I am writing to you to try and explain my frustration and disappointment in a Mazda CX5 I purchased from a dealership in October 2016 that has been plagued by problems.

In October 2016 my wife and I decided to trade in our beloved Audi which we had had for over ten years. We wanted to upgrade to a newer car that was also easier for us to get in and out if as we are in our early 70's. We needed something substantial as we are lucky enough to have retired to the South West of France so we need something both durable and reliable - otherwise we could easily be cut off.

I had seen the Mazda CX5 online at EMG Motor group, Cambridge, so travelled back from France to visit the garage and make the purchase. I purchased the car reg AV63 WGG and was delighted with my decision at the time however this was short lived. On my trip back to France the car broke down. I had to get the car towed to a Mazda garage in Bergerac where they thought they fixed the problem - this was explained to us as a pipe coming off the turbo but it continued to have other problems including a knocking noise whenever we drove it. This turned out to be an issue with the suspension which meant the car was left at the garage for over a week as all the front suspension had to get replaced. Fortunately the Mazda garage in Bergerac were great in making sure all this work was covered by the warranty so this only cost us in time and worry to get the car fixed.

We thought all the issues were behind us until recently we noticed an engine warning light on the dashboard. We took the car to back to local Mazda dealership in Bergerac and were horrified to be told that the turbo charger had gone and would need to be replaced, this was swiftly followed by being mortified when told that it was going to cost approx. 4,500 Euros to fix.

This is a huge amount of money for us to try and find but we are held to ransom as we need to have the car in working order.

I need to make it clear to you that I am completely dissatisfied with the performance of this car. We have only done 6000 miles in it since its purchase yet it has been to the garage a total of eight times!!!

My question to you is whether any of this additional work will be covered by a warranty or if there have been any known recalls or issues on this model?

About recall of CX-5, Atenza

On April 13, Heisei 3, Mazda Co., Ltd. reported the following recall to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

We apologize sincerely to all of you for your patronage. Please contact the nearest Mazda dealer to receive repair (free) as the target customer will be informed from the dealer by direct mail etc.

Recall report number Recall start date 4242 April 13, Heisei 30 Structure, apparatus or performance condition and its cause which it considers to be in a nonconformity standard.

In the vacuum pump of a diesel engine car, because the wear resistance of the pump shaft is insufficient, the shaft may wear due to metal powder generated inside the engine. Therefore, if you continue to use it as it is, the wear of the shaft progresses, the ability to generate negative pressure decreases, and if you step on the brake pedal several times in a short time at low engine speed, the brake assist force may temporarily decrease.

In the turbocharger of a diesel engine car, since the measures such as inspections carried out so far are inappropriate, the shaft of the turbocharger may be worn out with metal powder generated inside the engine. As a result, if you continue to use it as it is, wear of the shaft progresses, accelerating power drops and abnormal noise occurs. In the worst case, the shaft may break and the exhaust path may be blocked, causing the engine to stop.

In the use of an oil filter for a diesel engine vehicle, since the user is not well informed about it, when an oil filter with an inappropriate valve opening pressure of the relief valve is used, the metal powder generated inside the engine is sufficient It may not be caught in. Therefore, there is a possibility of trouble of 1 and 2.

Contents of remedial measures

We will replace all vehicles and vacuum pumps with countermeasures.

Check all vehicles and turbochargers, and replace abnormal ones with new ones.

Inspect all vehicles and oil filters, and replace inappropriate ones with countermeasure items. Also, alert the user and paste a notice label not to use the genuine outside oil filter to the engine hood.

Improvement location explanation Figure 1

Improvement location explanation Figure 2

Improvement location explanation Figure 3

engine light p011a engine coolant temperature sensor

On the 11th of December it's really cold that morning 29 degrees out driving headed to work from far rockaway headed to Manhattan about to get on the belt and boom there's the engine light again going again 40-50 miles fast feel like I lost power once again hard to accelerate fast pedal really tight trying to push but I dare not to it feels like something will happen light is consistent and not flashing so once again I took the other route to my garage in bk and took the train to work at this point I'm so pissed off and it's freezing outside and mazda is closed on Sundays at least service is so I had to wait till Monday morning the 12th of December at this point I'm just driving in I will call them as I'm driving in Monday morning. I get there and there very nice people as I stated before so they took my vehicle by the way I failed to mention how much my first visit was even though I had the extended warranty I still had to pay a deductible of 100 dollars I have the best warranty package the highest they have they require 100 deductible and the didn't cover the coolant flush so I paid 307.00 . Now getting back took my vehicle I went to work they called me later in the afternoon and said that the thermostat was stuck code P011A and we replaced it and the warranty took care of it your good to go your vehicle is ready so once again I'm so happy it's finally ready because I just got this second job in the night and I really need my vehicle so I drive off because I had an orientation to attend and the car driving so nice and smooth with lots of power I said ok beautiful not even more than an hour in between my orientation I'm headed home doing again 40-50miles fast and boom theres that dreadful engine light again I went ballistic I could not believe it and I'm losing power and now I completely lost heat and mazda is closed until tomorrow morning and it's a to be continued till the 13th of December for the results at this point mazda offered a loaner to me as they further investigate this P011A code that keeps popping back up. I'll keep u posted

Update from Jan 31, 2017: So I'm back with good news so far it's been 2 weeks since I got my mazda back from mazda and after several returns back to dealer for same code for engine coolant temperature . They change the thermostat 3 times and flush radiator 3 times did a fuel injection clean,transmission service and after they did that work they returned it to me then that night engine light came back but this time it was code po421 cat converter so they went ahead and had to order it so they put me in a loaner 2016 mazda cx-5 grand touring very nice but anyways got it back in one week because after they installed it they had to drive it for a couple of days to make sure no engine comes back. Good job Koppel mazda it's been 2 weeks as of january 17 2017 since I got my vehicle back and it's been running like a champ I took it this morning for a oil change and to change one of the belts it looks like the alternator belts looks like it's wearing out so they changed it .

On that morning of December 7th at 6am I was driving hended to bk (Brooklyn) from far rockaway Queens driving on the belt Parkway going 40-50miles fast not to fast but the speed limit and suddenly my engine light comes on its steady but I suddenly lose power when I press on the accelerator (pedal) it feels really tight and hard to get speed and then I'm getting heat but it's not the hot anymore so I quickly took to my garage then called mazda to schedule an appointment for next day. Next day here on the 8th of December at 7am opening time I went to mazda told them my situation and they said they will take care of they will call when ready very nice people I must say and orderly so afternoon comes they called me stating a code P011A was presented and it's calling for a reprogramming to the pcm (update) and your need a coolant flush and replace it with stronger coolant your vehicle is ready for pick up. I was so happy I just knew it was fixed engine was gone and I drove away happy as ever