I feel the same way about the size of my CX-5: Just right. And I love the headlights even more now that the service dept raised the aim slightly. I can see much better and no one is flashing me.

I don't think I'd trust VW after their lying about the emissions on their cars. Same with Toyota lying. So arrogant for them to decide to just misrepresent their vehicles to protect their profits. I think such behavior needs to be answered with their having to watch us buy other brands because they destroyed our trust.

 

With my niece getting ready to drive this coming march we started the car shopping process about 4 Months ago. I used Consumer Reports magazine to go through all the different Mid sized SUV's. I had a list of about 15 to choose from for my wife. I marked the ones that received good reviews from consumer reports. My wife then chose the following:

Ford
Escape and the edge

Hyundai
Tucson and the Sante Fe Sport

Mazda CX-5 (which after thumbing through forums and researching I liked right away)

Toyota Rav4 but decided against it as well as the Highlander. Its too much money

Dodge jeep- I refused since they have some tranny issues

Anyway my wife is somewhat of a ford person. Its all she has ever owned and has always liked the Edge especially the titanium. I kept an open mind and didn't steer her away or towards any of the brands except for a few. Jeep b/c of tranny issues and Hyundai (Sante Fe) b/c of there motors blowing due to manufacturing process.

It took two days to test drive and look at them. We started with Ford since they were the closest dealer to the house. Drove the escape (titanium) first. Nice vehicle. We didnt like the ride as it felt cheap and noisy inside the cabin. The Edge Titanuim Ecoboost was nice. You could feel the turbo after it spooled up. The ride was nice and much smoother. However still lots of road noise. Which at the time my wife didn't think it was bad. She left the dealership wanting to buy the Edge but I really wanted her to test drive the others. By the way the salesman didn't really go over much about the car and the safety features and we didn't really ask. He showed some of the features but not much.

Next we went to the Hyundai where i was going to keep an open mind about the Sante Fe sport. Upon meeting the salesman I instantly asked about the recalls of the sonatas and the Sante Fe sports and of course he had no idea. We still test drove the Sante Fe but I knew we would not buy it. However the Tuscon was a nice car. My wife did like it but it didn't stack up to the Edge. The tucson was a nice ride had the turbo. You could here the road when driving. It was comfortable.
Again the salesman at this dealership didn't go through the features with us. Nor did we ask.

Last but not least we went to the Mazda dealer. Now at this point I'm hoping for the best but I'm not very confident she will want the CX-5. We get there and the salesman pulls us to the desk. Told him we were test driving for the day and not looking to deal that day. So he went through the trim levels of the 5. We already knew we wanted to try the Grand touring. He gets the car for us and he sits in the front passenger, wife drives and I'm in the back. At first I thought this was odd but he did an excellent job of showing her everything. Especially the safety features. Cruise control features, lane assist, and all that. When we got on the highway she was acting oddly happy bc of the view thing thats on the windshield. She immediately fell in love with that. The car was nice and quiet. The headlights turn into the direction you are turning. After returning to the dealership we sat at his desk briefly and talked a bit more. He then got up to get his boss and while he left I asked her what she thought and it was between the Edge and 5. In the end she really liked the 5 better. So we negotatiated and drove it home that day. I thought it was odd that it didn't come with remote start and the app is 69 a year. Probably my only real gripe but ohh well. I can live with that.

The car really sold itself but the salesman definitely did a great job. I really liked him and the dealer.

 

I have been considering the CX 5 but have been turned off for several reasons

1. 2016 and 2015 had tons of complains on carcomplaindotcom about the windscreen cracking really easy and even exploding without being chipped. ( look it up oh and mazda wont cover it ) I'm thinking 2017 is the same. On guy said that mazda has gone cheap and put a thin screen. He swapped his out for a different brand and hasn't had any issues

2. What you get in the car ( Mazda is attempting to try and be like lexus, bmw jaguar and those high end cars but for less. Problem is they have positioned themselves out of the market place with their pricing and zero incentives ) Go read up on how their sales have dropped since 2015. People keep telling them. Start offering incentives. Telling me i can get a BOSE home system is crap. I dont want that. I want money off or get lost. They are missing apple car play and the other one ( yes i know about the tweak online but still it should be in there ).
Also to get heated seats you have to go up a package when you don't have to do that in ford, hyundai, nissan or several others. They are cutting corners and trying to force people into higher packages for something that isn't that good in the first place.

3. Price. To get into one with heated seats you are at 30,000 canadian ( that's before tax, delivery and document crap ) so now you are probably around $35,000 for the CX automatic FWD with heated seats. I kid you not that is bullcrap. It's not worth it. I'd pay $25000 (all included ) for a brand new 2017 but no more than that, its just not worth it when i can find vehicles with taxes included and delivery for under 28,000 for 2018 with all the bells and whistles.

4. Smaller than other cross overs. Get a tape measure out you will see.

That's why i haven't bought one yet.

I was eyeing the hyundai tucson and santa fe but they have terrrible transmission issues ( 2016 and 2017 ) see carcompaintsdotcom

That leaves me with FORD escape or edge ( nice vehicles, lots inside. good ride but FORD are known to have issues )

nissan is crap

Honda and toyoa look like they are stuck in the 80s. Boring boxy vehicles with no shape

Crystal ( not on your life. Major transmission issues)

Jeep ( Overpriced, poor workmanship)

That doesnt leave much. I actually considered a MINI as they have hardly any complains but those suckers are expensive.

 

My wife was considering a Mini but they are to small. Ford Escape seemed cheap. Hyundai has long warranties for a reason. Basically a windshield isn't gonna steer me away. Just replace it with a better one. Jeep trannies are junk. CX-5 for me seems look I good price if you compare to the others. In the end you can find a negative on all brands.

 

I will say one thing good about the CX-5 ( It drives really nice) but in my mind it's comparable to the FORD and I can get an escape with heated seats and dual heating brand new for less than 30,000. Ford have upped there game over the years.

If you go look at carcompaintsdotcom you will see the trend. At one time FORD had major issues but over the past 5 years they have had fewer issues.

Hyundai vehicles look amazing but with all the engine issues i don't want to risk dropping $28000 to find myself in the shop all the time.

I really don't know what i will get.

But yeah i agree you can find issues in all models. Sad really

 

^^^^^^^^^^^^

What i try to keep in mind is that if you look at the problems a manufacturer is having. At times you have to take it with a grain of salt. I know people with over 150k on said models that are hyundais and they haven't had an issue. So while forums are good source of info and other websites like the one u mentioned for keeping track of defects. One has to consider the percentage of vehicles it impacts and id say generally that number is low. Now if you are one thats effected i understand that it sucks and hopefully the dealer takes care of you. Basically I chose by looks of a vehicle and then go from there. We purchased my tundra a few years ago and it was based on looks. I then researched them and they seem to hold up fairly well. In the three years I have owned it there are a few things I wish it had but oh well.

 

On a side note with our dealer experience. Overall its been a good one. My wife had to take it back to get the remote start installed as well as the hitch. They have here a loaner vehicle. They also put in the all weather floor matts that she wanted for free. And they filled her tank up again. The ford dealer nor did the toyota dealer do much after the sales of the new vehicles. Infact we had to take the fusion in for something and they didn't offer a loaner to my surprise. I know they don't have to but its nice when they do. Your every day life isn't as effected. Not often do i think a dealer does much after the sale and generally they don't. So this has been a nice change of pace.