Mazda CX-5 reliability by year
9 recall campaigns and 2,202 owner complaints across 14 model years. Best year to buy: 2025. Year to avoid: 2016.
Worst model years to avoid → — the single year to avoid for every model line we track, ranked side by side.
Years to avoid — and why 1 flagged on the NHTSA record
Cleaner on the data: 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026 and others. Still verify the specific vehicle.
At-a-glance: every year color-coded
Each cell shows the last two digits of the model year and its 0–10 reliability score from NHTSA data. Click any year to see the full record. ★ best year · ✕ year to avoid.
Year-by-year reliability 14 model years · newest first
Per-year recall counts add up to 20, more than the 9 campaigns above, because a single NHTSA campaign often covers several model years and is counted once in each.
Common trouble spots across the CX-5 aggregated across 14 model years
Common questions
What's the best year to buy a Mazda CX-5?
Based on NHTSA complaint volume and severity weighting, the 2025 Mazda CX-5 scores 8.4/10 — the strongest in the 2013–2026 range. 27 complaints on file, 0 active recalls. Reliability scores reflect the federal complaint record, not subjective owner reviews.
Which Mazda CX-5 year should I avoid?
The 2016 Mazda CX-5 scores 6.0/10 — the weakest in the lineup. 510 owner complaints with NHTSA, 5 active recalls. That doesn't mean every 2016 is a problem — it means failure rates run higher than peer model years on the same platform.
Which years of the Mazda CX-5 should I avoid?
On the NHTSA complaint and recall record, the model years to be most careful with are 2016 (avoid — the electrical system — 5 fire-related complaints and 3 crash-related complaints on the electrical system). The cleaner years on the data are 2026, 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021. This is our read of the federal data, not a substitute for a pre-purchase inspection of the specific vehicle.
How many years of the Mazda CX-5 are tracked?
14 model years (2013 through 2026) with NHTSA records on file. Total across the lineup: 9 distinct recall campaigns and 2,202 owner complaints. Those campaigns land on 20 model-year entries in total, because one campaign often covers several years at once — which is why per-year recall counts add up to more than the campaign count.
What's the most-reported problem on the Mazda CX-5?
electrical is the most-reported category — 381 complaints across 12 model years. Average shop repair runs about $850.