Used Mazda 5: Inspection checklist

Pick the model year you are going to see. Each sheet lists the checks for the problems owners reported on that year, in the order you would do them at the car. Owners filed 1,314 complaints across these 8 years; the 2018 drew the most.

Choose a model year

Problems that follow the 5 from year to year

Each of these is a top-three complaint area in at least two model years. Darker cells mean more complaints that year. Whatever year you are looking at, give these extra time.

Area	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025	Total
Electrical	54	48	30	14	10	7	11	4	178
Transmission	41	39	9	19	9	8	7	9	141
Engine	121	90	9	72	7				299
Brakes	21	9	11	9	2	9	6	2	69

Mileages where 5 problems start

From owner reports for each model year, lowest mileage first. Compare these with the odometer of the car you are seeing.

Typical mileage	Problem	Year
20–3,911 miles	Airbag system malfunction warning	2022
2,500–10,000 miles	Manual transmission shifting failure	2023
3,600–24,000 miles	Excessive oil consumption	2021
5,000–10,000 miles	Front CV axle and boot failure	2025
12,680–25,000 miles	Early automatic transmission failure	2019
13,200–40,000 miles	Rear brake caliper and pad wear	2018
15,000–16,000 miles	Rusted rotors, early pad wear	2021
24,000–26,000 miles	Rear differential failure	2021
29,000–41,540 miles	Noisy, failing headlight fans	2022
30,000–80,000 miles	Cracked cylinder head oil leak	2019
31,000–75,000 miles	Cracked cylinder head oil leak	2018
31,954–37,000 miles	Timing cover oil leak	2019
32,000–61,000 miles	Transmission chirp, torque converter failure	2020
51,000–78,000 miles	Fuel pump failure and stalling	2018