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KLUNK
KLUNK

2014 Mazda Cx-9

The Verdict

86 Smooth Ride

The 2014 Mazda Cx-9 has 54 owner complaints filed with NHTSA. The most reported issues are engine (22 complaints) and body (17 complaints). With a Klunk Score of 86/100, it earns a "Smooth Ride" rating. If you're shopping for a Mazda Cx-9, consider the 2022 model year which has 83% fewer complaints.

Safe Bet

The 2022 has 83% fewer complaints

View the 2022 Mazda Cx-9 dashboard →

86

Klunk Score: Smooth Ride

This vehicle year has significantly fewer complaints than average. A reliable choice.

How is this calculated?

The Klunk Score ranks this vehicle year against all others in our database based on total owner complaints filed with NHTSA. 100 = fewest complaints (top tier), 0 = most complained-about. Scores above 60 are better than average; below 40 means more problems than most.

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Under the Hood

Each number is a complaint. Darker = bigger problem.

YearBodyBrakesElectricalEngineTransmission
20074362098
2008732936925
200914161856
20103487242921
20111395241622
201223130282713
2013191610175
20141794222
2015934181
20169810675
20171200472
201821813784
20192017212
202052471
2021843172
202241301
202382200

By Category

Engine
22
Body
17
Brakes
9
Electrical
4
Transmission
2

By Severity

1
23
2
29
4
2

Worst Problems

Complaints

Body 1

The contact owns a 2014 Mazda CX-9. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, the vehicle was drifting to either side. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact had to forcefully grip the steering wheel to avoid losing control of vehicle. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, and it was discovered that there was severe corrosion around the front suspension ball joints. Upon investigation, the contact discovered NHTSA Campaign Number: 15V451000 (Suspension); however, the VIN was not included in the recall. The dealer was notified of the failure and the contact was provided an estimate for a diagnostic test. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and the contact was provided a case number. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 95,000.

20mo ago
Engine 2

I purchased a 2014 Mazda CX-9 back in May of 2020 w/ roughly 60k on the dash. Literally 7 months later w/ about 72k on the dash, the day after Christmas I was driving to work (I worked in the next state over) on the highway my car just shut down. No warnings, no check engine lights NOTHING! It just completely shut off and would not turn on. Thankfully because of the holiday the highway was pretty empty and I was able to swing my car across the interstate so I wouldn’t get hit by oncoming traffic. After getting out and deciding to check my oil I noticed it looked milky. I had no idea what that meant so I had it towed to a Mazda dealership in the state I live in. It was going to cost me almost $8,000 to put in a new engine because the water pump that was placed inside of the engine failed, which in turn caused my engine to seize. The extended warranty I had on my vehicle was worthless so I ended up paying out of pocket. Thankfully Mazda worked with me and had me prove that I kept up maintenance on the truck so the price was chopped in half. This happened right at the beginning of Covid when the entire world was suffering financially. I still had to make my car payments on top of shelling out 4k on a truck I hadn’t even had for a year. This is a huge issue with a lot of people that own the same vehicle and is extremely dangerous! I could’ve killed someone or worse myself when my vehicle stalled out on the highway.

25mo ago
Engine 1

The water pump failed causing water to mix with the oil and damage the head gasket. Estimates recommend replacing engine. The service engine light came on and we took it to our trusted mechanic right away. Got the estimates from two mechanics for this repair and then towed the car to Mazda dealer who confirmed the problem. We wrote to Mazda's corporate office and was told they would not fix it. My car has 68,000 miles and was regularly serviced. It is currently sitting dead in my garage. We bought this car in 2015 brand new from the Mazda dealer in Monroeville, PA. This is outrageous! I spoke with someone else who also owns a Mazda and the same thing happened to his car. From articles I have read and attached, this problem is occurring in many Mazdas. What needs to be in place for Mazda to take responsibility and fix this problem by recalling the affected vehicles?

28mo ago
Engine 2

Water pump failed and ruined the engine. There was little to no warning.

35mo ago
Brakes 2

Brakes stopped working while we were on vacation. Made the drive down fine, but the next day went to drive the car, pressed the brakes and the car did not come to a complete stop. Also made a funny noise when we tried to press on the brakes. My husband practically had to stand up and push all the way down to get car to stop. Luckily we were not in a congested or confined place. Ended up replacing the brake booster. Three weeks later my acceleration stopped working intermittently. I go to press the gas and the car doesn’t go. The dealership is saying it’s the brake signal.

35mo ago
Brakes 2

Breaks became very hard to press and I was having trouble stopping the car. I could not drive it to the Mazda dealer who was too far. I took a chance and drove a few miles to local break shop. They replaced the master cylinder and the break booster. Parts and labor were $1083.87

36mo ago
Brakes 2

When I press on my brakes, I hear air. I am fortunate that, as of this reporting, I have not had an accident. My brakes do not fully stop my car, so I have to judge when to brake in order to slow down and not hit the car ahead of me. Very scary when your car won't stop! I have read other complaints on the Mazda CX9s built in 2013 having an issue with the brake booster. PLEASE recall these 2014 Mazdas so the appropriate repairs can be made. Working brakes are ESSENTIAL!

36mo ago
Engine 1

I bought a vehicle from Carvana 11/2021 with not quite 59k on it. On 6/21/2023, with 77K miles, my car had a catastrophic engine failure. I was driving my grandchildren ages, 3-12 years of age home. Safety was definitely at risk with speeds of 70 freeway were completed right before engine stopping. The mechanic shop has confirmed the car giving 3 codes related to timing belt/water pump and the other code which confirms engine failure. No warning lights had come on until I tried to restart it. Since this situation is most recent, I have not had anyone else inspect the vehicle. I am working through my options and will take recommendations for resolution.

37mo ago
Body 2

I was driving on interstate and there were not any other vehicles that were all that close to me. All of a sudden there was this huge extremely loud bang and glass shattering sound. Scared me to death. I never saw anything, I pulled over at next exit and saw my sunroof with a huge hole and shattered. I drove back by where i was driving and there was nothing i could see that could have caused that to happen. After doing a little research i'm positive the sunroof exploded. Thankfully my kids were not in there and i was able to remain calm enough to get pulled over safely

37mo ago
Engine 2

My transmission is slipping ….

40mo ago
Brakes 1

The car started creating a noise like air was leaking when i apply brake. The problem continued to increase, and braking became harder and harder. The dealer indicated that I had to replace the brake booster. This is a 2014 CX-9. A NHTSA search showed that vehicles manufactured in 2013 were affected. My car was purchased in Feb 2014. I suspect this one too had that faulty equipment.

42mo ago
Engine 2

Sudden failure of water pump located inside the engine caused engine to shut down immediately while driving 70 mph on busy expressway. Extremely dangerous situation due to heavy traffic and high speeds traveled. Only by sheer luck were we able to coast across 4 lanes of traffic to an exit ramp and barely make it into a parking lot after crossing 2 more lanes on the frontage road. Very difficult to steer and brake due to no engine power. Repair cost was $4,433. Two subsequent follow up repairs for check engine light and oil control valve issues related to water pump failure were required and covered under initial repair warranty. Research on web indicates this is a common problem with this engine with many complaints occurring soon after 100k miles. In many cases customers reported having to replace the engine or sell the car for parts due to the high cost of repair. Locating the water pump inside the engine block was a terrible design fault and extreme safety hazard when it fails.

44mo ago
Engine 1

Water pump defect that led to pump failure, which led to catastrophic engine failure without any prior warning. The defect is in the internal chain-driven water pump. The pump is meant to circulate coolant through the engine while the engine is running. However, the defect allows coolant to leak from water pump into the oil pan and/or other engine components, mixing it with the engine’s oil and leading to destruction of the engine. Mazda’s internal data indicates that the company began receiving reports of premature water pump failures in vehicles identical to mine (mine is a 2014 Mazda CX-9) by at least June 2007, yet Mazda continued to sell the vehicle without fixing the defect and failed to warn customers of the defect. The owner's manuals say nothing about water pump maintenance because the water pump should last the life of the Mazda vehicle. My water pump failed and destroyed my engine at just a mere 72,400 miles. The water pump problem is caused by the elastomer bellow, which is made with hydrogenated acrylonitrile butadiene rubber, which is damaged by hot coolant. Due to problems with the seal, coolant leaks into other components because the water pump is located above the crankshaft. An engine will allegedly fail once coolant mixes with engine oil and travels through the engine. Mazda allegedly has done nothing to fix the water pumps and won't recall the vehicles to offer free repairs. The automaker is also not reimbursing owners who may pay thousands of dollars for repairs related to failed water pumps. When I took my CX-9 to my Mazda dealer because it was leaking coolant, the dealer informed me I needed a new water pump but then said that because of that they should just replace the engine, for a total cost of approx. $9,000. Dealer gave no explanation of why it concluded before looking inside engine or at timing chain why I must buy a new engine because of bad water pump. Clearly dealer knew defect was the reason but withheld that info. That's fraud

44mo ago
Engine 1

- Water pump failed causing coolant to mix with oil. This repair cost was around $3,900. - Luckily this failure happened on our community road and was able to pull into our driveway. Mechanic stated that if this happened on the highway or regular road, this could have caused a major incident and possibly a blown motor. - No, but complaints of similar issues have been reported via my online research. - Just by the mechanic I had my vehicle towed to. - There was no indication of an issue until the water pump failed.

47mo ago
Body 1

Drivers seat will not recline backwards

51mo ago
Body 1

Sunroof exploded spontaneously, we have a dashcam and nothing from the road hit it.

51mo ago
Body 2

Water pump faild without warning car overheated and breaking was made difficult. Almost collided with another car do to the breaking not working properly when the car over heated. This problem was or is part of a lawsuit agianst Mazda. Im not sure if there has been a resolution to the lawsuit.

51mo ago
Engine 2

I purchased a 2014 Mazda CX-9 on 12/14/2019. On Monday 10/18/2021 I was driving on the Hwy on the way home and my check engine light came. I had my mechanic check it out and he said the computer read a P0019 code. So on 10/20/2021, I took it to the dealer where I originally purchased it and this was the same code they found. At the local dealership, I was told that apparently, the water pump needed to be replaced due to water coolant in the oil pan. I had absolutely no warning. No leaking, no smell of coolant. This vehicle only has 88,000. Upon further research and to my surprise is that the water pump in the Duratec 37 engine and make and model has a design flaw with the water pump located in the engine with the timing chain. That is the number one problem that fails first due to the water pump gaskets wearing degrading without any warning pump has become damaged due to pump bearings too. I had my vehicle serviced with four oil changes over the past 28,000 miles since I purchased it. These late-model vehicles being built today I know do not burn that much oil nowadays. I also found out, the iVCT 3.7 Duratec is in the 2008-2015 Mazda CX-9 which I have the 2014 model. This 3.7 V6 uses a timing chain-driven water pump. I also found out this kind of water pump is prone to failing at the pump bearings which allows the timing center to move around. Once it’s bad enough coolant is dumped into the engine where it mixes with the oil dripping from the water pump into the oil pan. This is where the real problems begin. Coolant mixing with oil is not good. It can cause corrosion and lots of internal wear as the Duratec 3.7 engine oil is no longer able to properly lubricate moving parts and shut down the engine. Base on the number of oil changes I had during this time I'm sure it had nothing to do with the water pump failure issue. This is solely a Mazda manufacturing flaw with the design. At this time my warranty does not want to cover the repair. Thanks

57mo ago
Brakes 2

OUR 2014 MAZDA CX-9 POWER BRAKE BOOSTER HAS GOTTEN PROGRESSIVELY WORSE OVER THE LAST FEW MONTHS AND HAS NOW FAILED AT 75,269 MILES WHERE THE PEDAL IS SPONGY, PEDAL TRAVEL IS LONG AND THERE IS A HISSING NOISE (AIR LEAKAGE) FROM THE POWER BOOSTER, ALL RESULTING IN SEVERELY REDUCED BRAKE EFFECTIVENESS - VERY LITTLE. WE CANNOT SAFELY DRIVE THE CAR. THIS IS THE SAME FAILURE AND SAFETY DEFECT THAT WAS THE SUBJECT OF ODI INVESTIGATION PE-14-005 (ODI CLOSED 2/10/2014) INVOLVING 2007-2013 MAZDA CX-9 VEHICLES IN WHICH THE ODI RESUME SAID "THE AGENCY WILL CONTINUE TO MONITOR COMPLAINTS AND OTHER INFORMATION RELATING TO THE ALLEGED DEFECT AND TAKE FURTHER ACTION IN THE FUTURE IF WARRANTED." IN THAT CASE, IN ORDER TO AVOID A RECALL, IN MARCH 2014 MAZDA AGREED WITH THE NHTSA/ODI TO EXTEND THE WARRANTY FOR 7 YEARS OR 100,000 FOR THE 2007-2013 MAZDA CX-9 VEHICLES AND REPAIR THE CONDITION AND INITIATED SPECIAL SERVICE PROGRAM SSP93. THIS NOW IS EXACTLY THAT SAME CONDITION BUT IN THE NEXT YEAR MODEL - A MODEL 2014 MAZDA CX-9 MANUFACTURED IN 2013 THAT OBVIOUSLY RECEIVED THE DEFECTIVE POWER BRAKE BOOSTER THAT WAS MANUFACTURED BEFORE THE BOOSTER SUPPLIER CORRECTED THE FAULTY BOOSTER MOLD IN FEBRUARY 2013. YESTERDAY (4-29-21) MAZDA SAID (MAZDA CUSTOMER SERVICE REFERENCE # 1-378914617) OUR VEHICLE IS NOT COVERED FOR THE REPAIR BECAUSE THE NHTSA/ODI AGREEMENT AND SSP93 ONLY APPLIES TO 2007-2013 VEHICLES WHERE OURS IS A 2014, EVEN THOUGH IT WAS MANUFACTURED IN 2013. THIS IS NOT ONLY ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF THE SAME PROBLEM NOW EXISTING IN 2014 MAZDA CX-9'S WITH A POWER BOOSTER MANUFACTURED BEFORE THE FEBRUARY 2013 FAULTY BOOSTER MOLD CORRECTION, IT IS UNCONSCIONABLE FOR MAZDA TO REFUSE THE REPAIR. PLEASE - WE NEED YOUR HELP IN RESOLVING THIS - AND NEED YOU TO RE-OPEN THE INVESTIGATION FOR THE SAFETY OF OTHERS. THANK YOU.

63mo ago
Engine 1

I PURCHASED A 2014 MAZDA CX NINE A YEAR AND A HALF AGO. THE OTHER DAY I WAS DRIVING AND I DON'T KNOW WHERE MY FAN GOT REALLY LOUD SO I PULLED OVER AND TURNED UP THE HEAT AND TURNED OFF ANY AC. ALL THE SUN STEAM STARTED COMING OUT OF MY ENGINE AND THE CAR DIED. AFTER TOWING IT TO THE LOCAL DEALERSHIP I WAS TOLD THAT I HAD TWO OPTIONS. I COULD EITHER BUY A BRAND NEW CAR OR PAY $13,000 TO HAVE IT REPAIRED. APPARENTLY THE WATER PUMP BROKE AND THE ENGINE SEIZED UP. I HAD ABSOLUTELY NO WARNING. NO LEAKING, NO CHECK ENGINE LIGHT, NOTHING' I LATER FOUND SEVERAL REVIEWS SAYING THIS WAS AN ISSUE WITH THIS MAKE & MODEL. I STILL OWE OVER $16,000 ON THIS CAR AND NOW I HAVE TO GET A NEW CAR.

65mo ago

54 total

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