A friend of my brother’s is interested in the 2012 Mazda CX-5. I know very little about this vehicle, from a consumer’s point of view. Anyone know much about this car? Good/bad? Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Thanks, KS
It’s brand new, I have yet to see one, but it sounds like a good vehicle if they need the wagon style, it has the high-mpg “Skyactiv” engine and comes with either a manual (rare) or automatic trans., front or AWD. If I was looking for something in that segment I’d give it serious consideration.
saw one the other day… quite honestly, it was one of the cheaper looking Mazdas I’d seen in awhile, but some of that could have simply been from the dirty white color it was sporting. From the exterior, it gives the impression of being a small vehicle. Not that exterior impressions really matter, but it would seem to be a miracle if its interior size was up to that of its competitors.
Otherwise I see no real reason to think its “bad”… though the 13:1 compression ratio that engine is running at makes me hope that they got their engineering right… man, that’s high… higher than many high end sports cars and supercars, even…
Reviews I saw on TV were not impressive. Sad that they are letting go of CX-7 for this. Hopefully our resident Mazda expert, bscar will chime in.
I consider myself a fan, not an expert, of Mazdas. 
The good would be the fuel mileage from the car. 35 highway mpg with the stick shift and 32 with the automatic FWD, 31 with AWD. 34.1 cubic feet of cargo room with the back seats up and 65 cubic feet with them down, which is a little bit more than the CX-7.
I haven’t driven a CX-5 yet, but a couple of my fellow Mazda forumers really liked their test drive of it. One guy put that it drove nice; slow, but nice. Then again, he drives a Speed 3, so his opinion would be a little skewed in terms of being fast.
I worked for a multi-line dealer who carried the Mazda line but I did little service on them as most of that was left to a Mazda only guy. However, working beside him day in and day out and swapping notes all day long does provide insight into cars and their problems. Overall, the Mazda cars appear to be reliable based on what I’ve seen although I am not familiar with the CX-5.
The one thing that would concern me would be what Eraser mentions; that 13:1 compression ratio. That pretty much assures that a CX-5 owner will be running premium fuel and praying that carbon or EGR issues do not surface. High compression spark knock on an engine with that high of a CR can create damage quickly.
I note that Mazda claims they have a new piston design that will overcome that problem but many failed grand ideas were often originally put into place with the motoring public serving as guinea pigs.
If it were me, I’d have to adopt a wait and see attitude on that issue and make sure it’s going to be viable and trouble free before wading in with both feet.
IIRC the CX5 uses 87 octane.
And it’s a new vehicle for 2013, which means some teething issues as well.
The CX7 had issues with the AC compressor, gas cap, and I believe the turbo seal for most of the early build 07s(first year production) and by 08 most of the problems had been worked out
From what I’ve heard, the CX-5 is selling like hotcakes. I haven’t driven it yet, but should get the opportunity for a short test drive at a media event next month. Hoping to get it onto our review schedule ASAP.
I spent a week with the Mazda3 Skyactiv and loved it …
Wow. Thanks for all the great responses. I’ll let you all know if my brother’s friend buys this car or not, & if anyone else wants to chime in, go for it!