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2021 Mazda CX-5

Owner reports · Recalls · Investigations

Similar to other model years

Owner complaints for the 2021 Mazda CX-5 do not stand out strongly from the model-year median of 133.

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When problems were reported

Mileage at the reported incident

Limited mileage data: 18 of 144 reports include usable mileage. There isn’t enough coverage to show a useful chart.

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 to inspect

Issues worth paying extra attention to based on owner reports.

  • Engine. Review the 77 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
  • Power Train. Review the 16 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
  • Electrical System. Review the 12 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →

NHTSA owner reports · September 18, 2026 snapshot.

9 crash reports0 fire reports5 injury reports

Unknown Or Other complaints

17 reports
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Mileage unknown · Nov 1, 2022
Forward Collision AvoidanceUnknown Or Other

Feb 2,2022 received Critical Vehicle Malfunction Warning, all vehicle systems affected told to call roadside assistance and not to drive vehicle. Received same warning again February 11,2022 after vehicle had been inspected by dealer service again had vehicle towed to dealer. April 14, 2022 Critical vehicle malfunction again. Oc…

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Feb 2,2022 received Critical Vehicle Malfunction Warning, all vehicle systems affected told to call roadside assistance and not to drive vehicle. Received same warning again February 11,2022 after vehicle had been inspected by dealer service again had vehicle towed to dealer. April 14, 2022 Critical vehicle malfunction again. October 30, 2022, again Critical vehicle malfunction warning. All vehicle systems affected.

NHTSA ODI #11491757

Mileage unknown · Oct 3, 2022
Service BrakesUnknown Or OtherVehicle Speed ControlCrashInjury

Upon exiting my local car wash, I drove my car around to the area used for vacuuming. I pulled into the parking space and when I applied the brake pedal to stop, the car suddenly accelerated and crashed into the wall of the building. I have the Car Wash Security Camera footage of this incident. It shows my brake light is ON a…

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Upon exiting my local car wash, I drove my car around to the area used for vacuuming. I pulled into the parking space and when I applied the brake pedal to stop, the car suddenly accelerated and crashed into the wall of the building. I have the Car Wash Security Camera footage of this incident. It shows my brake light is ON at the car's point of acceleration and my brake light is ON at point of impact with the wall. If you need to review it, I can email it to you.

NHTSA ODI #11487669

Mileage unknown · Jan 27, 2022
Unknown Or OtherCrash

I parked my car in my driveway and accidentally left the gear in park when I turned off the engine with the push button. This is the first time I had driven this car so I didn't know what to do for the warning beep. I exited the car and took the key fob with me. My daughter exited the car just after me and when she closed the…

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I parked my car in my driveway and accidentally left the gear in park when I turned off the engine with the push button. This is the first time I had driven this car so I didn't know what to do for the warning beep. I exited the car and took the key fob with me. My daughter exited the car just after me and when she closed the car door the pressure was enough to start the car rolling backwards. The vehicle rolled down our driveway which has a steep slope, across the street, over our neighbor's yard and crashed against their house. We are lucky that no pedestrians or other vehicles were involved. There is significant structural damage to the neighbor's house. A police report was filed. I believe this is a significant safety hazard that a driver could turn off the engine and leave with the key fob while the car is in drive and there is no braking mechanism to prevent the car from rolling! In addition, the quiet warning beep should be more pronounced such as the horn honking or something more extreme to get the attention of the distracted driver.

NHTSA ODI #11449084

Mileage unknown · Dec 9, 2021
Unknown Or Other

2021 Mazda cr-5 Automatic rear hatch comes open on its own. This has happened 6-7 times. I make sure the car is locked and have come back to parking lot to find the hatch open. I have even locked the car and when I have walked to door of Walmart (long way off) and look back the hatch is not open. When I come back out, the re…

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2021 Mazda cr-5 Automatic rear hatch comes open on its own. This has happened 6-7 times. I make sure the car is locked and have come back to parking lot to find the hatch open. I have even locked the car and when I have walked to door of Walmart (long way off) and look back the hatch is not open. When I come back out, the rear hatch is open. I took to dealership and they could not rectify the problem.

NHTSA ODI #11443284

Mileage unknown · Nov 3, 2021
Unknown Or Other

The design of the remote control is poor. Placement of the buttons on the side and the light pressure needed to activate the unlock for the trunk has led to it opening unexpectedly. It can open and strike a pedestrian when you did not intend to activate the powered trunk open feature. It could also open when near an object and d…

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The design of the remote control is poor. Placement of the buttons on the side and the light pressure needed to activate the unlock for the trunk has led to it opening unexpectedly. It can open and strike a pedestrian when you did not intend to activate the powered trunk open feature. It could also open when near an object and damage the trunk b/c of how sensitive the remote buttons are. This has also led to the doors unlocking b/c of placement and light pressure needed to activate. On one occasion the button was pressed accidentally and the trunk was partially open as I backed up.

NHTSA ODI #11439171

500 miles · Mar 7, 2021
Unknown Or Other

THE INFORMANT CONTROLS ARE NOT SAFE TO USE WHILE DRIVING. WAY TO MANY SUB GROUPS TO SCROLL THROUGH JUST TO GET THE RADIO TO WORK. VERY CONFUSING AND DISTRACTING.

NHTSA ODI #11399575

12 miles · Feb 25, 2021
Unknown Or Other

THE PAINT ON THIS CAR IS NOTORIOUSLY POOR AND MAZDA IS AWARE. WE PURCHASED THIS VEHICLE ON 16 FEBRUARY 2021, DROVE IT HOME AND LEFT IT IN THE DRIVEWAY DUE TO SNOW/ICE. ON THURSDAY, 18 FEBRUARY INSTEAD OF BRUSHING OR SCRAPING OFF THE ICE WE LEFT IT TO MELT. UNFORTUNATELY, THE ICE MELT LEFT HUGE SCRATCHES ON THE HOOD. THERE IS…

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THE PAINT ON THIS CAR IS NOTORIOUSLY POOR AND MAZDA IS AWARE. WE PURCHASED THIS VEHICLE ON 16 FEBRUARY 2021, DROVE IT HOME AND LEFT IT IN THE DRIVEWAY DUE TO SNOW/ICE. ON THURSDAY, 18 FEBRUARY INSTEAD OF BRUSHING OR SCRAPING OFF THE ICE WE LEFT IT TO MELT. UNFORTUNATELY, THE ICE MELT LEFT HUGE SCRATCHES ON THE HOOD. THERE IS NO REASON FOR ICE/SNOW TO CAUSE THIS MUCH DAMAGE. WE REVIEWED A NUMBER OF WEBSITES AND IT APPEARS THAT MAZDA IS AWARE OF THIS INFERIOR PAINT AND HAS DONE NOTHING TO RECTIFY THE PROBLEM. BUT THEY DO CHARGE $595 MORE FOR IT. I HAVE NOT RECEIVED ANY CALL BACKS FROM MAZDA CORPORATION. BROWNS CHANTILLY DID ATTEMPT TO REPAIR THE DAMAGE BUT ALL THAT DID WAS MASK IT SLIGHTLY. THE DAMAGE IS STILL VERY VISIBLE. THIS CAR HAS 12 MILES ON IT AND MOST OF THOSE ARE FROM THE DEALER. I AM UNABLE TO UPLOAD MORE THAN ONE PHOTO. THE PHOTO SHOWS THE LARGEST SCRATCH BUT T HERE ARE MANY MORE ON THE CAR.

NHTSA ODI #11397842

Official recalls

0

No recalls in this snapshot.

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

NHTSA investigations

0

No exact-year investigations in this snapshot.

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