So frustrated by our unreliable mazda5

9

90210

Member
:
2012 Mazda5 Touring
This is our 10th Mazda

7 miatas
1 Mazda 3
1 mazdaspeed3
1 mazdA5

We are original owners of our Mazda 5, bought new, 67k miles

It had been dead reliable till this month. Passenger front door lock hasn't been working with remote or master door lock. I figured would fix it once we get a chance to take it home

Now on a long road trip for holidays. Rear lift gate stopped working. It won't open with remote, or manual door lock

So frustrating with kids

Ridiculous. I have had 43 cars and never owned a 4 year old Japanese cars with electrical issues

Sigh
 
90210 said:
We are original owners of our Mazda 5, bought new, 67k miles

It had been dead reliable till this month. Passenger front door lock hasn't been working with remote or master door lock.
Click to expand...

Sorry to hear about the electric/electronic issues -- I think I saw another thread about them. I hope it won't be too much of a hassle in terms of a permanent fix. How has the powertrain been so far? Is suspension holding up ok?

Happy Thanksgiving and safe travels!
 
Thank you

Trans and motor good no issues


But for a family car door locks and electronics are very important and can make a car useless if those are inoperable

MZ5black said:
Sorry to hear about the electric/electronic issues -- I think I saw another thread about them. I hope it won't be too much of a hassle in terms of a permanent fix. How has the powertrain been so far? Is suspension holding up ok?

Happy Thanksgiving and safe travels!
Click to expand...
 
90210 said:
Trans and motor good no issues


But for a family car door locks and electronics are very important and can make a car useless if those are inoperable
Click to expand...

Completely agree - really inconvenient. Very odd that they failed so early.
 
After talking to my Mazda advisor she said she recently saw three other mazda5 same exact symptoms

I am still out of the country with the car

Once the dealer sees it mid December I will update the thread

This will certainly be our last Mazda
MZ5black said:
Completely agree - really inconvenient. Very odd that they failed so early.
Click to expand...
 
Things wear and tear. Doesn't matter if ur the original owner or 2nd 3rd etc. things break no matter what. If it gives out it gives out.

It's like you get 100 cereal box from the manufacturer and 1 or more maybe bad.

And also of how well you maintain and drive the car those are all factors. A simple oil change To jiffy lube and air in the tire is not just maintaining. I've seen it all and where I work.

As you said passenger door lock doesn't work but all other doors work. It's the door actuator probably gave out.

As for lift gate. It's probably stuck on something that got snagged by the hook. As you have kids it is also a possible thing. If not cable or bracket probably broke
 
90210 said:
This will certainly be our last Mazda
Click to expand...

while i agree how very inconvenient that issue is, I'd hardly consider it reason enough to label a whole car as "unreliable" and swear off a whole manufacturer after that. heck, after 4 years and 67k miles, I'd say that's pretty impressive that's the only thing that's needed replacing. even the "top of the line" manufacturers have things like this happen, even on newer and cars with fewer models.
 
90210 said:
This will certainly be our last Mazda
Click to expand...

That's kind of harsh. The alternative to Mazda is not perfection. My Mazda5 has been pretty reliable; bought it new and have 50k now--the only problem was a front suspension issue, fixed at 25k. My Protege had zero problems until I sold it at 50k--the most reliable car I have ever owned. On the other hand, my Hyundai Sonata left me stranded twice--once at 25k and a second time at 50k--when the throttle position sensor failed. My Ford 500 also left me stranded with a CAN-bus failure at 25k, on the highway, that nearly got me killed. The trunk of my wife's Camry was flooded after the first rain a week after she bought it new. Etc.

I'm not the biggest fan of the Mazda5. In hindsight, I should have bought a full sized minivan or SUV. But it's been pretty darned reliable so far.
 
They try to make cars cheaper and cheaper nowa days.
A few electrical glitches are a nuisance for sure, but I'd not mark it unreliable just yet.
If you read the posts here, you see in general a lot of maintenance and little upgrades here and there threads and a few problems thread pop up every now and again.
I was on two other forums with similar age cars and they were flooded daily with mechanical/electrical issues posts by the owners, like a never ending flood of issues, it was almost impossible to find any modification threads cuz people were busy fixing their cars.
I'm actually pleasantly surprised by the Mazda forum.
 
Think of it as owning a Ford 5

I have a love/hate relationship with this car. Love the styling, chassis, and idea behind it (compact MAV, which isn’t popular in the US) but hate that it is made by Mazda (and Ford). The one thing I come to realize after tinkering with this car is that while finale assembly occurs in Japan, a LOT (short of all, except the bullet proof engine) of components/parts are from Ford, who controlling stake in Mazda, suppliers. While the partnership end in 2008, IMO, all cars in current/planned iterations would likely continue status quo until the next product lifecycle. I would be VERY curious to see the ‘next’ truly Mazda made Mz5 but sadly that will never happen (prob tall body Mz3). I too will never again buy a Mazda of that era where there is the inkling of a Forzda partnership. Now that Mazda is operating free of Ford, I may give them a second chance but the current iteration of the Mazda 5 does leave a bad taste of Mazda in my mouth…

http://www.autonews.com/article/201...93/how-fords-partnership-with-mazda-unraveled


EDIT: forgot to add, this IS an economy car so expect cheap economy *all* in return (yes, not all economy is created equal).
 
Last edited:
90210 said:
This is our 10th Mazda

7 miatas
1 Mazda 3
1 mazdaspeed3
1 mazdA5

We are original owners of our Mazda 5, bought new, 67k miles

It had been dead reliable till this month. Passenger front door lock hasn't been working with remote or master door lock. I figured would fix it once we get a chance to take it home

Now on a long road trip for holidays. Rear lift gate stopped working. It won't open with remote, or manual door lock

So frustrating with kids

Ridiculous. I have had 43 cars and never owned a 4 year old Japanese cars with electrical issues

Sigh
Click to expand...


Hey 90210, I've got the same issue (Passenger front door lock hasn't been working with remote or master door lock) except mine is the drivers side door. Did you ever get this fixed? Did you DIY or dealer? How much was the part? Labour? Is it fairly DIY-able for a fairly handy guy?
Thanks!
 
My cars don't see Jiffy Lube. They are meticulous maintained with the best stuff.

LIftgate not snagged on anything.
Mr2nice said:
Things wear and tear. Doesn't matter if ur the original owner or 2nd 3rd etc. things break no matter what. If it gives out it gives out.

It's like you get 100 cereal box from the manufacturer and 1 or more maybe bad.

And also of how well you maintain and drive the car those are all factors. A simple oil change To jiffy lube and air in the tire is not just maintaining. I've seen it all and where I work.

As you said passenger door lock doesn't work but all other doors work. It's the door actuator probably gave out.

As for lift gate. It's probably stuck on something that got snagged by the hook. As you have kids it is also a possible thing. If not cable or bracket probably broke
Click to expand...
 
tanstaafl said:
That's kind of harsh. The alternative to Mazda is not perfection. My Mazda5 has been pretty reliable; bought it new and have 50k now--the only problem was a front suspension issue, fixed at 25k. My Protege had zero problems until I sold it at 50k--the most reliable car I have ever owned. On the other hand, my Hyundai Sonata left me stranded twice--once at 25k and a second time at 50k--when the throttle position sensor failed. My Ford 500 also left me stranded with a CAN-bus failure at 25k, on the highway, that nearly got me killed. The trunk of my wife's Camry was flooded after the first rain a week after she bought it new. Etc.

I'm not the biggest fan of the Mazda5. In hindsight, I should have bought a full sized minivan or SUV. But it's been pretty darned reliable so far.
Click to expand...
I am going to keep it a little while longer (15 moths or so), and replace it with a new LX570
 
Wishmaster said:
Hey 90210, I've got the same issue (Passenger front door lock hasn't been working with remote or master door lock) except mine is the drivers side door. Did you ever get this fixed? Did you DIY or dealer? How much was the part? Labour? Is it fairly DIY-able for a fairly handy guy?
Thanks!
Click to expand...


I parked the car after vacation. We stopped using the POS. Maybe in JAN/FEB I will fix the doors. With then holidays, got enough to deal with, then this junk.

When fixed, I will update post here.

Sorry to hear of your problems as well.
 
Yeah I was happy no Ford gremlins happened, but after this, and reading your post you are absolutely right.

Components are crap as you said. Told my wife to buy a Sienna/Oddy/LX570/Land Cruiser. She didn't want to drive anything big, thus we ended up with 5.

Oh well. Lesson learned.

Silentnoise713 said:
I have a love/hate relationship with this car. Love the styling, chassis, and idea behind it (compact MAV, which isn’t popular in the US) but hate that it is made by Mazda (and Ford). The one thing I come to realize after tinkering with this car is that while finale assembly occurs in Japan, a LOT (short of all, except the bullet proof engine) of components/parts are from Ford, who controlling stake in Mazda, suppliers. While the partnership end in 2008, IMO, all cars in current/planned iterations would likely continue status quo until the next product lifecycle. I would be VERY curious to see the ‘next’ truly Mazda made Mz5 but sadly that will never happen (prob tall body Mz3). I too will never again buy a Mazda of that era where there is the inkling of a Forzda partnership. Now that Mazda is operating free of Ford, I may give them a second chance but the current iteration of the Mazda 5 does leave a bad taste of Mazda in my mouth…

http://www.autonews.com/article/201...93/how-fords-partnership-with-mazda-unraveled


EDIT: forgot to add, this IS an economy car so expect cheap economy *all* in return (yes, not all economy is created equal).
Click to expand...
 
Different experience here.. My '07 GT has >140k miles, second owner at 55k miles. Ever since then, never had door issues or electronic gremlins or the likes.. just the common wear and tear parts; suspension clunk, blown shocks, t-stat, alternator, motor mount... My stock CD player did quit ejecting but didn't matter since I've replaced it with a bluetooth dongle). Other than that, this car has been good.. Keep up with the maintenance like motor oil and tranny fluid change, and it will take care of you.. Also, current Mazda ranks top on reliability. It's unfortunate that they've quit making MZ5s though.
 
Last edited:
90210 said:
I parked the car after vacation. We stopped using the POS. Maybe in JAN/FEB I will fix the doors. With then holidays, got enough to deal with, then this junk.

When fixed, I will update post here.

Sorry to hear of your problems as well.
Click to expand...

wait, let me get this straight;

the door lock doesn't work, and the liftgate wont lift remotely?

and for THAT the car is a POS? for THAT you're going to write off the whole company???

wow.

I guess we live in different worlds.
 
mpvue said:
wait, let me get this straight;

the door lock doesn't work, and the liftgate wont lift remotely?

and for THAT the car is a POS? for THAT you're going to write off the whole company???

wow.

I guess we live in different worlds.
Click to expand...
i am not telling you to live in my world :)


I have spent a lot of money with this company and other companies

I have had 46 cars
Never had cars in 4 years where door locks don't work

When you have border patrols give you third degree because you can't get your car open it isn't a good feeling
 
Update from dealership

1) front passenger door actuator is bad -common problem with mazda5 per them

2) rear hatch lock they have never seen before

Parts for rear will be here first week of February st which point I will update with costs incurred
 
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