are still shiny due to paint protection film. Carpet looks new since we have rubber mats. Dash and interior trim as no signs of fading due to use of 303 Aerospace protectant. HIDs still work and still turns. Car paint routinely washed/waxed.

Issues:

1. All cloth seats especially drivers seats do not look new (to me) and need to be steam cleaned. I may get custom polypropylene covers.
2. One dome light bulb went out and needs to be replaced.

People not familiar with a CX-5 often think its a new car. Sure makes the time and effort I put into cleaning/maintaining the car these 4 years of ownership worth it:)
 
CX-5um said:
Our 2013 model purchased in 2012 with nearly 60k miles has no cheap cabin rattles. Smaller 2.0 engine and tranny is still smooth and responsive. Original brakes. Paint and headlights are still shiny due to paint protection film. Carpet looks new since we have rubber mats. Dash and interior trim as no signs of fading due to use of 303 Aerospace protectant. HIDs still work and still turns. Car paint routinely washed/waxed.

Issues:

1. All cloth seats especially drivers seats do not look new (to me) and need to be steam cleaned. I may get custom polypropylene covers.
2. One dome light bulb went out and needs to be replaced.

People not familiar with a CX-5 often think its a new car. Sure makes the time and effort I put into cleaning/maintaining the car these 4 years of ownership worth it:)
Click to expand...

Some vehicles are like that. My 2001 Trans Am was getting comments like that almost a decade later, and my 1995 Trans Am, nearly the same. The CX-5 holds up very well in my opinion, and I, too, have not noted any annoying rattles etc.

One thing that does irk me is that when coasting down a hill at highway speeds, if you floor it, you can get a nasty WHACK! when the slack is taken out of the driveline. I think this is normally absorbed by tq converters, which unlock during downshifts in most automatics, and absorb the "slop", while this keeps the converter pretty well locked as I understand and relies on clutches.
 
Unobtanium said:
Some vehicles are like that. My 2001 Trans Am was getting comments like that almost a decade later, and my 1995 Trans Am, nearly the same. The CX-5 holds up very well in my opinion, and I, too, have not noted any annoying rattles etc.

One thing that does irk me is that when coasting down a hill at highway speeds, if you floor it, you can get a nasty WHACK! when the slack is taken out of the driveline. I think this is normally absorbed by tq converters, which unlock during downshifts in most automatics, and absorb the "slop", while this keeps the converter pretty well locked as I understand and relies on clutches.
Click to expand...

Interesting observation with the automatic and I know exactly what you mean. Its that nature of the smaller tq converter I guess. Its an overall good efficient design although different as it did take most of us by surprise coming from other automatics. I noticed Honda may have followed Mazda's trend in using a smaller tq convertor with their cvt automatics as well as their Acura DCTs. They're being praised for doing so but Mazda's skyactiv autos had them since 2012. I test drove said DCT in a 2016 Acura ILX and its a good transmission but eventually bought the Mazda6. The Mazda6's transmission was just as smooth and had better handling characteristics than the Acura.
 
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