2023 Mazda CX-5 problems: recalls, complaints and whether this is a year to avoid
The 2023 Mazda CX-5 has 64 owner complaints on record with NHTSA, which ranks it 8 of 9 Mazda CX-5 model years by complaint volume. The worst year is 2016 (510); the cleanest is 2024 (44).
Is 2023 a good year for the Mazda CX-5?
The spread across this nameplate is wide: the 2016 draws 12 times the complaints of the 2024. On a run like that the model year you buy matters more than the badge, and 2023 sits near the bottom of it.
| Model year | Owner complaints | Recall entries |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 44 | 0 |
| 2023 ← this page | 64 | 0 |
| 2021 | 147 | 0 |
| 2019 | 270 | 2 |
| 2018 | 119 | 3 |
| 2017 | 148 | 1 |
| 2016 | 510 | 5 |
| 2015 | 133 | 4 |
| 2014 | 377 | 4 |
Older years have been on the road longer and collect more complaints for that reason alone, and a year that sold in higher volume collects more while being no worse.
This retrieval holds 9 of the nameplate’s model years. 2020, 2022 are absent, which means no records came back for them — not that they were clean. The ranking above is among the years shown.
The 2023 accounts for 4% of every complaint filed against the Mazda CX-5 in this retrieval, which works out to 21.3 complaints per year on the road across the 3 years since it was sold new — the figure to compare against other years, because it removes the advantage a newer car gets simply from having had less time to accumulate reports.
Complaints fell against the preceding year: the 2023 carries 44% of the 2021’s reports. Some of that is age, but a drop this large between consecutive years often marks a fix.
What do owners report on the Mazda CX-5?
Across every Mazda CX-5 year, not the 2023 alone — NHTSA does not split component totals by model year.
- Engine — 304 reports
- Electrical System — 294 reports
- Power Train — 199 reports
- Unknown or Other — 184 reports
If your 2023 is doing something now, these are the guides for that system — each opens with whether it is safe to keep driving:
Which other Mazda CX-5 years should you compare?
← 2021 Mazda CX-5 · 2024 Mazda CX-5 → · All Mazda CX-5 years
If you are deciding between years, the table above is the short answer and the Mazda CX-5 page carries the full run with the component breakdown. Before money changes hands, run the VIN for open recalls and read the inspection checklist — ten minutes in the seller’s driveway finds most of what matters.
Check a 2023 before you commit
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