22nd Oct 2013, 07:08
I would recommend also having a look at the owners reviews on Edmunds; it seems this vehicle has certain typical issues at your mileage.
7th Nov 2013, 16:00
This is the original poster again. I just got the car back after almost 3 weeks. It smelled like antifreeze, which is why they detailed the engine. I have had it for about a week, and now the smell is gone. I am keeping an eye on the coolant level, and so far so good. I am really hoping that no other problems surface with this vehicle. I looked at the invoice and the warranty company was billed 1,563, of which I had to pay 130 dollars, which includes tax and a scheduled oil change. I also checked on Edmunds for what the above poster said, which was that there were other cars with the same problems. I didn't see any of that there. The rating for the CX9 at the Edmunds website from the reviews is 4.6 out of 5 stars, with most of the reviews being positive. I will continue to update as time and mileage accumulate. Hopefully it will all be regular reviews.
21st Feb 2014, 16:34
Once again updating on the CX9. I just had the car serviced for the oil with tire rotation and trans flush. The car is now at almost 70k miles. It did well during the snow also. Hopefully I can get to over 100k miles without any issues. I will keep updating as time and mileage accumulate.
17th Jul 2014, 02:37
This is the original poster again. I was just out of the extended warranty when I got a flashing check engine light again. This time it was cylinder 2. I took it to a mechanic that we use from time to time. He replaced the coil, and since it was in the bank by the firewall, I chose to replace all of the plugs since the manifold was off already. The bill came to under 450 for plugs, coil and manifold gasket. I hope that is all it that happens for another 4 or 5 years. I can live with the occasional repair. Hopefully all goes well now. I will continue to update as time and mileage accumulate.
29th Apr 2015, 16:37
This is the original poster again. I am at 82 thousand miles and I had to replace the two lower control arms on my 9. The bill came out to 631 dollars, which included the alignment. The car is fine now. I also replaced the rear shocks, which I did on my own. The labor for the rear shocks is too much as it involves removing the interior side panels and back trim, as well as the seat. I paid 115 dollars for the shocks delivered. I got the stiffer KYBs for the back.
I can live with these simple repairs; I just hope that I don't have to deal with check engine light or other idiot light repairs, as they are hard and costly to fix.
I will keep updating as time and mileage accumulate.
22nd Feb 2016, 17:30
I just wanted to update on my car. I had received a letter from Mazda about the lower control arms recall. I sent my bill in from the indy to get reimbursed. I got my money back and also I was required to take it to the dealer for an inspection. I don't know how true it is, but I was told by a Mazda rep that I would be getting new control arms in the future. I will see if this is true. The other thing is if you have all wheel drive like I do, the transfer case does not have a drain plug. I learned of a procedure by someone on the forums where you suction out the old oil and replace with new. If you don't do this, you will definitely have a transfer case failure. I will update as time and mileage accumulate.
11th Aug 2016, 02:21
Just updating on my CX-9. I am at 93 thousand miles now. The dealer did my trans flush at 92 and did an inspection as well. I have a transfer case leak as well as the rear differential seals leak. He told me that I can keep driving it until I have beginning symptoms of failure, which is bump shift of the trans and to keep an eye on it. I will eventually be doing the rear diff oil change myself. I already took care of the transfer case and added oil to the supposed sealed unit. This is the one area where Mazda failed with the all wheel drive. I will keep updating as time and mileage accumulate.
27th Aug 2016, 02:12
This is the original poster again. As to the person that is asking me about rust? Surprisingly there is no rust on my CX-9 and I live in the northeast. I haven't been washing my 9 on a regular basis as I should, but it still has a nice shine. I haven't washed it in about 3 months; also I have never waxed the car in the 9 plus years that I have owned it. That is the biggest surprise so far for me and a pleasant one at that. I will continue to update as time and mileage accrue.
I almost forgot I also changed the two belts. The stretch belt was fine after 93k, but the serpentine belt really needed replacing. I guess I will be doing the serpentine belt every 60k if the car lasts that long.
23rd Jan 2017, 18:47
This is the original poster again. I am almost at 97k miles. I did an oil change and replaced the rear brake pads and rotors. Also had the trans serviced. The service guy at the dealer told me that my transfer case was starting to leak and that they noticed weeping of the rear differential seals. These two items are going to run close to 2 grand. I was told to wait until it started getting bad. I will have to wait and see. Hopefully I can get to 100k on this car before putting any money into it. I also heard that the new replacement transfer cases are prone to failure also. I guess I will have to think about the transfer case. I will keep posting as time and mileage accumulate.
15th Aug 2018, 08:41
I just want to thank the original poster for such a thorough timeline in the life of the CX-9. I am considering buying a 2008 with around 150,000 km on it (approx. 93,000 miles) and it was very informative to read the year to year issues and costs. The CX-9 has a good reputation for reliability, and I'm hoping that reputation will continue to be true with higher mileage.
Two questions for the OP; Do you still have your CX-9? And, if you do, what is your current odometer reading?
Thanks again OP!
1st Apr 2019, 20:29
I am the original poster. I am updating as well as answering the question of the above person that posted. Sorry I couldn't update much sooner. I am at around 113,400 miles and in June it will be 12 years of ownership. I am now in the process of replacing the driver's side tie rod end again. This will be the 3rd replacement and 4th overall. I am hoping to get to 150k miles which I will consider break even for the CUV since it was pretty expensive at the time. The transfer case still leaks some and I had to do a drain and fill, as I suspect that the dealer put in the wrong fluid and I don't think it was accidental. I also had to replace the brake booster since it was out of the extended warranty that Mazda provided because of the high failure rate. That should definitely be a recall. I will try to update as I continue to own the car.
22nd Oct 2013, 06:46
I'm telling you one thing: dealers make money with brake jobs.
I have put new brake pads on old and well worn brake discs with grooves. The pads adapt without any single issue to the old brake discs.
I have also put new brake discs on old brake pads, unevenly worn. Again, the pads adapt without a single issue to the brake discs.
A brake disc takes very long to wear. Here is a hint: if you always gently bring your vehicle to a stop, you will have probably worn less than half the original brake discs at 100,000 miles. A brake disk can tolerate about 1/8" wear.
Like the original reviewer says, never change or resurface brake discs when you change pads, never ever, unless there are deep rust pits on the disk, which cause shuddering when braking at high speeds.
What is important when changing your brake pads, is to ask the technician to lubricate the caliper pins.