KnownCarProblems2011 Mazda CX-9 Problems and Recalls
Owners filed 170 complaints with NHTSA about the 2011 Mazda CX-9, most often about the brakes (58% of complaints, typically around 71,000 miles). It is 4th of 17 CX-9 model years by number of complaints and has 4 recalls.
⚠ Safety advisory3 recalls for this car came with a do-not-drive warning. See below and check your VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.
Most common 2011 Mazda CX-9 problems
Brakes
99 complaints · 58%Half of these problems showed up before 71,000 miles. Parts named most often: power assist.
I was going approx 40 MPH, and went to hit the brake pedal at a light, and the brake pedal was incredibly hard and would not push down. I lifted my foot up and tried again. The pedal was still very hard but I was able to push (very hard!) and get to a stop. I did stop pass the light as it took me longer to stop the…
On 24 july 2015, while driving home from work, the driver in front of me executed an emergency braking to avoid a collision which caused me to do the same. From the moment I tried to actuate the brake pedal, it felt as if the pedal was in the floor and immovable. Little, if any, brake force was applied and required…
Transmission
25 complaints · 15%Half of these problems showed up before 87,000 miles. Parts named most often: transfer case (4-wheel drive).
The vehicle was identified at the dealership as having a leaking transfer case that needed to be replaced. During this replacement the transmission splines were also noted to be damaged due to the faulty transfer case. Therefore both the transfer case and transmission needed to be replaced at my expense.
I was driving my 2011 Mazda CX-9 and the car was smelling like it was burning and then it sounded like a pile of rocks being tossed around I pulled over to the side of the road and something exploded the car came to an abrupt stop and smoke came from underneath the hood. I had it towed to a repair shop and was told…
Air bags
22 complaints · 13%Half of these problems showed up before 104,500 miles.
The contact owns a 2011 Mazda CX-9. Another vehicle crashed head on into the contact's vehicle while it was idling. The air bags failed to deploy and both front passenger seat belts did not retract. There were no injuries and a police report was not filed. The vehicle was taken to an autobody shop for repair; however…
I own a 2011 Mazda CX-9. Another vehicle crashed head on into my vehicle while it was idling stoped at a stop sign when impact accursed . The air bags failed to deploy and both front passenger seat belts did not retract. There were injuries and a police report was filed. The vehicle was taken to an autobody shop for…
Engine
15 complaints · 9%Half of these problems showed up before 81,000 miles.
Transfer case - had unusual wear and tear on the transfer case that lead me to lose steering and driving capability when driving to work. Took my car to car dealer and the transfer case was ground down and the transmission was rusting. Had no water damage and cost over $4,000. Since have researched and found that many…
Same issue as everyone else hissing when brakes are compressed -or car is stopped and bad or lagging in braking. My brakes were completely down to the floor and the car kept slowly trying to roll. I had to pump the brakes. Or put the car in park. When I let the brakes go no hissing
Suspension
8 complaints · 5%Parts named most often: front.
The contact owns a 2011 Mazda CX-9. While driving 35 MPH, the front wheels seized. The vehicle skidded and came to a complete stop without warning. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The contact mentioned that the vehicle was serviced for the lower control arms one day prior to the failure. The vehicle had an…
The contact owns a 2011 Mazda CX-9. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed and making a turn, the contact lost control of the vehicle, and the front driver's side suspension lowered to the ground. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic, who determined that the subframe was severely…
Electrical
5 complaints · 3%While driving on interstate 77, north bound, at 55mph, other motorists informed me that my car was on fire underneath. There were no dashboard warning lights or signals that came on it light up as a warning sign. I pulled over to the side of the road, the fire department and sheriff's office put out the fire and the…
The contact owns a 2011 Mazda CX-9. While driving 45 MPH at night, the contact noticed a flickering light coming from the front end of the vehicle. The contact merged to the side of the road. After inspecting the vehicle, the contact noticed that flames engulfed the engine. The fire department extinguished the fire. A…
Other or unspecified
5 complaints · 3%When pressing the brakes at any speed there was a hissing sound and the brakes were hard to press. Regardless of the amount of pressure I applied to the brakes they did not react and it took the vehicle longer to slow down even at very low speeds (5-10 MPH) or faster. This came on suddenly and caused me to bring the…
The A/C evaporator tank condensation drain clogs. Ours has clogged twice and the first time the water in the tank would slosh around and hear it when making a left turn. Eventually it ruined the blower motor to the A/C, which had to be replaced. Now 19 months later, we heard the water again and took it in right away…
Stability control
4 complaints · 2%I have not had a accident yet, however since I purchased the car new I have had trouble with the front brakes, especially the right wheel. The dealer say there is nothing wrong and I have complained about this issue several times at regular service. I know something is wrong, the pedal fades and there is a grinding…
On 24 july 2015, while driving home from work, the driver in front of me executed an emergency braking to avoid a collision which caused me to do the same. From the moment I tried to actuate the brake pedal, it felt as if the pedal was in the floor and immovable. Little, if any, brake force was applied and required…
Complaints are owner reports to NHTSA, not verified defects. One complaint can name several components, so shares add up to more than 100%.
2011 Mazda CX-9 recalls
Air bags: inflator module
Risk: An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
Fix: Owners are advised not to drive their vehicles until the repair has been performed. Mazda will notify owners, and dealers will replace the front passenger air bag inflator with an alternate one, free of charge. The recall began december 3, 2019. Owners may contact mazda customer service at 1-800-222-5500, option 4. Mazda's number for this recall is 1317f. Note: this recall supersedes recalls 16v356 and 17v012.
Full defect summary
Mazda north american operations (mazda) is recalling certain 2007-2012 cx-7, cx-9, and 2009-2012 maza6 vehicles. These vehicles had their passenger frontal air bag inflators previously replaced under a prior recall using inflators of the same design. The inflators may explode due to propellant degradation occurring after long-term exposure to high absolute humidity, temperature and temperature cycling.
Air bags: inflator module
Risk: An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
Fix: Mazda will notify owners, and dealers will replace the front passenger air bag inflator with an alternate inflator, free of charge. The recall began november 9, 2018. Owners may contact mazda customer service at 1-800-222-5500, option 4. Mazda's number for this recall is 1317f.
Full defect summary
Mazda north american operations (mazda) is recalling certain 2014-2015 mazda cx-9 vehicles sold, or ever registered in the states of alabama, california, florida, georgia, hawaii, louisiana, mississippi, south carolina, texas, puerto rico, american samoa, guam, the northern mariana islands (saipan), and the u.s. Virgin islands or "zone a." additionally, unless covered in "zone a," mazda is recalling certain 2011-2013 mazda6, 2011-2012 cx-7, and 2011-2015 cx-9 sold, or ever registered in the states of arizona, arkansas, delaware, illinois, indiana, kansas, kentucky, maryland, missouri, nebraska, nevada, new jersey, new mexico, north carolina, ohio, oklahoma, pennsylvania, tennessee, virginia, west virginia and the district of columbia, or "zone b." additionally, unless covered in zone a or zone b, mazda is recalling certain 2010-2013 mazda6, 2010-2012 cx-7, and 2010-2015 cx-9 vehicles eve
Air bags: inflator module
Risk: An inflator rupture may result in metal fragments striking the vehicle occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
Fix: Owners are advised not to drive their vehicles until the remedy is performed. Mazda will notify owners, and dealers will replace the passenger frontal air bag inflator with an alternate inflator, free of charge. The recall began on august 30, 2017. Owners may contact mazda customer service at 1-800-222-5500. Mazda's number for this recall is 1317f. Note: this recall supersedes recall 16v356 and all vehicles that were not remedied under that campaign are now covered by this one.
Full defect summary
Mazda north america operations (mazda) is recalling certain 2009-2011 mazda6, and 2007-2011 cx-7 and cx-9 vehicles. These vehicles are equipped with certain air bag inflators assembled as part of the passenger frontal air bag modules, and used as original equipment or replacement equipment. In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the front air bags, these inflators may rupture due to propellant degradation occurring after long-term exposure to absolute humidity and temperature cycling.
Suspension: lower ball joint
Risk: Over time, the ball joint corrosion may result in the front lower control arm separating from the ball joint, causing a loss of steering control and increasing the risk of a crash.
Fix: Mazda will notify owners, and dealers will replace both the left and right lower control arms, free of charge. The recall began on september 14, 2015. The recall will begin with model year 2007-2009 vehicles registered in connecticut, delaware, illinois, indiana, iowa, kentucky, maine, maryland, massachusetts, michigan, minnesota, missouri, new hampshire, new jersey, new york, ohio, pennsylvania, rhode island, vermont, virginia, washington d.c., west virginia, and wisconsin. The second phase will be for model year 2010-2014 vehicles in the same states. Finally, all remaining vehicles will be r
Full defect summary
Mazda north american operations (mazda) is recalling certain model year 2007-2014 cx-9 vehicles manufactured october 24, 2006, to december 28, 2013. The affected vehicles have front suspension ball joints that may corrode from water leaking into the fitting.
Recall repairs are free at any franchised dealer. Enter your VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls to see which recalls are still open on your car.
NHTSA defect investigations
Inadvertent curtain air bag deployment
Summary
The office of defects investigation (odi) opened this preliminary evaluation (pe19-006) on may 2, 2019 to investigate two vehicle owner questionnaires (voqs) and early warning reporting data related to allegations of inadvertent deployment (iad) of side curtain airbags in model year (my) 2010 through 2013 mazda cx-9 vehicles. Odi sent an information request (ir) to mazda north america operations, llc. To gather information about the alleged defect in the subject vehicles. In the 20 months since opening the pe, odi has received three additional voqs. To date, there have been a total of 11 iad incidents within the identified population of 104,360 vehicles. Of the 11 incidents, no serious injur
Lower ball joint separation
Summary
In an july 7,2015 letter to NHTSA, mazda identified a safety defect that could result in lower ball joint separation in approximately 193,484 model year (my) 2007 through 2014 mazda cx-9 vehicles (NHTSA recall no. 15v-451,mazda 8515g).mazda indicated that damage to the ball joint boot may allow water to enter the front suspension ball joint fitting during use which may result in premature ball joint wear and a progressively looser joint.in january 2014, mazda implemented redesigned lower control arms in production vehicles to improve the durability of the lower ball joints.the redesign involved changing the shape of the top surface of the ball joint boot cover and adding a suspension plate t
Brake booster failure
Summary
In march 2014, mazda motor corporation (mazda) initiated special service program ssp93 to extend the warranty coverage for a specific brake booster fault condition on model year (my) 2007-2013 mazda cx-9 vehicles.according to mazda's dealer communication for ssp93, the subject vehicles may exhibit a condition were the brake pedal is harder than usual to depress. Complainants report hearing air leakage (hissing) from the driver-side foot area during braking.the mazda program extends the warranty coverage for repairing this condition to unlimited time and mileage for repairs performed between march 31, 2014 and march 31, 2015 and to 7 years or 90,000 miles for repairs performed after march 31,
Questions about the 2011 Mazda CX-9
- What are the most common problems with the 2011 Mazda CX-9?
- By NHTSA owner complaints: brakes (99 complaints, typically around 71,000 miles); transmission (25 complaints, typically around 87,000 miles); air bags (22 complaints, typically around 104,500 miles).
- How many recalls does the 2011 Mazda CX-9 have?
- 4 recalls listed by NHTSA, the latest from October 31, 2019 (air bags). Check your VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls to see which ones are still open on your car.
- Is the 2011 a bad year for the Mazda CX-9?
- It is 4th of 17 CX-9 model years by number of complaints, with 170 complaints. Complaint counts are not adjusted for how many cars were sold, so popular years collect more of them, and the newest years have had less time to.