2018 Mazda CX-5: What to check before buying

Cracked or porous cylinder heads are the dominant failure. Oil leaks onto the exhaust manifold, producing a burning smell, smoke from under the hood, and fumes inside the cabin. Several owners report no warning light until oil ran low. Most failures land between about 31,000 and 64,770 miles, often just outside the powertrain warranty, and dealers commonly decline goodwill help. Reported repair bills run near $6,000. Some cars first get a timing cover or gasket repair before the head is found. One complaint describes a crash after loss of engine power.

Cylinder head cracks repeat here, with oil spraying onto the exhaust or catalytic converter, white smoke, and a burnt oil smell at roughly 52,000 to 62,500 miles. Quoted repairs reach $7,500, and shops call the car unsafe to drive until fixed. A second pattern is stalling at a light or in traffic, including after the recall 19V-497 software update. One crash followed the car stopping while driving. Scattered reports cover early engine noise, a dragging feeling at highway speed, and a thermostat valve that opens too soon.

Touchscreen ghost touch is the most common problem: the display changes stations, makes calls, cranks the volume, and sometimes goes black and takes the backup camera with it. A second group describes the engine stalling or losing power in traffic, in some cases after the related recall update was done. One car caught fire on the highway from an unknown cause. Other reports include Smart City Brake Support faults causing a sudden stop, a flashing key warning, and a liftgate that misbehaves.

Most complaints concern the fuel pump recall, campaign 21V875000, not new failures. Owners got recall notices but waited months because dealers had no parts. Some cars stall, hesitate at low speed, jerk after cold starts, idle roughly, or will not restart while waiting, with the check engine light sometimes on. A few owners say symptoms continued after the recall repair, and others with matching symptoms were told their car was not included. Independent mechanics diagnosed failed fuel pumps in several stalls.

Smart City Brake Support false alarms lead these reports. The system slams the car to a stop when traffic ahead is turning away or the driver is already braking, and one rear-end crash followed a false stop. Rear calipers that stick or seize cause grinding, overheated rotors, and fast pad wear, with one failure at 38,000 miles. Electric parking brake warnings and a failed actuator also appear. Three crashes are on file, one with an injury, including reports of the car surging while the brake was pressed.

Every report here involves Soul Red Crystal paint chipping far more than expected, mostly on the hood and doors, sometimes in chunks. Chips appear early, from under 3,500 miles to under 30,000 miles, and on garaged cars. Owners describe the paint as thin and poorly bonded to the metal. Dealers usually offer only a touch-up pen or ask owners to pay, despite the color being a paid option. This is cosmetic, with no safety risk reported.

Passenger side air bag or seat belt fault warnings come on intermittently, traced to a faulty sensor or restraint module, with one reported at about 54,000 miles. Mazda declined to cover one car just past the warranty period. The driver's side air bags deployed without the front bag after a curb strike and injured the driver. A removed seat's air bag went off on a shop floor. Several crash entries here actually describe sudden acceleration while braking in parking lots.

Three crashes describe the car surging forward at parking speed while the driver pressed the brake, ending in collisions with walls, buildings, or other cars. Dealers found no cause. Other reports cover stalling or loss of power on the highway even after the 19V497 recall recalibration, limp mode that limits speed, and hesitation when accelerating. Some owners say adaptive cruise slows the car instead of letting them pass, or slows on hills after the recall update.