Automatic Emergency Braking Problems of Mazda CX-5 - part 1

The vehicle's automatic emergency braking (aeb) / Smart brake support system intermittently triggers "false positive" emergency braking events during critical driving maneuvers, specifically while accelerating to merge into highway traffic. During these events, the system violently applies the brakes with no external hazard present. Crucially, the vehicle fails to acknowledge driver override input. Depressing the accelerator pedal fully does not disengage the automatic braking, stripping the driver of vehicle control and exposing the vehicle to a severe risk of being rear-ended at high speed. Simultaneously, the vehicle experiences a persistent "in-unit telematics malfunction" error on the dashboard, accompanied by rapid-fire mobile app notifications (14 alerts in a single day) stating "critical vehicle malfunction: vehicle cannot be driven. " these communication module errors have persisted despite the dealership applying Mazda's latest software updates, indicating a critical network failure or hardware defect that compromises active safety systems.

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.

See all problems of the 2025 Mazda CX-5 🔎.

2021 Mazda cx5 awd- non turbo engine. Sunny day, dry. My car was clean. No precipitation. Some shadows of the interstate light poles across the road 200-300 feet in front of me, but they were thin shadows. Sun was to my left. I was driving south on may 01 2026 about 10am on the interstate going highway speeds, with adaptive cruise control "on", in the 2nd lane of a 4 lane interstate. Thankfully no other traffic ahead or behind me. Car slammed on the brakes suddenly, pretty hard. I counteracted and added more gas pedal to keep in going. I turned off the cruise control. After a while I re-engaged the cruise control and had no issues. This could have been a huge accident in busier traffic. Will get the car checked out at Mazda dealership service this week.

See all problems of the 2021 Mazda CX-5 🔎.

The contact owns a 2021 Mazda Cx-5. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the forward collision avoidance automatic emergency brakes activated unintendedly, and the vehicle jerked to the left and independently accelerated and moved back in the lane intended lane. The vehicle then jerked to the right, unintendedly accelerated, and then went back into the intended lane. Then the vehicle resumed normal operation. While driving approximately 60-65 mph a week later, the vehicle started jerking. The “Smart city brake malfunction” message was displayed, and the engine warning light was illuminated. The local dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 114,000.

I am reporting a safety issue involving engine failure and fumes entering the vehicle cabin as well as unintended braking post major engine repair at 75,000 miles on my 2018 Mazda cx5. My vehicle developed engine problems consistent with a cylinder head/coolant defect and began allowing fumes/smoke to enter the cabin while driving. This created a health and safety concern for occupants. I reported this to the dealership and was told the vehicle was safe to drive despite the presence of fumes in the cabin. A major engine repair was later performed. A few days following the repair, additional warning lights and system malfunctions appeared, including brake system warnings, and the vehicle later braked unexpectedly while driving nearly causing me to be rear-ended. The vehicle has been inspected by the dealership, but the root cause of the fumes and subsequent safety issues has not been clearly explained. This situation created a safety risk due to exposure to fumes inside the cabin and unexpected vehicle behavior while driving. Smoke/fumes video and any additional documentation can be provided upon request. Attaching the costly invoice as well.

See all problems of the 2018 Mazda CX-5 🔎.

My wife's vehicle has a "infotainment screen" (dashboard touch screen). There is a class action suit (csp13d dealer letter) for issues regarding the screen performing tasks (ghost screening touch) on its own. In lieu of a Mazda vehicle mass recall, they agreed to "fix" the issue with a software update and replace the cmu module of the vehicle to rectify this issue. I am here to report / advise you that many Mazda owners are not happy and have taken it upon themselves to disconnect these screens and do other "work around self repairs (removing/ disabling the unit) in order to fix the issues that occur. I have directly contacted Mazda in regards to my issues and they stat they can only do what was advised on the court ordered settlement and nothing more to fix the issue. I want to advise you first hand, their fix for this issue does not fix the problems. In fact, it is making it much worse! now my wife's vehicle is operating this screen by itself, while driving, creating a major distraction. This "ghost touching" is actually going into the braking system settings and trying to change/ alter them as she is driving! a major safety issue. She has had to, on several occasions, pull over /off the road, shut down the vehicle and try to "reset" what has occurred and check her system for any altered setting. . If possible. As a retired police officer, I can tell you first had that if we ever encountered such thing/ safety issues reported by drivers, we would not allow them to travel any further with the vehicle and have it safely towed to a dealer or mechanic for repair. For their safety as well as the rest of the publics safety!! Mazda has refused to fully fix this issue and you can even see on numerous social media posts of many others reporting similar issues, disabling their devices on their own and doing other work arounds to mute or disable their devices totally. I implore you to do a full recall of all affected vehicles to fix the problem ASAP!.

See all problems of the 2019 Mazda CX-5 🔎.

While driving on the highway in traffic, I was applying the brakes (slowly and smoothly) and moving with the flow of traffic when the sbs system activated the brakes harshly and slammed me to a stop without reason. In addition to throwing me forward against my seatbelt, it also resulted in the car behind me rear-ending me. I did not hit the car ahead of me, since I was far enough behind them before the Smart brake support engaged, but the feature caused an accident that could have been avoided.

See all problems of the 2020 Mazda CX-5 🔎.

What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection upon request? - Smart brake support (sbs) & forward obstruction warning system malfunctioned. Front radar sensor malfunctioned. Parking brake malfunctioned. I-activesense system malfunctioned. Emergency lane keep disabled. Dynamic stability control malfunctioned. Traction control system not operating correctly. Anti-lock brake system (abs) malfunctioned. Brake system not responding. How was your safety or the safety of others put at risk? in total 10 malfunctions led to brake not responding and could not stop the car and resulted into a car accident. Has the problem been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center? no has the vehicle or component been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives or others? police report from car accident states brake malfunction. Were there any warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure, and when did they first appear? car was totally fine until all 10 error messages appeared on Jan. 17th 2026 12:42-12:43pm and immediately the brake system did not respond and resulted in the car accident. **important** police report documented that the officer on scene is a witness of the car dashboard shows “brake malfunction”.

See all problems of the 2023 Mazda CX-5 🔎.

While driving my vehicle the systems sensors are affected by nearby drivers which cause the car to stall in the middle of traffic going between 40 and 75 miles per hour.

Forward Smart city brake support malfunction camera sensors screen ghost.

My car has started braking when objects arnt there almost causing a crash Mazda denies this.

Go down road, straight, less than 40, automatic braking system we off with no one in front of me or in lane next to me.

See all problems of the 2024 Mazda CX-5 🔎.

During snowfall, the front camera becomes obstructed, leading to a malfunction in the Smart brake system. When this occurs, an alert appears indicating a “Smart brake failure,” accompanied by an audible warning and the illumination of the check engine light. The vehicle then exhibits unpredictable behavior, including unintended braking and sudden acceleration, creating a hazardous driving situation. The only temporary resolution is to restart the vehicle; however, the check engine light remains on for several days before eventually turning off. This issue occurred while I was driving on the highway on February 19, 2025, posing a significant safety risk. This is not the first time the car has done this.

Good afternoon. I am reporting an incident that occurred on December 29, 2024. I was driving my 2019 Mazda Cx-5 and I was about to make a left turn. However, as I was making the left turn, I received a notification on my dashboard about a "forward Smart city brake support malfunction" (a photo of the notification will be included). My car instantly lost control and it did not stop until it collided with the street curb of the road I was attempting to turn on. Fortunately for those around me, my car did not collide with any other vehicles on the road. However, this collision caused damage to the right side of the vehicle, as the right airbag of the vehicle had deployed. I believe that this is a very significant problem that should be looked into as soon as possible. If my car were to hit other drivers on the road, it could have led to a very tragic incident. As far as repairs go, I wanted to wait and see how this complaint would carry out. I do not believe that it would be fair for me to pay repairs for an event that was out of my control. Thank you.

Car will slam on brakes even if car is in opposite lane farther away. We have received sooo many chips amd cracks on windshield with 2 weeks. We purchased used and was informed windshield was replaced once already.

While driving through town the braking system malfunctioned and the car came to a stop in the middle of the road with messages on dash saying the Smart city braking support was malfunctioning as well as brake assist. Engine light came on as well as traction control light right after the car coming to a sudden hard braking stop. Drove straight to shop to check engine code which was p0882. I am so afraid of this happening on the highway with my daughter in the car. There is a recall for this system but my car isn’t under the recall so I'm sure there are others that are having the issue but aren’t covered under the recall either.

2021 Mazda Cx-5. On 8/6/24, I turned right into a parking space between 2 parked vehicles at the dmv parking lot. I turned right and eased into the parking space facing a large Ford f 150 white pickup truck. I was approximately 1-1. 5 feet from the front of the white truck. I had my foot on the brake, suddenly the vehicle accelerated by itself and I heard the car revving at a very high rpm and the car took off. My sister was a passenger and she heard it as well. None of the collision or brake notification avoidance features came on the screen or were implemented as a safety measure or accident prevention. I had my foot on the brake and I had no control over the vehicle. The car lurched forward hitting the right side near the headlight of the car on my left and the pickup that was in front of me. My car hit the white pickup so hard that it pushed it out of the parking space in front of me and perpendicular to the parked cars in the row. We both were injured, my sister in icu and had to have emergency cervical surgery for fractures impinging her cervical spinal cord. The Mazda was totaled. It is impossible for a Mazda to push the Ford f 150 pickup truck, that was facing me , out of the parking space and perpendicular to the row of parked cars with just 12- 14 inches between the pickup truck and my vehicle unless it was revved up to a very high rpm. The police report has some inaccuracies, it states I was turning left into the space but was actually turning right and says I possibly passed out but that is not true. I was in shock when the police questioned me. I have also relived every second of this accident in slow motion many times since. I am a 5 foot women and would have had to floor the gas peddle and even then would not be able to push a large pickup truck out of the space in front of me, and continue out of the parking space landing sideways in a 12-14 inch space between the front of the 2 vehicles.

The most recent incident: driving 35 mph on a 4 lane divided boulevard, vehicle 5-6 car lengths in front of me indicates intention to turn right. No traffic in lane to my left should I need to change lanes. I continue to coast. At approximately 2-3 car lengths, the vehicle in front has nearly completed the right turn - there is no risk of collision - but my car brakes hard. This is the 4th time my car has activated emegency braking in a situation it is not warranted. I have been dirving for 36 years with no accident. I do not need nor want this technology as it is more prone to causing accidents than preventing them. Additionally, the car throttle response is slow to recover in these situations, so while I mashed the acclerator to the floor to avoid being rear-ended - the car did not accelerate for 1-2 seconds (rpm went up, but the engine did not engage for several seconds). In situations where aeb might have been marginally helpful, detecting cross traffic running red lights, the car has never detected this - and thankfully I'm an experienced driver so aeb was not needed. This technology, imo, is not safe and will lead to over-reliance causing more accidents in the future.

I had coplained about a long, soft brake pedal on 10 February 2024 to hiley fort worth motorcars and got a report on 13 February 2024 stated that after inspection, they could not duplicate my complaint, so they did a visual inspection and washed the car!!!! today, 29 may 2024, I had to make an emergency stop and pressed the brake pedal to the floor! the abs came on, but the brake pedal should never reach the floor. The other car had stopped and I swerved out of the way. No warning lights came on nor sounds. Additional information; if the brakes are applied by the adaptive cruise control, and you step on the brake pedal after the brakes have been applied automatically, the brake pedal is nice and firm, like it should be. But if there is no intervention with the car, the brake pedal is very long and soft.

In under 36 months failure of the front sensing camera disabled parking brake, traction control, emergency braking assistant, traction control, lane keeping assistance and lane departure warning.

Multiple instances of phantom braking, which resulted in two instances where we were just inches from being rear-ended. The circumstances of the phantom braking are similar, and has occured many times. Circumstances of phantom braking are as follows: vehicle in front in lane makes right hand turn from lane (with or without turn signal or braking). The vehicle in front typically has exited the lane, and the Mazda emergency brakes hard! variable vehicle acceleration/deceleration dynamics factors: the Mazda could be coasting, decelerating with brake litely applied, accelerating in lane (because vehicle has fully exited lane), accelerating and exiting lane (go around turning vehicle). Variable turning vehicle rear lights (signals, brake lights) factors: the turning vehicles can be braking or not, turning with or without signaling- it does not matter. The Mazda will brake hard regardless. This may be an extension of the same: when traveling on an interstate highway, nominally at the posted speed. When a faster vehicle safely accelerates into the Mazda’s lane, the Mazda will brake hard. The Mazda does not recognize that the vehicle entering the Mazda lane is accelerating, nor does the Mazda seem to understand (anthropomorphism) the context (dynamics) of the situation (accelerating merging traffic). Hard braking in these circumstances has resulted in several near misses being rear-ended. The request for date below should be “na”, because the phantom braking has happened many times.

Emergency braking brought car to a complete stop while traveling around at approx. 35 mph with no car or anything else in front of the car on a wide and clear town street. Car would then not go into park and only after a couple of mins did it go into park and car was able to be driven.

Automatic braking system has almost caused multiple rear end accidents as it still detects cars that have left the lane after they turn. The infotainment system has dangerous ghost touches that glitch every time the car stops which has been reported for Mazdas for the past 7 years with no recall.

The side mirrors fold in and out automatically. Sometimes they will not open to driving position, leaving the driver without the ability to check them for lane changes. This is a common problem with the automatic mirrors on Mazda vehicles. I have had them repaired once under warranty, but the issue persists. The second issue is the automatic emergency braking. It has activated a few times without need or warning. I have come close to being rear-ended because of this and received negative feedback from other drivers that were following me (use your imagination).

While driving forward in a straight line during broad daylight at approximately 40mph, the car in front of me slowed and turned right onto a side street. I applied brakes to slow myself (to ~25mph I estimate) until the car in front of me was fully out of my lane. Once the car in front of me was out of my lane, I released the brake in order to accelerate back up to the speed limit, but before I could press the gas pedal the car suddenly slammed on the brakes, beeped warning beeps, and displayed brake on the dash. It did this for less than a second before deactivating. It did not fully stop the car. It just caused a sudden, severe braking event and then the car returned to normal operations. This exact road scenario (car in front turning right onto a side street while traveling at city speeds of ~30-40 mph during daylight) has caused the sudden temporary automatic braking twice, and two other times in this same scenario the brake warning displayed and sounds activated but without automatic braking. These four events occurred within the less than one year that I have owned the car. One of the automatic braking incidents happened in cold temperatures on snowy/icy road conditions. The other occurred in traffic with vehicles following behind my car close enough to risk a rear-end collision. I have reached out to a dealership to request the safety sensors be inspected, but I have seen on internet communities (reddit. Com/r/Mazda and reddit. Com/r/cx5) that many people have encountered this exact behavior (sudden unexpected braking) in the exact same scenarios (car ahead turning right).

When the system thinks there might be a collision it initiates a hard braking even when there is enough space to avoid a collision. Multiple times, the car behind me had to do a hard break as well not to hit me from behind. A google search revealed multiple people complaining of similar issue. The system brakes too extremely aggressively (drops speed from 30 mph to 5 or less mph almost instantly stopping/causing skidding) even at its lowest setting. When I address with Mazda service manager he advised "it's supposed to do that" and if I choose to I can manually disable the feature each time I enter the vehicle. Note, I am currently driving a loaner car 2023 Mazda Cx-5 and have not experienced the same issue, so it does not seem "it's supposed to do that". I have been driving the loaner for 4 weeks and not once have I experience this issue - the system has never engaged except for once where only the warning light appeared on the display but the braking did not engage. Whereas my vehicle engages this anti collision braking nearly every day I drive it. This system has almost caused more accidents than it protected me from them.

Was driving at low speed and out of nowhere the warning lights came on , Smart city , abs, among others. It's caused by this vehicles front facing camera and or front radar emblem malfunctioning causing the vehicle to slow down , low power , and steering wheel jerking making mechanical sounds. There's a TSB as well.

Automatic emergency braking (Mazda's Smart city braking feature) will randomly trigger even when there is no vehicle/person/object/obstruction present in the road infront of you. It has occurred going over railroad tracks and made by car go from 30 mph to 0 in a second. It has occurred switching lanes into an empty lane and triggered it. It has also picked up the center medians as an object it should hit the emergency brake for. This is insanely problematic when a vehicle is following behind you and this system is essentially brake checking them out of nowhere. In the past, dealers have said to just turn the sensitivity down. This does not fix it. In addition, I have gotten "brake" warnings from the car on the highway (does not engage because I am at a speed faster than the emergency braking allows) but this is quite unnerving when you are on an open highway going 75 mph and your car is wanting you to brake.

While driving down the road my Mazda Cx-5 continues to just stall and the engine light turns on and the safety features turn off. I was driving down a road in town and the engine started stalling as I came to a red light and slowed the engine shut off and I was almost hit from behind. It took several attempts at starting before the car would start. This has now happened for the past 3 days and is happening more and more frequently. I do not have any other means of transportation and after attempting to get the dealership to check due to the recalls on the Mazda Cx-5 for fuel pump failure and the mechanic saying it appears the fuel pump is bad the dealership refuses to attempt any repair because the VIN is not listed in the recall at this time. This is a severe safety problem because if it stalls in traffic I will be in an accident as I have no ability to maneuver the vehicle when it stalls to get out of the way of vehicles approaching. If this issue isn't resolved it is going to cause injury to myself or others. People have had to swerve into the path of other vehicles to keep from hitting me when it stalls, which is eventually going to result in harm to others and/or myself and family.

The 2019 Mazda Cx-5 has a design and manufacturing issue with its infotainment system. The screen activates functions without pressing the screen or activating the joystick. It changes the station, calls by phone and changes important security parameters such as braking assistance. Reflecting a notice on the main board. There are thousands of cases of affected vehicles. This problem is a serious situation that Mazda must correct immediately, because it distracts the driver and changes extremely important safety parameters. The infotainment system is not just for listening to music or making calls. This system manages many aspects of vehicle safety. Mazda replaced the part with a new part number for obvious reasons. All vehicles that have the affected part must be replaced with the new part number to avoid possible accidents. The defective part is k123-61-j0a. The replacement is k123-61-1j0c. Thank and best regards.

On Feb. 9, 2023, I started my vehicle and lots of warning indicators lit up the dash of my well-maintained vehicle. Check engine, abs, tpms, sbcs to name some of the warning lights. When I took my car to the dealer, they told me the left front wheel speed sensor had mechanical failure and would need to be replaced. Said the car's antilock brakes wouldn't work without it being replaced. My car also has the automatic brakes to prevent collision and stability control systems which are dependent on wheel speed sensors' function. My vehicle mileage was 59307 when I took it to the dealer. Over $600 repair bill.

See all problems of the 2015 Mazda CX-5 🔎.

I experienced a sudden unintended acceleration incident. I pulled into my driveway and stopped the vehicle with my foot firmly on the brake since my driveway is sloped. I pushed the garage door opener remote when suddenly the vehicle accelerated and shot forward hitting the garage door. There was no brake action and all backup systems failed. There was no automatic emergency braking or forward collision warning. There were no warning lights displayed. No airbags were deployed. If the garage door had been open, the vehicle would have hit a concrete wall in the garage. The vehicle was taken to the Mazda dealership and a full circle inspection and diagnostic check. Mazda found no codes and everything was working as designed in vehicle.

Autobraking activates randomly. Mazda scans codes and returns the vehicle. They have refused to service or disable the system. Nhtsa laws are dangerous and this tech is not ready for road use. Avoid Mazda at all costs!.

My 2019 Mazda Cx-5 automatically applied the brakes while the car was on cruise control traveling at 65 mph on a highway, and there wasn't a car or any object in front of me or to either side of my car. The car applied the brakes firmly and brought the speed down quickly and dangerously. I quickly depressed the accelerator to get the car back to highway speed to avoid a rear-end collision. This issue has happened 3 times in the past 2 weeks, all while traveling at highway speeds on cruise control for an extended period of time (hours). I believe this is the same issue with the Mazda Smart city brake support system that led to a recall of 2019-2020 Mazda-3 vehicles. My Mazda Cx-5 is out of warranty and the dealer stated it is not covered by the recall.

While driving the car in highway and you turn signals to change lanes and that moment you start changing the automatic brake system activated and car suddenly brake almost making me get in to a rear collision this happens twice in highway, it also happens twice in city driving while cruising street and theres is nothing in front of you the emergency brake light shows brake as emergency and car suddenly brake without having anything on front.