Might buy a 2016 CX5 Touring....what should I know?

cowsgonemadd3 said:

If I buy a used 2016, do I get a warranty? Like is it transferable? Should I worry about the transmission on a 2016?

I might get the AWD if the price is right. I won't look away.

Click to expand...

Factory warranty is 100% transferable (unlike Hyundai and others). But I'd try to get a certified pre-owned, as it bumps the power train warranty up to 100k miles. I wouldn't worry too much about the tranny, but they are a $5k part, and the most complicated piece of the vehicle.

cowsgonemadd3 said:

I was just watching some youtube videos and the videos said the AWD was not very good at its job. I am not sure if its any worse than the CRV. It seems quite a few used Cx5's have the AWD system. I have never paid more than 9500 for a car. This is a big purchase for us. We have a 3 month old and I want something safer. The rav 4 does not even have side curtain or side airbags. It is a bit bigger than the cx5 inside. We average 23-24mpg with it.

Click to expand...

Mazda AWD is top notch. It does very well. Thing about youtube videos is that they can easily be staged to show the only bad characteristics of any drivetrain. I drove a forester - on a stop light my leg was shaking, it had zero refinement as if this was 2003. It had enough plastic to buy banana holders that walmart sells across all walmarts in US and Canada. Honda AWD is meh, Toyota's is meh, Nissan's meh. Only AWDs that compare are Subaru and Audis at this point in this price range.

I understand for you - you are a value buyer, if you car will be solo drive for 70% of the miles - A Mazda makes a great buy, if you are buying it for Daily Driver + child duty - it is still the best in the class (remember its 4 yo. drivetrain).
OTOH - if you buy only for family and dont care how it drives, maybe other brands would work - then Nissan honda Toyota are very neck in neck.
If your car is certified - that would be awesome, if not then buy with 10-15k warranty left atleast (car has 45K miles or less) most likely you wont have tranny issues - just like in discrete manufacturing - A batch will have issues, not all.

After seeing how tight my CX5 is after 16K miles, i would think its a 225-300K miles car in terms of life. Beyond this for safety reasons i would not recommend anyone should keep it.

Resale is 500 here or there compared to a Toyota. The longer you keep the gap gets smaller. good luck.

Awd system in the CX-5 is phenomenal. Just make sure you get all that you want. Don't look back and regret not getting a certain trim or features.

There are certain quirks about the CX-5. I've had my headlights replaced, steering wheel replaced, driver side lock actuator replaced, and parking brake module. It's been actually kinda rough. Obviously nothing huge except the brake thing but it has been annoying. Having said that, I still love this car. That's how good the CX-5 is. It is an awesome looking cuv. Seriously. And although it's a stiffer ride, this thing drives very nicely. If you get a CX-5 with the led headlights, inspect them!!!!

cowsgonemadd3 said:

My wife has a rather old Rav 4. We now have over 215k miles on it. Pretty soon it is going to need quite a few repairs to keep it going. Off the top of my head it will need:

Tires, Rotors, Brakes, Battery, New Arm rest in the car, driver visor, starter(purchased already), shocks and struts. It could also use a valve cover gasket and a timing chain gasket.

With us wanting to sell it, we do not want to invest over 1000 bucks in it. Some of these can be put off, others need doing. Tires are 400 alone. The car uses very little oil and has been great. With these things fixed I have no doubt it will go on to 300k miles.

We have looked at many new small Suv's. We like the 2016 mazda cx-5 touring or grand touring. The grand touring is a bit out of the budget. We want the touring with the Bose speakers, maybe the moon roof. Backup camera is a must along with navigation.

Now I read that the 2016.5 has heated seats and navigation as standard where the 2016 itself does not. However, the touring has cloth seats and I do not know of any vehicle with heated cloth seats. How is one to tell if the vehicle is a 2016.5 version? My wife does not require the heated seats but they might be nice.

Is maintenance costly on these? Do only dealers work on them? With a Toyota we have plenty of 3rd party dealers who can work on it. Cuts the cost down a lot.

Is the Window shattering issue still a thing?

The 2016 has LED headlight on the Touring correct? Or only on the grand touring?

Click to expand...

Firstly all the repaires needed to your 215K-mile old RAV4 are routine maintenance items for a vehicle with such mileage. Since the engine uses very little oil, once you spent $1,000~$2,000 to replace everything you listed, the RAV4 should last another 100K miles easily without any major repairs. This makes the most economical sense without considering any other intangibles. And IM0 you shouldnt expect your next CX-5 would be as reliable as your current RAV4 where the listed items are all you need to replace at 215K miles on a CX-5.

But the RAV4 is your wifes car, she definitely wants a newer vehicle!

If you can afford it, you may find some brand-new left-over 2016.5 CX-5 Touring sitting in some dealer lots if you look harder. Not sure if Mazdas $2,000 cash is still available but you should get a good price on it if you can find one. Someone paid less than $20K for a new 2016.5 CX-5 Touring with all incentives in Texas although the dealer is hundreds of miles away!

And like Kaps said, Mazdas maintenance cost will be at least 25% higher than Toyotas due to shorter maintenance schedule on oil change and larger oil capacity. And therere not many good independent garage available for Mazda.

I can attest that the factory windshield on 2016(.5) CX-5 and prior is weak. My windshield cracked twice during 2 hail storms in the past 2 years, while no other vehicles parked nearby suffered any windshield damage! NHTSA has plenty of weak windshield complaints on CX-5, and a protest by CX-5 owner group forced Mazda in Taiwan offers free windshield replacement!

For 2016(.5) CX-5 you have to get optional GT Tech Packahe to have LED headlights. And Electrical Parking Brake started available since 2016 MY on CX-5. With LED headlights on 2016 CX-5 GT with Tech it may not be a good thing. These LED Singature LED DRLs are very easy to fail, both of them failed on me, and the replacement is $1,500 a piece including labor, as the entire LED headlight assembly needs to be replaced.

Kaps said:

⋯ After seeing how tight my CX5 is after 16K miles, i would think its a 225-300K miles car in terms of life.

Click to expand...

Really? Just on the other day the driver side sun visor fell down while my son was driving! I thought its easy to just put the screw back and tight it up, not! Mazda uses only one sheet-metal screw while many others such as my 1998 Honda CR-V uses 2 to hold the sun visor. The sun visors on my almost 20-year-old CR-V have never got loose and fallen for all of these years. And when I picked up the screw and tried to put it back, I found I couldn't tight the screw up as the thread of thin roof metal has damaged! Thats why the screw was loose and fell! I dont know how the Mazda dealer is going to fix this as the screw hole is too big now to take the screw and make it tight!

Have you seen pictures I posted before on all the gaps between interior trim pleces and crooked A-pillar trims under Texas sun?

I simply dont have too much confidence on longevity of my CX-5!

yrwei52 said:

Really? Just on the other day the driver side sun visor fell down while my son was driving! I thought it’s easy to just put the screw back and tight it up, not! Mazda uses only one sheet-metal screw while many others such as my 1998 Honda CR-V uses 2 to hold the sun visor. The sun visors on my almost 20-year-old CR-V have never got loose and fallen for all of these years. And when I picked up the screw and tried to put it back, I found I couldn't tight the screw up as the thread of thin roof metal has damaged! That’s why the screw was loose and fell! I don’t know how the Mazda dealer is going to fix this as the screw hole is too big now to take the screw and make it tight!

Have you seen pictures I posted before on all the gaps between interior trim pleces and crooked A-pillar trims under Texas sun?

I simply don’t have too much confidence on longevity of my CX-5!

Click to expand...

No kidding. That's like 2 oil changes in...how on earth can one deduce such.

brillo54 said:

Paid $28K for my '16 GT in June of 2015 and trade in today (according to KBB) is almost $20K. Not a red flag for me.

Mazda calls for oil changes at 5K or 7.5K miles, depending on severity of service. If you use Mazda moly oil, you can use the Flexible Oil Moinitor and potentially extend your interval to 10K miles or 12 months.

One reason I went with the GT was at the time it was the only trim level that had dual climate control (drivers side and passenger side). I think that feature made it to the Touring level for 16.5. Am I remembering that correctly Kaps or am I fos?

Click to expand...

I have a 2016.5 touring, not dual zone. If you go CPO you get an extra year bumper to bumper warranty on top of what is left of the original warranty, mine was a dealer loaner with 2000 miles and was sold as a CPO.

brillo54 said:

One reason I went with the GT was at the time it was the only trim level that had dual climate control (drivers side and passenger side). I think that feature made it to the Touring level for 16.5. Am I remembering that correctly Kaps or am I fos?

Click to expand...

Dual climate controls are not available on 16.5 Touring.

GT only for 16.5 dual AC.

Amen to that. I have nothing but good things to say about the AWD system. Works like a charm and never have to worry about getting stuck. I especially like it on really rainy days, which we get a lot of where I live in the Pacific NW. Its subtle , and it works...

Exactly, same deal here. Traded my GT on a new GT and paid 10K out.

Backed into my driveway last winter with 6 inches of snow on it. First time ever. Love my AWD.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLnFHKZLApk on a snow hill test against other similar classed SUV's

We finally got to test a 2016 grand touring AWD. The sales guy asked me if he could get my business if he could get the payments to what I told him I needed. He then asked for me and my wife to initial the paper with his scribblings on. I told him I was not signing no paper. He said I aint trying nothing on you and I said I am signing nothing. I do not know what that tactic was.

I had no prices in front of me. I said I want prices, the BEST prices(since they were having a huge sale) on the GT and the sport. The GT was 29k which I knew was high. They said it was new even though it was a 16. I didnt see the miles when we drove it but its hard to believe they have a 16 that has sat around for so long and never sold. They brought us the price on both and then got up and left us. 5 minutes later he came back and put TWO hisense 26-32? 720p tv's on the table and said these go free if you sign today. That made me angry along with my wife. The best price they could do on a 16 GT was 29k and the price on the SPORT with 60k miles was get this $19,899 or so out the door taxes and fees.

I stood up and was then approached by the assistant manager as the sales people were not working me over good enough. He asked me what was the problem and I, after 1.3 hours had enough. I said I can go up the road to the other dealer and buy a touring for 17,300. You want almost 20k for a sport. He looked very shocked. We had a crowd of sales people around us listening at this point. They expected another gullible person and that we are not.

I told him I wanted a touring model. The sales guy pulls the sport model up to the front window and comes back. He says" what If I do something crazy"? Like mark the sport down to 15k out the door. This only made me more angry as I asked for the best pricing. All the sudden when I want to leave he finds nearly 5k more he can take off to move the car. I said I want a touring with the moonroof and the Bose system. The sales guy left us alone after that. The assistant manager tried to then sale me a 2015 touring still in the bay being readied for the lot. I said 2016 only.

Then the store manager showed up as he saw I was not budging. We then talked about the car and my max spend. I gave my number to the sales lady who took us for a ride in the cx5 and told them to call us when they can match the pricing of the other dealers and find me a touring.

It was not that great of an experience. I feel very tired by all of this. I do not like the games. If a 2016 touring is selling on average for 17k, do not try and sell me a sport for 19k. The 15k on the sport it turns out is a great deal. I cant find it cheaper locally or within 500 miles. I felt it was stripped down and not worth 15k.

My toyota needs only maintenance work done. I have time to wait. I was looking for a deal because my wife simply wants something nicer. I want to get her a nicer car.

One question, is the BOSE system worth it? I think it will beat the standard speakers to pieces. Am I correct? We rode in the one with the Bose system and I liked it. We briefly sat in the sport with the 6 speaker standard system and it was ok. Better than the 4 speakers in the old rav 4.

Do yourself a favor and do all negotiations over email. I hate talking to sales people in person and haggling over numbers in person.

I wanted base touring and wife wanted moonroof. For 1100 dollars bose and moonroof is avg value. 2017 package options are better. I think it is OK value. If you know how to upgrade the audio yourself and don't need moonroof get base touring and save a few dollars.

cowsgonemadd3 said:

\

Get AWD or not? I read the AWD system is pitiful. I guess its better than nothing if needed. The rav 4 does not have AWD and we have never felt we needed it but in some cases on boat ramps it might be handy.

Click to expand...

Don't worry... it's a good AWD system and this coming from someone with a couple other "very capable" 4WD/AWD vehicles in the stable.

cowsgonemadd3 said:

We finally got to test a 2016 grand touring AWD. ⋯
The GT was 29k which I knew was high. They said it was new even though it was a 16. I didnt see the miles when we drove it but its hard to believe they have a 16 that has sat around for so long and never sold.

Click to expand...

The experience youve had buying a new car is very typical. I imagine you went to this Mazda dealer because their ads said they have huge year-end sale. But like mangoconchile said if you started with email inquiring it may save you some time and frustration.

If your financial situation permits you should target this brand new 2016 CX-5 GT AWD. You wife deserves a new vehicle, and getting a new car comes with full new-vehicle warranty, and less prone to have any issues. Your wife and you will never forget the unique new-car smell for a long time.

Firstly you should find out if this particular CX-5 is 2016 or 2016.5. A new vehicle should have a window sticker which will tell you. Secondly check the mileage of the vehicle, preferably has less than 100 miles on odometer. Thirdly you should find out the optional packages this GT has. Therere GT Technology Package and i-ActivSense Package both can be verified from window sticker.

Be patient as you have time. Now you have a target so as long as that GT is unsold, your chances are getting better to get it for a good price as the year-end is getting closer!

Without knowing the mileage and options on this 2016(.5) CX5 GT AWD, its hard to tell what is the best price you could get. Do ask the incentives from Mazda USA as the $2,000 cash back on new 2016(.5) CX-5 may still be applicable!

Personally I feel Bose 9-speaker audio system on 2016 CX-5 is a mediocre audio system but its definitely better than standard 6-speaker system on Touring. Id get it and it comes with a CD player which is getting hard to find from new vehicles.

Sadly, on our income with a 3 month old baby, the GT and or new is totally out of the picture. We do not have employer provided health insurance and so it eats a lot of our budget. A new vehicle period is not what I want but its part of life. Cars wear out so you replace them. I like the idea of being debt free haha

Our budget is 17,000 dollars. On the used market I can get a touring for around that or less. Certainly less if I get the standard 6 speaker system. I know I can add better speakers, I just don't know if its worth paying 1500-2000 more for a moon roof and 3 extra speakers.

If this is typical for car buying I must be sheltered. Only once have I had such a bad experience and that time I was only looking to test drive and not buy.

My next question is, how to not go upside down on the loan. How accurate is Kelly Blue Book for re-sale value? Should I pay over KBB value for a used cx-5? How am I to know a real "value" on these?

cowsgonemadd3 said:

Sadly, on our income with a 3 month old baby, the GT and or new is totally out of the picture. We do not have employer provided health insurance and so it eats a lot of our budget. A new vehicle period is not what I want but its part of life. Cars wear out so you replace them. I like the idea of being debt free haha

Our budget is 17,000 dollars. On the used market I can get a touring for around that or less. Certainly less if I get the standard 6 speaker system. I know I can add better speakers, I just don't know if its worth paying 1500-2000 more for a moon roof and 3 extra speakers.

If this is typical for car buying I must be sheltered. Only once have I had such a bad experience and that time I was only looking to test drive and not buy.

My next question is, how to not go upside down on the loan. How accurate is Kelly Blue Book for re-sale value? Should I pay over KBB value for a used cx-5? How am I to know a real "value" on these?

Click to expand...

If I were you - i would do this:
See the # of CX5s in sale in your area. See mazda website for any certified in your area. Expand area to get good deals. Mazda dealers are more centered around major cities - so you may get a great deal just 20 miles out of your zone in some cases.

Never, never walk in to a dealer unless you have an email price you are interested - unless dealer is literally next door. Find the cars you like, list them by order and email asking for a confirmed quote - a nissan dealer lists cars as certified here but says its additional 1400 when you walk in.

Once you have a list of cars - next stage is to get more for the same money. You can usually say the dealer is honest or not in a short time, i dont mind leaving few dollars extra for a no hassle service. Your options are:
1. Get price down.
2. Ask for a free stuff if price cannot come down.
3. Ask for service (if within few miles of home)
4. Find out bad things about the car and bring it into the conversation. Damaged trim peaces, not clean interior etc. And then get price down.

Always have options two three or four ready. Your aim is to walk out with the car you want and with as much stuff you want. The dealer may give you a free oil change which is nothing for him but 60 bucks for you. You need options two or three if he is not bringing price down - be ready to walk.

I got a camry SE and did not haggle much - but got auto dimming mirrors free since it sits low and many trucks are driven in DFW. If i would have seen a cigarette burn marks before i would have nicked 100 more off the car.

KBB value is kind of a ball park but supply demand is a thing. The Mazda 6 here has good resale since its exclusive and not many are available. But when rental companies turn in their camry's oh - there are like 800+ in DFW so the price can drop if you haggle hard. Do your research - internet is your friend.