2013 CX-9 GT - New Owner

2ManyMazdas

Only brand I buy.
New owner of a 2013 CX-9 GT with 60,000 miles and full maintenance records. Car was dealer maintained with oil changes every 3,000 miles. I had the the coolant flushed and replaced with new FL22. Car runs strong and smooth and looks new inside and out.

I previously had a 2006 Mazda6 with the Ford Duratec V6 so I'm familiar with how much fun cars from the Ford/Mazda era can be. I'm hoping to get 3-5 years from the CX-9 doing the school run and some trips to the cottage. I'm planning on having the PTU fluid replaced soon and will monitor the coolant level at each fill up.

I've read all the horror stories about water pump and PTU failures. It can really send you down a rabbit hole, but what I never see in the postings or the videos is what condition was the car in during its life? Was it maintained, was it maintained beyond the requirements in the owner's manual? Where was it driven, what was the climate like? Was it beaten on by the previous owner? I know this is a sensitive topic for some, but I feel like these posting lack some important detail and context. With failures reported between 60,000 miles and 200,000 miles, there must be more to the story....or it it literally a game of chance with no rhyme or reason to it?
 
I am the original owner of a 2013 CX-9 GT with 101k miles. I have scrupulously maintained it since new. Oil changes every 5K with full synthetic, PTU and ATF fluid change (not flush) every 15K, rear diff fluid change every 20K. Original PTU was replaced under warranty at 35k due to leaks; so far, so good on replacement. Water pump failed at 85K; thankfully, it presented as a significant leak through the weephole behind alternator and not a coolant dump into oil pan. Failure was sudden with no advance warning, such as gradual coolant loss, etc.

Vehicle has spent its entire life in temperate climate under light duty conditions (no trailer towing, extreme temps, heavy loads). Despite knowing of the Cyclone/Duratec water pump failures, I was still surprised my pampered CX-9 suffered the same fate at what I considered low mileage for such a failure to occur. It remains to be seen if the clearly under-engineered PTU fails again under my ownership.

All of that being said, I still love driving the CX-9 on road trips - it's solid, stable, handles well and is very comfortable, except when I stop to refuel.
 
We have a 2012 CX-9 Touring that just clicked over 178k miles. As far as I can tell, it still has the original transfer case, auto transmission, and engine / water pump. I have no indications that it won't get us to 200k miles. The suspension might be getting loose with so many miles...
 
My wife had a 2009 CX9 for about 9 years.
We bought it off a lease at around 26k miles and got rid of it with about 185K miles.

Oil changes around 5k miles.
Never changed the water pump or even the coolant.
Brake fluid was original as well.
I think I did a drain/fill of the transmission around 120k miles, but that was it.

I changed the PTU fluid around 120k miles and about 6 months later it started leaking, so it was replaced at that time. The fluid was pretty nasty when I changed it, so I'm guessing the clean fluid cleaned the gunk from the seals and allowed them to leak.

Since my wife put 95% of the miles on it, it was driven easy. I'd say she rarely gave it more than 1/2 throttle. 50/50 city/highway with monthly highway trips to my inlaws 300 miles round trip. We towed a small trailer a couple times. 100% life in MN, which sees fairly cold and hot temps (not south hot) throughout the year.

I feel the PTU and water pump failures are random. Some people had the PTU lock up and take out the transmission output shaft as well, where as like us, just a small leak.

Same with the water pump.
goosemazda had one leak out the weep hole, other's it leaked into the engine, others (like us again), never had any issues up to fairly high mileage.
 
2009 with 270,000km an no major issues. Change the coolant (trans & ptu also) regularly.

The water pump issue tends to hit low mileage cars and happens to people that aren't aware of the issue and they end driving with the failed pump, thus causing more damage. A small percent have the pump failure, so no need to be to worried.
 
Back