9.0

really awful
Typical Repair Cost:
$750
Average Mileage:
104,000 miles
Total Complaints:
8 complaints

Most common solutions:

  1. not sure (4 reports)
  2. replace brake booster (4 reports)
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problem #8

Jan 032020

CX-9 Limited V6

  • Automatic transmission
  • 79,338 miles

After the wife was complaining about a strange intermittent noise, as well as having a soft pedal and/or hard pedal when braking over the last month. The noise stayed on long enough to record it. As the car was scheduled for an Air Bag replacement due to recall, she told the Service Advisor about the noise.

Mechanics identified the problem as failing Brake Booster - at $838 to replace. I found that NHTSA had opened an investigation on 2010-2011 CX-9's to investigate this issue, and closed it when Mazda offered to extend the warranty to 7 years or 90,000 miles. Our CX-9 is just over 9 years old and has 79,338 miles on it.

I called Mazda Customer Experience and they would do nothing for us. Our CX-9 is no longer covered. NHTSA dropped the ball. They should have forced Mazda to recall all of the CX-9's for this issue. Our next car will not be a Mazda.

- Brian M., Laguna Hills, CA, US

problem #7

Sep 142020

CX-9 Touring

  • Automatic transmission
  • 118,000 miles

My CX9 brakes failed to stop me as i came to a stop light and it changed just as I approached the intersection and I blew through the light. Fortunately traffic had not moved into the intersection, so no paint swapping occurred. Mazda KNOWS about this problem, and choose not to notify vehicle owners of a potential catastrophic event. They have no concern about safety issues, only their bottom line.

- Dennis C., Millbury, US

problem #6

Nov 232020

CX-9 LX 3.2L V6

  • Automatic transmission
  • 122,201 miles

The brake booster was bad so I replaced it. $600.00 later and here it was. Not even a day later, a wrench is showing on my dash board and the is a weird noise coming from it.

I do not feel I should have to pay for this since there was a problem since I don't know when.

- Michael M., Phillipsburg, NJ, US

problem #5

Jul 252019

CX-9 V6

  • Automatic transmission
  • 136,000 miles

I have had the car since 2012 and have had no real problems with it, until recently the brakes all of a sudden are hard to press and I have to use a lot of pressure to even stop the car. After having the brakes checked it was determined that there was nothing wrong with the brakes so I decided to do some research and found out that there have been many other complaints about this issue. It is really unfair that the consumer is not notified of these problems until it is possibly to late.

- Lisa L., Pensacola, FL, US

problem #4

Jun 012019

CX-9 CX9 3.7L

  • Automatic transmission
  • 105,000 miles

My 2011 Mazda CX9 brakes are really bad. I have to literally stand on brakes to make my car stop hitting car ahead. The brakes makes annoying hissing sound when brakes are applied. Reading online, I see several people having same issue but when I spoke to customer care he was rude and rejected my request to help. As this is manufacturing defect, I was expecting to get recall notice but never got any. Now when the issue started in my car, the Mazda customer care is not helping here.

As this is safety concern, I would request to look into this matter and help me.

- agar.vijay, Overland Park, US

problem #3

May 112019

CX-9 Touring V6

  • Automatic transmission
  • 107,000 miles

I noticed a significant problem braking on my CX9 to where I had to almost stand on the brake pedal to stop. Added brake fluid hoping that would help but did not. Took it to Mazda dealership in Buford, Ga and they confirmed the brake booster was causing the problem and strongly recommended replacement asap. They explained the problem is a known issue and Mazda extended the warranty to 90k miles. The problem for me was my '11 CX9 had 107k. I had no choice but to pay to have the problem fixed due to my personal safety.

A couple days later I called Mazda Customer experience and voiced my disappointment that this part was never recalled and people are driving around in unsafe CX9's. They did confess that if I would have called them 'before' my repair they could have reviewed the issue and perhaps offset some of the cost. This left me very disappointed since they would have preferred I kept driving the car and risked injury to others while they reviewed the case.

On a brighter note they did offer me an e-Plan discount (4%) on my next new Mazda that is taken off Dealer Invoice price. #CX9Sadness

- Craig A., Buford, US

problem #2

Aug 222018

CX-9 Grand Touring V6

  • Automatic transmission
  • 91,244 miles

Mazda extended the warranty to April 2018 or 90,000 miles. The problem appeared after the warranty was up and the car is at 91244. They say it is not a problem from their side. Unlike the recalls, Mazda owners were not informed about this problem which had been investigated by the NHTSA.

The NHTSA found that the brake boosters for this particular year and model were bad.

- Tracey M., San Pedro, CA, US

problem #1

Jun 202016

CX-9 Grand Touring

  • Automatic transmission
  • 73,000 miles

We purchased this vehicle used and were encouraged to purchase the extended warranty, which we did; however, we have a $500 deductible. After researching, this is a known issue with 2009-2011 models. Mazda satisfied the inquiry by agreeing to extend the warranty to owners. BUT evidently this does not apply to second owners. How is that right? The dealership knowingly sold the car with the issue.

- Amanda C., Seminole, FL, US