2020 MAZDA CX-5

The ongoing “ghost touch” defect in Mazda infotainment systems is a serious safety hazard that should have triggered a recall. This issue affects vehicles from model years 2016 through 2023 and stems from a design flaw present from the beginning. While driving, the system can suddenly take control of the screen—changing settings, switching stations, adjusting navigation, and even blasting the volume to maximum without driver input. On multiple occasions, I have been driving at freeway speeds when the system suddenly raised the volume to its highest level, jolting me and creating a dangerous distraction that nearly caused an accident. Mazda previously settled a lawsuit regarding this defect but only offered a free software update as a remedy. When I visited a dealership, I was told I already had the latest update—and that it does not resolve the ghost touch problem. The dealership acknowledged that it is a known design flaw, yet Mazda is charging customers around $800 to replace the defective component. This defect is widespread across multiple model years, worsens with time, and compromises the safe operation of the vehicle. Despite owning my Mazda outright and having only 40,000 miles on it, I may be forced to sell it because the vehicle has become unsafe to drive. I have a video of some of the things it does but it won’t let me upload it below.

The contact owns a 2020 Mazda CX-5. The contact stated that while the cruise control was activated and driving 65 MPH in the middle lane of a busy six-lane highway, the contact depressed the accelerator pedal, and the vehicle was suddenly stalled and coasted to a complete stop in the middle of the highway. The contact was able to restart the vehicle to continue driving. The vehicle was later taken to the local dealer, who was unable to determine the cause of the failure and was unable to confirm that the failure had occurred. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 32,000.

While driving my vehicle the systems sensors are affected by nearby drivers which cause the car to stall in the middle of traffic going between 40 and 75 miles per hour.

While traveling on an Interstate highway, my passenger side curtain airbag suddenly deployed without any warning while I was driving. There was no collision or impact, there was no debris on the road, or any significant bumps in the road. There was a very loud explosive sound and then my entire passenger side was covered in blue. The sound was so loud that it left my ears ringing and left me badly shaken up. I lost all visibility out of my passenger side as all of my side windows and mirrors were obscured, and I knew there was traffic in that lane along side of me. It felt very dangerous and I had to rely on my lane change sensors to safely pull to the side to assess any damage. There was no evident sign of any impact to my car. All of the glass was intact, there were no scratches, dents or missing paint. The airbag fully deployed for no apparent reason and I was extremely lucky that I was not injured and that my reaction did not cause an accident when this happened. The car was taken to a Mazda dealership to assess, and they did not find any damage either, but said there was no mechanical error on the part of the car, so it is still unexplained. I had it evaluated by an autobody/collision shop, again no damage was determined, their scan showed a diagnostic code that there was a "circuit short to ground".