Mazda CX-5 Review & Prices

The CX-5 is Mazda’s longest-running SUV model. It’s a handsome car with an upmarket interior, but it’s not that comfortable around town, and the boot isn’t as big as in other family SUVs.

It’s a bit like that self-assured mate who has total confidence in their fashion and life choices, despite deviating from the norm, because its striking looks and the lack of a hybrid or electric version mean the CX-5 stands out among the sensible SUV crowd.

Crowd is definitely the right word, because the CX-5 has so many alternatives it’s easy to lose count. From the Volkswagen Tiguan to the sensible Skoda Karoq, rugged-looking Toyota RAV4 and the best-selling Nissan Qashqai, the Mazda is in the midst of a highly-competitive market.

Yet none is quite as handsome as the CX-5. With styling resembling the smaller Mazda 3, one of the best-looking hatchbacks on sale, the larger car comes from a good gene pool. It features super-slim headlights adjoining a neat, chrome-trimmed grille, a pretty windowline and a minimalist rear end.

Step inside, and you’ll find a very pleasant cabin in the CX-5. The plush, nicely-upholstered dashboard features prominent air vents and wood trim, while the three-spoke steering wheel and deep-set instrument dials (a mix of digital and analogue) look and feel sporty.

A 10.3-inch infotainment system sits on top of the dash, with an intuitive scroll-wheel tucked behind the gear lever to operate it. Though the display shows the CX-5’s age by being set back away from you, unlike alternatives which put their TV-sized touchscreens front-and-centre, it’s a far better solution to use on the move. The rest of the Mazda’s interior is made from high-quality materials.

It’s spacious inside, too, with the high-set centre console and highly-adjustable seats giving the CX-5 a hint of high-rise sports car feel from behind the wheel. There’s enough room in the back for two tall adults to get comfortable, but three abreast is a bit of a squeeze. The 506-litre boot lags behind the Hyundai Tucson and Peugeot 3008, though.

There are four engine options in the CX-5, with the range comprising a pair of petrol and a pair of diesel offerings. All can be had with the choice of manual or automatic gearboxes, aside from the four-wheel drive and automatic-only 2.5-litre petrol.

Mazda is a rather sporty manufacturer, at least as ‘regular’ brands go these days, something you can feel around town in the CX-5. Excellent visibility, agile steering and well-weighted controls mean it’s a joy to manoeuvre, but the sporty suspension means it doesn’t deal with speedbumps and pot holes as well as its alternatives.

It’s refined on the motorway, though, well insulated against wind noise - though again, the stiff suspension means a bit of tyre roar makes its way into the cabin. You’ll have fun on a country lane in the CX-5, because it’s genuinely fun to chuck into corners on a good road.

You can check out the latest Mazda CX-5 deals on remaining stock, as well as CX-5 lease offers and used CX-5s for sale on Carwow. There are other used Mazdas for sale, too, and Carwow can help you sell your car when the time comes.

You can’t configure a new CX-5 of this generation anymore, but it never offered particularly good value for money against its alternatives. In entry-level trim it was comparable in price to the Hyundai Tucson and SEAT Ateca, but going up the range would quickly raise the price in line with the posher BMW X1 or Audi Q3.

Even the lowest-rung Centre-Line models are well-equipped, with LED lights that turn with your steering, rear privacy glass, front and rear parking sensors and blind spot monitoring as standard. Newground trim adds 19-inch diamond-cut alloys, black mirror caps, heated front seats and leatherette/sueded two-tone upholstery.

Exclusive-Line features a glass sunroof, reversing camera, electric tailgate, leather interior, electric, heated front seats and steering wheel and BOSE sound system. There’s more, too, with 360-degree cameras, keyless entry-and-go, and wireless phone charging.

Homura trim is pretty much the Exclusive-Line with gloss black exterior detailing and red accents both inside and out. Takumi is a little bit posher, featuring wood trims, bright alloys, body-coloured interior trims, ventilated front and heated back seats.

This family SUV offers a sporty and engaging drive, this does mean it has a firmer ride than some more laid-back alternatives 

In town

Most mid-sized SUVs are well-suited to city driving, and the Mazda CX-5 is no different. The high driving position, large window area, slim windscreen pillars and responsive controls make it easy to thread through traffic, and it comes standard with parking sensors front and rear. 

The suspension is a bit firm over bumps, and the 19-inch wheels you get on all but the base trim don’t help matters. It’s not overtly uncomfortable, but something like a Volkswagen Tiguan or Honda CR-V can cope better over rough road surfaces.

On the motorway

The CX-5 performs well on the motorway, aside from some tyre roar, the cabin is well insulated and the comfortable seats won’t leave you with an aching back after a long trip. The diesels are a good choice here, they offer strong overtaking performance and their slightly coarser sound compared to the petrol engines is less noticeable at highway speeds.

On a twisty road

Thanks to its sporty suspension settings, the Mazda CX-5 is quite a bit of fun to drive along a challenging stretch of backroad. It hardly leans in the corners and the sharp controls make this one of the more engaging SUVs in its class. 

It’s not particularly powerful in any guise, but the petrol engines are smooth and refined and the diesels offer a decent amount of shove out of slower corners. We would opt for the six-speed auto as it responds quickly to throttle inputs and takes the strain out of your commute.

The CX-5 offers generous if not class-leading levels of interior space, practicality levels are decent, too, although three adults won’t find it the comfiest 

Even though the wide centre console gives a feeling of being cocooned into the car, the driver and front passenger get plenty of head and legroom, and there’s tons of storage spots for their wallets, phones, coffee mugs and other bits and bobs. The doors have large pockets and cut outs for water bottles, there’s a space ahead of the gear lever for a phone and the glovebox can hold much more than just a pair of gloves.

The driver’s seat offers adjustable lumbar support and electric driver seat adjustment is standard on the Newground trim and up. The steering wheel also offers a range of adjustment so getting comfy shouldn’t be an issue.

Space in the back seats

Two tall adults will fit comfortably in the rear, but the centre rear seat is not as wide or comfortable as the outer two so is best reserved for smaller passengers. The rear seatbacks can be reclined a bit, making it more comfortable for longer journeys.

If you regularly need to seat three adults abreast, then the large Skoda Kodiaq and SEAT Ateca are a better bet. Two door pockets are provided for item storage and the folding central armrest provides space for two more cups/drinks. Hauling smaller children into their baby seats is made a little easier thanks to rear doors that open wide and enough headroom so that you don’t have to bend down too much once inside.

Boot space

The Mazda CX-5 offers slightly less boot space than most other alternatives in this class. It offers 506 litres of space with the rear seats up, which is slightly less than the 561 litres the Honda CR-V has and well below the overachieving Hyundai Tucson which offers 620 litres. It does eke ahead of the Nissan Qashqai which has just 503 litres.

The CX-5 will still fit plenty of luggage and the low load lip and square boot shape will help when loading bulky items. Two levers in the boot allow you to flip the rear seats forward, availing you of 1,620 litres of boot space – comparable to the Honda and more than you get in the Hyundai Tucson or Nissan Qashqai. 

A pair of storage trays on either side of the boot and some handy hooks help prevent smaller items from rolling around the boot.

The Mazda CX-5 has a pleasingly upmarket look and feel, although its cabin is not especially eye-catching

Soft touch materials, and good quality fabrics make the Mazda CX-5’s cabin feel like it’s been put together with care. The common touch points all feel solid with pleasing metal finishes on the door handles and high-quality plastics used on the switchgear. Cloth seats are standard, but you can work your way up to soft brown Nappa leather with heating and ventilation by the time you get to the top GT Sport trim. 

The once optional 10.25-inch infotainment screen has now been made standard across the range, it can be controlled via the touchscreen or centre console-mounted rotary knob. Standard features include DAB radio, Bluetooth connectivity and Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Sat nav is standard too, with five-years of free map updates. The system works well but there are slicker interfaces out there.  The standard six-speaker sound system is upgraded to a 10-speaker BOSE unit on the top trim.

A colour head-up display is offered on the top three trims, complementing the recessed analogue dials in the driver’s binnacle. While all the main functions are clear to read, there’s no configurable digital driver display here, something that most alternatives offer.

There are two petrol and two diesel engines on offer here. The 165hp 2.0-litre petrol requires a fair prod from your right foot to get the best out of it, although it manages an official 41.5mpg in mixed driving. This is slightly behind most alternatives which offer smaller turbocharged petrol engines which not only deliver better fuel economy but feel punchier when on the go.  

The 150hp 2.2-litre turbodiesel motor delivers a more solid performance and in front-wheel drive trim with the six-speed manual, it also delivers the best official fuel economy of the lot, with a 50.4mpg average and CO2 emissions of 147g/km. That said, the more powerful 184hp diesel engine has the same claimed fuel economy figures so we would pick that engine for its added oomph when fully laden.

All the engines can be paired with either a manual or automatic transmission, aside from the 194hp 2.5-litre petrol engine which is available solely with an auto ‘box and four-wheel drive in GT Sport trim. This makes it the thirstiest combination, averaging 35.3mpg with C02 emissions of 182g/km. 

Four-wheel drive is also available on the Sport Edition and GT Sport trim when picking the 184hp turbodiesel engine and automatic transmission.  Bear in mind though, that this combination drops the diesels economy figures from 50.4mpg to 42.8mpg. 

There are no hybrid or electric drivetrains on offer here (the Mazda CX-60 Plug-in Hybrid and smaller Mazda MX-30 electric vehicle tick those boxes), so you won’t escape road tax or benefit from lower Benefit In Kind (BIK) tax rates.

The Mazda CX-5 scored a full five-star rating in the Euro NCAP ratings back in 2017 when it was first released. The stellar 95% result for adult occupancy safety is particularly noteworthy. 

Blind-spot monitoring, lane departure and forward collision warning as well as adaptive cruise control are standard across the range. 

All CX-5s also come standard with front and rear parking sensors, the Sport Edition trim adds a reversing camera, while the GT Sport trim includes a 360-view monitor which utilises two additional side cameras, as well as adaptive LED headlights in place of the standard adaptive units.

Mazda came 17th in the 2025 Driver Power owner satisfaction survey, which out of 31 brands isn’t a result to shout about. It’s surprising, too, given Mazda’s long-standing reputation for solid build quality.

There have been a few recalls, most for potential issues related to the fuel system, but overall the CX-5 has proven to be a solid vehicle. The three-year/60,000-mile warranty was par for the course, but it can be extended if the car has not exceeded 100,000 miles. Toyota still leads the way with a ten-year warranty, so long as you get annual servicing.