Mazda CX-5 locked me out of the car while engine was off

Here is an example of a common complaint. I'm sure of course the dealer would have CHECKED for this issue with yours! "Mine behaved consistently erratically after 6 months; dealership changed the battery and it hasn't given me trouble since. It's annoying having to rely on a battery for something so basic, but it looks like changing that stupid cr2025 fairly regularly is the ticket." That is just one of so many complaints of being locked out of a CX-5. Regards

Thanks for the response. So are you saying that it's common for the car to lock up when the engine is off and the Key fob is in the car? The battery had been replaced 2 weeks earlier after my car would not start using either remote key nor using the override. While we were troubleshooting the engine disabled itself. Car went to Dealer, they checked everything and did the 10K mile check up. They couldn't find anything wrong so they changed the Key battery just in case.

Yes, I'm saying there are numerous reports of it. Mazda is not unknowing. You... might want to contact them directly the engineers always know of these glitches.

"A few weeks ago I had my dog at the dog park, when I went leave I unlocked my 2015 Mazda 3 put my dog in his car harness and my keys in the flat area near the shiftier. I then closed the back door, proceeded to walk to the front driver door to leave and all of a sudden ALL my doors were locked with my keys and my dog inside. It was 93 degrees and in full sun....after trying every door and none would open I had to have someone break my window so that my dog would not die of heat exhaustion. Once I got into the car and made sure my dog was OK, I grabbed my keys and tried to unlock all the doors again with the fob--nothing wouldn't lock/unlock. After multiple tries it finally worked and I was on my way--went straight to the Mazda dealer to get an explanation--and was looked at like I was crazy. "The dealer plugged my key and my car in for diagnostics and found nothing. This is a serious problem. In my case my dog could have died, but what if it happened with a parent putting his/her baby in backseat and closing the door.... I will never trust this car again as far as locking/keys go. " On and on...

OMG that's awful. This is a serious, dangerous problem. I will contact Mazda to report it. I wonder why my Mazda dealer technician acted like he'd never heard of this happening before? After my engine disabling itself and then being locked out of the car a few weeks later, I also do not trust my car anymore. It's a shame. I only have 12,000 miles on it.

Its possible hes in the "dark" about it? (not sure how) unfortunately its not just Mazda, many others have there issues. I suggest a person purchase based on the model not the manufacture, Really some company's produce subpair models in addition to possibly a very well designed good model. I digress.

Something similar happened to me once..I put my bag in the trunk with my key fob in it and closed the trunk door. And then none of the doors would open (including the trunk). It turned out that the trunk door wasn't shut properly so the system got into this weird state where it wouldn't let me open any door. I pushed the trunk door a bit to shut it properly and the system realized the fob was in the car and unlocked the trunk.

That is interesting. Maybe that's what happened to me also. Even though the manual states that the car won't lock if the key fob is in the car (with engine off), I will never take a chance again. Mazda customer service told me they've had others complain about the same issue and they advised me to never leave the fob in the car.

This JUST happened to me. Luckily in my driveway, but with groceries stuck in the trunk. Both of my keys are in my pocketbook which is sitting on the console. Mazda tells me it shouldn't happen, but will if the fob is obstructed, meanwhile, my pocketbook and keys are sitting in the same place on the console they always are

I'm sorry you've had this happen too. What do they mean by the fob being "obstructed?" Ever since my experience I no longer trust my car and either leave the car unlocked or I leave a window down so that I can reach in and unlock the door. How ridiculous is that.

I am not sure what they meant by being "obstructed", but the Roadside Assistance guy he popped my lock said he has opened many MAZDA doors with the same problem! Lesson learned, don't lock the doors....I think we need to go back to "regular" keys, don't you!

I couldn't agree more. I've had it with the Keyless Entry Push Button Start. Several weeks before my car locked me out, I had another bizarre incident -- the car would not start at all. It would not respond to either Key Fob, even trying the over ride with both of them did not work. My Mazda dealer did a complete check of all systems and was not able to determine a cause. They replaced both key fob batteries, just to be on the safe side, and then about 2 weeks later I was locked out. Thankfully my car was still under warranty. I've done a lot of on-line research and found lots of complaints with communication issues between Key Fobs and car computers (not just Mazda).

I have a mazda cx9 (2014 model) with the retractable key.A few days ago, I went outside used my clicker to unlock the doors, opened the passenger door to get some stuff out and then laid my keys on the console as I was getting ready to leave. I shut the passenger door and went back in. I came back out a few minutes later and all my doors had locked. I thought that maybe I had accidentally bumped the lock button on the door or maybe even the key. I got the doors open later that day and have been careful every since. This morning I walked out unlocked the doors, put stuff in the car (again only on the passenger side of the car) and then went back in to get my daughter. This time I was sure to take my keys back in with me. And sure enough I came back out a few minutes later to all doors locked. Is this just an auto locking feature? Is it because I'm not opening the driver door after unlocking the car and it locks back??

I wish I had an answer for you. Mazda says the car should never lock if the key fob is in the car and the engine is off but that's obviously not true. I've been locked out and had the car refuse to start so I don't trust my car anymore. My dealership checked everything, changed all batteries but has no idea why this happens. I now leave the window open enough to reach in and manually unlock the doors. It's really annoying and not exactly the best for security.

Two days ago, I put my purse in the back seat of my 2014 Mazda CX-5. I have my key on the purse strap so I don't have to constantly dig for it to open or lock the doors. As I was closing the door, the strap slipped off the edge of the seat, with they key on it, and the door closed on the key. The doors immediately locked. The door in question didn't fully close. I didn't try to push it closed, thinking that might make matters worse, but having read the comment by another poster about the half-closed door, wish I had tried. I was stuck without purse, cell phone, key or AAA card. Went into the store and the store manager came out with me and called AAA. I waited inside the store. Luckily it wasn't closing for another 2 hours. AAA called the manager back on his cell to say the truck was coming.

I certainly can sympathize. Being stranded with no car, no purse, no phone etc is frightening. As someone else suggested, it's a good idea to contact Mazda to let them know what happened. If enough of us tell them we're being locked out of our cars maybe someday they'll figure out how to prevent this from happening.

This just happened to us with our two kids (20 months and 5 months old) in the car. Needless to say my wife was terrified. I was 30 minutes away and had the spare key on me, so we called the cops to wait with my wife until I arrived. If at any point he needed to break the window he had our permission. Luckily it's 60 degrees here today, so the car was comfortable for the kids. The only recommendation that I have would be to get an old fashioned (non-transponder) key made and place it in a hide-a- key under the car. If it ever happens again at least my wife will be able to get in. We will be lodging a complaint with Mazda as well.

Oh my God what an absolute nightmare. Your poor wife, I'm so sorry. Thank goodness she had her cell phone. That's a great idea about the key. Wondering if we can just take the emergency key from inside the keyless remote to a hardware store for a copy. I will definitely try this. Glad you'll be filing a complaint with Mazda!

MazdaMolly, my wife is going to try the dealer first, but my first thought was to try the hardware store. You can get a blank from ebay fairly cheap. If we are able to get this completed I will add another post. Two little ones and not enough time in the day; so please be patient!! :)

Molly, All set. I was able to go to my local Ace Hardware and get a copy of the key that is in the remote. Total cost: $4.99. Try the key before you leave the hardware store; mine didn't work the first time and had to be cleaned up before it was functional. I also located a good quality key box on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003WXGLS2/ref=oh_aui_ detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 I placed the key in a small ziploc to keep it clean and then placed it in the key box. There is some strong steel to stick the key box to right above the inside of the bumper. My wife feels better just knowing that is it there in case of emergency. Best of luck. Zoom zoom! Matt

This is terrific. Thank you so much for sharing this info. I will do the same right away. The best to you and your family!

Thanks, Molly. You too!!

You can disable this auto lock facility in vehicle settings on the sat nav screen.

I had a similar thing happened with me this morning. 2016 Mazda CX-5 GT. I loaded my car to go to work as I do every morning. I put all the bags on the passenger seat, closed the door (did NOT lock it) and walked around to get into the car. The car was locked and no doors would open. This is the same thing I do EVERY day when I go to work, and it is the first time that happened. Luckily, I had a spare upstairs, yet could have been in the park with the kid locked up in the hot car. Very scary and disappointing that we can send people to the moon, yet can't keep a car open with the key inside.

Minka, We can, but our Mazda's cannot. :) My Audi will only allow the doors to be locked by pressing the door lock (not the remote) from inside the car with the doors closed. The remote will only lock the doors from outside the car. The need to lock the door with the keys inside is to protect any passengers inside the car, but Mazda didn't fully think this through. The spare key solution that I offered in a previous post let's my wife feel better knowing that the kids will not get locked in again. Hope this helps, Matt

Andron, In my case, the lock button on the remote was pressed in error when my wife put the bag in the car. The doors locked, then she closed the door. At that point she had no way to gain access to the car (and kids). Hopefully Mazda can push an update in the future to fix this.

I Jist started my car and put. Y keys in the cup holder. I then shit the door, not locking it. And if I had tried to lock it the car should automatically send an alarm that it won't lock. Anyway...all my doors are locked and my car is running. Thanks Mazda CX-5 known problem not being communicated to us owners!!!

I have Mazda CX5 GT , 5 months old. The remote Key stopped working intimately mostly in the morning. This is a strange one! The remote will work unlock and lock the car all day, and the randomly it will stop working. I have completed all the trouble shooting and changed batteries on both remote and now Mazda had the car for 5 days and they still can't fault it. wondering if anyone having same problems? really frustrating when you buy a new car!

I have a 2010 Mazda 3. If I unlock the car but don't open one of the front doors the car will lock again automatically after a very short time. Opening the back doors or the trunk will not stop the car locking, only the front doors. I figured it was a built in safety feature in case the car was accidentally opened. I am just very aware I must open a front door to prevent it relocating before putting my kids or bag inside. Not sure if it's the same issue for the newer cars.

The other day I thought I had locked the fob in the back of my CX3. I called Mazda roadside assistance, arranging for someone to come to the hotel I was staying at and let me in. Moments later, I found the fob in the pocket of the shorts I'd worn the night previous. I was able to immediately cancel the now unneeded assistance. This problem was an operator error. I should have known better because I cannot lock the car doors when the fob is inside the car. This is a feature I really like.

You're right that you're not supposed to be able to lock the car doors when the fob is inside the car but if you read the postings on this thread that is not always the case. I was locked out with the fob in the car and the engine off, as were numerous others.

Today it was 10 degrees outside. Like every other day, I put my purse on the front seat and then put my 3 year old son in his care seat. The car locked on me! I had to break into my house. Literally break my garage door frame to get inside my house to get the spare key. This is a SERIOUS issue.

Kelly - What a terrifying experience. I urge you to contact Mazda corporate and file a complaint. The more complaints they get the more likely they are to actually address this serious situation. As others have advised on this thread, make sure your Key fob battery is changed out regularly. I now never shut a door without first making sure the drivers door is opened first.

This just happened to me yesterday. I was loading up the car, put my keys on the front passenger seat, put my 4 month old baby in his car seat, closed the doors and walked around back to load the stroller in the trunk. The trunk didn't open, so I walked around to push the keyless entry button on the door handle and nothing happened. The entire car was completed locked with my baby inside. A truly terrifying experience. Thankfully I was at a park with lots of people around and got help (my cell phone was also locked inside!). One guy tried breaking the front passenger window with one of those life saving hammers (didn't work and actually broke the tool while trying), and shortly after we called 9-1-1. Firemen arrived, quickly opened the car, and saved my son. Luckily I was parked in the shade but it was still a warm San Diego day. There's nothing more terrifying than watching your baby cry while he's trapped inside the car and you can't get to him. THIS IS A LIFE-THREATENING ISSUE, MAZDA!! I'll be filing a complaint with the corporate office and doing what I can to get them to pay attention to and fix this problem. I will never trust the key fob again.

Really sad that Mazda forces you to get this stupid dangerous inconvenient awkward so- called advanced key on all cars above a certain level. Makes me think they do this because every time one of these things gets lost, and this will be much more likely than with a key on your key chain, they can ding you with cost of getting another one of the wretched things.

GuruY9WMZ what ever happened after you filed a complaint with Mazda because this just happened to us today!!!

alnyce31, I am so sorry this happened to you too. To this day (over a year later), I always keep my keys in my hand or back pocket when my son is in his car seat. I mailed a letter along with a printed copy of all of the above complaints from this forum to the corporate office, and I got a response from a customer service rep who apologized for the experience and then referred me to the owner’s manual, which made it seem like they were placing the blame on me. Sure, they were educating me on how to potentially prevent it from happening again, but if my work in user experience design holds true here, you never blame the user for a poor experience! Totally lame response yet I didn’t go any further with it. I hope you file a complaint though, at least to reinforce that this is a serious design flaw.

After this happened to me, I called Mazda corporate & made a verbal complaint. The rep was very nice, did not try to blame me. If I remember correctly, I think he said it should never happen when the engine is off. He said that the more people who complain, the more likely it is that Mazda will do something about it. I've heard nothing from them since filing my complaint. That's great that you sent a letter with a print-out of our complaints. It is a dangerous flaw. I hope the new models don't have this issue.

I have experienced my Mazdea CX-5 2014 locking me out twice now. Once with my dog in the car. I had to have a police officer open the door for me. I put my purse in the car and closed the front door. Opened the back door and put my dog. Closed the back door and went to open the front door again and it was locked up tight. Today I put my purse in the car. Turned the car on. Closed the door and went to put the garbage out. Came back and it was locked up again. Attempted to use the second FOB from the house and it still would not work. Finally after pushing buttons and trying doors over and over I was able to open the hatch and crawl thru to unlock the doors. Late for work and very upset with Mazda!!

That's awful. I can't believe the 2nd Fob wouldn't open it immediately. Please contact Mazda corporate office (in Irvine, CA) to file a complaint. The more complaints, the more likely they'll address this issue and hopefully do a recall.

I just had this happen to me yesterday with my 2018 Mazda3. I called both the general Madza customer service and then tried my local dealer to report this problem. Both parties were unhelpful. I was so disappointed with their responses. The former said it was because my keys were in my purse that this happened. The latter said that I probably should have updated my software and tried to get me to come in for service. Screw you, Mazda.

Update the software? That's bizarre, especially since you have a new model Mazda. My dealership was of no help either but the rep I spoke to at Mazda corporate at least acted concerned. It's appalling that this problem is still happening. I have a 2015 CX-5. You'd think in 3 years they might have figured out why this happens.

This is just brutal! I have a 2019 Mazda cx-5 and this happens to me all the time. I have taken my vehicle in multiple times and gotten no where. Today while at the dealership we took a video of me placing my key on the front seat and then opening and closing the trunk and just like that the car locks me out. It happens all the time when I close the trunk. The dealership is apparently sending the video off to Japan to find out what can be done. At this point I have told them to keep it until they fix it.

Hi Lorilee. It's crazy that this continues to be a problem year after year. I'm glad it happened at your dealership so they can see what's happening first hand. It's never done it when I've had my car at the dealer - multiple times. That's probably why they seem unconcerned. Also great that your dealership is sending the video to Japan. Let's hope something good comes from your actions. Keep us posted!

I have a 2023 mazda cx-5. I've never had the locking problems. But I've had a issue with all the dummy lights and sensor for object next to me and tire pressure sensor and traction control light all come on the dash all together just sitting there idiling. Turn it off. And then back on . Everything goes out except check engine. Take it to O'Riley's and nothing by the time I get there. Not even check engine light.

I meant 2013 cx-5 stupid phone

Well, I don't think Mazda has fixed the problem. My CX-5, year 2021, just locked itself up with my purse, phone, and key fob in the car. AAA had to come out and open it up for me. It only took less than 5 minutes to break in. Very annoying for it to lock itself up.

Looks like my answer did not post. Here is summary. Before you get out of car, press door unlock from driver side . All doors will remain unlocked with Fob left inside car.

I have a 2020 CX-5 Signature and just had my first experience with what I thought would be impossible: the car locking itself with the fob inside. Even worse: in happened in the attended garage where I park, where cars are packed in together to save space and then jockeyed as needed when someone leaves. The attendants leave keys in cars at all times so cars can be moved immediately. My locked car gridlocked the whole system. Fortunately, I was home at the time and ran over with the second fob when they called, but WTH? In my settings, I disabled "walk away" auto lock, which I find to be convenient, but I'm nervous now about giving the car any control over when it locks.

I wanted to let everyone know that they did fix my car. They had to take out the autostart and then order a new one. Even though Mazda installed it apparently it was not a Mazda part. So now I have a super ghetto second remote for the autostart but car no longer locks me out. If anyone is having this issue and only has a key fob that is also there remote start I would say that's your problem. Have them change it to the ghetto one from Mazda and it should work.

Add me to the list. 2017 Mazda CX5 GT locked me out this morning. I parked in a parking lot, got my bag (which contained the key fob), and exited the car. I walked around to check the spacing on the passenger side, saw that I had more space, and decided to move my car over a little to hopefully avoid getting dinged by the car parked on the driver's side. I opened the back passenger door (note: the fob is already outside of the car, so it didn't auto-lock when the fob left the vehicle), placed my bag on the back seat, an walked back to the drivers side. The door was locked. I went back to the passenger side and that door was locked. All of the doors and hatch were locked with my phones, laptop, wallet, ID, etc inside. Thankfully, pop-a-lock came within an hour. Going to notify Mazda next.

Well, this happened to me, twice, with my car running though. I did NOT hit the lock button either time accidently. I exited my driver's side door, shut it to go get my son out of his carseat and all the doors were locked. Thank god I had grabbed my cell phone. But my poor baby didn't understand why I couldn't get him and I waited til my husband got my spare from home 25 min. I don't know how Mazda won't fix the problem. Mine is a 2016 CX-5 and my extended warranty lapsed so they can't run diagnostics without me paying for it in full per corporate. I called my local dealership service department and they said, my fob is probably draining battery in my handbag accidently getting buttons pushed. It also goes into a sleep mode and when battery in the fob is low the car won't recognize the fob especially in cold weather. She recommended I take the actual key portion with me if I am going to leave the fob in the car as I would have been able to open the doors with that as well as getting a silicone or leather key fob cover. At this point I think I'll just listen to the obnoxious beep that the key is in my pocket from now on and walk away. It was 20degrees here and I wanted to keep the car on to stay warm. Shame on Mazda for not recalling this issue and pointing blame on us comsumers!