162 of the 1,827 complaints filed about the Mazda CX-9 are about the transmission — 9% of everything owners reported. The worst model year for it is 2008.
162
Complaints
9%
Share of all complaints
3
Crashes
7
Fires
POWER TRAIN
It’s now in the shop being torn down for further inspection but it looks to be a cracked cylinder head leak .
NHTSA complaint #11758684 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
POWER TRAIN
The vehicle was parked stationary in the driveway with the engine running for 3-5 minutes with the A/C on. The vehicle then accelerated forward into my garage causing damage. Once I entered the vehicle, both the dash and shifter displayed park. Current TCU system internal failures have been reported from the pulling of data from Mazda.
NHTSA complaint #11755863 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
POWER TRAIN
The engine cylinder head developed an internal coolant leak, allowing coolant to enter the combustion chamber. This caused engine overheating and smoke coming from the tailpipe while driving. A dealer performed a coolant pressure test confirming coolant leaking into the combustion chamber, and wet/dry compression testing on all 4 cylinders showed low and inconsistent readings consistent with cylinder head coolant intrusion (Cylinder 1: 105/125 psi, Cylinder 2: 115/125 psi, Cylinder 3: 110/175 psi, Cylinder 4: 160/190 psi). Overheating creates a risk of sudden loss of power and potential engine failure while driving, including on the highway. The problem has been confirmed and diagnosed by an authorized dealer service center, and the manufacturer's technical hotline department reviewed the diagnostic findings directly. Warning symptoms (overheating codes and visible tailpipe smoke) first appeared at the time the vehicle was brought in for diagnosis. The manufacturer has an active technical service bulletin addressing cylinder head coolant leaks on this engine and model, along with a related warranty extension program, but has denied coverage for this repair on the basis that the leak is internal rather than external.
NHTSA complaint #11749615 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
POWER TRAIN
The front driver-side lower ball joint suffered a catastrophic structural failure and sheared completely apart while moving. This vehicle was previously serviced under Safety Recall Campaign 15V451000 / Mazda Recall 8515G for this exact defect. The recall remedy part failed a second time, collapsing the front wheel assembly, ripping the CV axle completely out of the transmission casing, causing a hazardous transmission fluid spill, and leaving the vehicle stranded and immobilized in the middle of a live roadway in the dark
NHTSA complaint #11747329 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
POWER TRAIN
My 2018 Mazda CX-9 with the SKYACTIV-G 2.5T engine has been diagnosed with a cracked cylinder head, cracked exhaust manifold, and cracked turbocharger at approximately 88,000 miles. This is a known design defect documented in Mazda TSB 01-002/23 and addressed by Customer Service Program CSP11, which extended the powertrain warranty to 10 years/120,000 miles for coolant leaks at the cylinder head. The TSB identifies exhaust manifold deformation and residual production stress as root causes of the cylinder head cracking. In my vehicle, the failure has extended to the exhaust manifold and turbocharger, both directly mounted to the cylinder head in the same high-stress zone. The turbocharger on this engine is a coolant-cooled unit. As coolant leaks from the cracked cylinder head, the turbocharger is deprived of its cooling supply, leading to excessive heat buildup and eventual cracking of the turbo housing. The turbo damage is a direct consequence of the cylinder head defect Mazda has already acknowledged. CSP11 covers the cylinder head but does not address consequential damage to the exhaust manifold and turbocharger caused by the same defect. I am requesting the NHTSA investigate whether Mazda's remedy is sufficient and whether a formal recall is warranted given the risk of sudden engine failure at highway speeds.
NHTSA complaint #11731137 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
POWER TRAIN
my 2018 MAZDA CX-9 safety issue SCBS / SBS, LAS / LDWS, MASTER AND/OR HBC WARNING LIGHTS Forward sensing camera (FSC) stops functioning cause my car run rough even depress accelration and those light came on dashbaord -Forworad smart city brake support malfunction -smart brake system -front camera sensor malfunction
NHTSA complaint #11685844 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
POWER TRAIN
Vehicle jumps while driving. And sometimes stalls.
NHTSA complaint #11666703 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
POWER TRAIN
My vehicle is part of Mazda's 2021-2022 Mazda Valve Stem Seal Settlement. The dealership had yet to call me in for the repair of said valve seal repair as I was on a list. The settlement is suppose to extend out the powertrain warranty on the vehicle 2 years/24,000 to 7 years/84,000. My vehicle has 60,083 miles on it. One of the cylinders on my vehicle lost compression. The dealership and Mazda both say they will not cover the cost for repair as they only are covering things in the powertrain relate to oil consumption. The cylinders are part of the powertrain and carbon buildup from excessive oil burning because of the defective seal causes valve damage or sticking which will cause compression loss. Mazda is actively denying what they agreed to in the settlement and costing people money for repairs that should be covered.
NHTSA complaint #11665046 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
POWER TRAIN
The vehicle was overheating and a message came up that power will be reduced. Then it would go away and come up every 3 minutes while driving. I brought it to the service center, we filled it up with coolant and the issue kept coming back this time with a lot of white smoke coming out at vehicle start up. My mechanic said this is a bigger issue most likely to do with a coolant leak at the cylinder head. There is a technical service bulletin but no recall as of yet.
NHTSA complaint #11654408 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
POWER TRAIN
I was driving the vehicle on the highway when the vehicle started to overheat, lights started blinking, the car was smoking, losing power and acceleration. This car has a recall on the cyclindwr head which when cracks causing the car to loose coolant and oil. If it cracks while you’re driving especially on the highway the car will immediately loose coolant and oil thus causing a very dangerous driving condition. There was no indicator prior to the failure that there was anything wrong with the car. No check engine lights, no coolant lights nothing. Prior to this happening I smelled coolant in the car cabin , took it to my mechanic who tested the coolant system and found no leak. At the time he was unaware of the known issue these cars have with the cylinder head. The problem has been confirmed by Mazda and they notified me within the month of March of the problem and the extended warranty to replace the known manufacturer defect cylinder head. The Mazda dealer now has my car and acknowledges the cracked cylinder head caused the problem but said because I didn’t immediately stop on the highway and kept driving until I got to a safe location I was negligent and are refusing to fix the car which now has a blown engine, etc. it is available for inspection now at the Mazda dealer. My safety was put at risk because I could have died on the highway if the car completely stopped working, it was dangerous driving it when it first started happening because it started out of nowhere the car was fine I was driving 50+ mph and it started smoking, overheating etc. I could have also killed someone else. It is a disgrace that not only they won’t fix my car they want to say they won’t because I’m negligent? I drive my kids to and from school everyday do you think I’m going to risk their safety in an unsafe car? They should not only fix the car but compensate me for putting mine and my children’s lives at risk. A complete disgrace.
NHTSA complaint #11650724 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
POWER TRAIN
Coolant leak cylinder head. It was running and i could smell coolant on the minifalda and it shout down.
NHTSA complaint #11633063 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
POWER TRAIN
I had an issue with the AWD not engaging and the 4x4 light illuminating when driving on snow and ice. No indicators when driving under normal conditions. I had no traction and had difficulty maintaining control of the vehicle while driving at speeds less than 25 mph. I had difficulty gettting momentum from a stop as the tires were spinning and engaging tracion. I took the car into a Mazda dealership for a full circle inspection and found that the 4x4 light was illuminating due to worn-out splines connecting the transfer case. The technician was able to spin the driveshaft, indicating the splines are damaged and need to be replaced. Recommendations were to replace the transmission and transfer case with a repair estimate of $5469.61. Additionally, the technician observed some seeping of oil coming from the tiing cover and reccommends re-sealing it as well as replacing the water pump ( another known failure issue in which Mazda is aware of). Cost estimate of $4319.78. The technician also observed a crack in the right rear differential mount with a repair cost of $442.10. In short, Mazda knew about all these problems. They issued a warrenty extention from my research back in 2014 but never issued any recalls. In short, I didn't own this vehicle in 2014, I purchased in 2016. I was never aware of any warrenty extentions to include these issues and if I was aware, I would have had the services done for repairs. My safety as well as my family's and others are at risk if I lose control of the vehicle due to the AWD not engaging when needed.
NHTSA complaint #11631793 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
POWER TRAIN
2019 CX-9 GT, 30K miles, in August found coolant leaking under the car. This was 5 months past the warranty (but only 30K miles!). After doing research online, I found this is a massively common issue with all engines from several years encompassing 2019, where the coolant leaks due to a cracked cylinder head. There is a TSB from Mazda, which requires replacement of the engine, once the crack is developed. I immediately called Mazda corporate on 8/15/2024 and opened the case with them. They said they can try to assist, but first I have to take the car to the dealer for diagnosis of the problem. Had to wait 2 weeks, then leave the car, they did a full inspection and confirmed cracked cylinder head. Dealer opened up claim with Mazda (which apparently is separate from the case I made when I called the corporate). I had to go back because Mazda warranty dept. was asking the dealer to prove the engine was overheating, which it hasn't yet, because I kept adding coolant, so the engine never overheated. But the dealer lowered the coolant and had the engine overheat a little bit just to generate the computer code the warranty dept was requiring. This itself was an unnecessary additional potentially damaging scenario, completely unnecessary when the crack in the cylinder head was already found, and the coolant leak is clearly present. After all this, Mazda lowered their original quote from $10K to $6K and expect me to pay this to replace the engine. I called the corporate (customer relations) many times, but they said if the warranty dept. decided this, they cannot change it. And there's no way to talk to warranty dept. directly (not customer facing). We purchased a brand new factory assembled car for well over $40K. Due to a very common, Mazda acknowledged, engine manufacturing defect, the major component of the vehicle, its engine, requires replacement at only 30K miles! This is NOT a reasonable expectancy when purchasing any vehicle.
NHTSA complaint #11620217 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
POWER TRAIN
coolant leaks at cylinder head , Mazda of America knows issues but not willing to recall , they hava a bulletin number 01-002/23 . pls help
NHTSA complaint #11615751 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
POWER TRAIN
August 2nd I noticed a smell of Coolant coming from my car. I looked under my car and noticed it leaking green coolant. I took it to Mazda where they had it for 7 days to then give me a $6,300 estimate with possible added expenses. They diagnosed it as a cracked cylinder head and needs a gasket as well. I am a single mother and have work but I cannot afford that repair especially since Mazda is not going to honor there vehicle and what they stand by. With this issue with the coolant leak and the cracked cylinder the vehicle could have overheated and go into limp mode and come to a sudden stop with my children in the car while driving on the road. I could be hit as this puts my family at risk of injury while we go to school or work. Mazda has done nothing but tell me to submit a claim with customer service which I have. I had my case manager call me once and left a voicemail and I have called multiple times and have not heard back. There was no warning of this until I found forums and other stories that this unfortunately has happened to hundreds of Mazda owners.
NHTSA complaint #11611282 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
POWER TRAIN
Engine is leaking coolant apparently due to a cracked engine block caused by a manufacturing defect in the casting. Mazda has a Technical Service Bulletin, subject:Leaks at cylinder head and the number is 01-013/21. But they refuse to help cover their mistakes and now we owners are stuck with replacing an entire engine out of pocket. Shame on Mazda
NHTSA complaint #11609045 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
POWER TRAIN
We have a 2015 Mazda CX-9 Touring with All-Wheel Drive (AWD). The issue that has been happening is a flashing check engine light (CEL) indicator showing up in the gauge cluster. This issue originally started in October of 2023. I was on the highway doing at least 55 miles per hour (mph). Before the light actually came on, I had already felt the vehicle shaking, and also noticed the acceleration was sluggish. In the blink of an eye, the CEL came on and started flashing. After that point, the CEL stayed on. I was able to get to my destination safely. We took the vehicle to a shop, and told the mechanics the issue, but they could not re-create what happened. We stopped driving the vehicle as much after this first encounter. A couple of months later, the issue still persisted, and we took it to another shop. They changed the spark plugs, and the vehicle had been driving CEL-free for several months. Recently, we were going to take the vehicle out for a drive, and noticed the vehicle shaking (before the CEL officially came on) again. The CEL flashed and came on. As of this moment, the CEL pops up and stays on when starting the vehicle. I put in a code reader, and the code that came up was “PO304 Cylinder 4 Misfire Detected.” We are figuring out what our next plan(s) is/are with the vehicle. I looked at some forums for the 2007-2015 Mazda CX-9 Generation, and I noticed that someone mentioned that there was an issue with the injector pigtail wire (one of the fuel injectors). They also mentioned spark plugs and coil plugs. But they still had an issue and it seemed to be not resolved. I'm wondering if this issue could have a direct or indirect connection with the Takata Airbag recall that was issued on August 13th, 2024 with a "Do Not Drive" alert.
NHTSA complaint #11608589 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
POWER TRAIN
My car started leaking coolant from cylinder, it is known issue for these models, unfortunately Mazda cooperation doesn’t cover the expenses, there is Service Bulletin about it, so basically so many car got affected or will affect from this problem. It is manufacturer fault, not about customer usage or mistake.
NHTSA complaint #11603552 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
POWER TRAIN
I purchased a 2014 Mazda CX-9 back in May of 2020 w/ roughly 60k on the dash. Literally 7 months later w/ about 72k on the dash, the day after Christmas I was driving to work (I worked in the next state over) on the highway my car just shut down. No warnings, no check engine lights NOTHING! It just completely shut off and would not turn on. Thankfully because of the holiday the highway was pretty empty and I was able to swing my car across the interstate so I wouldn’t get hit by oncoming traffic. After getting out and deciding to check my oil I noticed it looked milky. I had no idea what that meant so I had it towed to a Mazda dealership in the state I live in. It was going to cost me almost $8,000 to put in a new engine because the water pump that was placed inside of the engine failed, which in turn caused my engine to seize. The extended warranty I had on my vehicle was worthless so I ended up paying out of pocket. Thankfully Mazda worked with me and had me prove that I kept up maintenance on the truck so the price was chopped in half. This happened right at the beginning of Covid when the entire world was suffering financially. I still had to make my car payments on top of shelling out 4k on a truck I hadn’t even had for a year. This is a huge issue with a lot of people that own the same vehicle and is extremely dangerous! I could’ve killed someone or worse myself when my vehicle stalled out on the highway.
NHTSA complaint #11597219 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
POWER TRAIN
My vehicle had a coolant leak st the cylinder head around the exhaust manifold. The problem was confirmed by an independent service. No warning lamps, message or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure did not appear. The problem was detected because coolant was dropping from the powertrain to the floor. When tha catalyst was removed it was found broken due to the high temperature but the car never display a high temperature warning lamp and the temperature display remains in normal position. The car could get on fire since no warnings or signal of high temperature was registered. After the situation occurred, I found a Technical Service Bulletin (No 01-01321) from Mazda North American Operations regarding this issue but since the problem occurred after the powertrain warranty the dealer did not accept to repair it. The probability that my car could get in fire was high since no warning lamps were display.
NHTSA complaint #11594397 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.