What 138 owners told NHTSA about the 2021 Mazda Cx-50

The contact owns a 2021 Mazda CX-5. The contact stated that while the vehicle was parked, the rear back glass fractured without impact. The contact stated that the vehicle had just been parked for several minutes prior to the failure when the contact returned from a doctor's appointment. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or the dealer. The contact stated that the failure had occurred four times since June 2023. In addition, the contact stated that the rear seat was covered with shattered glass. The contact was instructed by the insurance company to contact the NHTSA Hotline to report the failure. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown.

NHTSA ODI 11695018

The contact owns a 2021 Mazda CX-5. The contact stated that while driving approximately 50 MPH in an intense rainstorm, the windshield became foggy. The contact activated the HVAC system to clear the windshield, but only hot air was coming from the vents. The contact stated that the hot air made the foggy windshield worse. The contact used a towel to wipe the inside of the windshield. The contact had taken the vehicle to a local dealer; however, the failure was not duplicated. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact stated that the failure occurred during intense rainfall. The manufacturer was informed of the failure and referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline to report the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 35,000.

NHTSA ODI 11681576

Monday I walked outside and my vehicles back windshield was broken. Oddly enough, there was a big hole on both ends, but the middle began to disintegrate. I got a new glass installed on Wednesday and Thursday morning. I went to get in my car and the new glass was broken. The tech told me that Honda had a recall for the defroster wires Having the same issue, causing the back windshield to break. Although I had not been running my defroster for several months, he said the wires were getting hot even though they were turned off and shattering the windows. Since this is the second windshield that has busted in a week, I assume that Mazda is having the same issue however they have not yet issued a recall.

NHTSA ODI 11666526

The outside mirrors failed to rotate open, and you could not see behind the vehicle. The mirrors rotate inward when the doors are locked and are supposed to open fully when the doors are unlocked. These outside mirrors can freeze when rotated in during freezing temperatures. When the vehicle is unlocked, the mirrors if frozen, can be kept from rotating out to the locked position. This condition causes the mirror motor assembly to fail and that prevents the mirrors from rotating to the outboard and locked position. Latter year models have an added option to turn the rotating feature off but no retrofit option was added to earlier model yesrs.

NHTSA ODI 11622304

The windshield defrost only works for the center part of the windshield given that there is only a single center defrost vent. Vision is severely impaired during rainy or snowy days (worse during nights) while driving and it makes the driving very dangerous. You can only see what is in front of you, but very limited side views due to the fog on both sides of the windshield. Attached is a pic of the windshield when I came back from a 2 mile errand run while the defrost vent was at full scale constantly.

NHTSA ODI 11448193

On this model of Mazda, they only manufactured it with 1 small center defrost vent on the windshield, and nothing on the sides. Therefore the windshield only gets defrosted in the center, not in front of the driver. I live in the Pacific Northwest and it rains a lot which results in foggy windows, I feel it is extremely unsafe driving a car that doesn’t defrost the full windshield, more importantly in front of the drivers view. I have severely degraded visibility 80% of the time I’m driving because of how poorly designed defrost ducts are

NHTSA ODI 11446370

I WAS DRIVING ON THE HIGHWAY AT ABOUT 65MPH AND HEARD A LOUD POP. I WAS UNSURE WHAT IT COULD HAVE BEEN, BUT KNEW IT CAME FROM THE ROOF AREA. I OPENED THE SLIDER TO THE SUNROOF. THE GLASS HAD EXPLODED!! I PULLED OVER TO ASSESS THE DAMAGE AND NOTICED THE GLASS EXPLODED OUTWARD. I HAVE PICTURES SHOWING THE HOLE IN THE GLASS AS WELL AS THE SHARDS (HELD TOGETHER BY SAFETY COATING) POINTING UP AND AWAY FROM THE CAR FROM HAVING EXPLODED OUT.

NHTSA ODI 11404270