2017~2024 New to forum, have a month-old CX-5

Loving the new car overall, and can't wait to add a few things. Here's a breakdown of the car so far:

Soul Red Crystal, had a very small paint chip within two days on the hood. Love the color, and thinking of getting a Mazda 6 with in when the 2018 finally comes out. We'll see about that though.

Sport model with the package of all the safety features (stopping, lane assist, car in blindspot warning thing, cross traffic sensor for the rearview, and adaptive cruise. I think that's it.) Talked them down as best I could, then when no lower I asked for full tint and full all-weather mats including cargo. They said yes and when I came back for it all they didn't have the cargo mat and said they didn't have that noted in the list of things. Oops! I said that's what I thought I asked for and hoped they could take care of it too. It's been two weeks and they haven't called back. We'll see how that goes.

Car had $26,395 on the sticker, plus $995 for pinstripe, door edge guard, first maintenance, and some other odds and ends. Got it for $24,345 before taxes and all the stuff they tack on.

So four things we don't like about it:

1. There's a new-car fume thing that is palpable. I can't believe it, but if we don't drive with the windows down it leaves a bad-tasting film in our mouths. Anybody else with this?
2. The last door to be closed has to be pushed extra hard or it doesn't fully close, either from the inside or from the outside. We have to finish closing a door about 90% of the time. Again, anybody else have this issue?
3. Wish it had proximity sensor unlock. I've been lurking and I subscribed to a thread for a viper product, but I also found something on Amazon for like $30 that looks like it'll do the same thing. I'll keep researching and I'll post a how-to when I buy and install it. Hoping to make it necessary to be really close to the car, or maybe even make it so I have to put my hand through the handle. That last part will be harder since it'll need wires into the handle, but I'm willing to try.
4. Muddy bass. So I've been trying to find what people may have done to upgrade the 2017/2018 stereo. Hard to find specific info on the "2.0" due to the popularity of this vehicle since it came out. I've done some measuring and I'm thinking of adding something under the passenger seat either right above the vent, or attached to the seat so when the seat moves, the sub moves with it. Has anyone done either of these? I don't need to rattle the windows, I just want it to sound better and get a fuller range.

Again though, this car is quite a looker. I got out the synthetic clay bar and a new wax that's a mix of Carnauba and Bee's wax. Everything went real nice, but I see some streaks from the clay bar. When I did it it was cold, and despite all the lubricant I used, the clay bar kept sticking. I haven't had time to wash it again, but the car wax has worked well and rain cleans it nicely. It'll be next weekend for the next wash.

Here are some pics of the area under the front passenger seat, as well as how to unlatch the rear seat and what's under it. Was hoping that metal pad was where the factory sub goes, but I guess not. I'll look up what that stuff in the hole is, but I'm thinking fuel-related stuff.

https://ibb.co/gnXOnx
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https://ibb.co/mib50H

Oh, and other mods I'd like to do:
Add the rear vents in the middle (gotta find the parts, they've got to sell that, right?)
Add some lights at the front, maybe fogs, maybe in the grill (subscribed to a thread here about that), DRL (same).
Add lights to rear hatch with mercury switch (subscribed to that thread here too!)
Add film to protect the mirrors, door sills and rear hatch. I bought the film and some 3M adhesive to help with curves. If I can do the mirrors, I'll try doing the hood.
Check out options for LED rear bulbs.
Figure out some more storage/organization things. Her old car was a 1st Gen xB, and it was just full of places to hide things. I'm driving that until I decide to buy the Mazda 6.

If you've made it this far, you deserve a prize... Thanks for reading!

Welcome, I was new to the forum a few months ago too.

I know my new Mazda took 1500 miles to burn off the engine smells. I assume you mean that odor (hot engine/trans/exhaust) and not the off gassing of interior components.

i'd show those issues to the dealer, they should take care of that for you. doesn't sound normal at all. i've heard the smell can be normal for the first 1k miles or so but have them look at it too in case it's something else

Factory Sub is not stored under the rear seats but in the spare tire in the trunk. Those metal brackets you refer to look like access plates to gain access to the fuel tank.

That smell thing seems odd, Have you left the windows down to try and air the car out? New cars have a period where all the materials off gas but I've never heard of it leaving a taste in your mouth before.

2018 CX-5 Touring
A couple of comments and I believe I can answer a few of tour Qs.

I bought the Deep Blue Crystal Mica...I was slobbering over the red, but the $600 extra and the "steal me" beacon discouraged me. Sucks about the chip man. Why the urgency to tear it up and do mods? Get your first oil change first...see how you like what it does now...those Mazda engineers are pretty smart folks. Proximity unlock? C'mon...if you're going to stick your hand into the handle, push the little button with your thumb.

1) The door closing thing. The car is so wonderfully tight (for both sound and climate) that the last door to close has to push against the pressure inside the vehicle. open a window and do it again. It should close with no resistance. I wouldn't complain. If it didn't happen that would mean a serious "leak" of air (and noise) in the car somewhere.

2) The smell. I'm with you there. There is an obvious motor burning smell when you get out of the car at the end of a drive. That is completely normal. there are all sorts of lubricants, coatings and insulation that need to clean themselves out. I think someone said 1k miles. That should do it. As for the interior...Not the "typical" New Car Smell I grew up with. But probably a lot less toxic too. Same deal as the engine. New material, cleaners, glue, oil, labels, etc. Once the weather here breaks (Indiana) riding with the windows and roof open will speed the process along.

TheBori said:

Proximity unlock? C'mon...if you're going to stick your hand into the handle, push the little button with your thumb.

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Sports don't have a button on the door. You have to hit unlock on the key.

I'm curious. If you want the rear A/C vents and the button on the door handle, why not opt for Touring instead of Sport. If you drop the pinstripe and door edge guard, pricing difference is not huge. Also, on the standard stereo, I found the bass to be muddy as well. Lowering the bass settings made the stereo acceptable to me; may work for you.

Welcome from the North. As the Doctor said, "Lots planets have a North!"

No smells in mine when new.

I had the oil burn off smell for the first few days then it was gone. That’s normal and I’ve had other cars with the same.

the exhaust system took about a 1,000 miles to fully break in on mine.... then just the typical new car interior smell, which i didn't think was that bad at all.

Same as mine, took about a few weeks before that burning smell disappeared. Had to use some car freshener since I couldn't roll the windows on the winter time. I think what helps for me is when I have the vent closed.

Though I am second owner of my CX5, I can tell you when I got a new Catalytic converter on my VW GTI, it stank for about 1500 miles. It was most noticeable when sitting in traffic or at lights when the smell just wallowed on up.

if the smell bothers you, put the a/c control on 'recirculate' instead of outside air

SonicBoy said:

Factory Sub is not stored under the rear seats but in the spare tire in the trunk. Those metal brackets you refer to look like access plates to gain access to the fuel tank.

That smell thing seems odd, Have you left the windows down to try and air the car out? New cars have a period where all the materials off gas but I've never heard of it leaving a taste in your mouth before.

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alphadog00 said:

Welcome, I was new to the forum a few months ago too.

I know my new Mazda took 1500 miles to burn off the engine smells. I assume you mean that odor (hot engine/trans/exhaust) and not the off gassing of interior components.

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TheBori said:

2018 CX-5 Touring
A couple of comments and I believe I can answer a few of tour Qs.

I bought the Deep Blue Crystal Mica...I was slobbering over the red, but the $600 extra and the "steal me" beacon discouraged me. Sucks about the chip man. Why the urgency to tear it up and do mods? Get your first oil change first...see how you like what it does now...those Mazda engineers are pretty smart folks. Proximity unlock? C'mon...if you're going to stick your hand into the handle, push the little button with your thumb.

1) The door closing thing. The car is so wonderfully tight (for both sound and climate) that the last door to close has to push against the pressure inside the vehicle. open a window and do it again. It should close with no resistance. I wouldn't complain. If it didn't happen that would mean a serious "leak" of air (and noise) in the car somewhere.

2) The smell. I'm with you there. There is an obvious motor burning smell when you get out of the car at the end of a drive. That is completely normal. there are all sorts of lubricants, coatings and insulation that need to clean themselves out. I think someone said 1k miles. That should do it. As for the interior...Not the "typical" New Car Smell I grew up with. But probably a lot less toxic too. Same deal as the engine. New material, cleaners, glue, oil, labels, etc. Once the weather here breaks (Indiana) riding with the windows and roof open will speed the process along.

Click to expand...

Big thanks to everyone who has responded. I'm going to answer TheBori as he covered most of the items everyone commented on.

I love the car look, just want a few extras that it didn't come with in this package, and I've tried less bass and tweaked the settings but it still sounds a bit off. To compensate I put the sound more to the rear speakers and it's more or less ok.

The proximity being the need for my wife to get out her purse and pull out the keys just to put them back in her purse as they aren't needed for anything other than unlocking the car. I know, lazyness to a degree, but with how many rainy days we have I'd rather take one thing out of the equation. Plus, I love messing with electronics. The putting my hand through the handle was only to make it more secure than an always listening thing, but if I can make it within just a few feet of the vehicle, I doubt thieves that are using signal generators are going to stand right next to my car for long trying to unlock it when they could do it from a distance for the standard Mazda unlocking signal, or from right next to my car with a brick through the window.

The door closing thing is definitely due to the great air-tightness of the vehicle, so we do appreciate that.

The "smell" is an off-gassing thing, the engine smells ok when we get out of it. Any time I drive it I leave the windows cracked if we're not expecting rain. The new-car smell is faint now, but the taste is still there. Like we went out for an 18 minute drive the other night and on the way down we didn't notice it, but it may have been because there was a fire. On the way back home, I yawned shortly after we started driving and the car "smell" was stuck all in my mouth. If it was just me then I might accept it as a quirk of being me, but it happens to her too. I drive with the windows down as much as the weather permits, which is most of the time as the rainy season hasn't started. We're about 800 miles. We'll see how much longer it lasts, I'm sure it will wear off.

This is a super smooth ride compared to her old car, the infotainment is better than any car we've had, although my ideal would be the ability to run Pandora and perhaps other apps natively with a SIM card option. I'm not taking away from how great the car is the car for that as very few manufacturers are doing that yet. I didn't get the Touring version because we don't like leather without ventilated seats, and she didn't like the leather/suede mix. I didn't notice that the car didn't have proximity/button press on the door handle because I wasn't paying attention. I thought keyless entry meant didn't need that, and didn't realize "proximity" unlock was another thing. But thanks to the tips about no pinstripes/etc. package. For my next car which should be this year I'll try to negotiate down normally, then ask for a car without that stuff.

Puyapim said:

I had the oil burn off smell for the first few days then it was gone. That’s normal and I’ve had other cars with the same.

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banjos-n-beer said:

the exhaust system took about a 1,000 miles to fully break in on mine.... then just the typical new car interior smell, which i didn't think was that bad at all.

Click to expand...

Ghostsniper said:

Same as mine, took about a few weeks before that burning smell disappeared. Had to use some car freshener since I couldn't roll the windows on the winter time. I think what helps for me is when I have the vent closed.

Click to expand...

Kjstech said:

Though I am second owner of my CX5, I can tell you when I got a new Catalytic converter on my VW GTI, it stank for about 1500 miles. It was most noticeable when sitting in traffic or at lights when the smell just wallowed on up.

Click to expand...

dunhillmc said:

if the smell bothers you, put the a/c control on 'recirculate' instead of outside air

Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure it's a smell coming from the new materials in the car. We've had a few cold days where I couldn't roll down the windows but I didn't run the heat at first because I was worried about the smell being stronger with the HVAC running. It still happened. I've tried with inside recirc only, and with fresh air and windows rolled up. It only becomes weak enough to not get all in our mouths when the windows are rolled down. If nobody else has noticed it, then maybe we're just extra sensitive. I'll give it another month before complaining to the car dealer. They already looked at me funny when I went in for the tinting and mentioned it. Thank you for all your replies and experiences!

I think some people are more sensitive to smells than others. Mine stank pretty bad for the first couple of weeks, now it isn't as noticeable but still there, I'm coming up on 1000 miles. I have a very sensitive sense of smell. My wife's isn't as sensitive, but she remarked on it and rolled the window down while driving in the first week.

I had the smell too but it will go away. I think like 800 miles it was gone. Dealer assured me it was normal and would go away.

Welcome to the forum from Long Island, NY.