Is my CX-9 only one with many problems?

[Kaikim]

Hi
My name is Kai Kim. I bought 2010 Mazda CX-9 in March and have had many problems since. I would like to share my bad experiences and get your insights.
1. In 2 months, transmission solenoid fluid broke down and shift gear only went to 3rd. I had my car in the dealer shop for a week to fix it.
2. In the hot summer, the front windows bounced back down after they hit the top as if there was an object sensored.
3. The side mirror (driver side) vibrates badly after 45 MPH. I took the car to dealers 3 times, they could not fix. I was told that other CX-9s were found with the same problem and with many customer inquiries. I called Mazda Service and was told that there is nothing Mazda would do about it and has no plan to fix it since there is no safety concern so I should bear with the problem. This is ridiculous! Evertime I drive I see shaking objects in the mirror driving me crazy.
DOES ANYONE WITH CX-9 HAVE SIMILAR PROBLEM?

 

[blue_omg]

The mirrors problem is so common and YES it's ridiculous how Mazda treat their customers,
although the shaking in mine is not severe but really annoying,

the rest of your problems are just bad luck... I have a 2008 GT with ~77000km and it's very fine, the only thing i had to change is a little fuse in the past 3 years,,

 

[semrz1]

Hello KaiKim.
Sorry to hear the problems. Don't face the issue mentioned on my CX-9. Hope Mazda Center take your case seriously. Good luck.

 

[AZCX9]

I feel for you man! I am in the same boat, but with an older model (2007 Grand Touring). I think we did this to ourselves though as we bought the niner used with high miles (79K). The morning after we brought it home we had noticed the radiator was leaking fluid...awesome...brought it in and they fixed it for free since we were within our 30 day warranty...next we noticed some vibration in the drivetrain when accelerating to pass...the dealer found that the throttle body went south and needed to be replaced...after shelling out money we didn't have for that, now either the struts or the steering rack is making noises / creaks when turning or going over speed bumps. I tell ya, if I could do it over, I would have ran from this car and bought a lower mileage one down the road! We would like to keep this thing for a few years, but at this rate it will send us to the poor house! These vehicles should last 150K miles at a min. without any real issues, other than the routine maitenance and replacing items that wear out!

 

[Antonio DiMarco]

AZCX9 Did you by chance check the title? Was it clean? Just curious.

 

[ceric]

That is the risk of buying an used vehicle w/o knowing it complete history.
An used vehicles could be a lemon, or one that was poorly maintained.
In either case, the vehicle might be problematic later when you own it.
This is how an used vehicle is moved through sales channel.
When you trade in a vehicle,
- if the vehicle is clean and low-mile, the dealer keeps it in used car lot.
- if not, the vehicle is intended for auction. Therefore, the dealer buys your vehicle
at proper price knowing that it is for auction
> first, the vehicle goes to the "dealer auction", where only shops that have dealer licenses can view and purchase the vehicles.
> second, if a vehicle cannot be sold at dealer's auction, it falls to "public auctions", where anyone can visit, view, and make purchase.

So, next time when you want to buy an used vehicle, consider only
- private party (could be good or bad)
- new car dealers' used cars
Do more research on the vehicle you intend to buy (google VIN, carfax, autocheck, etc.)

If you can live with a higher-mileage used vehicle, you can find a used car dealer that is willing to accomany you to
dealer's auction for a small fee (says, $500) when a specific description of used car pops up in the list. They usually
bring mechanics along to check on vehicles.

 

[AZCX9]

Thanks for the advice everyone!

We got a carfax report and it came back clean with no real issues...it looked like it was well maintained with records, wasn't in an accident. I think what we got was a horrible case of bad luck. The dealer we bought it from was a Nissan dealership and they actually paid for half of the throttle body repair which was pretty nice of them to do. They even allowed a Mazda dealership do the work! At the time I didn't really want to buy higher mileage vehicle, but we were strapped for cash and had to get something with room for the family. Since my Mazdaspeed 6 has been a great car, I figured I couldn't go wrong with this one...Oh well, what can one do!

 

[T.Narley]

My 2008 had a bad throttle body at 15,000 miles, and the mirror shakes a bit even though they "fixed" it.

I can speak from experience as a fleet manager of 10 vehicles, bought new every 2-3 years, occassional repairs, even in warranty, are not unusual.

 

[Antonio DiMarco]

BTW, my 2010 Mz6 just had it's TB replaced along with it's purge valve. I was experiencing a shaky idle and Mazda Tech recommended to my dealer to replace the TB and purge valve. Since the 6 and CX-9 share the same 3.7 liter engine I have to think there are some consistent parts failures across them- which is one of the benefits of mass manufacturing and parts sharing- the ability to see common problems and drive to root cause more quickly. Just an FYI more than anything else.

 

[T.Narley]

You are right Antonio. I had to call my friend who is a 20 year master tech at a Ford dealer, explain our throttle problem and he immediately said "tell them to put a new throttle body on it, they get moisture in them and fail". He knew right away because he had replaced several on 3.5 equipped Fords.

I actually had to fight with the dealer on because they couldnt reproduce the problem. It would randomly stop responding, leaving my wife stranded in the middle of a busy freeway and then the middle of an intersection. Finally I told them what he said, told them to call him (nearby dealer), and if they refused to replace it I wanted written documentation that I insisted on a replacement throttle body yet they refused. They would then be responsible if it failed and caused a crash.

They replaced it and there have been no further problems.

 

[mihalis]

I feel for you man! I am in the same boat, but with an older model (2007 Grand Touring). I think we did this to ourselves though as we bought the niner used with high miles (79K). The morning after we brought it home we had noticed the radiator was leaking fluid...awesome...brought it in and they fixed it for free since we were within our 30 day warranty...next we noticed some vibration in the drivetrain when accelerating to pass...the dealer found that the throttle body went south and needed to be replaced...after shelling out money we didn't have for that, now either the struts or the steering rack is making noises / creaks when turning or going over speed bumps. I tell ya, if I could do it over, I would have ran from this car and bought a lower mileage one down the road! We would like to keep this thing for a few years, but at this rate it will send us to the poor house! These vehicles should last 150K miles at a min. without any real issues, other than the routine maitenance and replacing items that wear out!

I hear about problems with cars here and there, especially on message boards. The truth is, many people have tons of problems with all their cars but they do nothing to fix them. I know people that just don't care. I've known two people that have had bad brakes but didn't want to spend anymore on their car, so they keep driving until the car dies. As a vehicle ages, it will have problems, I don't care what brand it is. I've owned 2 Toyota's and both had problems. I could have chosen to ignore them, but I'm someone that maintains my vehicles as I rather be safe. I client of mine has a RAM 2500 Quadcab that he plows with, it's had tons of front end and engine work and the miles are about 30K. Depending on how you use a vehicle (and what previous use it's had if you buy used), that will determine how reliable it will be in the future.

Just to report, our CX-9 has 32K miles and the only minor problem we've had was the fuel cap light coming on as I was just cruising on the highway. It shut off, and everything was fine.

 

[Antonio DiMarco]

Couldn't agree with you more mihalis. I'm also very OCD when it comes to vehicle maintenance. People often lose perspective not to mention forget (or chose to ignore) that cars are complex machines that require servicing to stay in top shape. There are also so many variables with respect to driving style, climate and overall useage that it's hard to say whether a problem could be related to reliability or just poor care.