2013 Mazda CX-5
This year drew an ordinary 194 complaints for a Mazda CX-5 — the model's median is 116. What they were about is the unusual part: 31.4% of them mention turn, against 7.5% across the other years of this generation.
First year of a new generation. The Mazda CX-5 was redesigned for 2013. A first year carries problems nobody has found yet, and they are found by the people who buy it — which is worth knowing before you become one of them.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 194 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 116 |
| Involving a crash | 6 |
| Involving a fire | 1 |
| Recalls | 1 |
| NHTSA crash rating | 4/5 |
| EPA combined | 28 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- turn — 31.4% of this year's complaints, against 7.5% across the other years of this generation (4.2×).
- shut — 30.4% of this year's complaints, against 12% across the other years of this generation (2.5×). Owners wrote it as: shut, shut off, shut down, car back.
- switch — 16% of this year's complaints, against 3.1% across the other years of this generation (5.1×). Owners wrote it as: switch, ignition, found out, invoice.
Words owners used for the same problem are counted together, so a fault written four different ways is measured once. Grouped by which complaints they appear in, not by a list anyone wrote in advance.
What owners wrote
WHEN THE VEHICLE IS PUT INTO PARK AND THE IGNITION SWITCH PRESSED, THE VEHICLE WILL NOT COMPLETELY TURN OFF. THE ENGINE TURNS OFF BUT THE ENTIRE ELECTRICAL PANEL STAYS ON. THE ONLY SOLUTION HAS BEEN TO TURN THE CAR BACK ON, DRIVE FORWARD/BACKWARDS, AND TRY TO…
POSSIBLE DEFECTIVE SHIFTER SWITCH CAUSING IGNITION BUTTON TO NOT ALLOW VEHICLE TO SHUT DOWN COMPLETELY UNLESS YOU FIDGET THE SHIFTER BACK AND FORTH OR SHIFTING THROUGH ALL OF THE GEARS TO GET IT TO PROPERLY SHUT DOWN. THIS OCCURS RANDOMLY WHILE STATIONARY TRYI…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 16V644000 STRUCTURE Fixed free of charge.
How this was worked out
Every year of the Mazda CX-5 was compared against its own history rather than against other cars, which removes popularity and age from the answer — a common car draws more complaints at equal reliability, and an older one has had longer to accumulate them. A year is flagged when it drew at least 2.5× this model's median and at least 50 complaints.
This is a fault record, not a review. Nobody files a federal complaint to say the car was fine, so it shows what tends to go wrong — not whether owners liked it, and not whether it is a good car.
Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls and investigations, retrieved . Look this vehicle up directly on NHTSA's site to check anything here.
Own a 2013 Mazda CX-5? What happened to yours?
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