The information you ask for is not really public available. Dealership generally have a bank or money institution that floors their stock. Those would be the guys you see often with the clip boards walking around and looking at each and every vehicle on the lot.

There is so much miss conception even before the internet about how dealerships are run and how they work their business program. I just tell people find a dealer ship that you feel like they appreciate your business. Talk to all the departments before you buy and you will get a better idea how well you will be treated after the sale.

As for who has the "BEST" warranty coverage better hire a business attorney to read and fully understand all the coverage and exactly how it works. LOL there is no "BEST" from any Car manufacture or independent insurance companies. You got to do your home work!

 

I want the Mazda warranty just not at the outrageous cost. One throat to choke when something goes wrong. Yes different divisions but if they are a good company they will do the right thing. Like honda would do in the early 2000's. Not anymore.

These companies do not understand that if you have a problem the CS team needs to be caring and offer some support even if it is good will amount. That alone goes so far for loyalty Honda once had.

 

I agree, the cost needs to be reasonable. In our case it was and we are now about to hit the default 3 year warranty ceiling this January. With the extended warranty, we will have an additional 3 years covered up to January 2024.

 

Did you ever find a reasonable extended warranty?

 

The extended warranty (valid for 6 years) offered by the Mazda dealer at time of purchase was about $1,200, so about $200 per year.

 

To be fair what you really bought is a 3yr extended warranty. The car came with a 3yr/36k bumper to bumper and 5yr/60k power train warranty. So you bought something to cover an extra 3yrs (but not likely as comprehensive as the OEM 3/36 warranty was) and an extra 1yr over the factory power train coverage. You didn't mention the mileage limitation of your extended warranty - I assume 100-120k - so there is a lot of extra coverage there if you drive the car a lot (I assume you do).

I personally suggest putting the $$$ you plan to spend on the warranty into a "car care" savings account. That way no matter if the car has issues, or not, you get to use the money. If you get lucky and your car has no issues for the length of the warranty you purchased, you lose the money spent on it.

 

The extra 3 years are again bumper-to-bumper, I specifically asked about it before signing. Not sure about the mileage limitation, I need to look it up.

I agree, you could invest the $1,200 for potential repairs but this time I went ahead with their offer. Typically I never buy extended warranties but with all the sensors and electronics in the newer cars that are super expensive, this gave me some extra peace of mind.

 

Thanks for the info!

 

I agree. The first time I ever bought an extended warranty on anything was when I bought my 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland with all the bells and whistles. At that time, MoPar had a "lifetime" MaxCare contract for $2300. Five months after the regular warranty had expired, the rear shocks were leaking and two radios were replaced. At that point, I was financially ahead of the game. Since I tend to keep cars for a long time, this was a good expenditure. I'm not sure whether I will buy another one if I ever get a new car again, but with the electronics on the newer cars and the throw parts at it mentality of service technicians, I will certainly consider it. Otherwise, at my age, it's a race to see if the cars die first or I do.

 

On my third Mazda, with about 250Kmi on them (in total). Never had a warranty repair claimed or needed. Never had a "major" component go out. I tend to be rather aggressive at keeping ahead of the maintenance "curve." Tend to be old-school when it comes to keeping fluids fresh, bushings and shocks done before they show obvious signs, etc. Once kept the spark plugs in longer than I typically prefer, in a Miata, but otherwise I regularly keep up with all of the typical and suggested maintenance items, generally on the "severe driving" maintenance schedule.

Relatively new to the CX-5, but it's been solid so far. Acquired it pre-owned, from the original owner @ 79Kmi and 4yrs of mostly highway driving. Has seen snow, ice, salted roads, heat above 100ºF, cold below 0ºF.

Warranty -- my own CX-5 is no longer covered under warranty. (Have never done a new car.) But their new-car warranty seems typical as compared to most of the other major car makers. I, too, think quality and competition has gotten to a point where the "big" makers could probably heavily leverage the warranty into a competitive advantage. Say, boosting utterly everything to 100Kmi, including scheduled fluids/belt/tune/brakes/shocks. Might add a few thousand to the base price of a new car, but it'd also save the resale value of the cars and improve the company image in the minds of prospective buyers. (It'd take thinking beyond a couple of years and instead thinking in terms of the 10+ years' life of a vehicle and the repeat business. JMO.

Braking -- There's the "Smart City Braking" feature in some models. Rented a 2020 CX5 some months ago, and it had the iActiveSense with the SCB feature. While not hardly an automatic driving feature, it brakes aggressively enough in situations such that crash damage forces will be dramatically reduced if a crash occurs.

Cameras -- With the advent of Tesla and the cameras-everywhere approach, lots of people seem to be clamoring for more cameras on other vehicles. My 2016 CX5 GT has one rear-facing camera, along with the various sensors for cross-traffic and objects in the blind spots. Might be nice to have one or two more, but the single rear camera seems sufficient. I do know that in nasty snowy/icy weather the camera gets covered up anyway. So perhaps during winter months "extra" cameras everywhere would just turn into a pain to keep functioning.

Pros/cons of the CX5 -- I would say that the primary pros are Reliability, Ergonomics, Safety, then Performance. Handling is reasonably sporty for an SUV (and, as a Mazda). The 2.5L engine is very quick, if you get on the gas, even more so if in "sport" mode. Fuel economy isn't the best in SUVs overall, and the CX5 seems about middle-of-the-pack when it comes to fuel economy. If they had a highly efficient 1.8L or 2.0L turbo that centered on fuel economy first, perhaps they'd "clean up" in the category. So far, I seem to average ~24mpg with mostly city driving, getting ~30+ mpg on highway. Not stellar, but not bad. Overall, I think it's one of the better values in the "baby" SUV category out there.

Worst feature -- Of all the basic features of the 2016 CX5 GT that I have, there's one thing I wish Mazda would alter and get "right." The shift mapping. Unless "flooring" the throttle or really getting on the gas, the shifting in the automatic 6spd transmission is far too aggressively centered on attempting to gain fuel efficiency. Typically, heading out from a stoplight, it'll shift into 2nd gear by ~8mph or so, often into 3rd by 20mph. Ludicrous. If actually accelerating, IMO the revving nature of the Mazda engines should be taken advantage of, in the shift mapping, keeping the acceleration brisk and lively. The "sport" mode seems to keep the revs inordinately higher for longer than they need to be, though it's a joy for using on highway on-ramps getting up to highway speeds. They need to make the normal and customary driving mode something more like the "sport" mode's acceleration and liveliness, but with a much smarter shift mapping that takes into account accelerating versus just "bopping" along. It'd make the car much more drive-able and fun to drive, while retaining much of the general fuel efficiency. Of course, this is with the 2016.5 CX5 GT 2.5L; can't say whether it's similar with newer vintage CX5s.

Redesign -- I'm sure one is coming. No idea if they'll hit the fuel efficiency out of the park, improve the handling, refine the ergonomics and interior, fix the softer paint problem, boost the warranty. My guess is, it'll be minor surface/facial changes and much the same as it's been.