2023 Mazda CX-50 Consumer Reviews
Pricing
2.5 S - $28,925 MSRP
Edmunds suggests you pay
$25,859Nice, but with a few caveats
ScottyD, 08/10/2022
2023 Mazda CX-50 2.5 S Preferred Plus 4dr SUV AWD (2.5L 4cyl 6A)
217 of 223 people found this review helpful
I’ve had my 2023 CX-50 preferred plus in polymetal gray for about 3 weeks now, and have about 1k miles on it. Here are my thoughts. The good: - Comfortable, even on long drives. - Excellent handling. Classic Mazda. - Build quality is solid. Much nicer than the alternatives at this price point. - Very surefooted. Haven’t done any significant off-roading yet, but zero problems so far on dirt roads and grass parking lots. - The dial controlled infotainment system has grown on me. Seemed weird at first, but it really is less distracting than the finicky touchscreen on my last car. - Plenty of room for four people, with a decent amount of trunk space. - The panoramic sunroof is a nice touch. Will get lots of use out of it once the weather cools off some. - Power with the base engine is perfectly adequate. The turbo would have been fun, but it’s certainly not a must-have for day to day use. The bad: - Fuel mileage has been kind of disappointing. Combined average (for me, about 2/3 city and 1/3 highway) struggles to break 24 mpg. Not catastrophic, but definitely under the EPA estimate. May try to feed it premium gas next tank to see if that makes a difference. - The Mazda Connect app is kind of awful. In theory, it should be helpful…but it doesn’t work consistently, and is slow as molasses even when it does work. If it were just telematics and marketing stuff, I wouldn’t care. But it’s the only way to use the remote start. Why couldn’t they have just put that function on the key fob?? - The road noise at highway speeds on some surfaces can get a little annoying. It’s not constant, so it might just be the OEM tires on rougher surfaces. But definitely take it up to highway speeds on your test drive to make sure it’s something you can live with.
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2 weeks in
Eric , 04/29/2023
2023 Mazda CX-50 2.5 S Preferred Plus 4dr SUV AWD (2.5L 4cyl 6A)
28 of 28 people found this review helpful
Recently purchased the CX50 PFP non-turbo. Great value for the money. My 2nd Mazda, I had a CX5 a few years ago and mistakenly sold it. The CX50 to me looks better, rides as nice, good handling and adequate power and is returning 26.5 mpg combined. My two requirements were to reduce fuel costs and overall vehicle ownership cost. No issues at this point, although it’s only been 2 weeks. The infotainment took a few days to master and I do like the screen placement as I can see it without taking my eyes off the road. The center console controls fall right at hand and with practice become second nature. It’s not an off-roader but it can travel on gravel or unimproved roads with out issue. If you want a jeep, get a jeep. This is a great package add a cargo rack and take your bikes, kayak or paddle board on your next adventure. It’s 4 passenger, not 5, plenty of cargo room comfortable ride. Great looks inside and out. And great value with the Preferred Plus package.
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Love the look but not the glitches!
ldh, 01/29/2024
2023 Mazda CX-50 2.5 S Premium Plus 4dr SUV AWD (2.5L 4cyl 6A)
33 of 35 people found this review helpful
I owned a 2023 CX-50 for 10 months. Premium plus model. Loved the way it looked....a real head turner! But I traded it in after 10 months due to all the issues. It had a sensor issue....I would get the engine malfunction message every few weeks. It would generally go off the next day, but it was annoying. Also, the sunroof and sunshade would not open or close. Lastly, about a third of the time I would try to open the back hatch, it wouldn't work....it would give a few quick beeps and not open. And yes, I know the vehicle must be unlocked for it to open. I finally gave up and traded it in on a 2024 CX-90. Fingers crossed I have better luck!
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Fast and Sporty
JohnL, 04/12/2023
updated 04/18/2024
2023 Mazda CX-50 2.5 Turbo Premium 4dr SUV AWD (2.5L 4cyl Turbo 6A)
55 of 60 people found this review helpful
My wife bought a 2023 Mazda CX50 Turbo Premium. We have had it for 9 months. We live in a major city and it does mostly city driving. We do not drive off the pavement, but we wanted some ground clearance, because some streets flood here. My wife likes cars that have good acceleration and the CX50 Turbo is probably one of the fastest in this class. With the Turbo engine it does become more expensive than it's competition which are: Toyota RAV4, Honda CRV, Subaru Forrester and the Ford Bronco Sport.The Bronco Sport was the only other choice that had similar HP as the CX50, but the Ford is more utalitarian and off road while the Mazda feels more luxurious and performance oriented. Here are my likes and dislikes. Likes... 1. We love how it looks from the outside 2. We love the interior design 3. Interior materials like Nappa leather while having cooled and heated seats 4. Acceleration and handling(very torquee engine) 5. My wife likes the wireless android auto 6. Panoramic Sunroof Dislikes... 1. Steering too heavy and I have owned sports cars 2. Lack of cubbies and smaller cargo than the competition 3. Glovebox not useful as it is a slot style so when you open it the things just fall out 4. The ride is on the harder side, but it absorbs impacts much better than other cars 5. My car came with an annoying rattle while new from the passenger seatbelt pillar that the dealer has no idea how to get rid off. (This is just specific to my car) 6. The most annoying to me is that the seats bottom lack cushioning. After driving for an hour, my bottom will feel discomfort, so we will never take this car for long trips. Keep in mind that your experience might differ on this. Summary... We really like how this car drives, acceleration, handling and we can live with a stiffer ride. We love how it looks inside out too. I can accept that it is not as roomy as other cars too. But the seat bottom being too hard and that annoying rattle is not good for me. My wife drives this car and she notices the seat being hard but it is more acceptable for her. She would not have any problems buying another Mazda in the future, but their seats are not for me. I think Mazda are a little niche, so make sure that they are suitable for what you want as there are compromises to be made for the extra performance that they offer. Update: It has 22 months and everything holds still holds true. We finally were able to fix that rattle after multiple trips to the dealer and switching dealers. The dealer near me tried to fix it and after 3 tries they said that it is "COMMON OCURRANCE" for that car so they said they were NOT going to do anything about it. They said that it is not a Manufacturer's defect, but it happens a lot on that car. So I called MAZDA and they said that it should NOT rattle and then I called a different dealer 50 miles away and spoke to their Service Manager. Took it there and they FIXED it after 1 day. Excellent Service from them! Except that everything still holds true about the car. It's still an awesome car to drive, but not for long distance due to the harder seats.
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A bit disappointing initially…
Kayemtee, 10/18/2023
updated 04/22/2024
2023 Mazda CX-50 2.5 Turbo Premium Plus 4dr SUV AWD (2.5L 4cyl Turbo 6A)
55 of 61 people found this review helpful
Brief update at 10,000+ miles. I really wouldn’t change anything I said below previously. I just returned home from a 1600 hundred mile two day trip in my F-150 XLT with extremely comfortable front seats and got into the Mazda; I thought I was riding a buckboard given how hard the seat was in comparison to the Ford. The heads up display stopped working and it took the dealer two weeks to get a replacement. Had it not been covered by warranty, the cost to replace it would have been about $1500 part and labor. Yikes! This car was chosen by my wife of 38 years replace a beloved 2014 Chevy Sonic we gave to a niece. The pluses are its good looks, optional features, and its power compared to the competition. The full time all wheel drive is a benefit we expect to take advantage from this winter in upstate New York. The handling is taut, as is the steering. I appreciate the 220+ horsepower with regular gas; the car is peppier than other similar cars I’ve driven, and 250+ hp is said to be available by using premium, but I didn’t see a noticeable difference with the single tank I tried. At eighty to ninety cents more a gallon in our area, I don’t expect to try it again anytime soon. Mileage is what I expected which is not great, but not terrible. I just did a 400 mile trip by myself at 65-80 mph highway driving and got an accurate 26.4 mpg measured by actual fuel used rather than the dashboard indicator. In fairness to this car, my other vehicles, chosen and driven primarily by me, are a 2023 Ford F-150 XLT and a 1995 S-Class Mercedes Benz. I may be too old for this car; the seats are too firm for long distance comfort, and the 20 inch wheels produce a harsher ride than the same size wheel on my F-150. That my pick-up truck rides softer and quieter than this car says a lot about both how far trucks have come and is a reasonable criticism of a car that is priced to be a premium ride over its competitors. My wife wanted all the bells and whistles so we opted for the very top of the trim levels; I was expecting more for $45K. By buying the top trim, we were forced to get 20 inch wheels; I can’t help buy feel this car would provide a softer ride with the smaller wheels and higher profile tires of the lesser trim. The heads-up display is only in this trim level. The cooled seats, in addition to heat, is nice to have. The stereo sound quality is good, but I need to drive it regularly to get used to the controls to change stations and bands. I preferred by old Sonic and my F-150 to change stations; both allow favorites from FM and Sirius on the same menu, this car has FM favorites on a different menu than Sirius favorites, which is just stupid. I’ve had difficulty with Apple CarPlay; it was getting disconnected for reasons I haven’t figured out. It’s supposed to be wireless, but I had my phone plugged in, because the wireless charging won’t work with my rubber case. Perhaps my Bluetooth hearing aids were interfering; I’m not sure but expect I will know more what the issue is by driving it more. This is the first vehicle I’ve owned with adaptive cruise control; I was angry that I couldn’t get it in my new F-150 without spending a fortune on a higher trim level I don’t need nor want to pay for. Initially, I like the feature a lot. Works very well on the NY Thruway although it may be fooled on tighter turns by being fooled by traffic in the other lane. Not a fan of the lane-keep assist; it seems too sensitive when I get close to the line. Can anyone explain to me why this car doesn’t have fog lamps even on the highest trim level??? The interior noise level is not terrible, but disappointing in a car at this price point. When a pick-up truck and a 28 year old Benz are both quieter, that’s not good. The lane change warning system is fine, but the old school smaller convex mirrors in my Sonic and previous F-150 were adequate to the task. If going high tech, then why not have the side cameras come on when using turn signals, like in Hyundais a couple of friends have? Also, what the hell is the point of fake exhaust noise? Even the turn signal clicks are produced electronically. Again, to be fair to this car, my wife test drove both this and the CX-5 and chose this. That car may have literally softened some of the criticisms I have of this car, but she picked the car with the firmer ride and I think, tighter steering. This car shouldn’t have 20 inch wheels, and since we own, rather than lease it, I may do something about it after I see how the car does in snow this winter. Depending on how the tires perform, I will consider swapping out the new all-season Michelin extreme snow rated tires I had on my Sonic on smaller wheels. We chose this car in part because of its good looks; I don’t expect to take it off road, but what I thought was somewhat unique isn’t really. It seems like every third car in parking lots is now a white, compact crossover and they all look a lot the same. After dinner the other night, my wife forgot we had come to the restaurant in our truck and freaked out that her now car had a scratch on it, but I pointed out that she was looking at a competitor’s version of the same basic car. I will update this review down the road.
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