Mazda CX-5 Review & Prices

The Mazda CX-5 is a handsome SUV with loads of space for family life. It’s good to drive too, but the only engine at launch is pretty weak and uses a lot of fuel.

The CX-5 is a bit like a faded athlete - it’s got all the technique, but it’s just a bit off the pace compared to clever upstarts.

Being around the same size as the Kia Sportage, the CX-5 is ideal for families - those who don’t need a third row of seats, that is. Other options around the same size and price include the Hyundai Tucson, Ford Kuga, Nissan Qashqai, Jaecoo 7, MG HS and Citroen C5 Aircross.

At nearly 4.7m long the CX-5 is a pretty large car, which might make it a bit more difficult to park but does mean a very roomy interior. It’s longer than all the alternatives listed above and is in fact almost the same size as the Honda CR-V, which is a much more expensive car.

That’s quite keenly felt in the back seats, where the CX-5 has ample room even for six-foot adults to get comfy on a long drive. That means loads of space for even the bulkiest of child seats, too, with nice wide-opening doors making it easy to install a seat or wrestle a wriggling infant into one.

Mazda CX-5: size, practicality and storage

Dimensions (length/width/height in mm): 4,690/1860/1690mm
Number of seats: 5
ISOFIX points: 2
Boot space seats up: 583 litres
Boot space seats down: 2,019 litres
Towing capacity: 2,000kg

It has one of the largest boots in the class too, at 583 litres in capacity. That beats just about everything except the Kia Sportage and Hyundai Tucson, which have up to 591 and 620 litres respectively.

So you can fit your family inside with ease - but doing lots of miles with them will cost you. The CX-5’s only engine option is a large, thirsty petrol automatic, and even if you drive like a saint the best you’ll see is around 38mpg. Fully laden and driving normally, expect less than 35mpg.

That might be on par with entry-level versions of the Qashqai, the Sportage or the Jaecoo 7, but all of those cars come with the option of a frugal fuel-sipping hybrid engine, while the CX-5 doesn’t yet. At least a six-year warranty gives some peace of mind for long-term ownership.

Previous Mazdas have all had superb dashboards loaded with proper buttons for every function. The CX-5 bucks that trend with a massive touchscreen. It’s not as complicated as the one in the Jaecoo 7, but it’s much more frustrating to use than the systems in a Sportage or Qashqai.

At least Mazda’s trademark fun-to-drive feel hasn’t been lost. Yes, you have to work the engine pretty hard to get anywhere, but once you’ve dropped the kids off you can really enjoy a twisting back road. It’s also easy to drive round town and comfortable on the motorway, though not very quiet. There’s even an all-wheel drive version for some extra peace-of-mind if you live up a muddy lane or do lots of outward-bound activities.

Verdict

The Mazda CX-5 is a good car if you’re a keen driver and want lots of space in the boot and back seats. But the engine is gutless and thirsty, and the interior isn’t as easy to use as the best alternatives - even other Mazda models. Despite the CX-5’s good looks, a Nissan Qashqai is better to own, a Kia Sportage is more versatile and a Jaecoo 7 is better value for money.

You can get a great price on the Mazda CX-5 by buying through Carwow, or find a brilliant lease deal on Carwow too. You can browse used Mazda CX-5s or other used Mazdas for sale, and remember that Carwow can even help you to sell your old car when the time comes.

The CX-5 kicks off at just over £31,500 for a base-spec ‘Prime-Line’ car. For that you get 17-inch alloy wheels, cloth upholstery, LED lights all round, dual-zone climate control and a 12.9-inch touchscreen with a digital driver’s display.

There’s quite a big leap up to Centre-Line at just over £34,000, but this adds 19-inch wheels, artificial leather and suede upholstery with electric seat adjustment, a powered bootlid, keyless entry, heated steering wheel, a head-up display and wireless smartphone connectivity.

Exclusive-Line, at just over £36,500, brings a Bose sound system and 360-degree camera, while the top-spec Homura costs nearly £39,000 but gets a bigger 15.6-inch infotainment screen, full leather upholstery, adaptive LED headlights, ambient lighting and glossy black exterior trim.

Those prices line up very closely with the Kia Sportage and are a bit more than the Jaecoo 7 or Nissan Qashqai. Mazda isn’t quite a premium brand like BMW, but it’s more in the Volkswagen mid-range territory than it is a true budget player.

Loads of space in the boot and back seats, though cheap models lose out on some practical touches

Space in the front seats

There’s room for drivers of all shapes and sizes to get comfy in the Mazda CX-5. There’s a lot of adjustment in the seat and wheel and you can get a really low driving position if that’s the sort of thing you like. Even the base-spec car comes with adjustment for the angle of the seat base too, which is a real plus if you have very long or very short legs as it lets you get the right amount of under-thigh support.

Space in the back seats

It’s pretty palatial in the rear of the Mazda CX-5. The rear doors open nice and wide and there’s loads of room even for tall adults - our 6’2 road tester was able to sit behind his own driving position, comfortably. There’s also loads of headroom, a flat floor, and enough width to allow three adults to sit side-by-side without rubbing shoulders too much.

On some versions, the centre console has air vents and USB-C ports for rear passengers, but it feels very stingy that you don’t get these on the base model. It could potentially get quite sweaty in there on a hot day.

ISOFIX points

There are two ISOFIX points in the Mazda CX-5, on both outer rear seats. Nothing to write home about, but the big rear doors and ample space mean installing child seats is as easy as it gets. The points themselves are covered by flip-up plastic flaps which feel a bit fragile but are very easy to use.

Boot space

The CX-5 has 583 litres of boot space on offer, which makes it one of the biggest boots in the class. The Kia Sportage and Hyundai Tucson have 591 litres and 620 litres respectively, making them a bit more spacious, but the CX-5 easily beats the 505-litre Nissan Qashqai, 536-litre Ford Kuga and 500-litre Jaecoo 7.

You get an electric tailgate on all but the base model, and there’s a nice flat floor, low loading lip and a bit of underfloor storage, which is nice.

Interior storage and accessories

The Mazda CX-5 has quite a well thought-out dashboard with room for plenty of odds and ends. Two cupholders sit ahead of the gear selector, with a small tray ahead of that ideal for keys and wallets. There’s a wireless phone charging pad just under the front edge of the armrest, which places your phone in a really sensible place - easily accessible, but out of direct sight so you’re not tempted.

The under-armrest storage can be divided in two and the split armrest means you can access it without disturbing the front passenger. The glovebox is a reasonable size and so are the door bins. Rear passengers get cupholders in the fold-down centre armrest and small door bins suitable for holding water bottles.

The CX-5’s cabin feels very well-built, but some of the materials feel quite nasty and the dashboard isn’t as easy to use as it should be

The interior of the CX-5 is a major departure for Mazda. Previous models have all had loads of proper physical buttons, including a clickwheel for the infotainment. The new CX-5 instead has a massive touchscreen instead through which you control everything, including the heating and air-con.

The screen itself is a large 12.9-inches across on the standard models, and a massive 15.6-inches on the top-spec Homura. The smaller screen actually looks better, as the bigger one is very off-centre and really dominates the dashboard too.

To use, it’s not too bad. It runs on Android software so it’s a lot like a phone, plus you have built-in access to Google Maps, the Google Assistant and the Play Store to download other apps. But the climate controls are all rather small and fiddly, and the interface uses a lot of black and grey so it’s not the easiest to see everything.

The Nissan Qashqai and Renault Austral both show that you can have Android software while retaining proper buttons, while the Kia Sportage and Hyundai Tucson also have a better blend of screens and physical controls. Mazda’s system is still much better than the interface in a Jaecoo 7 or MG HS, though.

The CX-5’s driver display is clear but again, the previous model’s was nicer to look at - especially for keen drivers, with its prominent rev-counter. The new version isn’t as configurable as the screen in a Volkswagen Tiguan.

Basic models have cloth seats, and you have to go up to the second-top Exclusive-Line trim level if you want wipe-clean artificial leather. Elsewhere material choices are a mixed bag. It looks nice, but there are hard and nasty-feeling plastics on the centre console and particularly the top of the door where you rest your elbow. The steering wheel buttons also pick up greasy fingerprints like nothing else.

The CX-5 is one of the best-handling cars in its class, but it’s down on power and the automatic gearbox is clunky - it doesn’t match up

All versions of the CX-5 come with the same engine. It’s a 2.5-litre petrol engine with a six-speed automatic gearbox - which sounds like a recipe for big power - but it only has 141hp, which really isn’t much in such a big car. It’s also only a mild hybrid, rather than a proper hybrid that can travel on electric power alone at low speeds.

Around town, the controls are heavier than a Qashqai or a Jaecoo 7, but it’s not excessive, and the steering’s lovely and accurate. The suspension is well judged - it’s a bit firmer than a Ford Kuga’s, but it’s never uncomfortable, and it doesn’t feel uncontrolled over rough roads.

Visibility is good for parking and the 360-degree camera on the top two models has a ‘transparent’ feature where it shows what’s under the car as well as around it.

Once you get onto a faster road, the engine’s lack of power makes itself more obvious, and you do have to rather boot it to get up to motorway speeds. When you do, you’ll also notice that the six-speed gearbox has rather wide gaps between its ratios, and it’s not as quick-shifting as the seven-speed gearbox in a Volkswagen Tiguan.

The highlight is that when you get onto a twisty road, the CX-5 is great fun to drive. It’s agile, the steering feels accurate and perfectly weighted, and the suspension is a great balance of being sporty without feeling uncomfortable.

Mazda’s reliability record is truly excellent, and the brand has a policy of putting bigger, unstressed engines in its cars rather than highly-strung small turbocharged units. This was the case with the old car, and that had a great reputation for reliability, plus it was only recalled once over its nine years on sale.

Mazda provides a long warranty of six years and 100,000 miles, among the longest on sale. The manufacturer achieved a mid-table 17th out of 31 manufacturers in the most recent Driver Power survey.

Euro NCAP results: 5/5 (2025)

Adult occupant: 90%
Child occupant: 89%
Vulnerable road users: 93%
Safety assist: 83%

The CX-5 was tested by Euro NCAP in 2025 and achieved a full five-star rating, the same as the previous two models. It returned particularly impressive scores for adult and child occupants, so you can feel reassured about carrying your family about.

Mazda’s safety equipment covers all the bases, and one of the car’s few physical buttons is a shortcut to silence the speed limit alert - a really handy touch. Other systems have to be adjusted within the complex touchscreen though.

Running a Mazda CX-5 won't be the cheapest affair. Official fuel economy is around the 40mpg mark - during our testing, we saw 38mpg while driving like a saint, and 34mpg when driving more normally - and that was with just the driver on board. Fully-laden with passengers and luggage, economy will likely descend even closer to the 30mpg mark, which is pretty poor for a family SUV.

You'll certainly see better fuel economy from any one of its hybrid-powered alternatives, especially a plug-in where you can cover much of your mileage on electric power alone.

The CX-5's CO2 emissions of 157g/km mean it'll be a pretty rubbish choice as a company car too, and first-year road tax is high. But even the poshest version stays under the £40,000 mark, so they don't pay the expensive car tax supplement.