KnownCarProblems2012 Mazda CX-9 Problems and Recalls
Owners filed 221 complaints with NHTSA about the 2012 Mazda CX-9, most often about the brakes (65% of complaints, typically around 56,500 miles). It is the most complained-about CX-9 model year since 2000 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 2012 Mazda CX-9 problems
Brakes
143 complaints · 65%Half of these problems showed up before 56,500 miles. Parts named most often: pedals and linkages, foundation components.
My brake feels like it has air under it and is hard to press down on. It also makes a hissing sound. When stopped at a traffic light, with my foot on the brake, it feels like my car is trying to move. I am scared my brake will fail or not work when I push on it. I noticed this about a week and a half ago. I thought it…
My wife complained about the brakes on her 2012 Mazda cx9 making a hissing type sound and brakes feeling different than normal. I have drove the vehicle and confirmed the power brake assist is not operating. We learned that others have had the same problem for 2010 and 2011 model year and nhtsb is investigating. There…
Engine
26 complaints · 12%Half of these problems showed up before 58,000 miles.
The transfer case is leaking and going to go completely out on my 2012 Mazda CX-9, I noticed the same gear shifting problem in my 2004 Mazda 6 wagon. The car feels like driving a stick, it jolts when shifting to drive and while moving it feels like it is shifting early. This is a known problem with Mazda but a recall…
The contact owns a 2012 Mazda CX-9. The contact stated that while traveling 15 MPH, the vehicle exhibited difficulty in decelerating. The contact had to pump the break pedal extremely hard in order to slow the vehicle. There was a hissing noise that sounded throughout the vehicle. The vehicle did not decelerate until…
Air bags
23 complaints · 10%Half of these problems showed up before 75,000 miles.
Takata recall" this is in relation to curtain airbags deploying without warning or impact to the vehicle. There was no accident involved. Traveling down the freeway and the curtain airbags deployed.
The contact owned a 2012 Mazda CX-9. While driving 2 MPH, a pick up truck rear ended the contact's vehicle. In turn, the contact crashed into a third vehicle. The air bags did not deploy. A police report was filed and there were no injuries. The vehicle was destroyed and towed. The manufacturer was notified of the…
Transmission
18 complaints · 8%Half of these problems showed up before 52,500 miles.
Like one other incident, my complaint involves the transfer case which is specific to the AWD models. I was on a major roadway when I noticed a low, strange noise. About this time I was preparing to enter a turn lane when the car suddenly lurched and made an awful noise that literally sounded like the engine fell out.…
The transfer case is leaking and going to go completely out on my 2012 Mazda CX-9, I noticed the same gear shifting problem in my 2004 Mazda 6 wagon. The car feels like driving a stick, it jolts when shifting to drive and while moving it feels like it is shifting early. This is a known problem with Mazda but a recall…
Speed control
11 complaints · 5%Half of these problems showed up before 54,000 miles.
I was turning right into a parking space with my foot on the brake, when the car suddenly accelerated. The engine revved up and the car darted forward. For a split second I lifted my foot to make sure I was not pressing on the accelerator, and immediately pushed back down on the brake as hard as I could; the car…
The contact owns a 2012 Mazda CX-9. While attempting to accelerate from a traffic light, the accelerator pedal was depressed; however, the vehicle failed to respond. The contact stated that there were no warning indicators before or after the failure. The brake pedal also became extremely difficult to depress. The…
Suspension
9 complaints · 4%The contact owns a 2012 Mazda CX-9. The contact heard an abnormal noise coming from the vehicle. The contact received notification of NHTSA campaign number: 15v451000 (suspension); however, the part to do the repair was unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the…
The contact owns a 2012 Mazda cx9. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle shut-off with an unknown warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to two independent mechanics who diagnosed that water entered the vehicle and caused the corrosion of the front suspension ball joint.…
Steering
7 complaints · 3%Half of these problems showed up before 18,000 miles.
The contact owns a 2012 Mazda CX-9. While driving 30 MPH, the vehicle jerked to the left without warning and crashed into a tree. The air bags failed to deploy. There were no injuries sustained. A police report was filed. The vehicle was towed to a dealer to be repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the…
I have a Mazda 2012 that spontaneously stalls while decelerating. It also stalls predictably on an incline. Mazda corporation has stated "the stalling on an incline is a characteristic of all CX-9 models" and are not willing to fix it. They have informed me that stalling while decelerating in my car has not been able…
Other or unspecified
6 complaints · 3%I experienced unexplained sudden acceleration while stopped at a stop light. At the time of the incident there was one car stopped in front of me and one behind me. From the onset of the incident it took just a very few seconds, probably between two and four, for the engine to rev to an extremely high speed. While…
We have noticed the difficulty in depressing the brake pad along with the hissing noise over the past 1 month and it has progressively became stronger. Initially you brush it off thinking you are imagining it. Today on a hill there was an accident so traffic was barely moving, I started to leave more and more distance…
Complaints are owner reports to NHTSA, not verified defects. One complaint can name several components, so shares add up to more than 100%.
2012 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 front passenger side air bag inflator with an alternate inflator, free of charge. The recall began october 4, 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 17v-012.
Full defect summary
Mazda north america operations (mazda) is recalling certain 2012 cx-7, cx-9 and mazda6 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 included in "zone a" above, mazda is recalling certain 2009 cx-7, cx-9 and mazda6 vehicles sold, or ever registered in the states of arizona, arkansas, delaware, district of columbia, illinois, indiana, kansas, kentucky, maryland, missouri, nebraska, nevada, new jersey, new mexico, north carolina, ohio, oklahoma, pennsylvania, tennessee, virginia, and west virginia, or "zone b." additionally, unless included in "zone a" or "zone b" above, mazda is recalling certain 2007-2008 cx-7 and cx-9 sold, or ever registered in the stat
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
Questions about the 2012 Mazda CX-9
- What are the most common problems with the 2012 Mazda CX-9?
- By NHTSA owner complaints: brakes (143 complaints, typically around 56,500 miles); engine (26 complaints, typically around 58,000 miles); air bags (23 complaints, typically around 75,000 miles).
- How many recalls does the 2012 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 2012 a bad year for the Mazda CX-9?
- It is the most complained-about CX-9 model year since 2000, with 221 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.