2015 Mazda CX-5
This year drew an ordinary 133 complaints for a Mazda CX-5 — the model's median is 116. What they were about is the unusual part: 6.8% of them mention car started, against 2.6% across the other years of this generation.
Generation 1 of the Mazda CX-5, which began in 2013 and ran to 2016. Everything below compares this year against the others in that generation, not against a different car wearing the same name.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 133 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 116 |
| Involving a crash | 11 |
| Recalls | 4 |
| NHTSA crash rating | 5/5 |
| EPA combined | 27 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- car started — 6.8% of this year's complaints, against 2.6% across the other years of this generation (2.6×). Owners wrote it as: car started, loud noise, son, killed.
- wouldn — 6.8% of this year's complaints, against 2.7% across the other years of this generation (2.6×). Owners wrote it as: wouldn, car dealer, house, car wouldn.
- sign — 6.8% of this year's complaints, against 2.7% across the other years of this generation (2.6×). Owners wrote it as: sign, considered, consider.
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
I STARTED THE CAR AND WENT INSIDE OF THE HOUSE AND FORGOT THE KEYS AND WENT SHOPPING, WHEN I CAME OUT THE CAR WOULDN'T START BECAUSE I DIDN'T HAVE THE KEYS. WHY WOULD THE CAR RUN WITH OUT THE KEYS? IS THIS A DEFECT?
Car had 63,000 miles on it. Began making very loud noise. Brought to private mechanic, then dealer. Both agreed car had mechanical failure of rear differential. The full system needed replacing for safety. All agreed this should not occur with only 63,000 mile…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 16V064000 FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE Fixed free of charge.
- 16V644000 STRUCTURE Fixed free of charge.
- 16E002000 VISIBILITY Fixed free of charge.
- 16V203000 STEERING 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 2015 Mazda CX-5? What happened to yours?
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