New Kia Sportage vs New Mazda CX-5: costs
An update gives us cause to take a fresh look at Mazda’s CX-5 – and find out whether it’s a better buy than talented family SUV rivals such as the all-new Kia Sportage...
Buying and owning
Costs, equipment, reliability, safety and security
Even when you factor in a larger Target Price discount, the Mazda CX-5 costs around £1700 more to buy outright than the Kia Sportage. However, this is more than offset by its stronger predicted resale values. In fact, when you add up all the costs that a private cash buyer is likely to face over three years of ownership, the CX-5 actually works out slightly cheaper, to the tune of about £300.
There’s little between them when it comes to fuel economy, with the Sportage just edging ahead on our test route with a return of 35.6mpg versus 35.1mpg.
Those looking to head down the PCP finance route instead will find that the Sportage is considerably cheaper. On a three-year deal with a £3500 deposit and a limit of 10,000 miles per year, it’ll set you back £375 per month, compared with £426 for the CX-5.
The Sportage is also slightly cheaper if you prefer to lease your car, costing £301 per month over a 36-month period (with a limit of 8000 miles per year), compared with £312 for the CX-5. For company car drivers, the CX-5’s higher price means you’ll sacrifice about £20 extra per month from your salary.
Both cars come generously equipped, with niceties such as heated seats and a heated steering wheel, but the CX-5 goes the extra mile by also offering 19in alloy wheels (to the Sportage’s 18s) and leather seat upholstery. The CX-5 also comes with adaptive cruise control rather than the more basic system fitted to the Sportage.
The Sportage is too new to have appeared in the latest What Car? Reliability Survey, while the CX-5 (in petrol guise) ranked an excellent second out of 21 models in its class. Both brands finished in the top 10 in the same survey, with Mazda ranking eighth, one place higher than Kia. A seven-year, 100,000-mile warranty should be reassuring for Sportage buyers, while CX-5 owners must make do with a three-year, 60,000-mile one.
The Sportage hasn’t yet been tested by the safety experts at Euro NCAP, while the CX-5 achieved the full five-star rating – albeit back in 2017 when the tests were less stringent. Safety features such as lane-keeping assistance and automatic emergency braking are standard on both cars, but the CX-5 also comes with blindspot monitoring. You’d have to upgrade to 4 trim to get this on the Sportage – albeit a more advanced system that displays a live feed from mirror-mounted cameras onto the instrument panel.
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