Very worried about my cx7

hawx20

Member
I have an 08 CX7 that i bought brand new. its almost paid off and my plan was to keep it and retire my 01 explorer. I am very concerned about the reliability of this vehicle and am considering trading it in towards a new car for my wife. At this point, I almost have more faith in my 01 Explorer than this 08 CX7.

It has 44k miles on it. At 22k, all 4 tires needed to be replaced. The check engine light comes on every few months because the EGR valve is constantly getting clogged even though I use nothing but premium fuel as recommended. I have an oil leak and the mechanic told me its the oil cooler that is leaking and the part if $494.

To me, that just seems like a ton of problems for a 5 year old car with only 44k miles on it. I've read plenty of horror stories online from other CX7 owners with the same issues, and a few saying their engine totally died around 80-90k miles on it. I really hate to trade it in just because my 01 Explorer is getting up there in miles and i'm trying to avoid having 2 car payments. This vehicle just really concerns me though and I dont want to keep it if its going to be giving me nothing but problems.

Just wanted some opinions from other CX7 owners.
 
tires means you had a bad alignment, watch for potholes

EGR takes 20 minutes to clean yourself, or you can buy a used one from a Mazdaspeed3/6 that has deleted theirs

oil cooler is unlikely. since thats where the filter goes im willing to bet he didnt tighten the filter enough, change the o rings, or overtightened and broke something.

just my thoughts. the engine in your car is the same as the speed's and many are well over 100k and some have hit 200k already
 
When the check engine light came on for the first time, Mazda told me the entire valve had to be replaced at $800 for the part. I've been taking it in to get it cleaned for $40 by my mechanic since I dont know crap about working on cars.

Thats really my biggest gripe with the car is the EGR constantly being clogged. I have a feeling the tires going out were more my wifes bad driving than anything else. The oil had been leaking for a while. Just a few drops after driving it so it wasnt my mechanic that broke it. I have a feeling the valvoline guys may have done something wrong when i changed my oil. I guess I will just fix it and hope it lasts as it should.
 
I would stop taking it to the dealer and find an independent shop you trust.

I do. That was just the dealer cost for the egr valve if i took it to them. My mechanic fixed the leak, the part of almost $500, and he cleaned the egr for free. I decided to keep it and hope it gives me few problems from now on.
 
hawx

44 k miles and sludge in the egr ? Take the egr apart every now and then to clean it...? Yeah there's some kind of trouble.
 
I have an 08 CX7 that i bought brand new. its almost paid off and my plan was to keep it and retire my 01 explorer. I am very concerned about the reliability of this vehicle and am considering trading it in towards a new car for my wife. At this point, I almost have more faith in my 01 Explorer than this 08 CX7.

It has 44k miles on it. At 22k, all 4 tires needed to be replaced. The check engine light comes on every few months because the EGR valve is constantly getting clogged even though I use nothing but premium fuel as recommended. I have an oil leak and the mechanic told me its the oil cooler that is leaking and the part if $494.

To me, that just seems like a ton of problems for a 5 year old car with only 44k miles on it. I've read plenty of horror stories online from other CX7 owners with the same issues, and a few saying their engine totally died around 80-90k miles on it. I really hate to trade it in just because my 01 Explorer is getting up there in miles and i'm trying to avoid having 2 car payments. This vehicle just really concerns me though and I dont want to keep it if its going to be giving me nothing but problems.

Just wanted some opinions from other CX7 owners.

Hi, I've just joined your boat...! I have an '08 CX-7 GS and I've been reading up on potential problems such as engine sludge buildup and failing turbo-chargers. I'm determined to keep my CX-7 as long as possible simply because I love the powerful and peppy engine, nimble handling, and overall balance between practicality and sportiness. One thing I'll start doing is changing my synthetic oil at half the recommended interval, i.e., 3000km instead of 7000. The other is try to find out what maintenance can be done to prolong the life of our turbo-charger...!
 
if you want to save the turbo then do the following

1. let the car warm up before getting on it
2. switch to 5w40
3. let it idle for 30 seconds before turning it off

if the turbo is going to go, it is going to go. not much you can do to prevent it other than what ive just listed

fwiw i was on my 3rd k04 at 50k before getting a big one, just saved the hassle

you can also replace the k04 with a BNR and solve the bearing issue permanently.
 
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