Car Model Guide/ Mazda/ CX-5/ KE/ 2.0 SkyActiv-G

2.0 SkyActiv-G PE-VPS

A high-compression naturally aspirated petrol with a chain and no turbocharger. It's the low-risk engine in the CX-5, economical for its size and free of the diesel's filter problem.

Overview

The 2.0 SkyActiv-G is the PE-VPS petrol version of the Mazda CX-5 SUV (KE), sold 2012–2017 with 165 PS and manual or automatic. Low risk at level 1. No failure over €800 is recorded, and there's no turbocharger or particulate filter to go wrong. 1 failure modes are recorded against its engine, gearbox, chassis and shared components. Prices on this page are illustrative placeholders rather than a sourced market sample. See the methodology for how the bands are derived.

Mazda CX-5 SUV (KE) · photo Mazda CX-5 (KE) 20260412 by Misei sen · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Power165 PS

Torque210 Nm

Years2012–2017

Fuelpetrol

DriveFWD / AWD

EnginesPE-VPS

Biggest risks

Ranked by probability × repair cost. 1 recorded in total.

97Dependable

Carbon buildup on intake valves€400–€700not checkable

Likely spend vs price −3 · all issues →

System by system9 systems reviewed · 8 with no recurring fault reported

Engine✓ clearNo recurring fault reported for this system on this engine.

Fuel system✓ clearNo recurring fault reported for this system on this engine.

Intake & airwatchCarbon buildup on intake valves, €400–€700.

Cooling✓ clearNo recurring fault reported for this system on this engine.

Emissions✓ clearNo recurring fault reported for this system on this engine.

Transmission✓ clearNo recurring fault reported for this system on this engine.

Electrics✓ clearNo recurring fault reported for this system on this engine.

Suspension & brakes✓ clearNo recurring fault reported for this system on this engine.

Body & interior✓ clearNo recurring fault reported for this system on this engine.

Pre-facelift or facelift, this engine spans both

The same badge either side of the changeover. Bands are split at the facelift year from the generation record.

Phase	Years	Low	Average	High	Good buy	What differs
pre Pre-facelift	2012–2014	€9,000	€12,800	€18,000	€10,900	The specification the car launched with.
LCI Facelift (LCI)	2015–2017	€9,800	€13,950	€19,600	€11,900	Revised grille and lights; Improved cabin materials and sound insulation; Updated infotainment

Known issues, ranked by expected cost

Faults recorded against this engine, its components and its chassis, ranked by likelihood × repair cost. Costs are indicative ranges with a stated labour basis.

Carbon buildup on intake valvesdirect injection€400–€700

Rough cold idle, slow throttle response, misfires, gradual loss of low-end response. Direct injection puts no fuel over the intake valves, so crankcase vapour deposits bake on undisturbed.

Check: Not visible without a borescope. Treat it as a service item that's due unless there's a receipt. It's not a fault, it's an unbudgeted maintenance cost.

Turbo & intakeuniversalNot detectable at viewingevidence: documented80–120k km

Ranked by probability × repair cost, not by how loudly a failure is discussed. Inherited from the engine, gearbox, chassis and shared components, each written once.

Pre-purchase inspection

The same issue records, reordered into the sequence you can actually check them in: cold start, static, drive, paperwork.

1 checks · saved in this browser ·

1PaperworkOn these cars the folder is most of the value.

Carbon buildup on intake valvesNot visible without a borescope. Treat it as a service item that's due unless there's a receipt. It's not a fault, it's an unbudgeted maintenance cost.

Mileage and servicing

What the odometer does and doesn't tell you here, plus the service items whose neglect causes the expensive failures above.

This engine has no filter and no turbo, so mileage matters less than the oil record. A tidy 180,000 km car is a sound buy.

Service item	Interval	Cost
Engine oil and filter Ordinary chain and bearing protection.	15,000 km or annually	€90–140
Brake fluid Routine safety work that gets skipped.	every 2 years	€60–90

What to pay

What this engine sells for, against the median of every engine in the chassis. All figures are illustrative placeholders. See the basis chips.

median €13.4k

€9k€10.9k€19.6k

Cheapfind the reasonGood buyif it checks outFairnormal moneyOverpricedneeds justifying

Asking price (€)Mileage (km)

Enter an asking price to get a verdict against this variant's band: cheap, fair, good buy or overpriced.

United States vs Europe

1 EUR = 1.08 USD · 2026-07

🇪🇺 Europe · EUR€10,900band €9,000–€19,600

🇺🇸 United StatesNot sold2.0 SkyActiv-G PE-VPS was never a US-market car

What that meansNo US band exists to compare. Any car you find there's a private import, parts and specialist knowledge are thinner, and the price says more about import cost than about the market.

US figures are the EU band converted at a stated rate. No US market differential is modelled: we hold no sourced US asking prices, and inventing one would be worse than saying so. What the comparison does show for real is availability. Most of this range was never sold in the US.

ModelMazda CX-5 2.0 SkyActiv-G
ChassisKE
EnginePE-VPS
Years2012–2017
MarketCentral EU
Windowrolling 12 months to 2026-07

Good buy at or under the marker · Median asking price · bar spans the 10th to 90th percentile · dashed line is the ke median, all 2 engines

Good buy isn't the same as cheapest. The good-buy figure assumes the known failure items are either done with receipts or verifiably not yet due. Full breakdown by facelift phase →

Buyer notes

Our judgement, kept separate from the records it's built on.

Our read, not a record

A high-compression naturally aspirated petrol is an unusual choice in a crossover and it works well, giving decent economy without the diesel's short-trip problem. It's slower in gear than the diesel and that's the trade. Direct injection means the intake valves can collect some deposits over time, though it's far milder than on the turbocharged engines of this era. So check the service record and the tyres, and buy on condition.

Everything above this line comes from the issue and specification records. This paragraph is our judgement on top of them. See how we reach it.

Full specification

Manufacturer figures for this engine and body, as recorded in the variant and engine data.

Engine code	PE-VPS 2.0 SkyActiv-G
Configuration	I4, naturally aspirated · 1998 cc
Fuel / injection	petrol · direct
Model years	2012–2017
Facelift phase	Sold either side of the 2015 facelift, 2012–2014 pre, 2015–2017 LCI
Power / torque	165 PS · 210 Nm
Transmissions	6-speed manual · 6-speed automatic
Gearbox families
Drivetrain	FWD · AWD
Economy (real-world)	6.5–7.5 l/100 km mixed
Markets	EU