Update #2: My honest update of my CX-5 after 25,000 miles

Amazing car. Till date - ZERO problems. Not once did I have to go to the dealer to report a problem except on brakes which thankfully was resolved after cleaning the caliper pins. I have driven thru some extremely rough paved and un-paved roads but my OEM tires are still at 60% life! Recently checked my alignment and everything was still in GREEN.
Having used ONLY Mazda Moly I can safely say it's the best decision ever. Many times I am having to listen if the car's running, purrs like a cat.
There's ZERO body noise whatsoever. Those who says CX-5 is noisy I don't understand, but I own a 2016 where things were "worked upon" on this aspect ; heard 2017: even more!
Chassis bolts tightening - not much here in forums but surprisingly I have had to tighten them (front side) and it was about 3 to 4 turns of the bolt, I had to make!! That had a major impact on overall drive quality!
The preventive things I have done till date are the regular oil changes and I exclusively use the flexible schedule ONLY. For my 25,000 miles till date only 2 oil changes: 10k and 20k as and when the wrench thing came on and the flexible read: 25% life. Regular and on-time tire rotation + balancing done at Costco warehouse.
Although stated later - but I went ahead and changed both my cabin and air filters. When changing air filter, also inspected and cleaned the throttle plate/ air intake section and sprayed MAF cleaner on the MAF sensor. Mileage when done: 20k.
I have had zero issues with my Infotainment except unable to update (ever) the Gracenotes DB! My bluetooth connects, maps are responsive and from start - voice commands have been useless for me. I regularly update the firmwire and maps - myself.
This car has the best and most amazing head lights - they are super responsive and super bright.
Adaptive brakes has already saved me TWICE and once from being T-boned. I extensively utilize Adaptive Cruise control rain, clear, etc. and it has NEVER failed till date. I just simply love it.
Gripes - rear seat: no heating, no USB, no recline. For my children: they don't like the rear at all. My usual: Hate the fact there's no integrated traffic and the sound system: sucks!

Which bolts did you have to tighten?

Very difficult to explain. They are at the front, two of them in the middle and then few more just behind the bumper but deep, needed a deep socket to reach them. These were within the line item in the maintenance schedule where it says tighten chassis bolts or something. The back ones (4 of them) were relatively okay but did also require about 1 turn each. The front ones were about 2 to 2.5 turns and the deep socket ones - passenger side: 4, driver side: 3!! My mechanic told me this is the 3rd. CX-5 / CX-3 he is seeing where bolts require tightening. I specifically asked him if factory he said no, since 1 of the cars he is doing it 2nd. time.

bmninada said:

Very difficult to explain. They are at the front, two of them in the middle and then few more just behind the bumper but deep, needed a deep socket to reach them. These were within the line item in the maintenance schedule where it says tighten chassis bolts or something. The back ones (4 of them) were relatively okay but did also require about 1 turn each. The front ones were about 2 to 2.5 turns and the deep socket ones - passenger side: 4, driver side: 3!! My mechanic told me this is the 3rd. CX-5 / CX-3 he is seeing where bolts require tightening. I specifically asked him if factory he said no, since 1 of the cars he is doing it 2nd. time.

Click to expand...

2-2.5 turns means they were physically jingling about loose or you squashed something. Did you torque them or just heave them tight?

On the 2013 there was a TSB for tightening 4 bolts located beneath the windshield cowl. I actually performed the TSB myself but found it was already torqued to the TSB specs per my torque wrench.

Anchorman said:

2-2.5 turns means they were physically jingling about loose or you squashed something. Did you torque them or just heave them tight?

Click to expand...

@Anchorman - u r 1 of the few here I always look forward to, in terms of advise. I have checked and its not squashed, however they were definitely loose. In fact, only 2 days back I did myself oil change and that's when I did the rear ones and found the 2 upstream required some tightening too.
Now - when I drive the car there's a change post tightening. Car drives simply better! Its now much more composed, bumps are more like a ride now rather that a stutter/jerk. The same feeling I got after front side. Now - I felt its mental so asked my spouse without telling her anything. She came back saying the car drives better!

Sorry - should have mentioned. I 1st. did the bolts, drive, etc. and then evening did the oil change.

Funny you say zero problems before listing some problems. I guess its all about expectations. Chassis bolts backing out on their own sounds pretty bad, and brake problems are usually considered significant.

Is it that these bolts were never properly torqued down, or are they backing out from vibration? I wonder, is there a reason not to use some weak loctite on them?

I mean, no offense but you only have 25k miles - I should hope you don't have a lot of issues yet.

Our 16' GT just rolled 52,000 miles and we just had our first issue - the one headlight (DRL) went out.

I have an appointment with the dealer today but I have a feeling I'll have to hand over our first born to cover the cost since someone at Mazda felt it was a good idea to make the entire headlight non-serviceable.

Our OEM tires were down to 2/32s by 30,000 miles but I didn't see that as a Mazda issue, just cheap off-shore tires. I replaced them with Michelin Premier LTXs

bmninada said:

Amazing car. Till date - ZERO problems. ⋯

Click to expand...

Haven't seen your post for a while and nice to see you coming back again.

But I agree with murky and adgjqetuo, it's only 25,000 miles and most cars will have minimum problems. And you did list a couple of issues as the matter of fact ⋯

adgjqetuo said:

Our OEM tires were down to 2/32s by 30,000 miles but I didn't see that as a Mazda issue, just cheap off-shore tires. I replaced them with Michelin Premier LTXs

Click to expand...

i just ordered a set from Costco at 34k miles....how do you like the Michelins? any difference than when your Toyo OEMs were new?

jcpharm said:

i just ordered a set from Costco at 34k miles....how do you like the Michelins? any difference than when your Toyo OEMs were new?

Click to expand...

So far, so good - I have around 20k miles on them now and they still have a decent amount of tread left - way more then the Toyo's at 20k. Performance wise they seem fine - it's my wife's primary car but the few times I've used them in the snow they seemed to do well - no noise issues either.

adgjqetuo said:

jcpharm said:

i just ordered a set from Costco at 34k miles....how do you like the Michelins? any difference than when your Toyo OEMs were new?

Click to expand...

So far, so good - I have around 20k miles on them now and they still have a decent amount of tread left - way more then the Toyo's at 20k. Performance wise they seem fine - it's my wife's primary car but the few times I've used them in the snow they seemed to do well - no noise issues either.

Click to expand...

OE Toyo A23 tires are rated 300 A A on UTQG but most other 225/55R19 tires are rated much higher on treadwear such as 620 A A on Michelin Premier LTX. So getting 30,000 miles on OE Toyo tires is expected based on treadwear rating at 300. You should easily get 60,000 miles out of the Michelin Premier LTX as long as you rotate your tires according to maintenance schedule and your alignment is not off.

225/55R19 Tire Comparison Table for CX-5 GT - Many to Choose From

IMO Michelin Premier LTX is one of the best in Crossover/SUV Touring All-Season tire category with 2 deficiencies: higher price and low maximum inflation pressure rating at 44 psi while others including OE Toyo tire are rated at 51 psi.

Eternal Blue is about the only blue color in a car that I've liked. It classes the car up a bit.

adgjqetuo said:

Our OEM tires were down to 2/32s by 30,000 miles but I didn't see that as a Mazda issue, just cheap off-shore tires. I replaced them with Michelin Premier LTXs

Click to expand...

My OEM tires had what looked to be plenty of tread left at 45K but they were noisy so I changed them to Continental TruContact's. It's not been a life-changing experience but it took my 2015 to livable on most roads where it was pretty horrible prior to the change.

I've not had a problem in 48,000 miles beyond recalls.

yrwei52 said:

OE Toyo A23 tires are rated 300 A A on UTQG but most other 225/55R19 tires are rated much higher on treadwear such as 620 A A on Michelin Premier LTX. So getting 30,000 miles on OE Toyo tires is expected based on treadwear rating at 300. You should easily get 60,000 miles out of the Michelin Premier LTX as long as you rotate your tires according to maintenance schedule and your alignment is not off.

Click to expand...

Just an FYI, you cannot compare/use one brand's UTQG with another brand's UTQG on another tire. The UTQG should only be used when comparing tires from the same brand. The UTQG is a number respective to that one company's wear rate on their control tire. In other words, Toyo's control tire wear rate is different than Michelin's control tire wear rate; and the wear rates of the control tires are not uniform.

From Tire Rack's website:

TIRE TECH
Uniform Tire Quality Grade (UTQG) Standards

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's (NHTSA) Uniform Tire Quality Grade Standards (UTQG) were originated to provide consumers with useful information to help them purchase tires based on their relative treadwear, traction and temperature capabilities. While it is required by law for most passenger car tires sold in the United States, it is not required for deep treaded light truck tires, winter/snow tires, temporary spare tires, trailer tires, tires under 12" in diameter and other select tires.

When looking at UTQG ratings it is important to realize that the Department of Transportation does not conduct the tests. The grades are assigned by the tire manufacturers based on their test results or those conducted by an independent testing company they have hired. The NHTSA has the right to inspect the tire manufacturer's data and can fine them if inconsistencies are found. While most new tire lines have their grades established when they are introduced, they are allowed a 6-month grace period to allow the tire manufacturer to test actual production tires. Once a grade is assigned it must be branded on the tire's upper sidewall and printed on its label.

Unfortunately, the rating that is of the most interest to consumers is the one that appears to be the least consistent. While the Treadwear Grade was originally intended to be assigned purely scientifically, it has also become a marketing tool used by manufacturers to help position and promote their tires.

Treadwear Grades
UTQG Treadwear Grades are based on actual road use in which the test tire is run in a vehicle convoy along with standardized Course Monitoring Tires. The vehicle repeatedly runs a prescribed 400-mile test loop in West Texas for a total of 7,200 miles. The vehicle can have its alignment set, air pressure checked and tires rotated every 800 miles. The test tire's and the Monitoring Tire's wear are measured during and at the conclusion of the test. The tire manufacturers then assign a Treadwear Grade based on the observed wear rates. The Course Monitoring Tire is assigned a grade and the test tire receives a grade indicating its relative treadwear. A grade of 100 would indicate that the tire tread would last as long as the test tire, 200 would indicate the tread would last twice as long, 300 would indicate three times as long, etc.

The problem with UTQG Treadwear Grades is that they are open to some interpretation on the part of the tire manufacturer because they are assigned after the tire has only experienced a little treadwear as it runs the 7,200 miles. This means that the tire manufacturers need to extrapolate their raw wear data when they are assigning Treadwear Grades, and that their grades can to some extent reflect how conservative or optimistic their marketing department is. Typically, comparing the Treadwear Grades of tire lines within a single brand is somewhat helpful, while attempting to compare the grades between different brands is not as helpful.

Traction Grades
UTQG Traction Grades are based on the tire's straight line wet coefficient of traction as the tire skids across the specified test surfaces. The UTQG traction test does not evaluate dry braking, dry cornering, wet cornering, or high speed hydroplaning resistance.

The Traction Grade is determined by installing properly inflated test tires on the instrumented axle of a "skid trailer." The skid trailer is pulled behind a truck at a constant 40 mph over wet asphalt and wet concrete test surfaces. Its brakes are momentarily locked and the axle sensors measure the tire's coefficient of friction (braking g forces) as it slides. Since this test evaluates a sliding tire at a constant 40 mph, it places more emphasis on the tire's tread compound and less emphasis on its tread design.

In 1997, the UTQG Traction Grades were revised to provide a new category of AA for the highest performing tires in addition to the earlier A, B and C grades. Previously the A grade had been the highest available and was awarded to tires that offered wet coefficients of traction above 0.47 g on asphalt and 0.35 g on concrete. Today the grades and their traction coefficients are as follows:

Traction
Grades.......Asphalt g-Force........Concrete g-Force
AA...............Above 0.54.............0.38
A.................Above 0.47.............0.35
B.................Above 0.38.............0.26
C.................Less Than 0.38........0.26

Unfortunately the immediate value of this change to tire buyers will be limited. Use of the AA grade will first be seen on new tires that are introduced after the standard was enacted and will then appear later on tires that have had the required wet traction all along, but were introduced when the single A was the highest available grade.

Temperature (Resistance) Grades
The UTQG Temperature Grade indicates the extent to which heat is generated and/or dissipated by a tire. If the tire is unable to dissipate the heat effectively or if the tire is unable to resist the destructive effects of heat buildup, its ability to run at high speeds is reduced. The grade is established by measuring a loaded tire's ability to operate at high speeds without failure by running an inflated test tire against a large diameter high-speed laboratory test wheel.

Temperature
Grades...........Speeds in mph
A.....................Over 115
B.....................Between 100 to 115
C.....................Between 85 to 100

Every tire sold in the United States must be capable of earning a "C" rating which indicates the ability to withstand 85 mph speeds. While there are numerous detail differences, this laboratory test is similar in nature to those used to confirm a tire's speed ratings.

Unfortunately for all of the money spent to test, brand and label the tires sold in the United States, the Uniform Tire Quality Grade Standards have not fully met their original goal of clearly informing consumers about the capabilities of their tires. Maybe it's because tires are so complex and their uses can be so varied, that the grades don't always reflect their actual performance in real world use.

Uniform Tire Quality Grade (UTQG) Standards

GoFrogs said:

Just an FYI, you cannot compare/use one brand's UTQG with another brand's UTQG on another tire. The UTQG should only be used when comparing tires from the same brand. The UTQG is a number respective to that one company's wear rate on their control tire. In other words, Toyo's control tire wear rate is different than Michelin's control tire wear rate; and the wear rates of the control tires are not uniform.

Click to expand...

I understand UTQG is not "uniform" as intended by the NHTSA and may have become a marketing tool by tire manufactures but still it's the only rating on tires you can compare across the brands. And usually it's relatively accurate for comparison from my personal experience.

On treadwear there're people getting near 50,000 miles out of OE Toyo A23 but others needing replacement under 30,000 miles. My Toyo now measures 5/32" on tread depth at 20,000 miles with constant tire pressure checking at 39 psi and routine tire rotation once every 5,000 miles. I fully expect I need a new set of 225/55R19 tire before 30,000 miles.

My next tire for our CX-5 GT most likely is General AltiMAX RT43. With 700 A A UTQG rating comparing to 300 A A on Toyo A23, I fully expect the RT43 would last over 60,000 miles, and the manufacture 65,000-mile / 6-year warranty backs it up too. With warranty even if I can't get the mileage expected I still at least get prorated credit back toward my next tire purchase.

Guys - thank you. I concur with you guys where you've corrected me. I spoke to my mechanic last week and he aired the same opinion that chassis bolts slipping which he tightened for me and 2 other Mazdas is not something he has seen in other cars. May I recommend something here? For all of you - next time you go for oil change just tighten them - I guess it takes 2 to 3 min. and then see if there's a difference? I went to the service center and found 2 of the actual mechanics smoking outside and spoke to them. They said they usually "touch" the bolts always as part of servicing at 15k miles and 30k as Mazda has strongly recommended it. As per them - they got quite a few notices during early CX-5 roll-outs on this.

On the front, did you have to remove the under shield to access the bolts? Also, was it these 9YA bolts listed on the suspension diagram?

CX5-5 Front Suspension

Could you give us some more details on what bolts and where they are located that need to be checked for tightness? Is there a torque spec somewhere for them that we should follow? I'm at about 23k miles and would like to check these bolts.

It's amazing to me how one person can say the sound system sucks, and another says it's fantastic.
LOL Love my Bose system.