I swapped cars with my Dad today so that I could install the Android Auto/Apple Carplay Upgrade on his 2016 Mazda CX-5. He bought it as a CPO back in July, here is a posting I made on it at the time-
Well the car is now at about 34000 miles and I've driven it a fair bit, but today after installing the Android Auto, I took it for a real spin. I'll be completely honest- it's fun to drive. It really doesn't feel like a crossover at all, it feels very much like a small sedan. The direct injected 4 banger revs fast and the 6 speed shifts really nicely. It has a sport mode that is super aggressive and raises the shift points substantially. The steering is well weighted and more importantly, it isn't numb like a lot of new cars with electric power steering. It handles well, I was able to throw it pretty hard into curves before any understeer occurred. If it had some actual summer tires on it instead of all seasons, I bet it would be even more fun. It is AWD but I certainly wouldn't try to off road with it, the ground clearance just isn't there. I think of it more as a hunchbacked sedan with AWD rather than a small SUV. As for any issues my dad has had with it since buying- the only thing that was an issue was the rear brakes were making noise shortly he bought it. He took it back to the dealer, and they put new rotors and pads on it, still had a noise. Took it back again, the dealer saw that there was a TSB addressing the issue, and replaced the caliper brackets. Still made noise. Did some research myself, found out there was a very recent revision to that same TSB that called for also replacing the rear calipers themselves. Printed the TSB out, brought it to the dealer, talked to the service manager, he was very apologetic, ordered the parts in right away (they had to come from Japan), offered a loaner while the car was being repaired as well as a coupon for a free oil change and $50 gift card for parts or service. So the dealership took care of it made good on having to bring it back multiple times. Anyways just wanted to do sort of a quick update now that the car has been around for a while. General consensus, in a world of bleh-meh-ugh crossovers, this one is actually pretty fun. Mazda really isn't lying with their Zoom-Zoom marketing.
Thought I'd share the final verdict-
I went to look at a '15 Honda CR-V EX last night with Dad (brought mom along too since she is "the boss"), and it was at a Mazda dealership. He drove the CR-V, looked it over, thought it was okay and was ready to make an offer on it. But before he made an offer on it and with mom's help, I convinced him to just try driving a slightly more expensive CX-5. So we went for a ride in a 2016 CX-5 and he loved it. So this morning dad and I went and turned his lease in and then went back to the Mazda dealership and he bought the CX-5.
It's a 2016 Mazda CX-5 Touring, white on black interior. It's got 25,000 miles and its CPO so it's got a factory backed 7 year 100k mile powertrain warranty, plus 12 month 12k mile comprehensive warranty. It's got all kinds of bells and whistles that his Camry didn't have so there will be plenty of gadgets to keep my dad busy for a while. It came with four brand new tires which was nice. It's a Car and Driver 10 Best and has the highest earning from the IIHS, so I feel good about that. Plus it is very easy for him to get in and out of with his hips and shoulders which was a priority, and has lots of head and legroom (my dad is 6'2" and 230 lbs) so he should be quite comfortable in it.
Thanks for all the replies and opinions, they are much appreciated as always. Dad bought this car instead of leasing, so hopefully he'll have it for a while.
Zoom Zoom
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Well the car is now at about 34000 miles and I've driven it a fair bit, but today after installing the Android Auto, I took it for a real spin. I'll be completely honest- it's fun to drive. It really doesn't feel like a crossover at all, it feels very much like a small sedan. The direct injected 4 banger revs fast and the 6 speed shifts really nicely. It has a sport mode that is super aggressive and raises the shift points substantially. The steering is well weighted and more importantly, it isn't numb like a lot of new cars with electric power steering. It handles well, I was able to throw it pretty hard into curves before any understeer occurred. If it had some actual summer tires on it instead of all seasons, I bet it would be even more fun. It is AWD but I certainly wouldn't try to off road with it, the ground clearance just isn't there. I think of it more as a hunchbacked sedan with AWD rather than a small SUV. As for any issues my dad has had with it since buying- the only thing that was an issue was the rear brakes were making noise shortly he bought it. He took it back to the dealer, and they put new rotors and pads on it, still had a noise. Took it back again, the dealer saw that there was a TSB addressing the issue, and replaced the caliper brackets. Still made noise. Did some research myself, found out there was a very recent revision to that same TSB that called for also replacing the rear calipers themselves. Printed the TSB out, brought it to the dealer, talked to the service manager, he was very apologetic, ordered the parts in right away (they had to come from Japan), offered a loaner while the car was being repaired as well as a coupon for a free oil change and $50 gift card for parts or service. So the dealership took care of it made good on having to bring it back multiple times. Anyways just wanted to do sort of a quick update now that the car has been around for a while. General consensus, in a world of bleh-meh-ugh crossovers, this one is actually pretty fun. Mazda really isn't lying with their Zoom-Zoom marketing.