Rent Mazda CX-5 2023 in Dubai

Scan a mall car park in Dubai and most rental SUVs blend into the same wall of white, silver and grey. The Mazda CX-5 2023 we rent out here comes in red, so you're not wandering three rows at Mall of the Emirates or the DXB terminal lot looking for your own car after the school run or a late arrival. We get it to your door in one to two hours, and this page settles what actually decides a mid-size SUV rental once the colour stops being the talking point: what fits in the boot, how the cabin copes with a 45 degree afternoon, and what the mileage and age rules mean for your week.

A red SUV you won't lose in the car park

It sounds like a minor thing until you've circled a packed Marina multi-storey twice looking for a grey crossover that looks exactly like the one two bays over. A red CX-5 solves that on sight, and it's a genuine convenience over a week when you're parking at malls, gyms and apartment blocks multiple times a day. Mazda builds the KF-generation CX-5 in a wider palette than this, so don't expect every CX-5 on our lot to match, but this particular 2023 car is red, confirmed, and it's one less thing to think about at pickup and every parking run after.

Power delivery: enough for the job, not for showing off

Under the bonnet sits a 2.0-litre SkyActiv-G naturally aspirated four making 165 hp and 210 Nm, paired with a six-speed automatic sending drive to the front wheels. There's no turbo and no hybrid hardware to worry about, and by 2023 this KF-generation platform, on sale since 2017, was thoroughly sorted rather than a car still working out its early kinks. The result is a calm rather than quick SUV. Loaded with four people and their bags, overtaking on Sheikh Zayed Road takes a bit of planning instead of a stab of throttle, but the cabin stays quiet at speed and the steering has a settled, planted feel that budget crossovers in this class rarely manage.

Luggage, back seat, and who actually fits

With the rear seats up the boot holds 442 litres, which covers two large suitcases and a soft bag for a DXB or DWC run without anything balanced on the parcel shelf. Fold the rear bench and that opens to around 1,342 litres, enough for flatpack furniture or bikes if the trip calls for it. The back seat is properly comfortable for two adults, with enough knee room that a longer transfer isn't a complaint. Add a third adult back there alongside a full boot and it gets tight, which is true of most five-seat SUVs this size rather than a specific CX-5 shortcoming.

At 4.55 metres long, the car asks for a bit more care than a small hatchback in a tight Downtown or Marina multi-storey, though the reversing camera and decent mirrors take most of the guesswork out of it. Ground clearance sits just under 200 mm, enough to clear speed bumps and steep mall ramps without scraping the front lip. It's still a front-wheel-drive road car, not a desert vehicle, so Hatta trails and soft sand aren't its territory.

Heat, mileage and the daily numbers

The air conditioning is a real strength here. Get back into a CX-5 that's been sitting at 45 degrees and the front vents pull the cabin down to comfortable within a few minutes, helped by a mid-sized cabin that doesn't have the volume of a bigger SUV to fight. Mazda quotes around 7 L/100km combined for the 2.0-litre automatic, and that holds up reasonably well; expect closer to 8 to 9 L/100km once the AC is working flat out in summer traffic. The 56-litre tank still returns roughly 600 to 700 km between fill-ups on a normal week of city driving.

This car comes with 250 km included per day, and anything past that is billed at AED 0.5 per kilometre, a low enough rate that it rarely becomes a problem. A Dubai to Abu Dhabi round trip runs close to 280 to 300 km, which puts you only modestly over the daily cap, and at half a dirham a kilometre the overage barely registers. Salik tolls and any RTA fines from the rental period are billed to you as the renter, standard across the fleet. The minimum age to rent this one is 25, higher than some rivals in the segment, so check that before you commit if you're a younger renter.

Who this red CX-5 suits

Book it if you want a mid-size SUV that's easy to find in a crowded car park and comfortable enough for a full week of city driving: school runs, mall trips, the occasional airport transfer and a stretch of Sheikh Zayed Road without complaint. A couple or a small family covers this car's actual use case, and the boot and back seat handle it without drama.

Size up if you're regularly carrying six or seven people, since this is a five-seat SUV regardless of how the luggage is packed. Look elsewhere if the plan includes real off-road driving, since the front-wheel-drive CX-5 isn't built for dunes or Hatta trails, and a proper 4x4 will do that job better. And if you're under 25, this specific car's age requirement rules it out, so check the fleet for a lower-age option before you book. For everyone else, the red CX-5 is a comfortable, easy-to-spot way to cover a Dubai week.