CX-5 Diesel--worth the price premium?

yrwei52 said:
Based on this video, his 2017 Mazda CX-5 XD L Package 4WD diesel is not only noisy, but also having plenty of smoke when he revved the engine. :)
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Are you sure it is smoke, not water vapor? I am sure there is nothing wrong with that car and that it would pass emissions, better than most US diesel trucks on the road today. Keep in mind the engine was just started. My gas engine also stinks right after I start it.
 
So all those on the links provided are telling porkies are they.
Ask on Honest john forum how good Mazda diesels are. Or just search the many posts about them.

I would also advise you to read the manual regaurding checking the oil levels.

Mattyredsox said:
I have the 2014 CX5 diesel. My engine doesn't rattle at all. It's as quiet as the gasoline. I've compared them. Elsewhere you claim that there's lots of other maintenance issues. Umm, really? Weekly oil checks? I never check mine. Period. Ever. The dealer maintenance light comes on about 300km before it's due for service and I bring it in. Living in Hiroshima where they are made, I'd say, safely about 5 to 10% of the cars on the road are CX-5's and nearly half of them diesel, and I've never heard of any of the troubles you describe. If you don't want a diesel, don't get one, but I suggest that others go to the dealer and compare them in person when they become available in their region.
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The revving on a cold engine is automatic given the temperature and other parameters are met, they can be found in the manual.

So on a warm day the cold engine revs very loudly to about 1700 rpm, in winter thankfully it never does because its below the temperature thresold.

Mazda say its to give the cat a quick warm up.
I was brought up to NEVER rev a cold engine, especially until the oil had time to circulate.
Putiing the car immediatly into rev or drive drops the revs, but its not that easy with the manual, that needs the clucth depressing.

yrwei52 said:
Based on this video, his 2017 Mazda CX-5 XD L Package 4WD diesel is not only noisy, but also having plenty of smoke when he revved the engine. :)

Click to expand...
 
And you can sometimes see a cloud of crap come out of the exhausts during a regen.

Here's the email from Mazda after i complained about the high revs.

Thank you for your recent email.



Having discussed your concern with our Technical Department, I can advise the following:



High idle speed is a normal function of the SkyActiv Diesel engine on start up, and is not related to any PCM updates; this has always been a feature of this engine.



After a cold start, the regulating valve and the wastegate valve are fully open to enable the exhaust gas to flow through the turbochargers without losing much exhaust gas heating capacity. Also the VVL mechanism slightly opens one exhaust valve per cylinder during intake stroke in order to recirculate a certain amount of high temperature exhaust gas back to the cylinder.

This is for early activation of the catalytic converter and improved exhaust gas purification. This does not indicate defect of the parts.



<Operating Requirement>

1. Water temperature (ECT) at engine starting: from 15 to 32 degrees Celsius.



Intake air temperature (IAT) at engine start: from 15 to 35 degrees Celsius.

Barometric pressure at (BARO) at engine start: from: 91 to 200 kPa.

2. Gear position: P, N, D with the engine idling (Accelerator pedal not depressed)



This is mentioned in the owner’s manual



<Owner’s Manual>

This concern is mentioned in the O/M “When Driving Start/Stop Engine” as follows:.



After starting a cold engine, the engine speed increases and a whining sound from the engine compartment can be heard.

This is for improved exhaust gas purification and does not indicate defect of the parts.



In closing, I trust the above information clarifies your Mazda CX-5 is operating as intended.
 
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Mattyredsox said:
I'm not going to fight with you. I have one. I've compared it. Go by whatever you want to believe.
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I'm on my second. So what. I call it how it is, but some like yourself don't like to hear it.
To me its just a car, not perfect but ticks most of the boxes, so i bought another.
 
Jedi54 said:
that would put it only about 2mpg above the regular 2.5L gas engine.
dang.

I was hoping for much better than that. (at least 35+ to make it worth the cost premium)

So, with that in mind we should take guesses on what it ends up averaging (per EPA)
I'm putting the over/under at 36 mpg on the highway.

Any takers?
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I have no difficulty at all getting 35-40mpg (converted to US gal) from my CX5 diesel on highway running. Usually closer to 40mpg than 35. I have done as well as 45 on a few occasions.

Bear in mind our max highway speed limit here is 110km/hr, which is enforced enthusiastically by the Police with mobile and fixed radar traps.

And its normal for me to average 35 +- 2/3 in a general mix of local running ovr a tank.

Regrading the engine noise of the diesel. I have had numerous friends drive with me in my CX5 who express surprise when I tell them it is a diesel. So it is quite unobtrusive - The "enthusiasts" will of course pick up the fact it is a diesel, but in all honestly, engine noise for passengers is really very much a non-issue. Unless you want it to be....

And yep, this is my second CX5 diesel, too.

I must be one of the reasons why CX5 is the best selling SUV in this country and features continually in the Aus top 10 selling vehicles of any kind. Which it surely would not be if all those reports of engine trouble were in fact truly representative of the proportion of owners who had issues. Reality is - that was a very small proportion. Not good of course, but remember that the issue was found in the very early models and was dealt with.
 
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Alot of what you hear has to be taken with a grain of salt. For instance some people have complained about the Cummins in my dodges not being reliable but alot of them who have baby the truck and never use it hard like you should so then you start having issues because you are not running it enough for it to build up the heat needed to keep it clean.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk
 
xtrailman said:
I'm on my second. So what. I call it how it is, but some like yourself don't like to hear it.
To me its just a car, not perfect but ticks most of the boxes, so i bought another.
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No. You wrote about the diesel engines needing much more maintenance. I've had the diesel for three years and it has required nothing of the sort. You wrote about weekly oil checks. Ridiculous. It's a solid engine and it doesn't require anything special other than diesel fuel. It's a freaking Mazda, not a Ferrari or another supercar, it is built to work without much effort on the owner's part. Get in it drive it, have it in for service when recommended.
 
Jedi54 said:
that would put it only about 2mpg above the regular 2.5L gas engine.
dang.

I was hoping for much better than that. (at least 35+ to make it worth the cost premium)

So, with that in mind we should take guesses on what it ends up averaging (per EPA)
I'm putting the over/under at 36 mpg on the highway.

Any takers?
Click to expand...
So the 2.5L actually achieved 31MPG on a regular basis? We are not talking EPA test loop, real world.
 
My first CX-5 had an engine issue which kept it in the garage for a week, premature wear on the Vacuum pump.
It also came with in the Vin range were the cams were faulty leading to premature cam wear.

Which in turn can lead to turbo failure, and thats not mentioning the oil dilution which i have and had on both cars.
So yes i can agree its a Mazda, but it ends there.



Mattyredsox said:
No. You wrote about the diesel engines needing much more maintenance. I've had the diesel for three years and it has required nothing of the sort. You wrote about weekly oil checks. Ridiculous. It's a solid engine and it doesn't require anything special other than diesel fuel. It's a freaking Mazda, not a Ferrari or another supercar, it is built to work without much effort on the owner's part. Get in it drive it, have it in for service when recommended.
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xtrailman said:
My first CX-5 had an engine issue which kept it in the garage for a week, premature wear on the Vacuum pump.

Warranty Repairs, not maintenance.

It also came with in the Vin range were the cams were faulty leading to premature cam wear.

Warranty Repairs, not maintenance.

Which in turn can lead to turbo failure,

Warranty repairs, not maintenance.

and thats not mentioning the oil dilution which i have and had on both cars.

Wow, check the oil every few weeks - which you would be wise to do on any car.... And I am pretty sure if you look in the owners manual of a petrol CX5 says is a weekly check.

So yes i can agree its a Mazda, but it ends there.
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"Maintenance" is widely accepted to refer to routine servicing and replacement of wear and tear parts and the like - all of which the prospective owner will have to pay for in the normal course of events (unless they score a free servicing deal).

So its quite misleading to make statements based on the issues you had, which were nearly all warranty repairs at no cost, that the diesels need "much more maintenance".

About the only extra maintenance cost for the diesels is the more expensive synthetic engine oil they use. Offset that against no iridium spark plugs to replace @ $20 x 4 every (?) 60K kms or whatever.

Old Chinese proverb: When find self in hole, first thing to do "stop digging".
 
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You missed the part posted earlier where i advised oil changes every 7K miles to avoid oil dilute problems.
Low ash oil isnt cheap, you could take the UK oil interval scedule of 12.5K miles, but by that mileage the oil level will be near the X mark, the mk 3 X mark raised higher progressively by Mazda to disguise the oil rise problems this engine has.

And you appear to have forgotton the DPF, and the new "adblue" system i believe the US car will have.

I eagally await the USA getting the diesel to see if this issue has been addressed.

I understand the "i love my Mazda so don't dare diss it" but i personally use my car as a tool, and only think fondly of my first two cars that i owned a long time ago.

Ps I'm part Japanese, so prefer their quotes if you don't mind.


Moonlighter said:
"Maintenance" is widely accepted to refer to routine servicing and replacement of wear and tear parts and the like - all of which the prospective owner will have to pay for in the normal course of events (unless they score a free servicing deal).

So its quite misleading to make statements based on the issues you had, which were nearly all warranty repairs at no cost, that the diesels need "much more maintenance".

About the only extra maintenance cost for the diesels is the more expensive synthetic engine oil they use. Offset that against no iridium spark plugs to replace @ $20 x 4 every (?) 60K kms or whatever.

Old Chinese proverb: When find self in hole, first thing to do "stop digging".
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finch204 said:
Mazda could not meet the emission standards back then. Today they can. If they don't make it available today, when should they sell it here in North America?

Maybe we need to define what "worth" is. I think the 310 lb-ft of torque and above 30 combined MPG is worth the price premium.
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Mazda couldn't meet the emission standards without adding urea back then. Now that the VW scandal has happened, everyone knows that they couldn't meet emissions without it either. That's why we're seeing it introduced here, now. Mazda gave up on trying to match what VW had everyone believing was possible...

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xtrailman said:
My first CX-5 had an engine issue which kept it in the garage for a week, premature wear on the Vacuum pump.
It also came with in the Vin range were the cams were faulty leading to premature cam wear.

Which in turn can lead to turbo failure, and thats not mentioning the oil dilution which i have and had on both cars.
So yes i can agree its a Mazda, but it ends there.
Click to expand...
Sounds like you got a lemon. I've never heard of any of these issues from any of the folks I know with them here (there are plenty of them, four on my street alone).
 
xtrailman said:
My first CX-5 had an engine issue which kept it in the garage for a week, premature wear on the Vacuum pump.
It also came with in the Vin range were the cams were faulty leading to premature cam wear.

Which in turn can lead to turbo failure, and thats not mentioning the oil dilution which i have and had on both cars.
So yes i can agree its a Mazda, but it ends there.
Click to expand...

I wonder was it an early motor and did they change the oil they recommend at some point?

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk
 
Since you prefer Japanese proverbs, here's one for you! 屁 を ひって、 尻 窄め。It has more or less the same meaning, but is a lot more colorful. ;)
 
Moonlighter said:
"Maintenance" is widely accepted to refer to routine servicing and replacement of wear and tear parts and the like - all of which the prospective owner will have to pay for in the normal course of events (unless they score a free servicing deal).

So its quite misleading to make statements based on the issues you had, which were nearly all warranty repairs at no cost, that the diesels need "much more maintenance".

About the only extra maintenance cost for the diesels is the more expensive synthetic engine oil they use. Offset that against no iridium spark plugs to replace @ $20 x 4 every (?) 60K kms or whatever.

Old Chinese proverb: When find self in hole, first thing to do "stop digging".
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This. Completely. One person's car with serious issues - warranty repairs - does not mean every car is a lemon or has similar problems. I'm sorry that that guy got a bad car, every manufacturer makes a bad one occasionally. I would have insisted on a replacement if it happened early on. Still, as I've said, my diesel has been problem free, and I haven't heard of any other issues locally.
 
On the caravan forum i use around ten members have the cx-5, three have had engine problems, of those three two ended up being transported home, one twice resulting in a complete engine rebuild, both were reps doing motorway miles, oil rise problems was a contributing factor.

I am hoping it was only the early cars, which is why i got shut quick after my engine problem at two years old, and bought another

Mattyredsox said:
Sounds like you got a lemon. I've never heard of any of these issues from any of the folks I know with them here (there are plenty of them, four on my street alone).
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