COMPONENT SPOTLIGHT

Mazda CX-5 electrical problems

458 distinct owner reports with an electrical-system component in this snapshot.

Includes the electrical-system component and its detailed subcategories. Related recalls and investigations must also name this component; they are not linked by narrative keyword alone.

14 crash reports10 fire reports10 injury reports

Reports by model year

Recall and investigation columns show each year’s full history. A report naming several years can appear in more than one row.

When problems were reported

Mileage at the reported incident

217 reports with mileage · 241 unknown

NHTSA’s mileage field refers to the reported incident, not necessarily the filing date. This shows report counts, not the likelihood of a failure.

What owners actually said

458 reports
2023 model year · Mileage unknown · Apr 30, 2024
Electrical SystemEngine

I love this car, but it has a bad habit, the vehicle accelerates on its own. If you take your foot off the gas, the car will intermittently lurch, almost jump forward. I’ve learned to deal with this by simply keeping a strong push on the break, but it is definitely is an issue. Another issue I’m having is the back lift gate. I…

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I love this car, but it has a bad habit, the vehicle accelerates on its own. If you take your foot off the gas, the car will intermittently lurch, almost jump forward. I’ve learned to deal with this by simply keeping a strong push on the break, but it is definitely is an issue. Another issue I’m having is the back lift gate. I’ve been told that the sensors are on each side of the gate and perhaps when drying the vehicle, I touch them😳 they run along each side of the liftgate fully visible. I have 17,000 miles on my car right now and when the lift gate opens closes it stops halfway and it beeps. I then have to push it down to close. I took it to the dealer and they say it will cost me if they have to check the sensors. This is extremely annoying to have an automatic lift gate, and I have to push it down myself.

NHTSA ODI #11586116

2016 model year · Mileage unknown · Apr 22, 2024
Electrical System

The used 2016 Mazda CX5 I just bought apparently has the "ghost touch screen" where the Infotainment system will randomly pick controls, place phone calls, change navigation. How can this not be a safety recall? I'm afraid to drive this car and not have full control of the navigation system or controls. This is DANGEROUS to hav…

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The used 2016 Mazda CX5 I just bought apparently has the "ghost touch screen" where the Infotainment system will randomly pick controls, place phone calls, change navigation. How can this not be a safety recall? I'm afraid to drive this car and not have full control of the navigation system or controls. This is DANGEROUS to have this happen when driving!! Mazda should be held accountable for this clear safety problem.

NHTSA ODI #11584553

2017 model year · Mileage unknown · Apr 20, 2024
Electrical SystemLane DepartureUnknown Or Other

The center screen started self selecting on its own, and randomly choosing options that included going into the setting for Adas system and turning stuff off and on.

NHTSA ODI #11584220

2019 model year · Mileage unknown · Apr 19, 2024
Electrical System

The infotainment screen is malfunctioning and acts on it own. Random parts of the screen are touched on its own creating a lot of distractions. Examples are changing of screens, settings, ending my navigation, calling contacts etcetera. This is a huge safety hazard and Mazda dealerships are charging for diagnosis for a commonly …

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The infotainment screen is malfunctioning and acts on it own. Random parts of the screen are touched on its own creating a lot of distractions. Examples are changing of screens, settings, ending my navigation, calling contacts etcetera. This is a huge safety hazard and Mazda dealerships are charging for diagnosis for a commonly known issue, claiming the cause is unknown, despite numerous posts and threads online linking this to a screen delaminiation issue.

NHTSA ODI #11584063

2019 model year · Mileage unknown · Apr 15, 2024
Electrical SystemEngineSteering

As I was driving home one day in February 2024, my car felt like a strong gust of wind was getting up underneath the hood of my car, causing it to pull left and right slightly. When checking the weather, wind gusts were at 5 MPH and you could barely see trees/leaf movement. I pulled off the side of the road, checked underneath t…

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As I was driving home one day in February 2024, my car felt like a strong gust of wind was getting up underneath the hood of my car, causing it to pull left and right slightly. When checking the weather, wind gusts were at 5 MPH and you could barely see trees/leaf movement. I pulled off the side of the road, checked underneath the car to see if anything was dragging/missing and all was fine. As I started driving again, I then noticed my RPM's vs MPH was very strange. When accelerating, the car randomly increased up to 4,500 RPM when trying to go 45 MPH, then shifted down to 2,000 RPM's once I reached 45 MPH. But, no matter if I left my foot on the gas pedal, lifted my foot off of the gas pedal or hit the breaks, the car would not move off of 2,000 RPM's until I pressed my foot on the break all the way down to the floorboard. No lights came on at all. I took it to the dealership that I purchased it from, expressing the scary feeling of the driving the car and showing video proof of what the car was doing in RPM's vs MPH. After further conclusion, they determined that a "sensor" had gone bad. The thought that a plastic, electronic sensor going back caused my car to feel that way and put my life at risk while driving is a scary thought. Fast-forward to April of 2024, similar symptoms have come back again. Wind feeling like it's getting under my hood, causing the car to pull left and right, RPM's not matching up and now a hot engine with no warning light coming on, is questioning if it's this particular sensor again. Not to mention, I had it inspected by the dealership two weeks ago and had an oil change done to it and the dealership said "everything looks great". You should have zero thought or worry when operating your personal vehicle, but in the past three months, I have taken my car to the dealership and or a mechanic 7 times with thoughts/worries about my car. This car has now turned into a "lemon" as one would call it and I'm terrified to even start the car.

NHTSA ODI #11583156

2017 model year · Mileage unknown · Apr 13, 2024
Electrical System

My touch screen, has been acting up. While driving, the navigation system will automatically change prompts while driving. It will change to music, random dials, consistently change to random dials. I am unable to stop the dials from changing. I have read on the internet people are calling this "ghost touching". The volume wil…

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My touch screen, has been acting up. While driving, the navigation system will automatically change prompts while driving. It will change to music, random dials, consistently change to random dials. I am unable to stop the dials from changing. I have read on the internet people are calling this "ghost touching". The volume will randomly go up high while driving. I am unable to control the volume or prompts. This is dangerous while on the road. I am unable to hear first responders while driving in traffic. This is a huge distraction. Many people I am reading are going through this with their Mazdas... This is costing us more than 3,000 or 4,000 to get fixed. I am unable to get this fixed for this price. I am unable to get a new car.

NHTSA ODI #11582768

2016 model year · Mileage unknown · Mar 28, 2024
Electrical SystemService Brakes

This vehicle has rear Electric Parking Brakes. Some time it's works sometimes it doesn't release the rear passenger side breaks. The rear passenger side brakes make to much noise and brakes pads destroy rotor earlier then others. Mazda dealers doesn't says to much on that and ask for above $1000 repair to change faulty EPB clipp…

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This vehicle has rear Electric Parking Brakes. Some time it's works sometimes it doesn't release the rear passenger side breaks. The rear passenger side brakes make to much noise and brakes pads destroy rotor earlier then others. Mazda dealers doesn't says to much on that and ask for above $1000 repair to change faulty EPB clipper. But my research says many people have same complaints with this model by mazda built-in around 2016. This is safety issue, if I replace brake pads every 4 or 5 months it cost me money. If I don't I cost me my safety.

NHTSA ODI #11579848

2016 model year · 70,000 miles · Mar 25, 2024
Electrical SystemCrash

The contact owns a 2016 Mazda Mazda CX5. The contact stated that on two separate occasions, the vehicle unintentionally accelerated without warning in an attempt to park the vehicle. On the first occasion, the vehicle drove in between two trees with the contact's foot on the brake pedal before the vehicle came to a stop. The air…

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The contact owns a 2016 Mazda Mazda CX5. The contact stated that on two separate occasions, the vehicle unintentionally accelerated without warning in an attempt to park the vehicle. On the first occasion, the vehicle drove in between two trees with the contact's foot on the brake pedal before the vehicle came to a stop. The air bags did not deploy upon impact and no injuries were reported. The vehicle was towed to an independent body shop where the vehicle was repaired for minor damage. The contact was also informed that no computer codes indicated any signs of a mechanical failure. On the second occasion, the vehicle crashed into a parked vehicle while again attempting to park the vehicle in a parking lot. The force of the collision caused the already hit vehicle to crash into yet another parked vehicle. The air bags did not deploy upon impact and no injuries were reported. A police report was filed. The vehicle was towed back to the same independent mechanic where the code reader indicated that the vehicle had a low battery; however, the battery did not need to be replaced. The dealer nor the manufacturer had yet to be notified of the failure. The vehicle remained in the possession of the independent mechanic and had yet to be repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 70,000

NHTSA ODI #11579301

2014 model year · 77,000 miles · Mar 19, 2024
Electrical SystemEngine

The contact owns a 2014 Mazda CX-5. The contact stated that while attempting to turn off the vehicle, the vehicle failed to shutoff. The screen and vehicle remained powered on. The battery was drained, and the contact replaced the battery. The contact called the local dealer, but the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The ma…

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The contact owns a 2014 Mazda CX-5. The contact stated that while attempting to turn off the vehicle, the vehicle failed to shutoff. The screen and vehicle remained powered on. The battery was drained, and the contact replaced the battery. The contact called the local dealer, but the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was approximately 77,000.

NHTSA ODI #11578236

2019 model year · Mileage unknown · Mar 19, 2024
Electrical System

The electrical system malfunctions repeatedly. The volume on the navigation will set to maximum by itself. This is alarming and poses a safety risk. It also randomly texts people detailed location information of the driver. This is a safety risk for minors and people in abusive relationships or with a PFA order. It appears to b…

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The electrical system malfunctions repeatedly. The volume on the navigation will set to maximum by itself. This is alarming and poses a safety risk. It also randomly texts people detailed location information of the driver. This is a safety risk for minors and people in abusive relationships or with a PFA order. It appears to be a common problem with this car.

NHTSA ODI #11578338

Related Official recalls

1

17V744000 · Electrical System:wiring; Trailer Hitches

Nov 21, 2017

Mazda North American Operations (Mazda) is recalling certain 2017 CX-5 vehicles equipped with an accessory trailer hitch wiring harness. This harness may be routed such that there is insufficient clearance between the harness and the exhaust muffler, allowing the wiring harness to contact the muffler.

Consequence & remedy

Consequence: Contact with the muffler may damage the trailer wiring harness, potentially resulting in the trailer lighting being inoperative, thereby increasing the risk of a crash.

Remedy: Mazda will notify owners, and dealers will reroute the trailer hitch harness away from the muffler, replacing the harness if it is damaged, free of charge. The recall is expected to begin January 20, 2018. Owners may contact Mazda customer service at 1-800-222-5500. Mazda's number for this recall is 1617K.

Additional source detail variants (2)

Trailer Hitches

Mazda North American Operations (Mazda) is recalling certain 2017 CX-5 vehicles equipped with an accessory trailer hitch wiring harness. This harness may be routed such that there is insufficient clearance between the harness and the exhaust muffler, allowing the wiring harness to contact the muffler.

Consequence: Contact with the muffler may damage the trailer wiring harness, potentially resulting in the trailer lighting being inoperative, thereby increasing the risk of a crash.

Remedy: Mazda will notify owners, and dealers will reroute the trailer hitch harness away from the muffler, replacing the harness if it is damaged, free of charge. The recall is expected to begin January 20, 2018. Owners may contact Mazda customer service at 1-800-222-5500. Mazda's number for this recall is 1617K.

Electrical System:wiring

Mazda North American Operations (Mazda) is recalling certain 2017 CX-5 vehicles equipped with an accessory trailer hitch wiring harness. This harness may be routed such that there is insufficient clearance between the harness and the exhaust muffler, allowing the wiring harness to contact the muffler.

Consequence: Contact with the muffler may damage the trailer wiring harness, potentially resulting in the trailer lighting being inoperative, thereby increasing the risk of a crash.

Remedy: Mazda will notify owners, and dealers will reroute the trailer hitch harness away from the muffler, replacing the harness if it is damaged, free of charge. The recall is expected to begin January 20, 2018. Owners may contact Mazda customer service at 1-800-222-5500. Mazda's number for this recall is 1617K.

Model-level recall history does not show whether a particular VIN is affected or has received a repair. Check a VIN with NHTSA ↗

Related NHTSA investigations

0

No component-matched exact-year investigations in this snapshot.