Considering a 2018 CX-9 but concerned about 2.5T oil consumption

[Snail]

Hey all,

My wife and I are considering a pre-owned CX9, but lately I've been hearing a lot of issues with oil consumption on the 2.5T and it's getting me a little concerned. My brother's 2019 non-turbo Mazda3 has had its oil-low light come on a couple of times, and he does top his oil off from time to time...which I find pretty concerning for someone who drives what I would consider very normally, somewhat spirited with a decent dose of mechanical sympathy. Just recently, some guy left his 5,000 mile CX50 in sport mode for a good part of its life and almost ran out of oil, failed an oil consumption test to which Mazda US has basically told him to get bent. Suddenly, I'm hearing people chime in and say they've had to add oil to their very young 2.5 turbo engines well within the service interval.

What? Why? How could a new engine be taking even a noticeable amount of engine oil under normal driving? No one is tracking their CX50 here, and these things don't have 300,000 km yet. I'm looking at keeping this CX9 for the long haul and I don't want to be stuck with a oil burner.

So, in an 8,000 km / 5,000 mile interval, how much oil does your CX9 take?
Do you do your own oil changes on it?
Have you measured what comes out vs what you have to put in?
Did you ever get a low-oil light?

 

[dougal]

The 2021 2.5T engine - in multiple models - had oil burning issues that in most cases, were a quart of oil over 5000 miles.

I had a 2018 CX-9, which burned no oil. I have had multiple non turbo 2.5 engines in multiple Mazda's and none of them burned oil.

To my knowledge, only the 2021 model 2.5T engines had this issue.

 

[GTEyes]

There is some Service Bulletin Info. available around that notes the models, etc...

As @dougal mentioned, they are mostly all '21 models. I don't believe i've heard of non-turbo engines burning oil but I could be mistaken.

I've had 3 Mazdas ('18 Mazda6, '20 CX5, '22 CX5) with the turbo 2.5 and none had oil burning issues. No low oil warnings, no concerns with oil consumption at all.

I believe the issue was faulty valve oil seals.

 

[jal142]

The bigger concern with that model year is the head cracking due to a design flaw. Search this forum, there are a few threads on this topic.

 

[sm1ke]

Hey all,

My wife and I are considering a pre-owned CX9, but lately I've been hearing a lot of issues with oil consumption on the 2.5T and it's getting me a little concerned. My brother's 2019 non-turbo Mazda3 has had its oil-low light come on a couple of times, and he does top his oil off from time to time...which I find pretty concerning for someone who drives what I would consider very normally, somewhat spirited with a decent dose of mechanical sympathy. Just recently, some guy left his 5,000 mile CX50 in sport mode for a good part of its life and almost ran out of oil, failed an oil consumption test to which Mazda US has basically told him to get bent. Suddenly, I'm hearing people chime in and say they've had to add oil to their very young 2.5 turbo engines well within the service interval.

What? Why? How could a new engine be taking even a noticeable amount of engine oil under normal driving? No one is tracking their CX50 here, and these things don't have 300,000 km yet. I'm looking at keeping this CX9 for the long haul and I don't want to be stuck with a oil burner.

So, in an 8,000 km / 5,000 mile interval, how much oil does your CX9 take?
Do you do your own oil changes on it?
Have you measured what comes out vs what you have to put in?
Did you ever get a low-oil light?

Pretty familiar with the CX-50 story on Reddit, it's been discussed before here. Not credible IMO.

I have a 2018 CX-9. I drive it every day and it gets driven moderately aggressively. I don't drive in Sport. I do my own oil changes and usually the oil level is right in the middle of the Min and Max marks on the dipstick. I have never had a low oil warning in nearly 90k kms.

 

[Silly Wabbit]

The bigger concern with that model year is the head cracking due to a design flaw. Search this forum, there are a few threads on this topic.

This.

 

[gphin]

If you still have concerns about this issue, maybe consider purchasing a used CPO from a Mazda dealer and get a 7 year, 100,000 mile powertrain warranty. FYI, my 2020 oil level stays the same between every 5k oil changes....burns zero oil.

 

[speed3chris1]

I had a 2016 Sig. that did use a little oil but had fuel dilution. I could smell the gas in it. I have had my 2021 Sig for over 2 years and 36,000mi. with no issues.

 

[DustyB]

Hey all,

My wife and I are considering a pre-owned CX9, but lately I've been hearing a lot of issues with oil consumption on the 2.5T and it's getting me a little concerned. My brother's 2019 non-turbo Mazda3 has had its oil-low light come on a couple of times, and he does top his oil off from time to time...which I find pretty concerning for someone who drives what I would consider very normally, somewhat spirited with a decent dose of mechanical sympathy. Just recently, some guy left his 5,000 mile CX50 in sport mode for a good part of its life and almost ran out of oil, failed an oil consumption test to which Mazda US has basically told him to get bent. Suddenly, I'm hearing people chime in and say they've had to add oil to their very young 2.5 turbo engines well within the service interval.

What? Why? How could a new engine be taking even a noticeable amount of engine oil under normal driving? No one is tracking their CX50 here, and these things don't have 300,000 km yet. I'm looking at keeping this CX9 for the long haul and I don't want to be stuck with a oil burner.

So, in an 8,000 km / 5,000 mile interval, how much oil does your CX9 take?
Do you do your own oil changes on it?
Have you measured what comes out vs what you have to put in?
Did you ever get a low-oil light?

i have had no issues with oil burning in my 2018 CX9. regular oil changes initially at 8K. i have since upped that to 10K per oil change as full synthetic should be able to handle 10K in normal driving conditions.

 

[Fruitwolf]

Hey all,

My wife and I are considering a pre-owned CX9, but lately I've been hearing a lot of issues with oil consumption on the 2.5T and it's getting me a little concerned. My brother's 2019 non-turbo Mazda3 has had its oil-low light come on a couple of times, and he does top his oil off from time to time...which I find pretty concerning for someone who drives what I would consider very normally, somewhat spirited with a decent dose of mechanical sympathy. Just recently, some guy left his 5,000 mile CX50 in sport mode for a good part of its life and almost ran out of oil, failed an oil consumption test to which Mazda US has basically told him to get bent. Suddenly, I'm hearing people chime in and say they've had to add oil to their very young 2.5 turbo engines well within the service interval.

What? Why? How could a new engine be taking even a noticeable amount of engine oil under normal driving? No one is tracking their CX50 here, and these things don't have 300,000 km yet. I'm looking at keeping this CX9 for the long haul and I don't want to be stuck with a oil burner.

So, in an 8,000 km / 5,000 mile interval, how much oil does your CX9 take?
Do you do your own oil changes on it?
Have you measured what comes out vs what you have to put in?
Did you ever get a low-oil light?

The 2018 Signature I drive has no oil issues. It’s got around 78k miles on it.
I get oil changed every 7500 miles or so.

The only issues have been the funky info screen (replaced free) and leaky water pump. (got it replaced by the dealer)
The more I drive the Mazda, the more I like it.

 

[PTguy]

2016:
So, in an 8,000 km / 5,000 mile interval, how much oil does your CX9 take? None
Do you do your own oil changes on it? Yes
Have you measured what comes out vs what you have to put in? Only on the dip stick
Did you ever get a low-oil light? No