2009 Mazda CX-9
This year drew an ordinary 59 complaints for a Mazda CX-9 — the model's median is 68. What they were about is the unusual part: 27.1% of them mention aware, against 10.3% across the model's other years.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 59 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 68 |
| Involving a crash | 2 |
| Recalls | 7 |
| EPA combined | 17.5 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- aware — 27.1% of this year's complaints, against 10.3% across the model's other years (2.6×).
- pedal — 22% of this year's complaints, against 7.4% across the model's other years (3×).
- manufacturer made — 20.3% of this year's complaints, against 6.3% across the model's other years (3.2×).
Words owners used for the same problem are counted together, so a fault written four different ways is measured once. Grouped by which complaints they appear in, not by a list anyone wrote in advance.
What owners wrote
WHILE APPROACHING A STOP LIGHT IN ORDER TO MAKE A RIGHT TURN, THE BRAKES FAILED TO STOP THE VEHICLE WHEN THE PEDAL WAS DEPRESSED. THE CONTACT HAD TO CONTINUE TO DRIVE INTO A NEARBY PARKING LOT UNTIL THE VEHICLE CAME TO A STOP. THE CONTACT TURNED OFF THE VEHICL…
WHILE DRIVING DOWNHILL AT APPROXIMATELY 75 MPH, THE BRAKE PEDAL WAS DEPRESSED AND THE VEHICLE SHOOK VIOLENTLY WITHOUT WARNING. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO A DEALER WHERE IT WAS DIAGNOSED THAT THE BALL JOINT AND LOWER CONTROL ARM SEPARATED AND THE RACK AND PINION…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 19V782000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 17V429000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 18V018000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 17V457000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 15V451000 SUSPENSION Fixed free of charge.
- 09V066000 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM Fixed free of charge.
- 09E011000 EQUIPMENT Fixed free of charge.
How this was worked out
Every year of the Mazda CX-9 was compared against its own history rather than against other cars, which removes popularity and age from the answer — a common car draws more complaints at equal reliability, and an older one has had longer to accumulate them. A year is flagged when it drew at least 2.5× this model's median and at least 50 complaints.
This is a fault record, not a review. Nobody files a federal complaint to say the car was fine, so it shows what tends to go wrong — not whether owners liked it, and not whether it is a good car.
Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls and investigations, retrieved . Look this vehicle up directly on NHTSA's site to check anything here.
Own a 2009 Mazda CX-9? What happened to yours?
Loading comments…