Table 1 shows two common power train related problems of the 2025 Mazda CX-5.
| Problem Category | Number of Problems |
|---|---|
| Automatic Transmission Control Module problems | |
| Power Train 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.
I pulled the car into garage, and realized it's not inside enough. So I moved the car forward, but forgot to place the shift to p position. With the shift in d position, I shut off the engine, opened the door, ready to get out. I did not notice the car was moving backward, until the open door hit the garage frame. I file a claim with my insurance, had the front door replaced in a local body shop. I confirmed that in d position, with engine shut off, the car can move freely in my drive way. I did have this issue in my other two cars, I occasionally forgot put the shift from d position to p position, but the car did not move. This issue - a car can move freely without driver's awareness - is a serious and dangerous issue. If this happens in the street, a serious crash can occur. The car manufacturer should figure a way to prevent this from happening when the shift is in d position and engine is shut off.