This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
Parking brake randomly comes on and won't shut off. I started my car and usually the parking brake comes on but after several attempts it shuts off. Today it will not turn off the parking brake. I have tried several combinations involving to push the start button without foot on brake and release brake with foot on brake before the car fully turn on and when car is partly on to off. After 41 minutes waiting (after spending almost 1 hour messing with it) I turned on the car and it works now. Unreliable transportation!
Driving the vehicle causes the rear brakes to get hot. This happened multiple times in September (around 40,000 miles), and I took my Cx-5 in for service. The technicians did not find anything operating incorrectly, lubricated the brakes, and returned my vehicle. When I got my state safety inspection, I was informed that my rear brakes were passable, but pretty crummy looking because of heat damage. Because we were locked down (due to coronavirus) I waited a bit and just recently had them replaced. Now that my rear brakes have new pads and rotors, the rear brake issue is happening again, specifically on the driver's side this time. After about 15 minutes of highway driving, the vehicle began to shake in the rear and the tire pressure monitor indicated that there was a problem. I took it in to the dealer again, and they told me the rear brakes are operating normally. However, on my drive home (18 miles on the highway), the rear of the vehicle began shaking again, so I knew the issue was not resolved. I checked the temperature of the driver's side rear brake rotor, and it was over 400 degrees (the other rotors were around 150, see page 9 of attached document). I contacted Mazda customer service about this issue, and they told me that because the dealer can't detect an issue, there is nothing they can do. Mazda has issued tsbs related to the electronic parking brake for my vehicle, but I believe their diagnostic steps are not sufficient to detect all cases of the issue. Their diagnostic steps are all related to low-speed driving, but my issue only presents itself after driving on the highway for a prolonged period.
My car was parked in a level garage overnight and the next day after driving for about 5 minutes the electronic parking brake (epb) light started flashing on both the dashboard and the epb control lever and the brake light warning light was lit. It seemed to be driving fine, and I never engaged the parking brake so I thought I may have done so accidentally. I pulled over, turned the car off and tried to disengage the parking brake but it just kept flashing. I took it to my garden city Mazda dealership to service it for the daytime running lights recall, so I told them about this problem as well. While waiting for the appointment, some days the lights stayed off and some days came on. At the dealership, I paid $140 for a diagnostic and was told that the parking brake module shorted out and needed to be replaced, at a cost of over $900. I asked if there was a chance my brakes would malfunction or if I could drive the car safely and was told the brakes would not be affected, so due to the cost I opted to not have it repaired. This car is less than 5 years old and I should not have to pay for this safety defect. My odometer reads approximately 55,000. Now I have to drive around with a very distracting red parking brake warning light flashing on and off constantly and my brake warning light lit. This distraction is an additional safety concern. I'm not sure if garden city Mazda reported this issue to the manufacturer, but apparently Mazda is aware of this issue but no safety recall has been made. Why? I feel at the very least, even if no safety recall, that customers should have this issue repaired at no cost as soon as they report it to Mazda. Perhaps abc's 7 on your side, pix 11's [xxx] /what a shame, nbc's better get [xxx], or any consumer investigative unit would be interested in featuring this problem - before someone gets killed! please help! ty information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).
The electric parking brake (epb) has malfunctioned. The car was parked in a level garage overnight, without the parking brake engaged. When the car was turned on the epb light came on and is flashing, as well as the brake light warning. The warning lights remain illuminated on the dash even after multiple restarts. The emergency brake is not engaged and the car seems to drive fine. However I have no emergency brake now, which is obviously a significant safety issue.
- Los Angeles, CA, USA
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At 15K miles the driver's side rear brake caliper failed, causing the brake to drag and overheat during a 400 mile holiday roadtrip. By the time the problem was discovered by the elderly owners, the rear pads were worn down to the backing plates and the rotors were heavily scored. There were no warning lights illuminated or other indication alerting the driver to the problem. This is a known issue with the rear calipers and electric parking brake (epb) given the tsbs that Mazda has published on the matter as well as the number of complaints online and with the NHTSA. Mazda replaced the failed driver's side caliper under warranty but declined to cover the damaged pads and rotor caused by their defective assembly even after escalting the issue to corporate. This should be a safety recall but Mazda would rather jeopardize the safety of their customer (by not proactively replacing the passenger side caliper) and charge them $500 for a brake job to correct collateral damage caused by their defective parts. We have been long-time loyal customers of Mazda but they have acted unethically in this instance and did not fulfill their warranty claim in good faith.
Intermittently, the rear electronic parking brakes do not fully release. This causes the rear brake pads to wear on the rotors. This in turn results in premature brake wear, excessive heat, and a burning smell. This has happened multiple times in all different weather conditions.
42K miles left rear wheel became super hot, took to mechanic, left year caliper was locked up, called Mazda they can do nothing car out of warranty, I have seen many of these cars with same issue
My wifes car is just over 3 years old, couple month out of warranty of coarse however the emergency parking brake light for no reason comes on and blinks when it does this it also blink the red light on the dash. It was only doing this at start up however now it seem to do it at random even while driving which is very scary to think your brakes could actually lockup. Called Mazda usa, and they said well it must be diagnosed by one of there dealership and even then would not probably consider covering any part of the bill which can run up to $1000 for the epb module. This car has been 100% cared for all records barely 21.000 miles, this is the 3rd faulty issue of something breaking on this car-1st- one of those expensive led lights burned out, 2nd electric seat motor burn out, and now this module and the customer rep states they are not at Liberty to discuss if this was in fact a problem and safety issue.please be safe and careful when you purchasing your Mazda Cx-5
Electric parking break (epb) warning light start blinking after the release of the brake. I lived in a warm tropical weather. In my understanding this function works on cold weather.problem persists intermittently. If vehicle turned off, problem "disappears" but appears again when the break button was released. Weeks later the car started to activate the smart city break alarm when moving in my neighborhood and in a city street with no reason, suddenly, and bringing a safety issue. Also started to make strange noises related to the brake, similar when the brakes or pads get wet and making the car forced to be moved when pushing the accelerator pedal, making the vehicle difficult to move, no matter break is released and turning it slow and vague. An electronic diagnostic report was made and shows the following codes : code C2005 (electric park brake motor gear unit (rh) circuit malfunction code C112A (incorrect electric parking brake motor gear unit position) code C2006 (electric parking brake motor gear unit (LH) circuit malfunction.
On July 25 I slowed down in grocery store parking lot. Slowly approaching parking space and applying the brake to stop car. Then suddenly with no reason the car accelerated, jumped the curb.then car stopped after I hit building fortunately no humans. I was shaken but no bags deployed. I am afraid to drive this car because I am concerned it will do this again and I will be in traffic or near people and I could hurt or kill myself or someone else. There was no warning of any problems. Car is still under warranty to 8/12/2019. NHTSA had problem with Toyota unintended acceleration in 2010. Please help with unintended acceleration on Mazda. People reported this problem before me back to 2015. This is my second complaint. Nobody called me back and called Agency been told your employee he cannot give me information I have to write letter and ask. You are government Agency and your motto is people saving people. Please do.
I slowed down in grocery store parking lot. Slowly approaching parking space and applying the brake to stop car. Then suddenly with no reason the car accelerated, jumped the curb and hit building. The whole right side was heavy damaged.I had no control. It was unintended acceleration. I moved the car off the grass from building, this time stopped normally. I am afraid to drive this car because I am concerned it will do this again and I could hurt or kill myself or someone else. Car is still under warranty to 8/12/2019.please visit and you will see so many Cx-5 owners have reported problems related to brakes. Some experienced unintended acceleration twice. This is big safety problem.
On 01/10/17 at 11656 miles I reported a burning smell present consistently for several months. Lester glenn Mazda said they couldn't detect anything. I went for service 19may 18 and was told that my rear brakes were bad. Report I have from that service shows red for rear and green for front brakes at 36865 miles. 26 May 18 Mazda lodi told me all 4 brakes and rotors were bad. I asked how the front brakes were bad 1 week afterlester glenn told me the front brakes were green. I was told that most shops have inexperienced people but lodi has all their people trained as master technicians. I was told lester glenn probably didn't measure. Lodi said rears were really really bad and that I should replace all 4 brakes and rotors and all 4 tires for even wear. I was told car was not safe to drive without the work. I got the work done. Repairs were completed at 37354 miles. 24may19 I am told all brakes are good. I call 06 Jun 19 and complain that I am hearing squeaking. I call& I'm told that it's probably nothing but best to see if it persists.sound persists. I go IN24 jun19 and complain of noise and vibration through steering wheel and floor board. The service manager drives the car with me and hears the squeak faintlybut says he doesn't feel the vibration and that the brakes are working well. I let them check and am told the left rear caliper is seized. The caliper went through the pad to the rotor and rear pads and rotors were replaced. I am still hearing squeaking and I fear it the right rear caliper since it wasn't changed. I've changed my rear pads and rotors twice in 1yr/20000 mi. I found out my car is affected by tsb R052/16C (04-001/18) and 04-002/19. R052/16C resulted in a production change in rear calipers starting in September 9 2016. Mazdausa won't acknowledge that their dealers should have replaced my rear calipers or that they should have issued a recall.
Electric parking brake (epb) control module failure: On June 19 and 20 of 2019 my 2016 Cx-5 with only 18,000 miles experienced a problem with the electric parking brake function. When I would lift the epb switch to set the parking brake the indicator light would start flashing and a warning sign ((P!)) would show up on the dash display. The Mazda dealer did a diagnostic check and determined the epb control module needed replacing. $765 later I was back on the road. This appears to be an inherent problem with 2016 Cx-5S with vins below 781350 (see tsb 04-005/16 of 08/05/2016 attached.) my VIN is 654830. Also, https://www.carcomplaints.com/Mazda/Cx-5/2016/brakes/service_brakes.shtml shows a number of complaints starting in 2016 about this safety issue. I also saw some comments that a faulty epb could cause the brakes to lock up unexpectedly. This would be a serious safety issue if that were to happen in traffic. There were numerous other comments about the epb issue for the 2016 Cx-5. I feel this should have been a recall item in 2016. This is a life safety concern. Your consideration of this concern is appreciated. Please see attached documentation. Thank you. 'parts of this document have been redacted to protect personally identifiable information pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).'
This winter, it happened multiple times, in cold weather conditions of approx. -4 to 14 degrees F (-20 to -10 degrees C), when starting the car, the car exhibited the electric parking brake (epb) light flashing, along with the red flashing brake icon and the parking brake icon illuminated on my dash. That warning would be on even the day after, with the car off, until the temperature became warmer.
Started car in driveway 2/10/19, 4 pm 'engine sounded like timing was obviously abnormal. Random automatic braking noted when car in motion, within one block of leaving driveway. Immediate inability to accelerate beyond 10-12 mph experienced. Error messages then observed on car dashboard warning sectors: Check engine; traction control: Tire pressure monitoring; smart city brake support malfunction-forward scbs disabled. Car unsafe to drive to dealer 12 miles away. Car towed to dealer site 2/11/19 Monday am. Car has 28,330 miles per odometer; service maintenance up to date, as manufacturer recommended. Dealer assessment of cause on 2/11/19 reported as 'rats nesting in engine and eating through soy insultation on wiring on engine harness.' Repair costs of > $1,500 estimated. It seems that insulating engine component with nutrients attractive to nesting, ubiquitous vermin is a serious safety concern for car owners and users. Any NHTSA guidance on this critical issue?
Took car in for oil change and tire rotation. Less than 10,000 miles, car just 2 years old. Needed major brake job. Total $600. They are telling me because I live at the beach the salt corroded the brakes and it is not covered by warranty. I called customer service and wrote to Mazda headquarters. No one would help me. My concern is will this be occurring every 2 years and are the brakes safe"??"
At 31,234 miles my mechanic said that my brake pads and rotars and tires needed to be replaced. When we was replacing them, the emergency brake and calipers seized up and he had to order parts (which took a while because of the number of issues with the emergency brake on my model of car). He said that the problems with the emergency brakes likely also caused wear and tear on my regular breaks and caused them to need to be replaced early.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Grand Prairie, TX, USA