Table 1 shows one common equipment related problems of the 2025 Mazda CX-5.
| Problem Category | Number of Problems |
|---|---|
| Equipment problems |
Life-threatening, unoccupied rollaway vehicle with personal injury. Possible and/or suspected issues: "not-p" switch circuit malfunction; "false park"; lack of cross-module redundancy; lack of bcm and pcm redundancy; diagnostic blind spot; lack of occupancy-brake interlock; systematic safety failure culminating in unintended, driverless, runaway zombie vehicle with personal injury. Background info: * low mileage, mainly in-town errands driving. * not previously reported quirks, possible latent defects: liftgate opening that was hit-or-miss requiring multiple unlock trunk-unlock doors + get out of the car manual attempts; intermittent off-shutdown double-tap issue to power off car; ill-timed "rear seat alert". * reported "engine won't start" resulting in three key fob battery replacements and a locked key fob. Day of incident: * auto-lock and the ebs were not used. * driver intent was to park and unload, then permanently park. Car was in-park twice before ultimately placed in reverse and backed into position, facing downhill on a slight slope and along a left-side stone retaining wall. * driver thought vehicle was fully in park. * attempted open liftgate via "open trunk, open door" routine, which did not work, so I exited the vehicle to try the manual liftgate button, which also did not work. * three back-and-forth "unlock trunk/doors + manually press liftgate button" did not work. * note: upon opening the door or anytime after, I did not hear an audible warning that the car was not fully in park. Nor did the car move/creep in any direction. * deducing I must need to shut off the car to open the liftgate -- I leaned in and depressed the on/off button. * this caused the car to move forward, driverless, door open and scraping the stone wall, across a secondary road, over an 11" curb, and down a hill before stopping due to a tree. * I was injured. Pinned between a narrowing door and the car, I tried to turn the wheel right before being knocked down/falling.
While driving on February 12, 2026, the steering system failed, resulting in the steering wheel locking and becoming impossible to turn. While making a right-hand turn, the steering wheel suddenly locked. I had to forcefully jerk the wheel to regain control and avoid colliding with a concrete barrier on the right shoulder. After several seconds, the steering function returned to normal. This failure occurred without warning and created an immediate safety hazard due to loss of steering control. The vehicle has been inspected by a dealership, but the issue could not be replicated and no repairs were performed. This condition presents a serious safety risk as it can occur during normal driving maneuvers and may lead to loss of control and collision.
I was driving from rock hill, SC on October 17, 2025 on route 77 south when I heard an explosion while talking to my daughter at approximately 8:40 am. I stopped the car twice to check the tires. On the second stop, I lifted the hatch but did not see anything. I got back into the car and decided to open the sunroof slide just a bit. I opened it slowly and saw shards of glass and put my hand up through the hole. I closed the slider carefully. I continued to drive to the florida welcome center where I found a maintenance man to put duck tape over it. This did not hold. I was only driving about 60 mph as I was afraid that glass would fly out and harm the vehicle behind me. I decided to stop at my son’s as it was closer than my home. The next morning we purchased vinyl and duck tape to cover the hole better. I called my Mazda dealership while in SC. They said to bring it in for them to look at it on Monday. I called again at the welcome center to see if I should cover it. They said that was best. It is now Monday morning, October 20, 2025 and am at the dealership. Mileage is approximate.
While accelerating from a light that had just turned green, after passing through an intersection the vehicle seized up and came to a complete stop. There were no warning lights or any indication of a malfunction. The vehicle did not shut off, the wheels just stopped spinning. After a few seconds it began to accelerate again. It happened on a Sunday, I called the dealership Monday morning. I was not comfortable driving it after that. They came to pick it up and take it for inspection. Fortunately, no other vehicles were around. This occurred 6 days after purchasing it new. They had it for 2 weeks and said they could not figure what the issue was.
Critical malfunction- causing parking brake malfunction, anti lock brake system malfunction, dynamic stability control malfunction, disabled blind spot monitoring, keyless entry system malfunction, front brake / and obstruction warning disabled, keyless entry system malfunction, air bag system and seat belt pre-tensioner system malfunction. Vehicle not starting. /dead. Sat at dealership service where purchased for 6 days saying they could not test bc they did not have a battery tester- magically when I complained they found one- and say everything checks out ok. Vehicle is not safe!!!! if this malfunction happened while driving I could have been killed. The dealership refuses to anything g but say it’s ok- and it’s not a lemon. I cannot put my life at risk and they will not guarantee it will not happen again- or say why it happened- other than check g the battery.
The infotainment/cmu system in my 2025 Mazda cx?5 carbon edition has repeated failures that affect safe driving. Wireless apple carplay frequently disconnects, freezes, or causes the screen and controls to stop responding. Navigation and audio alerts lag or fail, and the entire system has gone black once, requiring a hard reset. After one incident where all audio stopped working, I returned immediately to the dealership, and a Mazda service advisor personally witnessed the failure and confirmed no audio output. These unpredictable failures create distraction and uncertainty. As senior drivers, my wife and I rely heavily on stable navigation, audio cues, and hands?free communication for safe operation. Mazda and panasonic reviewed the issue but denied cmu replacement, leaving the wireless system unreliable.
The windshield on our new 2025 Mazda Cx-5 is defective. Objects viewed through the windshield are distorted, to include the active driver’s display (colloquially known as the hud). Drivers and passengers are impeded from clearly seeing and focusing on objects visible throughout the front of the vehicle. Objects to include road signs are distorted, lose clarity which result in unnecessary and dangerous distractions. This problem significantly degrades the vehicle’s usability, safety and ultimate enjoyment.