Owners filed 1,846 complaints about the 2015–2025 Mazda Cx-5 with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the 56th-most of any vehicle in our Car Problem Index. The 2016 model year drew the most (510), and the single most-reported problem area is engine, named in 28% of complaints.
Key findings
- Worst model year: 2016, with 510 complaints, led by exterior lights (161).
- Spike years: 2016 (4.1× the typical year), 2018 (2.8× the typical year), 2019 (2.2× the typical year).
- Earliest-failing area: transmission / powertrain complaints came at a median of 7k mi on the odometer.
- Fire and crash reports: 16 complaints mention a fire and 112 mention a crash; owners reported 59 injuries.
Mazda Cx-5 complaints by model year
| Model year | Complaints | Top problem areas | Median mileage | Crashes | Fires |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 123 | Body structure (26), Transmission / powertrain (19), Engine (14) | 34k mi | 11 | 0 |
| 2016 | 510 | Exterior lights (161), Electrical system (71), Brakes (66) | 31k mi | 31 | 10 |
| 2017 | 148 | Electrical system (44), Engine (15), Brakes (14) | 19k mi | 5 | 0 |
| 2018 | 348 | Engine (177), Transmission / powertrain (41), Brakes (32) | 15k mi | 19 | 1 |
| 2019 | 270 | Engine (131), Electrical system (46), Transmission / powertrain (32) | 17k mi | 7 | 2 |
| 2020 | 106 | Electrical system (30), Engine (17), Brakes (13) | 3k mi | 9 | 0 |
| 2021 | 145 | Engine (78), Transmission / powertrain (16), Electrical system (12) | 19k mi | 9 | 0 |
| 2022 | 63 | Exterior lights (23), Engine (13), Electrical system (6) | 4k mi | 5 | 2 |
| 2023 | 62 | Brakes (11), Engine (10), Electrical system (9) | 16k mi | 8 | 0 |
| 2024 | 44 | Brakes (7), Engine (7), Automatic emergency braking / collision warning (6) | 24k mi | 4 | 1 |
| 2025 | 27 | Brakes (9), Engine (6), Automatic emergency braking / collision warning (6) | 4k mi | 4 | 0 |
Newer model years have had less time on the road, so their counts are lower partly because owners have had fewer years to report problems.
Most-reported Mazda Cx-5 problems, and what they cost to fix
| Problem area | Complaints | Share | Median mileage | Repair estimate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Engine | 507 | 28% | 30k mi | Engine repair cost |
| Electrical system | 262 | 14% | 14k mi | Alternator / electrical repair cost |
| Exterior lights | 213 | 12% | 40k mi | Headlight replacement cost |
| Transmission / powertrain | 192 | 10% | 7k mi | Transmission repair cost |
| Brakes | 185 | 10% | 16k mi | Brake repair cost |
| Wipers / visibility | 93 | 5% | 7k mi | Wiper replacement cost |
| Fuel system | 93 | 5% | 24k mi | Fuel pump repair cost |
| Body structure | 93 | 5% | 13k mi | — |
One complaint can name several problem areas, so shares add up to more than 100%.
What this data can and can't tell you
These are unverified reports that owners submitted to NHTSA, counted by model year. They are not defect findings, and they aren't adjusted for sales: a best-selling vehicle collects more complaints simply because more of them are on the road. Use the counts to compare model years of the same vehicle and to see which systems owners complain about most, not to compare how reliable two different models are. See the full methodology.
Source: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation, consumer complaint files (nhtsa.gov), model years 2015–2025, retrieved 2026-09-23. Free to cite with a link to this page.