My wife and I are thinking about getting a CX30. We recently took a test drive at Mazda North in Danvers, MA. I took a list of Consumer Reports' complaints with me.
Jumpy suspension over bumps
Information and entertainment system: small and tight interior
When going about average speed, each gear has a small bump.
Poor lane keeping
Not reliable: adaptive cruise control
Slow start from nothing
Cheap head cover, sun visors, and door pockets
claustrophobia = short side mirrors and a sharp angle between the windscreen pillars
The centre panel hits the driver's right knee.
When going backwards, the thick rear walls make it easier to see.
Low door with no row opening makes it hard to get in and out.
The parking brake is on by default, but it needs to be turned off before the car can move.
Low revs make the engine sound rough and noisy.
A long and scary list, to be sure. I should say that my most recent cars have been Subaru Waggons, and I now own a 10-year-old Prius and a 1-year-old Mazda CX5. We took the CX30 on many different roads to test it. My wife is 5'2" tall and I am 5'9". I agree with the following complaints (we didn't try #5 and #6):- #2, but it's now easier to learn how to drive the CX5.
Maybe some people could agree with #3. Yes, the CX5 is much more open, but the XC30 doesn't feel crowded inside, and the way the front and side windows line up makes it feel like a racing car. Safer and more closed in, but not stifling.
#1: You can feel the bumps and frost heaves, but I wouldn't call it "jumpy."
My wife and I thought that #4, #7, #10, #11, #12, and #14 were all wrong. We wonder what Consumer Report is putting the CX30 up against. The time it took to go from 0 to 60 mph shows that it is not at all slow. It's easy to change gears. The sound of the engine is nice. Our right knees had about 2" of space between them and the centre desk. I'm 83 years old, and my wife isn't much younger. We both have arthritis, but getting in and out of the car was no trouble at all.
#8 Maybe, since the materials on the CX5 are better, but with all the extras I want on my top-of-the-line CX5, it costs about $7,000 more. For the price, all of the products are fine.
I like cars and have owned English sports cars, a Volvo P1800, and an old Bentley. I think the positive reviews in the online racing press are much more accurate.