OK Everyone, you have all been very helpful on some previous cars my wife and I have looked at; here is a new one.

We are heavily leaning toward Mazda, the CX5. After your previous help and additional research we have decided that we were not comfortable with the other cars we were looking at as options.

Today was our second trip to the Mazda Dealership. It appears that Mazda fits all the bells and whistles for the price. However here are some questions that we now have after this visit and some feedback my wife got from a Mazda group on Facebook. My wife is a commuter who travels on average 350-450 miles a week on her car so she racks up the miles. Her current 2015 Rav4 has 156K to give you some perspective.

We looked at 2 models of the CX5, both will be priced within $500 of each other pending further negotiations. We looked at:

1. 2024, CX5 Preferred with the standard options including memory front seat, auto headlights, moon roof, power rear lift gate, standard radio and all leather seats. Car has 5 miles on it, not my wife's preferred color - her color would add about $500. Car has the standard 3 yr/36K mile bumper to bumper and 5 yr/60K power train.

2. 2023, CX5 Premium in her preferred color with less than 3,000 miles Certified Preowned - was used as the Dealer Service Loaner car. While it is the Premium model (higher than the preferred) it is missing the standard Bose Radio that is a normal upgrade and has a manual lift gate which was normally part of the lowest model. This was due to parts shortages during post COVID. This car still has the 3yr/36K bumper to bumper, but a 7 yr/100K mile power train.

Own main question is what are your thoughts on buying the 2023 loaner car with the extend power train vs. the brand new. Again both cars are almost the same price. My concern is how the car was treated as a loaner. It looks clean inside and out, but haven't driven it yet. The less than 3,000 miles is attractive but I am still on the fence because of not knowing how it was driven as a loaner during the break in period.

Also, any long time higher mileage owners we would like to hear how the car has held up? Even if it's not one of the CX5 models we are interested in how the general upkeep has been.

Thanks in advance for all your help!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: 71 TRUCK,

No real help. Thinking the 24' model and spend the $500 to get her color.
I like that rig. Never owned a Mazda.
Weird that there are so many of this model on the used market all the time. That makes me wonder.

Good luck.

I agree - 2024 model, whether you spend for the color or not. It will be a year newer on the books come resale time.
We have a 2015 CX-5 with 85,000 miles on it have not had a single problem with it. No costs other than regular maintenance and tires.

I would buy new, and keep it until it can no longer be driven

I always look at Mazdas first. I have had 3 Miatas, a 626, and my wife had a Mazda 6 that’s she put 160k miles on in 3 years. We just went through this a month ago and we really liked the CX5 but we really wanted a hybrid. It was a tough decision between a Lexus NX 350 and a CX5. It also helps that our local dealership is solid and family owned and I have dealt with them for years.
I would have no problem with the preowned car, but with the price of cars today I would get exactly what she wants because you’re still spending $30k or more.

I traded into a 2016 CX-9 intending to sell it but I like driving it so much I'm keeping it for a while.

With the CX-50 being the future there may be some deals on new CX-5s. I really like the turbo 2.5L but there is a mpg penalty. The power tailgate is a feature I'd really miss.

I leased a 2020 Mazda CX-5 Signature trim and when the lease was up went with a leased 2023 Mazda Signature trim which I'm currently loving.

I say go with the 2024 because the 2024 infotainment system lets you use touchscreen (as opposed to the Mazda command wheel) when using Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. This feature is not available on the 2023. I think this is an important new feature because I use Apple CarPlay all the time, and while the Mazda command wheel is ok, Apple CarPlay is really designed for a touchscreen. I imagine it's the same for Android Auto.

Also, I personally wouldn't buy a decontented car, especially when the price difference to a new, later model is so narrow.

I can't address longevity because I lease, but for what's its worth, for the 3 years I had the 2020 I had no issues. I've had my 2023 for over a year and it also has had no issues.

quote:

Originally posted by old rugged cross:
Weird that there are so many of this model on the used market all the time. That makes me wonder.

Can’t help the OP, but I can speak to this. We bought a 2014 CX5 early in 2013, new. That was the second year for the model. It’s has been absolutely flawless, and really good to us. I did some quick searching and found this article, though, and having random problems early in the lifecycle of the model that get sorted out honestly sounds like standard car stuff. They say to avoid the 2014 and 2016 model year, which I think says pretty good things about it overall. Again, ours has been flawless without any of the problems outlined in the article:

https://www.copilotsearch.com/...cx-5-years-to-avoid/

The CX5 has been great to us.

We just bought a '24 CX-5 Signature Turbo yesterday, got it for $1500 under MSRP and financed at 0.9% interest for 36 months. We test drove too many cars to count and spent about two months on the hunt. Other than not having touch on the screen while in motion, we are pretty happy with the car and the overall quality.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: PossibleZombie,

Don't know if this may help, but I bought two CX5s in 2020, a '19 and a'20. The '19 was driven by some exec at the dealership, the 20 was brand new.

Never had any trouble with either, but I sold the '20 for almost what I paid for it and bought a Pilot simply because we needed one slightly larger vehicle.

The '19 still looks and runs like new.

Bob

Thank you everyone.
It looks like we are looking a lot more at the new 2024 CX5 instead of the pre owned 2023 CX5.
After looking at the recommendations here and looking at what the pre owned has compared to the new car the price on the 2023 would have to come down a bit more to make it worth it.

Once again thanks for all your help.

quote:

Originally posted by PossibleZombie:
We just bought a '24 CX-5 Signature Turbo yesterday, got it for $1500 under MSRP and financed at 0.9% interest for 36 months. We test drove too many cars to count and spent about two months on the hunt. Other than not having touch on the screen while in motion, we are pretty happy with the car and the overall quality.

The 2024 does have touch screen while in motion while using CarPlay or Android Auto. Go into your settings and you will see an option box you can check to enable touchscreen when using those apps. I can't be more specific because I have 2023 which doesn't have that option. If you Google this you will see specific instructions or even a Youtube video on how to enable touchscreen in your car. Otherwise enjoy your Signature! I'm on my second one and think it's just an awesome car for the money.

I actually prefer using the dial on my '22 CX5 Turbo Signature. With the steering wheel controls, the dial and surrounding buttons, and voice controls, I can do everything I need while driving. And with a little practice the dial is even faster and more intuitive than using a touchscreen, since the controls are where your hands naturally rest anyway.

The only time a touchscreen would be preferable over the dial is when searching for points of interest or addresses in a maps app, or searching for a specific song or artist in a music app. And you can do that via your phone just as easily as with a touchscreen on the dash. Or just use voice controls for the more complex stuff like that.

In addition, the CX5's screen location isn't really ideal for touchscreen use, since it's still in the original spot from when it wasn't a touchscreen. It's a bit of a reach for the driver.

I had a 2015 CX-5, which was replaced with a 2019 CX-5 turbo. Only problem I had with the 2015 is one of the LED headlights failed. Had no issue with the 2019 while I had it.

To the original question, no way I would go for the 2023. Being last year’s model, it’s already deprecated more than the difference in model trim is worth. Also, manual lift gate and lower tier radio depreciate it even more. Not worth only a minimal difference in price IMHO. Regarding the extended warranty, that’s only worth anything if you keep the car for years 6 and 7, AND have a problem with the engine or powertrain.

I almost never used the touchscreen in my CX-5s. Always used the dial and buttons, and only used the voice control for inputting nav system destinations.

quote:

Originally posted by M'headSig:

quote:

Originally posted by PossibleZombie:
We just bought a '24 CX-5 Signature Turbo yesterday, got it for $1500 under MSRP and financed at 0.9% interest for 36 months. We test drove too many cars to count and spent about two months on the hunt. Other than not having touch on the screen while in motion, we are pretty happy with the car and the overall quality.

The 2024 does have touch screen while in motion while using CarPlay or Android Auto. Go into your settings and you will see an option box you can check to enable touchscreen when using those apps. I can't be more specific because I have 2023 which doesn't have that option. If you Google this you will see specific instructions or even a Youtube video on how to enable touchscreen in your car. Otherwise enjoy your Signature! I'm on my second one and think it's just an awesome car for the money.

Holy cow, thank you so much! We test drive the CX5 at three different dealerships and every salesman said that there was no touch in motion. You just greatly increased our satisfaction with this vehicle. You're awesome.

quote:

Originally posted by PossibleZombie:

quote:

Originally posted by M'headSig:

quote:

Originally posted by PossibleZombie:
We just bought a '24 CX-5 Signature Turbo yesterday, got it for $1500 under MSRP and financed at 0.9% interest for 36 months. We test drove too many cars to count and spent about two months on the hunt. Other than not having touch on the screen while in motion, we are pretty happy with the car and the overall quality.

The 2024 does have touch screen while in motion while using CarPlay or Android Auto. Go into your settings and you will see an option box you can check to enable touchscreen when using those apps. I can't be more specific because I have 2023 which doesn't have that option. If you Google this you will see specific instructions or even a Youtube video on how to enable touchscreen in your car. Otherwise enjoy your Signature! I'm on my second one and think it's just an awesome car for the money.

Holy cow, thank you so much! We test drive the CX5 at three different dealerships and every salesman said that there was no touch in motion. You just greatly increased our satisfaction with this vehicle. You're awesome.

It's my understanding that the box you're looking to check-off in Settings is under the Connectivity Settings > Bluetooth>pick your hooked up phone. Here is a YouTube video that shows how to do it.

https://youtube.com/shorts/YPa...?si=TPhXUdJvImTjSrxh

Okay everyone thank you again for all your help.

A car has been purchased today.

The winner is a new 2024 Mazda CX5 Carbon edition.
It was a little more than we wanted to spend up front, however, it had a lot of items already installed I was looking to install anyway that I would have had to pay for.
In the end it actually may have saved us a little money.

Again thanks everyone

Why does Mazda seem to be a very distant 4th when it comes to the Japanese cars?

Toyota/Honda see to be tied at 1 depending on who you ask and how they feel that day.

Nissan seems to be a distant 3rd while Mazda seems to be an even more distant 4th.

quote:

Originally posted by Edmond:
Why does Mazda seem to be a very distant 4th when it comes to the Japanese cars?

Toyota/Honda see to be tied at 1 depending on who you ask and how they feel that day.

Nissan seems to be a distant 3rd while Mazda seems to be an even more distant 4th.

I'm a Toyota guy, but Mazda would be my 3 and Nissan 4th, unless it were specifically a truck. Mazda just isnt in that game any more. They do, however, make a very nice car.

Mike,

This might sound crazy but the Nissan Altima has a reputation of being a single mom vehicle. Why? I don't know.

I have never had a Mazda or Nissan but they seem to sell for less on the used market versus their Toyota and Honda counterparts.