NHTSA — Electronic Stability Control Problems

3.5

definitely annoying
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
37,280 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.

So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.

2013 Mazda CX-5 brakes problems

brakes problem

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2013 Mazda CX-5 Owner Comments

problem #15

Jun 012012

CX-5 4-cyl

  • 2,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

The contact owns a 2013 Mazda Cx-5. the contact stated while driving at various speeds, the vehicle jerked with the check engine, traction control, and tire pressure monitor system warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to lester glenn Mazda (101 NJ-37 E, toms river, NJ 08753, (888)422-5041) however, the mechanic was unable to duplicate the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and referred the contact to the local dealer. The failure mileage was 2,000.

- Redbank, NJ, USA

problem #14

Jul 132020

CX-5 4-cyl

  • miles
This issue has occurred multiple times where I put my car into park (therefore being stationary), press the button to turn off the car and the car does not fully shut down. It appears to be a safety issue with the steering sensor not full recognizing that the car is in park and therefore not shutting off the car completely. In order to get the car to completely shut off, the car has to be shifted from drive to park/actively turning on and off the car sometimes as many as 5-6 times in order for it to fully shut down. I have read dozens of reports of other Mazda owners experiencing the same problem. Cars being unintentionally left on is definitely a safety issue that needs to be looked into.

- Phoenix, AZ, USA

problem #13

Jul 022020

CX-5 4-cyl

  • 103,000 miles
Was driving when car shut down for a second and traction control, tire light and check engine light came on. I had no power and the rear tires were not spinning. I put the car in park and shut it off. I started it back up and only the tire light and engine light were on and I had power. I was able to drive another 30 miles before having the same problem.

- Thonotosassa, FL, USA

problem #12

Dec 282017

CX-5

  • 66,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

While my wife was driving to drop our children off to go to work all of a sudden the check engine, low tire and traction control light came on. When all lights came on the engine lost power and could not go above 20 mph.

- Fredericksburg, VA, USA

problem #11

Dec 142017

CX-5

  • 85,000 miles
The traction light automatically kicks on even if there is no bad weather. The lights flash on and the car becomes sluggish as if the traction is on. I have to pull over to turn the car off and restart. The engine light stays on for a least 24 hours. This has happened at least 5 times. Last time it happened 12/14/2017 and happened on highway and I couldn't do anything until I got off the highway.

- Upper Marlboro, MD, USA

problem #10

Dec 072016

CX-5

  • 80,000 miles
When driving approximately 65mph or sometimes less the tire pressure, traction control, emergency light comes on. The car seems to lose power and shut down. It happens countless time twice with my two-year-old daughter on the highway. When I take it to the mechanic they run diagnostics test and can't pick up any codes. Because its not duplicating any issue they return the car to me after they reset all the computer. But the issue is still not resolved. I would lose power to the car and my brakes are sometimes not responsive. I would coast with my emergency light on until I can stop my car. Sometime my hazards light would frequently flash at a fast speed than stop. I took it to two Mazda dealership to see if they can have resolved the issue but they cannot duplicated what going on. I did some research on my own and found countless complaints about the same issue I'm having and no mechanic can figure out the issue this car is junk. This have started the first week on Dec. 2016 it has been in two shop over the past 4 month. The first shop I took it to had it for a whole month and the second shop had it for two week. At one point when I was told my car was fix I came to pick it up. The car would not start at all it was not even reading my keys. The car does not have 100K miles on it. I don't do a lot of driving. This is hazardous

- San Antonio, TX, USA

problem #9

Dec 232015

CX-5

  • 52,700 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

During a long holiday trip, while driving down us 19 at 65 mph over the new river gorge bridge the engine started revving / surging, with rpms going up and down, when the car suddenly lost power and decelerated rapidly. The traction control system (tcs) light was on solid and the tire pressure system (tps) light was flashing. We had just left a rest area and were less than a mile down the road from where we pulled onto the highway, just getting up to speed. I may have just turned on the cruise control, but I cannot remember. The weather was warm and dry. The car had about 52,700 miles on it. I put on the flashers and prayed that momentum would carry me over the bridge to where I could pull off, that the semi-tractor-trailer truck barreling down on me would get in the other lane soon, and that no one would rear end me. My mom and my husband were in the car with me. We turned off the car, walked around the outside to look at the tires, looked through the manual, and tried to decide what to do. After about 15 minutes, I started it up again, there were no indicators lit up on the dash, and the car seemed to be back to normal, so we continued our trip. Since then we have driven about 800 miles and it has not happened again. I haven't had a chance to contact the dealer yet.

- Morgantown, WV, USA

problem #8

Nov 242015

CX-5

  • 43,250 miles
Running errands on way home on the highway while on a hill suddenly incurred loss of power, check engine and driving stability warning lights came on. Pressed gas and no change in speed. Speed dropped from 45 to 20 and had to move to shoulder. Other than loss of power everything else functioning normally. Managed to return home via back roads and avoidance of hills. Speed improved somewhat once completed climbing hill but as neared home car's speed topped out at 20 mph, total trip 4 miles or so. Once in driveway turned off car and then started again neither the check engine light nor the driving stability came on again. Car well maintained first time this has happened in 2 years of ownership. Will be taking it in for service and see if problem can be diagnosed.

- Ellicott City, MD, USA

problem #7

Aug 312015

CX-5

  • 24,450 miles
I was traveling at approximately 65 mph on a highway in the right-hand lane when my tire pressure indicator, traction control indicator, low oil indicator, emergency check engine indicator light illuminated. The car appeared to be driving normally so I drove it to a nearby meineke shop where they ran diagnostics & reported they were getting error codes P0571 & P02507. They further advised they were not equipped to fix the problem and I had to go to a Mazda dealership - the closest was 20 miles away. While on my way to the dealership, (again traveling approximately 65 mph on a highway in the right-hand lane), every light remained illuminated. Approximately 10 minutes into the trip, my push-to-start button started flashing yellow, I lost power to the car and my brakes were not responsive. I coasted to the side of the road where I turned the car off, not knowing if it would turn back on. I allowed it to sit for about 5 minutes and attempted to turn it "on" via the push-to-start. It did turn on and allowed me to continue driving, (this time in the break-down lane at 25 mph with my hazard lights flashing). I made it to the dealership where they noted the check-engine light was on. Diagnostics by the dealership / my invoice reveal the "cause" as "61 P0302xrx brake switch, R & R 71 w" and "1 lmin07 MINIlp 7.5 fuse" with a part number of bn7N-66-490. The issue was repaired under warranty as the car is less than 3 years old / less than 25,000 miles. I was on vacation 8 hours from my home with this happened. I had 2 teenagers in the car during the first failure. This could have been really, really bad had I been traveling in the left lane as I believe I would have been rear ended when the car suddenly slowed down and I lost the ability to brake. The out-of-state dealership was wonderful; however I believe this make/model needs to be recalled for this issue.

- New Milford, CT, USA

problem #6

Jan 162014

CX-5 4-cyl

  • 28,367 miles
The traction control light came on and the tire pressure monitor light began to flash. It felt like car had downshifted a couple of gears. I lost forward power in all gears (engine revved, but no power to wheels through transmission). Fortunately we were just turning into an alley, so was able to park car off a main street. Finally were able to get it to go into reverse to park it briefly. Turned car off then back on again and all lights on dash were normal and transmission would engage in forward gears again. Drove the 7 miles to my house with no problems. Called dealer and the shop says they have never heard of such a problem. Could have been bad if this happened in rush hour traffic.

- Des Moines, IA, USA

problem #5

Aug 052013

CX-5 4-cyl

  • 32,600 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

While on a very busy road, all of a sudden the accelerator stopped working and my speed began to drop rapidly. At the same time, the traction control warning light and tire pressure warning light came on. It was as if the car had completely lost power. I was able to coast to the side of the road and turn the car completely off. I got out and checked all of the tires and they were fine. When I turned the car back on, the warning lights did not come back on and the car ran normally.

- Palmyra, PA, USA

problem #4

Feb 172013

CX-5 4-cyl

  • 7,900 miles
While driving on the left lane of a busy los angeles highway at approximately 55mph, all of a sudden the accelerator stopped responding and my speed dropped rapidly. At the same time, the traction control and tire pressure lights turned on. Immediately, I turned on my hazard lights and pulled into the right lane. Unfortunately, I was in a tunnel with no shoulder. When the vehicle's forward momentum ran out, I came to a complete stop after cruising for approximately 100 feet. After my vehicle stopped, I was able to accelerate again and pulled off the highway. I turned the engine off, checked all tires (all looked normal), and restarted the engine. The warning lights were all off at this point, and the vehicle responded normally. This was a disturbing and dangerous situation. I will describe it at my 10,000-mile service, but it does not seem like others who have had this problem have been able to solicit an adequate response from Mazda.

- Pasadena, CA, USA

problem #3

Oct 132012

CX-5 4-cyl

  • 20,414 miles
While driving vehicle on frwy, started losing power fast. As if the engine turned off. At light, traction light, stability control light and check engine light came on. Pulled to side of frwy turned car off, sat there in disbelief. I then turned the vehicle back on - only check engine light stayed on. Had power as if nothing had happen diag found code P1738, P0847. Galpin Mazda called tech line and they were told to perform a reflash to the PCM. This happen again about 2 months later. But this time all warning lights turned off after restarting. I will mention it on my next service visit.

- Palmdale, CA, USA

problem #2

Nov 172012

CX-5 4-cyl

  • 6,820 miles
Driving down the freeway, the automatic transaxle light, traction control, and engine light all came on, and car slowed down and it was like it wasn't in gear. I pulled to the side of the road and had to shut it off and restart it four time before all the lights went off and I could drive it again. The check engine light stayed on, but in ran fine.this also happen about a month ago in town, I only had to shut off and restart once, and all the lights went off and its been running fine since until yesterday. I'm taking it to the dealer in the morning.

- Modesto, CA, USA

problem #1

Sep 012012

CX-5 4-cyl

  • 6,700 miles
I was driving at the listed speed on the New Jersey turnpike. Without warning, the vehicle went from sixth gear to fourth, rapidly losing speed in the far left lane. The tire pressure indicator light came on flashing, and the traction control light came on solid yellow. I pulled the vehicle onto the shoulder to check the tires, per the indicator, and noticed none of the tires was deflated. When I restarted the vehicle, the tire pressure and traction lights were solid yellow, along with the engine and "at" transmission light. While there was no noticeable effect on vehicle operation once restarted, I could not use the select-A-gear feature of my transmission. I was told at the dealership where I brought the vehicle that there were issues with the transmission control module, and that software updates were required. The vehicle was returned several days later, with the warning lights resolved, but told that they were uncertain as to whether it was a definitive fix. There have been no recurrences since the original incident.

- Rockville, MD, USA

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