Car and Driver: Every 2019 Compact Crossover SUV Ranked from Worst to Best

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What doesn't come across in photos is how cheap much of the competition feels. Sit inside a GM vehicle and you can see and feel the low quality materials everywhere. The only nice one I've sat in is the High Country trim of a Traverse. New Corvette looks very nice but that's a halo car and not cheap. Most of their interiors are not up to par.

Then you have Mitsubishi which makes the GMC look like a finely crafted product. Look at those weird, flat seats. I don't know why anyone would buy one except poor credit. At least GM has a massive dealer network.

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Everyone who has sat in my car comments on how nice it is.
And I see this article ranks the CX-5 #1.

I was surprised to see a Hyundai hit almost $60,000.
 
So was I. It's really only sold on leases, though. They often subsidize the fuel with fuel cell cars. I personally think that's a dead end, there's no easy source of unbound hydrogen. ICE and EVs are clearly winning in terms of development.

Actually watched a review of a fuel cell vehicle and it's incredibly unappealing even with a reasonable payment (which it is not). Why would anyone want a car you can only drive in a small portion of California? They are rarer than Ferraris and really more for development in case someone actually develops a way to get hydrogen in a cost effective way.
 
It's true though.

Do you know of a cheaper looking interior in the segment? The two photos above are a stark contrast.
 
For Sedans..Mazda6 came in 2nd behind the Accord. The Accord deserves it. Comes to show Mazda's offering for each class is competitive.
 
For Sedans..Mazda6 came in 2nd behind the Accord. The Accord deserves it. Comes to show Mazda's offering for each class is competitive.

The Mazda 6 needs a touch more work before it's class leading, I agree. It could also REALLY use AWD with the 310#tq at 2000rpm.
 
I drove a Colorade ZR2 a couple months ago and it was pretty nice. Sure the interior wasn't satin finish and lace around the NAV, but there's no denying it's a tough little truck, especially if you live somewhere that you need 4x4. Not bad looking IMO either.


The Subaru STi interior is just as bad if not worse than any of those CUVs.
 
Then you have Mitsubishi which makes the GMC look like a finely crafted product. Look at those weird, flat seats.

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Actually, I think the Mitsu interior looks pretty good compared to the CR-V. Look at these seats, I've seen park benches with more contour. And then there's that center console which appears to have been lifted directly from a school bus.



Speaking of bad center consoles, check out the Acura RDX. I'm not even gonna say what that looks like.

 
So CX-5 is in body shop to repair the rear bumper after it got hit (other party's insurance will pay for it.)

In meantime wife given a Nissan Vogue as a loaner. She complained of lack of power.....weird since our CX-5 only has 155 hp LOL. I told her its the CVT. She told me to eliminate any car with a CVT from future purchase list. I said "hmm alrigthy then".
 
Hate clicky webpages.
Someone make a list. ;)

Eh, it's something to do:

16. Hyundai Nexo
15. Jeep Compass
14. Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross
13. Mitsubishi Outlander
12. Nissan Rogue
11. Jeep Cherokee
10. GMC Terrain
9. Chevrolet Equinox
8. Ford Escape
7. Hyundai Tucson
6. Kia Sportage
5. Toyota RAV4
4. Subaru Forester
3. Volkswagen Tiguan
2. Honda CR-V
1. Mazda CX-5
 
Why everybody says, that the CX5 is the best and people are still not buying them in bigger numbers?
 
Why everybody says, that the CX5 is the best and people are still not buying them in bigger numbers?

1) Past brand reputation
2) Less interior room than much of the competition
3) Barely advertised
4) Smaller dealer network

I'll stop there.
 
I was looking for a compact SUV and open to a few brands. I first looked at the Mazda because of a Youtube ad for the Mazda 3. (These are hilariously bad... "if inspiration is the key, where does it lead? Something something Mazda") It was promising a ridiculous 189/month payment so I knew it required putting some money down, but I started looking at the brand more closely. The CX-5 AWD is the only Mazda I'd consider, it is their number one seller and a car that the company puts a lot of money into. I usually like bigger vehicles, but the CX-9 is considerably more expensive, and Consumer Reports' reliability survey shows better reliability for the CX-5 from 2013 (the first year of the CX-5) than the CX-9 for every single year. After comparing the interiors (and exteriors) with the competition, there is no comparison between the base models. As I have said before, the other automakers really force you to choose a more expensive model to get important features, but the Mazda gives you much more for your money. The ads could definitely be better.

So if someone from Mazda is reading this, please spend some more money on Youtube ads for people searching for compact SUVs.
 
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1) Past brand reputation
2) Less interior room than much of the competition
3) Barely advertised
4) Smaller dealer network

I'll stop there.

I agree with everything but "barely advertised". If the car is good enough, there's no need. When was the last Toyota 4Runner ad you saw? Or Porsche 911? Some cars just sell themselves. Maybe the CX-5 isn't there yet, but there are Mazdas that have tripled in value in the last 10 years.

Stay the course, Mazda, and drop us a new fkn Rotary powered sports car for God's sake!!!
 
Nice to have chosen correctly! Years ago I got a 2007 Honda CR-V and I felt at the time that was a great vehicle. This time, I'm seeing lots of 2018/2019 CX-5s on the road. Mazda really hit it out of the park. Looking forward to an electric CX-5!
 
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