Home · 2015 Mazda CX-5 · Complaints

What 133 owners told NHTSA about the 2015 Mazda CX-5

These are the actual owner complaints behind this car’s reliability verdict, filed with the federal government, unedited. They’re unverified reports, not confirmed defects: read them as leads for your pre-purchase inspection, not a diagnosis.

All (133)Crash / fire / injury (14)Body & structure (27)Transmission & drivetrain (19)Visibility & wipers (16)Brakes (14)Engine (14)Speed control (12)Electrical system (8)Fuel system (7)Airbags (5)Seats (5)

14 of 133 complaints match · crash/fire/injury only · clear filters

Jul 17, 2025BrakesFuel systemCrash

I was near a red light and applied the brakes, but the car accelerated and ran into the truck stopped in front of me. This happened around May of 2024. I took the car to the Elk Grove Mazda dealer. They ran diagnostic and road tests but found nothing wrong. The car had the same problem again sometime later inside my garage. The car rammed into the drywall while I tried to stop by pressing the brake pedal. I took the car to the AAA repair shop in August 2024. They spent three days, and they told me they found a problem with the "steering angle sensor." It was 22 degrees off calibration. They reset the sensor, and the car ran better. However, the car acted again after some driving. It tries to accelerate while I apply the brake pedal near a stop. I took the car back to the AAA shop, but they did not find any problems in a whole week. I still drive this(my only) car, but extra careful, keeping a longer distance between cars in front of me and braking ahead few times ahead of any stop.

NHTSA ODI 11674250

Feb 8, 2024AirbagsCrash

Was involved in accident on 8/12/23 with speed over 30mph at impact and not a single airbag deployed

NHTSA ODI 11570804

Sep 2, 20231 injury

While driving on the interstate, the passenger side front door glass shattered unexpectedly causing an eye injury. There was no noise of a rock hitting the glass or anything. Previous to the incident, the glass had no cracks or chips in it.

NHTSA ODI 11542220

May 10, 2023BrakesCrash2 injuries

I was on my way home going down a windy back road going about 45 mph. there was a jeep in front of me and the mail truck was in front of them. the mail truck went to slow down and take a right onto a different road and as the jeep slowed down i applied my breaks and there was no response. this was not the first time this had happened in this vehicle but this time i panicked and i had to cut my wheel into the persons front yard to the right of us as i was continuously picking my foot up and slamming it down on the break and there was no response my car was just speeding up. i ended up going into the road that the mail truck was taking a right on and i hit the front of his truck and went flying into the woods and the trees were what stopped me. i now live with constant nerve pain everyday from this and suffer with a compressed lower back fracture that limits me daily from many things. before this incident i had issues with the breaks and acceleration twice. i had taken it to mazda and they fixed my “break switch” ? obviously that wasn’t the problem.

NHTSA ODI 11521446

Dec 9, 2022Body & structure1 injury

The contact called on behalf of his daughter who owns a 2015 Mazda CX5. The contact stated that while his daughter was loading groceries in the trunk, the liftgate dropped unexpectedly and the corner of the liftgate hit her in the head, causing a laceration. The contact's daughter was taken to urgent care where she was informed that she had sustained a laceration and three staples were put on the laceration. The dealer was notified of the failure and an appointment was scheduled. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The contact stated that the vehicle was previously repaired under NHTSA Campaign Number: 16V644000 (Structure); however, the recall remedy failed to resolve the safety issue. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that the recall repair was one-time free of charge and they were not obligated to repair additional failures. The failure mileage was approximately 103,000.

NHTSA ODI 11496770

Sep 29, 2020Body & structureEngineCrash

WAS TURNING RIGHT ONTO SIDE CITY STREET TO PARK, WAS GOING MAYBE 2 MILES AN HOUR BECAUSE I WAS GOING TO PARK. THE CAR ENGINE SELF ACCELERATED AND I COULD NOT CONTROL IT, HIT A CHAIN LINK FENCE AND SHEARED OFF A NATURAL GAS METER TO A HOME. THE BREAK PEDAL DID NOT STOP THE CAR, I WAS IN DRIVE PUT INTO PARK AND SHUT THE ENGINE OFF

NHTSA ODI 11361681

Feb 4, 2020AirbagsCrash

TL* THE CONTACT OWNED A 2015 MAZDA CX5. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE VEHICLE WAS AT STAND STILL AT A STOP SIGN, WHEN SHE STARTED TO MOVE FORWARD WHEN ANOTHER VEHICLE IMPACTED THE FRONT DRIVER SIDE. THE AIR BAGS DID NOT DEPLOY. THE CONTACT STATED NO WARNING LIGHT WAS ILLUMINATED. THE CONTACT STATED NO ONE INJURED OR IN NEED TO SEEK MEDICAL ATTENTION. A POLICE REPORT WAS FILED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT DRIVABLE AND CONSIDERED TOTALED. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO IMPOUND LOT. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT DIAGNOSED AS OF YET. A DEALER WAS NOT CONTACTED. THE MANUFACTURER HAD NOT BEEN INFORMED OF FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS UNKNOWN. *LN*JB

NHTSA ODI 11306994

May 28, 2019BrakesEngineCrash

I WAS TRYING TO PARK MY VEHICLE IN A SOCCER FIELD PARKING LOT. AS I SLOWLY TURNING RIGHT INTO MY SPOT AT ABOUT 3-5MPH, MY FOOT WAS LIGHTLY DEPRESSED ON BRAKE PEDAL AND ABOUT TO COME TO A COMPLETE STOP, THE VEHICLE SUDDENLY MADE A VERY LOUD ENGINE SOUND (MY FOOT WAS STILL ON THE BRAKE PEDAL AND NOT ON THE GAS PEDAL) AS THE ENGINE REV UP FOR ABOUT A SECOND OR TWO THEN ACCELERATED FORWARD JUMPING THE CURB AND HIT A BIG FENCE POLE WHICH STOPPED THE VEHICLE. THE VEHICLE FELT LIKE IT SPED UP FROM 3MPH TO 30MPH AND I HAD NO TIME TO REACT. THE FRONT PASSENGER SIDE BADLY DESTROYED AND THE VEHICLE IS TOTALED. THE CAR WAS FIVE YEARS OLD AND ABOUT 75K MILES. IT IS VERY SAFETY CONCERNING AND SHOULD BE SERIOUSLY LOOK INTO. *DT *AS

NHTSA ODI 11210299

Apr 26, 2019Transmission & drivetrainBrakesEngineCrash

I WAS PARKING MY MAZDA CX5 IN A SPOT AT A SHOPPING CENTER AND WHEN I TOUCHED THE BRAKE WITH MY RIGHT FOOT AND WENT TO SHIFT CAR INTO PARK, IT SUDDENLY ACCELERATED FULL SPEED, MAKING A VROOM SOUND, JUMPING THE CURB AND SMASHING INTO A BRICK POST (LUCKILY I HIT THE POST AND NOT A PERSON!). I DON'T KNOW IF IT'S A TRANSMISSION, BRAKE OR ACCELERATOR ISSUE - BUT THERE IS DEFINITELY SOMETHING WRONG. I DID NOT HIT THE ACCELERATOR INSTEAD OF THE BRAKE. AT FIRST I THOUGHT IT MUST BE ME, SOMEHOW, SOMEWAY, HITTING THE ACCELERATER BUT I NEVER REALLY BELIEVED THIS. TODAY, APRIL 26, 2019, THE SAME THING HAPPENED! LUCKILY, THIS TIME THE CAR JUMPED THE CURB AND I HIT A TREE, LEAVING A SMALL DENT IN MY HOOD. AGAIN I HEARD THAT VROOM SOUND, AND JUST THOUGHT - OH NO, NOT AGAIN!

NHTSA ODI 11203922

Feb 13, 2018Speed controlBrakesCrash

MY FOOT WAS SOLELY ON THE BRAKE AS MY CAR WAS COMING TO A STOP IN A PARKING SPACE. THEN SUDDENLY WITH NO REASON, THE CAR ACCELERATED, JUMPING THE CEMENT TIRE STOPPER, HIT AGAINST THE CONCRETE PARKING COLUMN, WENT DOWN A SLIGHT HILL AND HIT ANOTHER CONCRETE PARKING COLUMN BEFORE STOPPING. THE WHOLE RIGHT SIDE (PASSENGER SIDE) WAS COMPLETELY TOTALED. FORTUNATELY I ONLY HAD BRUISES AND NO OTHER CARS WERE DAMAGED. THIS IS A SERIOUS SAFETY PROBLEM AND SHOULD BE INVESTIGATED.

NHTSA ODI 11072788

Dec 12, 2017SteeringSuspensionCrash

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2015 MAZDA CX-5. WHILE DRIVING 15 MPH, THE VEHICLE STEERED LEFT AND THE CONTACT CROSSED THE MEDIAN, SIDESWIPING ANOTHER VEHICLE. A POLICE REPORT WAS NOT FILED. THERE WERE NO INJURIES. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO A LOCAL DEALER (COLONIAL MAZDA, 100 FEDERAL ROAD, DANBURY, CT 06810) WHERE IT WAS DIAGNOSED THAT BOTH TIE RODS FRACTURED AND THE STEERING RACK FAILED AND NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE AND INFORMED THE CONTACT THAT THERE WERE NO RECALLS ON THE VEHICLE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS APPROXIMATELY 32,000.

NHTSA ODI 11054188

Aug 14, 2017Seat beltsCrash2 injuries

DURING HARD BREAKING (ABS ENGAGED) AT 30 MPH CITY TRAFFIC, FOLLOWED BY A FRONT END CRASH, BOTH SEAT BELT RETRACTORS FOR THE TWO FRONT SEAT PASSENGERS FAILED, FAILING TO KEEP THE PASSENGERS SECURED IN THEIR SEATS THE BELTS NEVER LOCKED AND COMPLETELY DESPOOLED. THE DRIVER WAS ABLE TO USE THE STEERING WHEEL TO REMAIN SEATED, HOWEVER THE PASSENGER'S HEAD IMPACTED AND SHATTERED THE WINDSHIELD. THE PASSENGER ALSO HAD BAD BRUISING FROM THE FINAL RESTRAINT OF THE BELTS AFTER IT DESPOOLED AND STOPPED.

NHTSA ODI 11015170

May 1, 2017Body & structure1 injury

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2015 MAZDA CX-5. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE LIFTGATE INDEPENDENTLY FELL AND STRUCK THE CONTACT'S DAUGHTER IN THE HEAD. MEDICAL ATTENTION WAS NOT RECEIVED. THE CONTACT RECEIVED NOTIFICATION OF NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 16V644000 (STRUCTURE). THE PARTS TO DO THE REPAIR WERE UNAVAILABLE. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE MANUFACTURER EXCEEDED A REASONABLE AMOUNT OF TIME FOR THE RECALL REPAIR. THE DEALER CONFIRMED THAT THE PARTS WERE NOT AVAILABLE FOR THE RECALL REMEDY. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT MADE AWARE OF THE ISSUE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS APPROXIMATELY 42,000. PARTS DISTRIBUTION DISCONNECT.

NHTSA ODI 10981706

Jun 8, 2016AirbagsCrash

I WAS DRIVING ON A HIGHWAY AT APPROXIMATELY 50 MPH. I WAS HIT IN THE RIGHT SIDE BACK OF THE VEHICLE. THIS CAUSED THAT THE VEHICLE VEERED TO THE LEFT HITTING THE CENTRAL METAL BARRIER OF THE ROAD IN THE FRONT LEFT SIDE. THE VEHICLE MADE A 360 DEGREES TURN AND HIT THE BARRIER AGAIN, THIS TIME WITH THE RIGHT FRONT SIDE. FINALLY, THE VEHICLE CAME TO A STOP IN THE CENTER LANE (THIS IS A THREE LANE HIGHWAY). ACCORDING TO THE INSURANCE COMPANY THIS VEHICLE IS A TOTAL LOSS. NOW COMES THE WORST PART. OF THE FOUR AIRBAGS, TWO IN THE FRONT, TWO SIDE CURTAINS, ONLY THE RIGHT CURTAIN ACTIVATED. THE THREE OTHER AIRBAGS DID NOT DEPLOY. LUCKLY, THERE WAS NO PHYSICAL HARM TO MY GRANDDAUGHTER OR TO ME, BUT THE MENTAL ANGUISH IS UNBEARABLE. MY GRANDDAUGHTER IS NOT MENTALLY PREPARED TO DRIVE AGAIN.

NHTSA ODI 10873264

Working with the data? Download all 133 complaints as CSV · fetched from NHTSA July 10, 2026

How to use these: a complaint is one owner’s report, filed voluntarily and published unverified. Patterns matter more than any single story. If several owners describe the same failure at similar mileage, put that system at the top of your pre-purchase inspection list. Back to the full 2015 Mazda CX-5 verdict →