2016 Mazda CX-5: jerking or lurching

Filed Jun 1, 2026 · Electrical · FL

In 2024 I started having problems with my battery replaced it 3 times last time with a Mazda battery per Mazda advice. The car started to jerk while driving took it back to Mazda said it could be fuel injectors. They cleaned them and problem persists. Took it back they cleaned purve valve and then I broke down while leaving on [XXX] . Called service dept called police since it was in the middle of the blvd. And in traffic. We were lucky no one hit us. They took my car gave me a loaner had it for 10 days. Couldn’t find any problems. Then in 4/2025 it completely died at my home I called Mazda they were able to jump the battery and had it for a month. Couldn’t find any problem. And now we are in 5/2026 my car was in my drive without out being driven for 3 days and now is dead once again. But it is so dead that I cannot open with fob and dash board is black. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Filed May 23, 2026 · Transmission · CA

Any time the vehicle has been sitting with the engine off and has been given enough time to “cool down”, upon starting the vehicle and switching from PARK to DRIVE, the vehicle will violently lurch forward while attempting to reach 2nd gear. This is dangerous behavior that is not normal for any vehicle. There is clearly something wrong with either the transmission or the way the software communicates with the transmission. When the engine is within normal temperature it doesn’t display this dangerous behavior. A similar TSB was issued for the 2nd generation of CX5s but not for this generation of CX5s

Filed Mar 31, 2023 · Brakes · CA

Brakes make a jerking sound decelerating from 40 miles an hour or from coming off a freeway ramp. After two trips to the dealership, the jerking sound still persists, the dealership had mentioned it was either the ball bearings or the brake pads were worn out, but somehow the noise is still there. The vehicle still makes stop safely, but we feel that if this is not resolved that this may become a greater safety issue down the road.

Filed Mar 22, 2021 · Brakes, Fuel system · 37,900 miles · NC

I was driving and was approaching a stop sign so I pressed brake to come to a stop. While I was pressing the brake, the car suddenly revved up and lurched forward. I had to switch the car to neutral gear to stop and then back up out of the way of oncoming traffic.

Filed Jan 28, 2021 · 14,000 miles · NY

Liftgate problems, sometimes the liftgate will not open no matter how I try to open it. Other times it opens and jerks up or slams shut. When this happens the vehicle is in park. It happens when its running and it happens when the vehicle is not running. This has been happening over the course of the last 3 years. It started about 1 year after I purchased the car and continues till this day.

Filed Aug 17, 2020 · Transmission · 38,000 miles · NY

When the car is cold and parked the transmission will lurch into drive sometimes and everytime when the car is cold the transmission will get stuck in third or fourth gear and the car will not accelerate until I floor it until then the car won't shift out of gear for a few hundred feet and continue to big down the engine, then after that the transmission will downshift and the car will start to accelerate. If I manually shift the car into first the problem won't occurre as badly. This sofar only happens once when the transmission and engine are cold. But even if I let the car sit and idle for a few minutes it'll still happen.

Filed Jul 17, 2019 · Transmission · 24,800 miles · WA

Significant lag in transmission going from stop to either drive or reverse (3 - 5 seconds). Car can roll backward while waiting for gear to engage, and will rev and then jerk harshly into gear. Also will jerk when shifting while accelerating to highway speeds. Vehicle had under 25,000 miles on it when symptoms started. Took it to dealer and got approval for new transmission under warranty very quickly, which leads me to believe this is a known problem for mazda. Saw many similar complaints on the federal safety agency website.

Filed Mar 19, 2018 · Acceleration, Transmission · 36,500 miles · MO

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.

Filed Nov 10, 2017 · Brakes · 6,300 miles · ID

Car has 6379 miles. Brakes grabbing and car jerks at times when peddle applied. Car has 20% brake pad lr 20% rr 50%rf 50% lf. Took into mazda dealer and the solution was to replace pads. With 6379 miles driven mostly on highway is this a faulty pad product? Happens at low speeds when stopping. Started 06/17 and still happening.

Filed Aug 14, 2017 · Acceleration, Driver assistance · 3,600 miles · CA

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.

Filed Oct 4, 2016 · Transmission · 3,200 miles · CA

The following has happened numerous times on my 2016 mazda cx5 touring over the course of almost a year. The last incident occurred on or about september 23, 2016. 1) while in reverse, moving to drive, there is a lag before the transmission engages and then lurches forward. 2) from a stop, there is a lag before the transmission engages, the engine revs very loudly and then lurches forward. 3) at another time, the engine revs loudly and very high with no noticeable increase in speed and then all of a sudden, it seems that the transmission engages. Very dangerous.

Filed May 24, 2016 · Engine, Transmission · 6,632 miles · LA · crash

After pulling into a parking and entering parking space my wife attempted to stop car, with her foot on the brake the vehicle jerked forward jumping a parking bumper at an accelerated rate of speed. After jumping the bumper our cx-5 headed toward two parked cars, she was able to turn the wheel to the right where she was then headed toward a crosswalk, between two parking lots, with a hand rail. The vehicle finally came to a stop after becoming wedged under the hand rail and bumping a parked car. Damage was to the r fender, front bumper and hood a total of $5,100 worth of damage. Vehicle was towed to dealer. Mazda would no look into what or why it happened, our insurance company sent out a member of their forensic group to investigate the problem. Nothing was found to be wrong at the time that he checked and could not duplicate as he could not drive the vehicle. This was our second mazda and our last, moving on.