Total Complaints
192 filings
MAZDA CX-9 · model year
192 NHTSA complaints, 6 crash reports, and 6 active recalls for this specific cohort.
NHTSA overall rating
Not crash-tested
New Car Assessment Program
The 2010MAZDACX-9 carries 192 consumer safety complaints in NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation database for this specific model-year cohort. Within that volume, owners reported 6 crashes, 5 fires, 5 injuries, and 0 fatalities. No NCAP 5-star crash-test rating is available for this model year in the federal database.
Component-level analysis is where model-year complaints become actionable: the top complaint category for the 2010 CX-9 is service brakes with 72 filings, followed by power train (21) and engine (17). Concentration in one or two component groups is the classic signature of a systemic defect; a flat distribution usually reflects normal aging, warranty complaints, or isolated build-plant variability. This model year has 6 active recall campaigns, which means the manufacturer is obligated to remedy the covered defect at no charge for the life of the vehicle — the full NHTSA campaign numbers are listed below.
NHTSA currently has 21 investigation files overlapping the 2010 CX-9, and 1 remain open. Owners comparing this cohort against neighboring years should pair the counters above with the complaint-by-year trend on the parent model page — a spike in a single year often tracks to a platform refresh, a new transmission supplier, or an updated ECU calibration. Use the related-complaint feed below to read raw owner narratives before deciding whether any pattern here affects your specific use case.
Total Complaints
192 filings
Crashes Reported
6 reports
Source
NHTSA ODI
Federal complaints database
At or below the fleet median complaint volume.
| Component | Count |
|---|---|
| SERVICE BRAKES | 72 |
| POWER TRAIN | 21 |
| ENGINE | 17 |
| SUSPENSION | 13 |
| AIR BAGS | 12 |
| VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL | 8 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | 6 |
| UNKNOWN OR OTHER | 5 |
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING | 4 |
| STEERING | 4 |
| WHEELS | 4 |
| SEATS | 3 |
| SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC | 3 |
| EXTERIOR LIGHTING | 3 |
| STRUCTURE | 2 |
AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:PASSENGER SIDE:INFLATOR MODULE
Mazda North American Operations (Mazda) is recalling certain 2007-2012 CX-7, CX-9, and 2009-2012 Maza6 vehicles. These vehicles had their passenger frontal air bag inflators previously replaced under a prior recall using inflators of the same design. The inflators may explode due to propellant deg
AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:PASSENGER SIDE:INFLATOR MODULE
Mazda North America Operations (Mazda) is recalling certain 2009-2011 Mazda6, and 2007-2011 CX-7 and CX-9 vehicles. These vehicles are equipped with certain air bag inflators assembled as part of the passenger frontal air bag modules, and used as original equipment or replacement equipment. In the
SUSPENSION:FRONT:CONTROL ARM:LOWER BALL JOINT
Mazda North American Operations (Mazda) is recalling certain model year 2007-2014 CX-9 vehicles manufactured October 24, 2006, to December 28, 2013. The affected vehicles have front suspension ball joints that may corrode from water leaking into the fitting.
SEATS:FRONT ASSEMBLY:SEAT HEATER/COOLER
MAZDA IS RECALLING CERTAIN MODEL YEAR 2010 CX-9 VEHICLES EQUIPPED WITH ELECTRICALLY HEATED FRONT SEATS. THERE IS A POSSIBILITY UNDER EXTREMELY COLD CONDITIONS FOR THE SEAT HEATER CONTROL CIRCUIT TO OVERHEAT AND FAIL DUE TO INSUFFICIENT ELECTRICAL GROUNDING.
AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:PASSENGER SIDE:INFLATOR MODULE
Mazda North American Operations (Mazda) is recalling certain 2014-2015 Mazda CX-9 vehicles sold, or ever registered in the states of Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands (Saipan),
AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:PASSENGER SIDE:INFLATOR MODULE
Mazda North American Operations (Mazda) is recalling certain 2013 Mazda6 and CX-9 vehicles sold, or ever registered in the states of Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands (Saipan),
The contact owns a 2010 Mazda CX-9. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 19V782000 (Air Bags). The contact called the dealer and was advised to tow the vehicle to the dealer for the recall repair. The contact stopped driving the vehicle due to the recall. The contact attempted to call the dealer for an alternative mode of transporting the vehicle to the dealer, but the calls were not returned. The manufacturer was contacted, and the contact was referred to the dealer for assistance. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The contact had not experienced a failure.
Driver side Lower control arm fail off from the ball joint
Driver side Lower control arm fail off from the ball joint
Stiff brake pedal , more effort to stop and longer distant to stop.
My wife was taking my daughters for marching band and all of a sudden she tried to press the brakes but the brakes felt too hard and she was unable to stop the car safely. She had to take immediate action by moving the car to the shoulder to stop the car. There were no warning signs on the screen. The car was taken to the mechanic and the dealership. The dealership said that this was a brake booster issue which would be fixed for $1500. This is a serious issue which if had happened on the highway would have been tragic. Mazda and the dealership refuse to fix this free of cost since they say that they had already communicated about "an extension of warranty" to fix this problem in 2015 - at which time there were no issues with the brakes.
Vehicle difficult to stop, believe it is a bad brake booster.
Water pump failure causing catastrophic engine damage
Braking inconsistently - sometimes easy to stop, sometimes hard. I had brakes looked at, and the man said it was the brake booster. He googled it, and found a recall online and told me to take it to my dealer. It doesn't look like there's an active recall - but a lot of complaints. What's going on? This is going to be expensive. My college age daughter drives that car. Do they have to have a severe accident to get that fixed? I can't afford to fix it right now.
Mileage: 120,000
The contact owns a 2010 Mazda CX-9. The contact stated while conducting a routine check, he noticed that the coolant and the oil levels were low. An independent mechanic diagnosed that the coolant was leaking into the engine. The vehicle was not repaired. An unknown dealer was contacted and informed the contact that the VIN was not included in a recall related to the failure. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 160,000.
Mileage: 160,000
The contact owns a 2010 Mazda CX-9. The contact stated while conducting a routine check, he noticed that the coolant and the oil levels were low. An independent mechanic diagnosed that the coolant was leaking into the engine. The vehicle was not repaired. An unknown dealer was contacted and informed the contact that the VIN was not included in a recall related to the failure. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 160,000.
Mileage: 160,000
Brakes not working due to brake booster problem which was brought to the attention of Mazda. Mazda and the transportation authority agreed on an extended warranty which is no longer in effect. There have been many more complaints for this same problem, yet a recall has not been listed for this vechicle and alot of people are paying out of pocket. I already brought this to the attention of traffic safety and never received a return reply. Brakes are squishy than you end up having to put brakes all the way to get car to stop. People are unaware of this major brake and safety defect
Mileage: 94,000
Driving and brakes would not work without pressing really hard. The problem was reported before on these cars and continue to be a problem. https://www.carcomplaints.com/Mazda/CX-9/2010/brakes/stiff_difficult_braking.shtml my car has been in 2 shops for about 3 months now. They had to replace several parts in the braking system. Than the rear brakes completely froze up and towed to Mazda out of Greensboro NC.
While driving the vehicle went to stop car and was unable to stop brake pedal was hard as a rock luckily I didn't hit anything or anyone. upon further research it seems that this model has an issues with the brake booster failing causing exactly what I experienced. As it turns out I did not qualify for the extended warranty on the brake booster due to a agreement between you and mazda my issue is it should be life of the model with no expiration date due to the fact it can happen at any moment. Luckily my family wasn't harmed and luckily someone else's family wasn't harmed because of this failure. My vehicle only has 86,000+ miles.
Mileage: 86,524
The contact owns a 2010 Mazda CX-9. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle was unable to stop while the brake pedal was depressed. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who was unable to duplicate the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 162,706. The consumer stated the brake booster was replaced on 07/22/2022.
Mileage: 162,706
The water pump failed and leaked coolant into the engine, causing motor damage which requires motor replacement. There was no evidence of any failure until the vehicle overheated while being driven. This is a known design flaw of the engine design but no recall has been issued.
I had engine failure with a complete loss of power and a shuttering of the steering wheel while pulling into a parking lot and going less than 30 miles per hour. The temperature gauze went from cold to hot suddenly. There were no leaks of coolant or oil and no signs that the engine was out of water or that the water pump had "melted". On the final car repair trip we found out that the engine has an internal water pump that failed and resulted in oil & water getting into the engine. The engine light NEVER came on, I had complained about the tire pressure light blinking on and off in November 2021 and the deceleration issue I was having. The dealer did a coolant flush 11/2021. In early March 2022 the engine shut off as I was backing out of the driveway. I took it to a repair shop nearby they could not find anything wrong except that the car went into limp mode. They also did a coolant flush and radiator cap exchange since I forgot I had just done one on Nov. Less that a week later the en
I had engine failure with a complete loss of power and a shuttering of the steering wheel while pulling into a parking lot and going less than 30 miles per hour. The temperature gauze went from cold to hot suddenly. There were no leaks of coolant or oil and no signs that the engine was out of water or that the water pump had "melted". On the final car repair trip we found out that the engine has an internal water pump that failed and resulted in oil & water getting into the engine. The engine light NEVER came on, I had complained about the tire pressure light blinking on and off in November 2021 and the deceleration issue I was having. The dealer did a coolant flush 11/2021. In early March 2022 the engine shut off as I was backing out of the driveway. I took it to a repair shop nearby they could not find anything wrong except that the car went into limp mode. They also did a coolant flush and radiator cap exchange since I forgot I had just done one on Nov. Less that a week later the en
I had engine failure with a complete loss of power and a shuttering of the steering wheel while pulling into a parking lot and going less than 30 miles per hour. The temperature gauze went from cold to hot suddenly. There were no leaks of coolant or oil and no signs that the engine was out of water or that the water pump had "melted". On the final car repair trip we found out that the engine has an internal water pump that failed and resulted in oil & water getting into the engine. The engine light NEVER came on, I had complained about the tire pressure light blinking on and off in November 2021 and the deceleration issue I was having. The dealer did a coolant flush 11/2021. In early March 2022 the engine shut off as I was backing out of the driveway. I took it to a repair shop nearby they could not find anything wrong except that the car went into limp mode. They also did a coolant flush and radiator cap exchange since I forgot I had just done one on Nov. Less that a week later the en
The AWD system failed leaving the car dangerous to drive in rain and snowy weather. Car is still stuck in my driveway as the front wheels are spinning and no power to the rear wheels. My Mother's AWD with similar M+S tires drove out with no problems. Waiting for the snow to melt to be able to take my car into the shop. Reading online this seems like a known Mazda issue.
The contact owns a 2010 Mazda CX-9. The contact received notification of NHTSA campaign number 15V451000 (Suspension) however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The local dealer was contacted, and it was confirmed that the part was not available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact indicated that while driving at various speeds, a rattling noise was present coming from the front of the vehicle. Additionally, the front end of the vehicle was unstable. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who indicated that the failure was due to the recall however, the part was on backorder. The failure mileage was 160,000. Parts distribution disconnect.
Mileage: 160,000
Momentary increase in steering effort after recall remedy
Inadvertent Curtain Air Bag Deployment
Front Subframe Corrosion
Lower ball joint separation
Brake Booster Failure
Data as of 2025. Sources: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) complaints database, NHTSA recall campaign API, NHTSA NCAP crash-test ratings, and NHTSA FARS for fatality cross-reference.
Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.