Hello, I'm looking for a new vehicle and the 2017 CX-5 (AWD, possibly GT trim) is in my top-3. I'm also considering the Hyundai Santa Fe Sport (trim TBD) and Honda CR-V (EX-L). Also waiting for the 2018 VW Tiguan release.

What else have you driven and why did you like or dislike before buying your 2017 CX-5?

Best, J

 

Hi Joe, (warning---long read. LOL)
We looked and looked, drove the new CR-V, and the CX-9 which I really lilked. But I'm biased about brands, having owned some fifty cars over my 45 year driving career. So no Korean cars - that puts Kia and Hyundai out, and no Datsuns, so that puts Nissan and Infinity out. I have never liked Hondas, so in driving the CR-v that confirmed that for me, it was awful - particularly the CVT trans - I hate those. The new Pilot is, well, UGLY. It looks like a Dodge Caravan. Oh, and Dodge and Chrysler are out too - just not enough market share and development dollars = junky cars.

I have owned 5 Mercedes Benz's and like them a lot but have bagged off them as of late due to their decreasing build quality and higher costs. EVERYTHING is an add-cost option - everything. Same for BMW, really like them but not their SUV's. Also charge for every option so a reasonably equipped model gets stupid expensive. Another car you don't want to own out of warranty.

We wandered into our Audi dealer just to see since my boss has a A8 that he loves, and another trusted smart-buddy loves them so thought we would check them out. I'm leery for the simple fact that I will never forget the 5000 - what a POS! But Audi gets good reviews and seems to make a nice car.
The new '18 Q5's are in stock now, seemed pretty nice. But the sales guy, instead of quoting some realistic lease numbers went on this big tirade about how they don't follow the pack with their lease program since most of their buyers BUY the car. So high down, and low residuals - $5K down and $650 a month? That blew us out. Then I went online and found out he was completely BS'ing, their residuals and money factors are about the same as everybody else, so we could have been a good prospect for him. What an idiot. So I'm off Audi, again...still...LOL.

I have a great guy at a Chevy dealer, looked at the new Equinox, and Volt, and the new Traverse is coming out. But he was in a hurry to go home so we said we would come back - never did. Didn't like the Equinox that much - the CX-5 is WAY nicer, and with our crappy roads a CUV just makes way more sense so that put the Volt out. Didn't want to wait for the new Traverse, and same deal, for a rig that size I'd rather have the CX-9.

We also looked at the Toyota Highlander cuz my BIL is a huge Toyota fan, and they are one of the few Japanese brands I would consider, they're durable but just SO ugly. The Highlander doesn't disappoint in that regard, it is ugly as sin. Nice inside, but didn't bother to drive one. $45K for a 'yota van was a non-starter.

Have owned 3 Subaru's and love them, but already had a gutless Crosstrek, and the Forester just doesn't click. So they were out. Didn't want a 'station-wagon', so Outback was out.

Oh, and Ford Explorer and Edge. Hmmm...naw. Less car, bulky, and costly, compared to Mazda. Ford was out.

And there you have it - after eliminating everything I DON'T like we were down to the CX-9 and '5. The Soul Red Crystal paint, and the park-hold feature, along with all the other technology, and how similar the '5 is to the '9, didn't need the third-row seat, nor the extra ten-grand in cost, so we finally decided on the CX-5. Been driving it for the past week and it is just FANTASTIC. It is so quiet, drives beautifully, very comfortable, it's a winner!

We traded our '15 Mazda3 GT, also had a '14 Mazda3 iTouring for our college student - both were excellent cars. The '14 went back on lease, and the '15 was wife's car - we liked it but it was small, rode hard, and was noisy - much like the Mercedes C250 Coupe it replaced last time. The new CX-5 fixes all that. We are thrilled! Now if they'll just get the Apple CarPlay thing going we'll be all set.

 

Browneye: very nice post, what about Lexus NX? I know its not in a price rage of cx-5 but you mention Q5, they about the same, probably NX is cheaper.
Im agreed, CX5 competes with upper league, in this league CRV, RAV 4, Rogue, Tiguan.
I think 2018 Tiguan should be considered but fully loaded will take you close to NX.

 

Ya, forgot to mention VW - in the same league as Audi in my eyes. I bought a new Dasher diesel in 1980 - they were expensive to fix then - $85 for an alternator in 1981 when a domestic was about $35. LOL

And my daughter had a New Beetle. Yuk. I have zero love for Volkswagen. Which is funny, cuz I'd drop for a Cayman-S if'n I had the coin to drop. But it would be a weekend play-car only then.

New Lexus NX - read the write-up on that one. When I read about poor driving dynamics as compared to the premiums, and the Mazdas, as in 'lacks character' or 'appliance like' it's a big turn off. Remember, I come from a long line of Porsches, MB's, BMW's. etc. It was a leap of faith to even consider a CUV. Wifey has been driving performance luxury cars for the past 20 years. The Mazda drives pretty damn good!

When the car's list price goes up over forty-thou I start to really back off. They have to be something really special to warrant that kind of coin. I'd probly go back to E350 or a 535i. When we got the Mazda3 she had her heart set on a 235i convertible. With a modicum of accessories it was well north of fifty-thou. We decided it just wasn't worth it. Got the '3 and a boat too. The completely loaded CX-5 with special paint and tech package (sans AWD) was right at $33K. IMO it's a great value. A signature CX-9 is really nice, but $45K and AWD? Yikes.

My 'car' is a Colorado 4X4. It's setup as a 'toad' (tow-car) behind the Winnebago motorhome.

 

Very strange, we tested NX and it absolutely fine car for daily commute, unfortunately we didn't test CX5 2017, but we didn't like 2016.
I read 17 was redesigned and its much better.

 

Wow, quite a list of autos! I think I drank two pints while reading that one.
I should share my new car experience, too, as it may be helpful to others.

2017 tested Models...

Rav4... liked the room and how it drove AFTER I got going, but that was about it. Hated the CVT on it and would drive me crazy in the city.

Jeep Cherokee Ltd... had the most comfortable seats of everything tried but it felt like a heavy vehicle when driving. Salesman was annoying which didn't help me think about the vehicle. Not a fan of the 9-speed.

Santa Fe Sport 2.4... smoother ride than I would have thought and still on my list. Leather seats seemed too firm first time around but will try again. Would also like to try the 2.0 turbo next time.

Ford Escape... bounced up and down the highway. Felt like pac-man. city.

CRV... pretty comfortable, but again, not a big fan of the CVT. I thought it was better than the Rav4 and am willing to give another test drive. Everyone has this vehicle here, but haven't seen any '17's on the road yet.

Nissan Rogue.. it was loaner, either 2016 or 2017, not sure. At any rate, the CVT was stuck over 4,000 RPM while trying to cruise at 55 mph. Something wrong with that one and was turned off by the transmission hiccup.

CX-5... My only gripe is the size and wish it was a little bigger (that's what she said). I really like the **** on the center console and the placement of the screen. The drive was ok but not the zoom-zoom that I was expecting. Audio was good once a certain setting was adjusted to make it surround sound. Not sure if paying the extra $2,700 for the GT is worth it (compared to the Touring with the premium package).

 

I have never driven a CVT trans that I liked. More and more models now have them - I prefer a standard shifting automatic with not too many gears - I hear the 8-9 speed ones shift ALL the time.

Jeep falls under Chrysler for me - if it's not a Wrangler it's out for me.

The Rav4 has been badly panned by all professional reviewers. Evidently it's either a really old design or just poorly engineered. Doggy is what I read.

Thought I saw decent reviews on the new Escape. I also do not like little tiny turbo motors. Either a big turbo or no turbo, but no tiny turbos. LOL. Like Equinox - a 1.5L turbo?

The CX-9 turbo is very innocuous - if you didn't know it was there you wouldn't
know it was there.

My first turbo was a '83 Thunderbird Turbo Coupe - the brand new model for Ford, with a 4cyl turbo. If you didn't let it cool off before you shut it down it would cook the oil in the turbo. A lot of them failed. And they didn't spin up very fast, but once they did it would smoke the tires. A 5 speed manual was the trick in that car. Very fun. Gee, that was a LONG time ago now.

The '12 C250 was also a 4cyl turbo, kind of raspy, but went like stink. Mercedes just isn't what used to be - had them from the '70's on up. Best of the bunch was a GLK350. Nice V6 and a nice car. Traded it for the Subaru Crosstrek. The dealer thought I was nuts. But the Subie would't tow a trailer offroad so I traded it for the Colorado 4x4 - with a real two speed transfercase. Very happy with the Colorado. One thing GM does really well is their nav and XM. State of the art. IMO it beats everything out there for ease of use and good info.

 

We looked at the Nissan Rogue, the Ford Escape, and the RAV-4. I preferred the handling of the CX-5, and I'm still happy with my decision. I didn't go GT because the leather seats are too hot in south Florida and I didn't want the sun roof. My thighs are loving the cloth seats.

 

I looked hard at the MB GLA250. While a bit short for a "true" SUV it has excellent driver dynamics, great performance and enough room for me. Better interior quality too, although the CX-5 interior is good for me. The kicker was.....the GLA was cheaper!

How can that be you ask? I usually lease my vehicles, an in spite of the ~$7000 difference between a CX-5 GT and a moderately loaded GLA the latter monthly lease was cheaper than the payment for the Mazda (no lease option). Weird yes, but why not take the high end car for less $$$?


.

 

I actually recently purchased the 2017 cx5 this last week and the only other one I was considering was maybe the Kia Niro due to gas mileage. it is a hybrid so you'd be sacrificing a bit of power. they were roughly right at the same price for the GT model. but the look of the cx5 stole the show imo, so I swing that that way