CarComplaints.com Notes: The only area of real concern for 2012 Mazda CX-9 owners is the brake booster.
In 2014, Mazda extended the warranty on the 2007-2013 CX-9 brake booster to 7 years / 90,000 miles. However this extended warranty has expired for most CX-9 owners, so buyer beware.
This Mazda CX-9 brake booster failure isn't terrible in terms of repair cost — it "only" costs $550 average to fix. However it is a safety issue when the brake booster fails as it increases stopping distance. Owners have reported having to stomp on the brake pedal, & crashes/injuries have been reported due to this CX-9 brake booster defect.
10.0
really awful- Typical Repair Cost:
- $3,500
- Average Mileage:
- 144,200 miles
- Total Complaints:
- 2 complaints
Most Common Solutions:
- must install a new engine (1 reports)
- not sure (1 reports)
cooling system problem
Helpful websites
- No one has added a helpful site for this 2012 CX-9 problem yet. Be the first!
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
click to see larger images
Like some of the others here, I was very happy with my Mazda CX-9 that we had enjoyed since 2012 when we bought it new. Other than the usual wear and tear mechanical repairs, it was a great car. I was going to reluctantly gift this car to our daughter.
Then, as I was driving home from working out Saturday morning, and thankfully had just pulled off the highway onto a medium speed boulevard with little traffic, the engine shut off along with the power steering and power brakes. Not a fun experience. As I tried to figure out where I could pull over, with few options, I was able to guide it to a stop at a bus stop area working very hard to turn. However I could and brake as much as possible without the power control (not like the old days pre-power steering).
I got it started again, but again it stalled out a mile or two later and ran into the same challenges before finally being able to glide it into a shopping plaza.
I googled the problem, and sure enough, there's a class action suit going on that has been stretched out for over three years due in part to the pandemic. This is the same engine that Ford has used in many of their cars (and sadly Mazda chose to use it here) and is the most absurd design possible! How can mechanics check for wear and tear with the water pump if it's hidden inside the engine? And at some point, as happens with all older cars, parts brake down, and in this case, the entire engine is ruined because the coolant flows right into the oil and all parts of the engine. The repair cost would be about the same as the value of the car ($9K+), and of course you are replacing that vulnerable engine with the same problem waiting to happen.
Mazda and Ford have known about this for a several years, have never issued a recall, at least one life has been lost, along with other accidents, let alone the frightening experience of losing power (the drive chain is connected to the water pump) while driving, and the loss of your car and the value of a drivable car.
If one were fortunate enough to find this problem before it spewed all of that coolant into the engine, that water pump replacement fix would still be 1500-2000 dollars given its absurd location.
- Frank D., Scottsdale, AZ, US