Sorry, my 1st post, sorry if this is covered elsewhere. Longtime Subaru Outback turbo manual trans owner. Looking toward Mazda CX5 for reasonably fun newer alternative. Totally blown away by prices and interest rates. That said, found a 2020 GTR (GT Reserve) with exceptionally low miles (11k) at barely acceptable price (given my humble means). Maybe suspicious low. Carfax says A-OK, no record of any odometer, title, damage, etc. I have been lurking for certified pre-owned options, but this one is not at a Mazda dealer; expired bumper-to-bumper coverage, but 2+ yrs left on powertrain warranty (and 48k miles).
Perhaps some warning signs, but want some opinions. Overall, Looks VERY good, though hood paint (soul red) doesn’t quite match the rest, repainted??? Under hood is more “mat-red” though I presume this is normal??? FURTHER, no “turbo” badge on rear hatch. No “Turbo” badge on engine cover, though does have a 5w30 oil fill cap. I couldn’t see any (other) sign of hail damage. No mention of turbo on window sticker (not original), but vin check seemed to verify turbo. This is only the 2nd CX5 I’ve test-driven. I would GUESS from acceleration it is in fact a turbo, but it seemed a bit squirrelly. My Subaru has zero torque steer. This CX5 not only has torque steer, but seemed to dart back and forth upon gear shifts under hard acceleration. In other words, it would,”pull” one direction through first couple gears, but then “pull” the other direction upon some intermediate gear change (3-4?.. or possibly 4-5…still under heavy pedal on uneven rural road. Kind of a weird twitch. No manual shifting, just in “D” auto). This was a somewhat brief test drive, but certainly my Subaru has none of this weird steering behavior. Tires looked great, but were “Nexen.” Replaced?? At 11K??
Are these enough irregularities to question the veracity of Carfax? Would other 3.5 yr old (2020), 11k CX5 turbos exhibit these traits?
By the way, different day, different road, but I didn’t notice the “squirelliness” driving a new 2024 CX-5 (though I also drove a cx-50 that day, and memory between each blurred.). There was torque steer, but not the back-and-forth.
And one more question (edit). One of the docs I saw said this unit has cylinder deactivation. I thought I had read elsewhere no Skyactiv G turbo motors had this. I consider this a major negative, unless I can turn it off at will, or permanently.
Perhaps some warning signs, but want some opinions. Overall, Looks VERY good, though hood paint (soul red) doesn’t quite match the rest, repainted??? Under hood is more “mat-red” though I presume this is normal??? FURTHER, no “turbo” badge on rear hatch. No “Turbo” badge on engine cover, though does have a 5w30 oil fill cap. I couldn’t see any (other) sign of hail damage. No mention of turbo on window sticker (not original), but vin check seemed to verify turbo. This is only the 2nd CX5 I’ve test-driven. I would GUESS from acceleration it is in fact a turbo, but it seemed a bit squirrelly. My Subaru has zero torque steer. This CX5 not only has torque steer, but seemed to dart back and forth upon gear shifts under hard acceleration. In other words, it would,”pull” one direction through first couple gears, but then “pull” the other direction upon some intermediate gear change (3-4?.. or possibly 4-5…still under heavy pedal on uneven rural road. Kind of a weird twitch. No manual shifting, just in “D” auto). This was a somewhat brief test drive, but certainly my Subaru has none of this weird steering behavior. Tires looked great, but were “Nexen.” Replaced?? At 11K??
Are these enough irregularities to question the veracity of Carfax? Would other 3.5 yr old (2020), 11k CX5 turbos exhibit these traits?
By the way, different day, different road, but I didn’t notice the “squirelliness” driving a new 2024 CX-5 (though I also drove a cx-50 that day, and memory between each blurred.). There was torque steer, but not the back-and-forth.
And one more question (edit). One of the docs I saw said this unit has cylinder deactivation. I thought I had read elsewhere no Skyactiv G turbo motors had this. I consider this a major negative, unless I can turn it off at will, or permanently.
Last edited:
).