2016 Mazda CX-5 Driver assistance Problems

My wife was driving our 2016 Mazda CX-5, and was getting ready to pull into our daughters' driveway. My wife slowed down to a stop before entering the driveway. She gave the vehicle some gas to move forward. She stated that there was a pause, then the vehicle accelerated forward slamming into the garage door and the corner of the garage/house. There was also a Tesla parked inside the garage that was knocked back about a foot and a half. The distance from the edge of driveway and street to the garage door is about 27 feet. This happened at 1:30 PM. The weather conditions were great, sunny and dry. Thankfully, no one was hurt. If my wife was another foot to the right, she would have hit the support post for the upper balcony, and there would have been a good chance of the balcony falling on top of her. Or, if someone was standing in front of my wife when she entered the driveway, they could have seriously been hurt! There were no warning lights on prior to the accident. This happened last Sunday, April 19, 2026. We had the car towed to a local body shop on the same day as the accident. The vehicle was towed away the very next day to our insurance company's salvage lot in Bakersfield. I do have all the information, address and phone number, of the lot where our car was towed to. Hopefully, the car can still be inspected by the proper authorities. Thank you for your time!

NHTSA ID

11734199

Incident

Apr 19, 2026

My screen begins to change the display without me touching it. It has interrupted my GPS directions, causing me to get lost. It has gotten worse over time, now causing my back up camera to either not display at all or become partially blocked by another application randomly starting on the screen. My emergency brake lights flash on my dash, and auto technicians tell me it is a malfunction with the electrical system, not something in my brake system that needs to be replaced. We have tried that. These problems I have been told are not the responsibility of the manufacturer. I don’t understand why. It is distracting, alarming, and because it is getting more frequent with more systems being affected, it puts the driver in danger. This is not due to wear and tear - it is due to a faulty electrical program.

NHTSA ID

11727814

Incident

Jul 22, 2024

The info uni in the car constantly resets itself. It happens when GPS is activated, parking, listening to directions, pretty much at all time especially in crucial moments. Nav center doesn't even load at times, this causes unknown information of speed limits and streets.

NHTSA ID

11666002

Incident

Jun 10, 2025

11/19/2023 - About 8 pm. on November 17, 2023, I was parking at my condo parking lot and slowly drove the car into the parking space when all of a sudden the car accelerated on its own. I immediately pressed on the brake pedal and it stopped. I felt fortunate that nobody was on the sidewalk. The same thing happened about a month ago but I thought it was just something unusual but now that it happened again I am very concerned and I am going to call the Maxda dealership to see what they say.

NHTSA ID

11555953

Incident

Nov 17, 2023

I buy this car 2 years ago and 3 months later is starting having problem with rear passenger brakes I took the car to the mechanic and he change disc and brakes pads. A couple months later is starting having the same problem in the same area but this time is was smell burn coming through the wheel I'm stop the car to check was is going on when I check the brakes it was very very hot. I take the car to the mechanic and he told me the EPB is bad he changed everything disc, brakes pads,caliper and EPB motor. He said try to don't used the EPB too much or I'm going to see you again with same problem 😂... So I'm stop to use the EPB for long time. One day I put my car in the carwash one guy hit the EPB when he's done with the car Im get inside I turn on the car and the brake warning light is starting flashing I say fu** not again and yes EPB get stock. This is make me crazy the EPB need to be fix from the dealer please make this common problem a recalls to getting fix for those people got the same issue.

NHTSA ID

11529876

Incident

Apr 13, 2021

I own a 2016 Mazda CX-5 Touring with AWD. I purchased it brand new from a dealer--no miles on it. It's been a great car until this Sudden Unintended Acceleration problem (about 60K miles now). It's happened 5 or 6 times--twice when in a drive thru. It seems that if I am idling (not pressing on gas or brake) the car will sometimes suddenly accelerate. I have used suggestions to brake, then place car in neutral. That seemed to resolve the problem. However, recently I pulled up to my (rural) mailbox and the car tried to accelerate out of control. I had the brake on (was on a downhill) when it happened, so this was scary. I really had to press down more on the brake pedal, then shifted to neutral, then to park. The acceleration finally stopped. I did not observe tachometer readings during this or other events, but will pay more attention if/when this happens in the future. I do not drive with both feet, and as these incidents have occurred I have been able to maintain more composure and analyze what is going on. I am not getting my foot caught in the mat and I'm not mistakenly pressing on the accelerator. I've been to my local Mazda dealer (Sport Durst in Durham) on May 13, 2022 and they were unable to replicate the problem, so could not repair or even troubleshoot it. The car was T-boned about a year ago, with some damage to the passenger front tire. Could that have anything to do with my problems? My partner feels this could be an issue with the Throttle Control Sensor (hardware) or with the software managing throttle control (much more difficult to diagnose, he says). I wanted to ask: for anyone experiencing this problem, did replacing the Throttle Control Sensor or diagnosing software problems resolve the issue? And, do you have any recommendations for me? Since the car is (barely) out of warranty, (just over 6 yrs/60,000 miles) would filing a claim with Mazda be a good approach? Would you suggest I just trade the car in?

NHTSA ID

11476063

Incident

May 9, 2022

Ebrake engages on its own when starting up the vehicle. You are unable to turn the ebrake off without restarting the car. The repair shop stated it is a problem with the computer module. A quick search of the internet shows that this is a common issue with this year's make and model. Luckily, the ebrake has not engaged itself yet while driving the vehicle.

NHTSA ID

11425684

Incident

May 9, 2021

THE FOLLOWING WARNING AND WARNING LIGHTS BEGAN AROUND 34,980 MILES ON MY 2016.5 MAZDA CX-5 GRAND TOURING 2.5L SKYACTIV-G WHILE DRIVING DOWN THE INTERSTATE: MASTER WARNING LIGHT, CHECK ENGINE LIGHT, POWER STEERING, KEYLESS SYSTEM MALFUNCTION, SMART CITY BRAKE SUPPORT MALFUNCTION, FORWARD SCBS DISABLED, CHECK ENGINE LIGHT, TCS/DSC INDICATOR LIGHT, TCS OFF INDICATOR LIGHT, BLIND SPOT MONITORING (BSM) OFF INDICATION, BRAKE SYSTEM WARNING LIGHT, ABS WARNING LIGHT, ELECTRIC BRAKE WARNING LIGHT, AIR BAG/FRONT SEAT BELT PRETENSIONER SYSTEM WARNING LIGHT, TIRE PRESSURE MONITORING SYSTEM WARNING LIGHT, LED HEADLIGHT WARNING LIGHT, AND THE SPEEDOMETER DOES NOT WORK. THE VEHICLE TAKES SEVERAL ATTEMPTS TO TURN OFF. USING THE LEFT BLINKER WILL CAUSE THE VEHICLES POWER TO RESTART AND YES, WHILE DRIVING! THIS STARTED NOVEMBER 14, 2020 AND WHEN I NOTIFIED MAZDA, THEY DID NOT SEEM CONCERNED AND A COUPLE DAYS LATER THE LIGHT WERE NO LONGER THERE. THIS OCCURRED AGAIN DECEMBER 15, 2020 AND MARCH 5, 2021 WHEN I DECIDED MAZDA NEEDS TO RUN A DIAGNOSIS BECAUSE CLEARLY SOMETHING IS NOT RIGHT. MY DEALERSHIP INSISTED IT WAS MY BATTERY (BASICALLY THE ONLY WARNING LIGHT NOT ON) AND MY REAR BRAKE PADS. THEN WHEN THIS DID NOT CORRECT THE ISSUE, THEY SAID CORROSION NEEDED TO BE CLEANED WHICH WAS NOT SHOWN IN THE VEHICLE INSPECTION VIDEO. ALSO, MY CAR WAS JUST SERVICED AT MY MAZDA DEALERSHIP JULY 2020 WITH 33,706 MILES. SEPTEMBER 2020 MY VEHICLE WAS PARKED AND I RETURNED TO A LARGE CRACK ON THE DRIVER SIDE. AROUND 25,000 THE TIRED NEEDED TO BE REPLACED, NOW AT 36,666 MILES TIRE THREAD DEPTH IS IN THE YELLOW' MY VEHICLE ALIGNMENT HAS ZERO ISSUES AND MY MAZDA DEALERSHIP IS THE ONLY ONE WHO ROTATES THE TIRES (OR SUPPOSE TO).

NHTSA ID

11407988

Incident

Nov 14, 2020

Mileage

34,980 mi

I WAS STOPPED BUT DID NOT HAVE THE CAR IN PARK WHEN VEHICLE LUNGED FORWARD AT HIGH SPEED. I WAS IN A DRIVEWAY AND HIT SOMEONE'S GARAGE.

NHTSA ID

11164998

Incident

Jan 7, 2019

I SLOWED DOWN IN MY NEIGHBORHOOD, GOING ABOUT 10 MILES AND HOUR, AND WAS COASTING INTO A PARKING SPACE AT ABOUT 5 MPH IN MY HOME NEIGHBORHOOD. IT WAS ABOUT 1:15 PM ON A SUNNY, CLEAR DAY. I WAS APPLYING THE BRAKE TO STOP THE CAR AS I PULLED INTO THE SPOT YET I WAS GOING SLOW AND COASTING STRAIGHT INTO THE SPOT. SUDDENLY, THE CAR SPED UP, THE BRAKES HAD NO RESPONSE, AND THE CAR JUMPED OVER THE CURB AND RAN INTO TWO BUSHES. I DID NOT HAVE MY FOOT ON THE ACCELERATOR, I HAD MY FOOT ON THE BRAKE...BUT MORE THAN ANYTHING, I HAD NO CONTROL, IT WAS UNINTENDED ACCELERATION. THEN THE CAR STOPPED AFTER I HIT THE BUSHES. I WAS SHAKEN, BUT NO BAGS DEPLOYED. I THEN MOVED THE CAR OFF OF THE GRASS, AND PULLED THE CAR AROUND TO THE SAME PARKING SPACE. THIS TIME THE CAR STOPPED NORMALLY. I HAVE 18,168 MILES ON THIS CAR. I HAVE BEEN THE ONLY OWNER. 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 PROBLEM.

NHTSA ID

11103649

Incident

Jun 24, 2018

Mileage

18,168 mi

SUDDEN ACCELERATION TURNING LEFT PULLING INTO A PARKING SPOT. FOOT ON BRAKE/OFF OF ACCELERATOR, CRUISE CONTROL OFF, SLOWLY PULLING IN. ACCELERATED ENOUGH TO JUMP CURB ONTO SIDEWALK. ABLE TO BREAK JUST ABOUT THREE FEET SHORT OF BRICK BUILDING. CAR AT DEALERSHIP FOR SEVERAL DAYS. TECHNICIANS UNABLE TO RECREATE OR DISCOVER PROBLEM.

NHTSA ID

11100275

Incident

Jun 1, 2018

Mileage

44,229 mi

COASTING. DRIVING TO A STOP SIGN OR STOP LIGHT OR STOPPING POINT AT A DECLINING SPEED FROM 30MPH TO 25/20/15MPH INTERVALS ARE WHERE THE 'TUGGING'/'STUTTER' HAPPENS. DEALERSHIP SAYS IT IS NORMAL OPERATION FOR THE CAR TO SHIFT INTO GEAR WHEN DECLINING IN SPEEDS. EVEN CORPORATE AGREED WITH THEM. THE ONLY THING THAT IS NOT NORMAL IS HOW COME AWD VARIATION DOESN'T HAVE THIS ISSUE? MY OLDER MAZDA 3 FROM 2009 I DROVE DIDN'T HAVE THIS ISSUE. TESTED A MAZDA 3 NEW 2018 AND THEY HAD THIS ISSUE. ALSO TESTED A SALES DEPARTMENT 2016 FWD CX 5, SIMILAR ISSUE. MY FRIEND WHO IS A PHYSOCLOGIST, HER CX 5 2016 HAS THE SAME TUGGING ISSUE. DEALERSHIP SAID IT COULD BE A TORQUE CONVERTER/TRANSMISSION/ OR COLD WEATHER WITHIN TH TRANSMISSION LINES. NO ERROR CODES WERE PRESENT WHEN THEY CHECKED. THE DRIVING EXPERIENCE SEEMS VERY DEGRADING FOR THE NEWER MODELS. THE ABRUPT TUGGING COULD CAUSE AN ACCIDENT TO SOMEONE AHEAD OF ME OR THE JERKING COULD MAKE ME HIT THE GAS PEDAL EVEN HARDER. SPOKE TO: SERVICE REQUEST NUMBER 1-1225218842 SPOKE TO ROY FROM MAZDA CSDEPARTMENT 800.222.5500 SELECT PROMPT 2, THEN EXT. 1148. THE CS CALLED DEALERSHIP AND FOLLOWED DEALERSHIP GUIDANCE. IF THIS IS NEW FOR THE VECHICLE AS A STANDARD OF DRIVING, THEN THIS MUST MAKE IT VERY UNPLEASANT AND PREDICTABLE FOR FUTURE ACCIDENTS.

NHTSA ID

11080279

Incident

Feb 23, 2018

Mileage

36,500 mi

2 INCIDENTS OF SUDDEN ACCELERATION WHILE MAKING A RIGHT HAND TURN INTO PARKING SPACES FIRST ON 5/18/17 AND SECOND ON 12/15/17. THE AIR BAGS DEPLOYED THE FIRST TIME BUT NOT THE SECOND TIME. THE INSURANCE COMPANY IS ORDERING AN ENGINEER INVESTIGATE SINCE IT OCCURRED ON 2 SEPARATE OCCASIONS

NHTSA ID

11058617

Incident

May 18, 2017

Mileage

7,600 mi

MY COMPLAINT IS IDENTICAL TO COMPLAINT # 10913740. I SPECIAL ORDERED MY CX-5 & PICKED IT UP FEB 2017.DOES NOT SHIFT PROPERLY, REVS UP TO 6000 BEFORE ENGAGING, CAN'T ACCELERATE WHEN I NEED TO (LIKE MERGING ON FREEWAY OR CHANGING LANES). PLEASE SEE COMPLAINT # 10913740 BECAUSE HE DESCRIBES IT BETTER THAN I, A NON "CAR PERSON" CAN. I'VE PUT MY MY GAS FOOT TO THE FLOOR TRYING TO GAIN SOME SPEED SO I WOULDN'T GET REAR ENDED AND IT TAKES, LITERALLY, ABOUT 10 SECONDS TO RESPOND AT ALL. THE DEALER CLAIMS IT IS SHIFTING AS DESIGNED & SAYS THEY CAN'T RECREATE THE PROBLEM. CAR WAS THERE @3600 MILES & THEY TOLD ME THE TECH COULDN'T FIND ANYTHING WRONG WITH THE CAR BUT DID I WANT A DRIVE WITH HIM. I DID ONE, & HE TRIED TO TELL ME THAT REVVING TO 5000 WHEN ON A SMALL INCLINE WAS NORMAL. THIS IS A LIE. I BROUGHT THE CAR BACK AGAIN- IT WAS IN FOR 7 DAYS. 2ND TIME MANUFACTURER INVOLVED, & SUPPOSEDLY ITS ENGINEERS WOULD WORK ON IT. BUT ALL THEY DID IS RUN DIAGNOSTICS (DOESN'T ANYBODY ACTUALLY LOOK AT THE ACTUAL CAR ANYMORE - COMPUTERS DO MALFUNCTION) AND WHAT THEY CAME UP WITH IS THAT I WAS ENGAGING THE GAS AND THE BRAKE AT THE SAME TIME, CAUSING THE CAR NOT TO SHIFT. FIRST OF ALL, MY TINY FOOT COULDN'T BE ON BOTH PEDALS IF I TRIED; SECOND, MY LEFT FOOT IS A CLUTCH FOOT. I AM SO USED TO USING IT ON A CLUTCH ONLY THAT IT DANGLES WHERE A CLUTCH WOULD BE IF I HADN'T BOUGHT THIS STUPID AUTOMATIC 2016 CX-5. SO NOW MAZDA IS SAYING THAT THEIR ENGINEERS & DEALER TECHNICIANS ARE INFALLIBLE AND THEY WILL DO NOTHING FOR ME. MEANWHILE, I AM STUCK WITH THIS POS I BOUGHT FOR $27,000 CASH WHICH IS NOT ONLY DANGEROUS BUT EXTREMELY UN-FUN TO DRIVE DUE TO THE JERKING, REVVING, ETC., WHICH ARE VERY UNNERVING, AND WITH 5000 MILES ON CAR, I SHOULD WANT TO DRIVE IT. INSTEAD I AM DRIVING MY NEARLY 12 YEAR OLD VW SO THAT I CAN GET PLACES SAFELY AND WITHOUT THE JARRING PROBLEM OF THE MAZDA.

NHTSA ID

11015202

Incident

Mar 1, 2017

Mileage

3,600 mi

WHILE DRIVING ON A SLOPE WITH BIT OF CURVE ON A HIGHWAY WHEN I APPLIED A MILD BRAKE TO REDUCE THE SPEED, THE CAR ABRUPTLY MOVED STRAIGHT LEFT AND GOES OFF ROAD. THE BRAKE AND STEERING DIDN'T RESPOND IMMEDIATELY FOR FEW SECONDS AND THE CAR KEEP GOING DOWN OFF ROAD ON A VERY ROUGH TERRAIN. LUCKILY IT STOPPED FEW METERS BEFORE A SHARP FALL.

NHTSA ID

11013605

Incident

Jun 10, 2017

Mileage

1,048 mi

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2016 MAZDA CX-5. WHILE THE VEHICLE WAS AT A COMPLETE STOP, THE ENGINE REVVED. THE CONTACT'S VEHICLE INDEPENDENTLY SURGED FORWARD AND CRASHED INTO THE PRECEDING VEHICLE. THE CONTACT'S VEHICLE CONTINUED TO SURGE AND CRASHED INTO A POLE. THE DRIVER AND PASSENGER FRONTAL AIR BAGS DEPLOYED. THE CONTACT SUSTAINED INJURES TO THE CHEST AND ARMS, WHICH REQUIRED MEDICAL ATTENTION. A POLICE REPORT WAS FILED. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO AN INDEPENDENT BODY GARAGE. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT NOTIFIED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 28,000.

NHTSA ID

10993145

Incident

May 31, 2017

Mileage

28,000 mi

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2016 MAZDA CX-5. WHILE DRIVING 5 MPH, THE VEHICLE ACCELERATED AND INCREASED RAPIDLY WITHOUT WARNING. ALSO, THE BRAKES FAILED TO WORK. AS A RESULT, THE CONTACT DROVE OVER A SMALL TREE AND THEN CRASHED INTO ANOTHER TREE, WHICH HELPED STOP THE VEHICLE. THE CONTACT SUSTAINED MUSCLE, NECK, AND BACK PAIN. MEDICAL ATTENTION WAS NOT REQUIRED. A POLICE REPORT WAS NOT FILED. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO THE DEALER. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT DIAGNOSED OR REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 2,751.

NHTSA ID

10990519

Incident

May 18, 2017

Mileage

2,751 mi

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2016 MAZDA CX-5. WHILE PARKING THE VEHICLE WITH THE BRAKE PEDAL DEPRESSED, THE VEHICLE ACCELERATED AND CRASHED INTO A TREE. A POLICE REPORT WAS FILED AND THERE WERE NO INJURIES. THE AIR BAGS DID NOT DEPLOY. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO THE DEALER WHERE NO FAILURES WERE FOUND. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 14,000.

NHTSA ID

10874797

Incident

Jun 5, 2016

Mileage

14,000 mi