Fun and well built.
I bought the 2015 cx5 used a few months ago with 88k miles on it. Based on my research it should last up to 300k miles with regular maintenance and non aggressive driving. I have the grand touring trim in all black. It's a very good looking vehicle inside and out. Placement of gauges is very good and buttons/functions are easy to access. Temperature functions are simple and work really well. Good venting. Windshield wipers work fine but the intermittent timer sometimes seems to fluctuate either based on speed of the car or there's something malfunctioning. I can't tell to be honest. Storage is good and there's enough pockets, compartments and spaces for personal items. Overall the look and feel seems right on the bubble of being luxury. The handling is on the stiffer side made to give a feel of performance which it does. I get a pretty strong connection with the road. The turns are tight. It feels good to drive and it's even fun though I don't push that. I used to have a Mazda protege in the 90's and it gave that handling excitement despite its modest power. The cx5 reminds me why I liked that car. The lag when pressing hard on the gas is a bit annoying and the 0-60 time seems a bit slow for the 184hp 2.5l engine but once it gets into it's power band it goes. Gas mileage is very good imo. I get 26 mpg combined city/highway. Seats are comfortable enough though I might have chosen the touring model for the cloth seats instead of leather because items slide off the seats and I notice some wear and stitching tears that I'll need to have repaired. The adjustments with the seats are very good I think. I like the lumbar support. The hatchback works well but I would have appreciated an automatic open/close function. I haven't had a large hatchback before and it's a bit annoying having to force the closing if I have items in my hand. 1st world criticism certainly. The biggest issue with this model year (and I think all models up to 2018(?) is the gps and entertainment unit. It uses the old TomTom navigation system which is very clunky and too frustrating to bother with. I use my phone instead. The entertainment system works well enough but I'm surprised it included a CD player even in 2015. I don't listen to the radio or have a Sirius subscription so I mostly Bluetooth connect my phone for streaming music and navigation. It shouldn't be necessary with an integrated system already in place but the installed system is that bad. It's all made worse by the Bluetooth tech. It often disconnects for no reason and sometimes takes a minute or longer for the system to recognize my phone. Sometimes it will be connected but there's no sound, again for no reason I can see. Usually these issues happen at start up and once I'm driving a few minutes it works fine. If I watch a video on phone there's a big latency lag from the phone to the stereo. It's big enough that it's unwatchable since a mouth moves but the sounds come later. I have to disconnect bluetooth when watching a video which is a major annoyance. I'm planning on replacing the stereo head unit in the future which hopefully will solve all these problems. Overall it's really a great car.
Feeling good so far
The vehicle is very comfortable and drives very smooth. I have never owned a Mazda before, but would very much consider getting another one in the future.
We love it!
This car has plenty of power. Cruise control speed stays almost constant even on hills and over mountain passes. It handles well in the snow with the AWD getting through everything we've had this year at 7300' in the Rocky Mountain foothills. The vehicle accommodates different types of cargo, especially with the back seats down. It gets great mileage -- we're usually in the high 20s, but we got over 34 on a recent trip to Arizona. The car turns on a dime so it's easy to park and very responsive. The few things we wish this car had are a higher center console to rest our elbow on during longer drives, non-leather seats because they feel harder/stiffer than the cloth and things slide off the seats easily; and a cargo cover. We got the leather seats because they were in the Touring trim package that includes the electronic seat controls. Three of us drive the car and we range from one extreme to the other on the seat position spectrum. Overall, we are very happy with this vehicle.
