u/-Michael-P

Sorry, it's me again with 2026 cx-5 drama 😄
I wanted to ask if regular internet supposed to work on infotainment system with mazda connected services enabled.
I'm pretty sure it worked few days then I did HW reset because it hang and now Gogole maps work online (traffic info, search, reviews etc.), but chrome and youtube doesn't. SO I'm wondering if I should do another reset or there is really some sort of traffic filtering and only navigation expected to work online.

Today I filed another official complaint to Mazda corporate, and honestly, I feel like I'm losing my mind. Mechanically, the 2026 CX-5 is a masterpiece. But the software, the UX, and the so-called "safety" ADAS systems are an absolute nightmare.

I wrote to them about the darkest, most dystopian paradox of modern car technology I’ve ever experienced.

Here’s the setup: Mazda (and the new EU regulations) packed this car with an Intelligent Speed Assistance (ISA) and a Driver Monitoring System (DMS) that you can't permanently turn off. The problem? The car uses the exact same terrifying, ear-piercing chime for going 2 km/h over the speed limit as it does for a pedestrian jumping in front of your car.

So, I’m maneuvering through a tight underground parking garage full of concrete pillars, I hit 15 km/h, and the car suddenly screams at me. My heart rate spikes, adrenaline dumps into my system, I slam the brakes, and frantically scan my three different screens to figure out what I’m about to hit. The answer? Nothing. The AI just misread a speed sign.

Between removing physical AC buttons (forcing me to look at a 12-inch tablet to change the temp) and the camera violently beeping at me for looking at the tablet, this car is actively trying to give me a stress-induced heart attack.

But in my letter to Mazda today, I pointed out the ultimate irony of their "safety" tech.

According to the marketing brochures, if I actually do have a heart attack behind the wheel, the "Emergency Assist" is supposed to take over, keep the car in the lane, and bring it to a safe halt.

But I live in Poland, and I regularly drive on narrow, winding mountain roads with zero painted lines. The car already constantly throws on-screen tantrums complaining that it "cannot detect lane markings."

So, what happens if I actually pass out at the wheel?

Because it’s blind without fresh white paint on the asphalt, the car won't save me. My 2-ton high-tech SUV will simply fly off a cliff or head-on into an 800kg 1990s Peugeot 205.

But the absolute best part? The peak 2026 innovation?

As my unconscious body is hurdling toward its doom, the cabin will be a full-blown rave. Strobe lights flashing on the screens, alarms blaring, and the AI's synthesized voice strictly scolding my lifeless corpse: "DISTRACTED DRIVER DETECTED. PLEASE KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE ROAD!" right until the moment of impact.

We are paying $40k+ for a nagging robot that is entirely incapable of saving us, but will absolutely make sure to blame us on the way down.

Anyway, I just ordered a piece of matte black Oracal vinyl to physically tape over the driver-monitoring camera, and I’m 3D printing a mount for my 10-year-old battery-powered Garmin GPS because the built-in cloud navigation is a joke.

We have come full circle. Modern car tech is a scam.

TL;DR: My 2026 Mazda CX-5 gives me near heart attacks with constant false alarms. But if I actually pass out at the wheel on a rural road, the car won't save me. It will just crash into a ditch while the AI loudly lectures my corpse for not keeping my eyes on the road.

I’ve been driving for 20 years. For the last 7 years, I drove a 2012 Subaru Crosstrek with physical buttons for everything. Recently, I upgraded to the new 2026 Mazda CX-5. Since it essentially has no real competitors in its price range, I bought it, hoping I’d get used to the new touchscreen-heavy interface.

I haven't. It causes nothing but pure irritation.

Don't get me wrong: technically, this car is divine. The engine, transmission, suspension, comfort options, and exterior design are absolutely fantastic. I love driving it. But the software/touchscreen ruins the entire experience.

I’ve actually started emailing Mazda corporate weekly about these issues (specifically focusing on safety hazards), but I wanted to summarize them here to see if anyone else feels the same way, and hopefully push them to rewrite this terrible software.

Here is a list of the biggest flaws and how Mazda could easily fix them:

1. Volume Control I know there was a massive post about this a month ago, but I have to repeat it: the touchscreen volume control is pathetic. Yes, as a driver, I have steering wheel controls. But if my passenger wants to adjust the volume, they have to precisely tap a tiny 1x1 cm square on a moving screen. Solution: Put a massive, permanent volume widget right on the home screen.

2. Audio Balance/Fader settings When my kids fall asleep in the back (or are just chatting), I like to quickly move the audio to the front speakers. In my 2012 Subaru, I pressed the audio knob 4 times and gave it a twist. It took 2 seconds without taking my eyes off the road. In the CX-5, it’s buried deep inside sub-menus. Solution: Allow users to create custom quick-action buttons/widgets on the home screen for things like Fader/Balance.

3. Playing Music from a USB This is a multi-layered disaster:

- There’s only one USB-C mass storage port, and plugging a flash drive into it blocks access to the center console tray. Tiny USB-C flash drives are practically non-existent or cost a fortune.

- The UI is painfully slow. I only have 300 tracks, yet the car spends a couple of minutes every single morning indexing them.

- Album Art Bug: I spent hours embedding cover art into the ID3 tags, but the system only caches one image and displays it for every single song.

Solution: Update the software to increase the cache size, stop re-indexing the same directory every day, and fix the album art bug.

4. Touchscreen Climate Control This is a literal safety hazard. The buttons are tiny. If I see a garbage truck ahead and need to quickly turn on air recirculation, I have to open an extra slider-menu where the icons are dark grey on a black background. Good luck hitting that while driving.

Solution: A permanent climate control widget on the home screen with large buttons and sliders.

5. Voice Assistant is a useless gimmick It doesn't support my native language, and forcing myself to speak English just to adjust the AC feels ridiculous. Also, I simply hate talking to my car. If my wife is talking, I have to interrupt her: "Wait, honey, be quiet, I need to ask Mazda to make it cooler." If the kids are sleeping, I don't want to speak, and I definitely don't want the car talking back. On top of that, it only works half the time because it relies on cloud/internet coverage. It’s a useless feature made for investor reports.

6. Trip Computer functionality It’s missing two basic things: an easy Trip A/B reset (you have to dig 3 menus deep!) and an Average Speed display. Where I live, there are a lot of average speed camera zones, so I need to reset this the moment I enter the zone. My old Subaru did this with one physical button.

7. No auto-roll-up windows on lock Apparently, this isn't available in any trim. Why? When I lock the car, I have to manually check if my passengers rolled up their windows or if the sunroof is closed. Extremely annoying.

8. Finding the car in a parking lot. I bought a black one (other colors were sold out), and finding it is a pain. The app has a "Find My Car" button, but you have to unlock your phone, open the app, click 10 things, and wait for cloud servers to tell the car to flash its low beams. The joke is, I park nose-in! I can't see the headlights. Solution: It needs to flash the turn signals and honk the horn, not just blink the headlights (and only if it has internet coverage).

9. Apple CarPlay / Android Auto integration I tried using CarPlay, but it lacks multi-touch. You can't pinch-to-zoom on the map; it uses clunky on-screen buttons like a GPS from 2005. The built-in Android Automotive navigation is okay, but the screen is positioned so low that checking a complex intersection means taking my eyes completely off the road. Also, activating CarPlay hides the native media button on the touchscreen, meaning more menu digging. And if CarPlay is active, it locks Google Maps on my phone. I ended up disabling CarPlay entirely and just using Bluetooth audio.

10. Background YouTube playback. I like to listen to talking-head news/podcasts on YouTube while driving. I don’t need the video, but the car’s system won't allow YouTube to play in the background.

11. The "2026" Ritual (Cables & Mounts) Because of points 9 and 10, I am forced to use my phone on a windshield suction mount - just like I did for 7 years in my old Subaru. Because the charging port is between the seats, I had to buy a 2-meter cable and run it across the entire cabin. So now, in a brand-new 2026 car, I have a massive 13-inch screen doing almost nothing, a phone glued to my windshield, and wires everywhere.

12. Fingerprints everywhere. It’s a touchscreen media hub, which means it’s always covered in greasy fingerprints. I tried wiping it daily, but it's pointless. It constantly looks filthy. Conclusion: Since the system runs on Android Automotive, I actually thought about writing my own apps/widgets to fix this mess. Unfortunately, it’s heavily locked down by security settings.

So now, I’m just driving, cursing the UI designers who approved this for production, and waiting for an aftermarket solution (like the control bars they make for Teslas).

Am I the only one going crazy over this UX nightmare? Does anyone know if Mazda has plans for a massive UI overhaul?