2023 Mazda CX-5: what breaks, and at what mileage
What breaks on the 2023 Mazda CX-5
On the 2023 Mazda CX-5, the failure owners report most often is seat belt or retractor failure, with 6 reports on file. Across every failure mode on this year, half the dated reports were filed before 10,000 miles. Overall it scores 75 out of 100, high risk for a 2023.
High risk for a 2023 — 97th riskiest of the 227 2023 vehicles we can rate. 85 owner reports; fleet size borrowed from other years of the same model.
The failures owners actually file about
Owners have reported 35 named failure modes on the 2023 Mazda CX-5, and the three most-reported carry 21% of everything filed, which is an unusually even spread for one model year.
Seat belt or retractor failure leads with 6 reports and about 0.1 per 1,000 vehicles.
Other engine problem follows with 6 reports.
Other brake problem follows with 6 reports.
By system, the reports fall mostly into adas (12), brakes (10) and engine (9).
When these failures get reported
Too few of the reports on this year carry an odometer reading to describe the timing: 7 of them do. The mileages quoted elsewhere on this page come from the modes that have enough of them.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
Showing the 12 most-reported failure modes of 35. The full list is in the table below.
How reports accumulate
Every report with an odometer reading, cumulative, from 0 to 200,000 miles. A curve that climbs early is a car with early problems, whatever its total.
- Line share of reports filed by that mileage
What happens when these parts fail
Across the named modes, 11 mention a crash and 8 an injury. Those are the words owners used in their own complaints, and NHTSA does not verify them, but they are the closest thing in this data to a measure of what a failure actually did.
The average severity weight across every report on this year is 4.95, where a stalled engine or a failed airbag weighs many times more than a rattling trim panel, and a figure this high means the reports are dominated by failures with safety consequences rather than annoyances. The weighting is set out in full on the methodology page.
What the top failures cost to put right, as editorial estimates for an independent US shop rather than figures from NHTSA: seat belt or retractor failure at $200–$900, other engine problem at $300–$4,000, other brake problem at $300–$1,800 and other powertrain problem at $400–$4,500. Dealer labour, a seized bolt or a part that is no longer made can push any of these past the top of its range.
21% of the reports on this year sit in the engine, transmission, drivetrain or cooling systems — the four where a repair bill is usually four figures.
Every reported failure mode
| Failure mode | System | Reports | With reading | 25th | Median | 75th | Per 1,000 | Typical repair | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seat belt or retractor failure | airbag | 6 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.1 | $200–$900 | High |
| Other engine problem | engine | 6 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.1 | $300–$4,000 | High |
| Other brake problem | brakes | 6 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.1 | $300–$1,800 | High |
| Other powertrain problem | transmission | 5 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.1 | $400–$4,500 | High |
| Other driver assistance problem | adas | 5 | 1 | — | 10k | — | 0.1 | $250–$1,800 | High |
| Sunroof failure or glass breakage | body | 4 | 1 | — | 16k | — | 0.1 | $700–$4,500 | High |
| Other steering problem | steering | 4 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.1 | $350–$2,400 | High |
| Ignition switch, key fob or immobilizer failure | electrical | 3 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.1 | $250–$1,500 | High |
| Lane keep or steering assist fault | adas | 3 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.1 | $200–$1,600 | High |
| Cruise control failure | adas | 3 | 1 | — | 15k | — | 0.1 | $200–$1,400 | High |
| Other visibility problem | glass | 3 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.1 | $150–$1,400 | Moderate |
| No-start or intermittent start failure | engine | 2 | 2 | — | 4k | — | 0.0 | $200–$1,800 | Moderate |
| Radiator or coolant leak | cooling | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.0 | $350–$1,900 | High |
| Wheel bearing or hub failure | drivetrain | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.0 | $350–$1,200 | Moderate |
| Control module (ECM/PCM/BCM) failure | electrical | 2 | 1 | — | 28k | — | 0.0 | $700–$3,000 | High |
| ABS module or sensor failure | brakes | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.0 | $500–$2,400 | High |
| Liftgate, tailgate or trunk failure | body | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.0 | $250–$1,500 | Moderate |
| Excessive oil consumption | engine | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.0 | $900–$6,500 | High |
| Alternator or charging system failure | electrical | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.0 | $450–$1,600 | High |
| Backup camera failure | infotainment | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.0 | $250–$1,200 | Moderate |
| Instrument cluster or gauge failure | infotainment | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.0 | $350–$1,400 | Moderate |
| Loss of braking | brakes | 1 | 1 | — | 3k | — | 0.0 | $400–$3,000 | Critical |
| Premature brake pad or rotor wear | brakes | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.0 | $300–$1,400 | Moderate |
| Airbag warning light or occupant sensor fault | airbag | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.0 | $300–$1,600 | High |
| Wheel, stud or lug nut failure | wheels | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.0 | $150–$1,500 | Critical |
| Air conditioning failure | hvac | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.0 | $400–$2,800 | Moderate |
| Blower motor or climate control failure | hvac | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.0 | $250–$1,200 | Moderate |
| Headlight failure or clouding | lighting | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.0 | $150–$1,800 | Moderate |
| Tail light, brake light or signal failure | lighting | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.0 | $100–$900 | Moderate |
| Software fault or failed update | software | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.0 | $0–$600 | Moderate |
| Other electrical problem | electrical | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.0 | $250–$2,000 | Moderate |
| Other suspension problem | suspension | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.0 | $350–$2,000 | Moderate |
| Other wheel or tire problem | wheels | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.0 | $200–$1,500 | High |
| Other speed control problem | adas | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.0 | $250–$2,000 | Critical |
| Other body or interior problem | body | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.0 | $200–$2,000 | Moderate |
| Unclassified problem | other | 7 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.1 | — | Moderate |
This year had no usable recall paperwork, so the fleet-size estimate is the median of other years of the same model. Repair costs are typical independent-shop ranges for the failure, not figures from these reports.
How often, against how many were built
Scaled by an estimate of how many of these cars exist, the 2023 Mazda CX-5 draws about 1.6 per 1,000 vehicles, which puts it in the 77th percentile of complaint rates among 2023 vehicles we can rate.
That denominator is the weakest number on the page and it is fair to say so plainly. This year had no usable recall paperwork, so the fleet-size estimate is the median of other years of the same model.
The working figure is 52,444 vehicles. If the true number is twice that, every rate on this page is half what it says; the ranking against other 2023 vehicles, which is what the risk score uses, is far more robust than the rate itself.
How it ranks in the 2023 field
The score at the top of the page, placed among its peers. The zones are the same thresholds the scorer applies, read out of the scorer itself, so the picture and the band word cannot disagree.
Scores are ranked within the model year, never across years, because an older car has had longer to accumulate reports.
- Left fewer and less serious reports
- Right more, or worse
- Marker this vehicle
How 2023 compares with the other years
High risk for a 2023 — 97th riskiest of the 227 2023 vehicles we can rate. Every score on this site is a rank inside its own model year, which is what makes a 2004 and a 2019 comparable at all.
Across the 14 model years of this car that carry enough reports to score, 2026 comes out best at 61 and 2018 worst at 80, with 2023 itself at 75.
If the model year is negotiable, 2026, 2024, 2025, 2014, 2013 and 2015 score lower than 2023 by a margin worth acting on. Same body, same engines, different luck — usually a supplier change or a mid-cycle fix, which the complaint data can show but never explain.
Within the 2022–2026 generation specifically, 2026 is the strongest year at 61 and 2023 the weakest at 75.
Scores compare each year against other cars of the same model year, so a low number on an older car is a real result and not an artefact of age.
Shorter is better. Years with too few reports to score are shown without a bar rather than as a zero, because no data is not good news.
Within the 2022-2026 generation, 2026 Mazda CX-5 scores best at 61 and 2023 Mazda CX-5 worst at 75.
What this page cannot tell you
85 owner reports; fleet size borrowed from other years of the same model. Every count on this page is therefore a floor: it is the number of owners who went to the trouble of filing with a federal agency, which is a small and self-selected fraction of the owners who had the fault.
Of those 85 reports, 7 carried an odometer reading, so the mileages here describe 8% of the sample rather than all of it. Owners also round: readings pile up on multiples of ten thousand, which is why this site publishes "about 90,000 miles" and not "91,438".
The failure modes are assigned by software reading the owner's own words, which is accurate in bulk and wrong in individual cases. A mode with a handful of reports may contain a misfiled one.
And nothing here predicts what one car will do. These are other people's complaints, filed years apart, on cars maintained by strangers. Read the page as a map of where this model year has previously gone wrong, then have the specific car in front of you inspected.
Questions this page answers
What are the most common problems with the 2023 Mazda CX-5?
The most-reported failures are seat belt or retractor failure (6 reports), other engine problem (6 reports) and other brake problem (6 reports). Counts come from owner complaints filed with NHTSA, which are voluntary, so they show what owners bothered to report rather than every fault that occurred.
Is the 2023 Mazda CX-5 reliable?
It scores 75 out of 100 on our risk index, which is high — 97th riskiest of the 227 2023 vehicles we can rate. The score is a comparison against other 2023 vehicles, not a prediction about any individual car, and it is built from complaint rates, severity and how early failures appear.
Which year of the Mazda CX-5 is best?
Within the 2022–2026 generation, 2026 scores best at 61 out of 100 and 2023 worst at 75. Same body, same engines, different luck.
Where this comes from. Every figure above is computed from NHTSA owner complaints and recall records for this exact make, model and year. Complaints are voluntary and self-selected, so treat counts as a floor. The methodology page writes out each formula, and the same numbers are available as JSON.
What breaks at my mileage Compare with another car
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed