2012 Mazda CX-9
Complaints about this year name brake far more often than the model's other years — 52% of them, about 4× the usual rate of 14.5%.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 221 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 61 |
| Involving a crash | 9 |
| Recalls | 4 |
| EPA combined | 19 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- brake — 52% of this year's complaints, against 16.7% across the model's other years (3.1×).
- stop — 42.1% of this year's complaints, against 11.1% across the model's other years (3.8×).
- brakes — 38.5% of this year's complaints, against 11.1% across the model's other years (3.5×).
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.
Also unusual this year
- hissing — 25% of complaints, 18× usual
- pedal — 33% of complaints, 6× usual
- stop — 42% of complaints, 3× usual
What owners wrote
LOSS OF BRAKE FLUID; BRAKE PEDAL HARD TO PUSH. UNABLE TO STOP CAR; HISSING NOISE AT BRAKE PEDAL.
BRAKE PEDAL BECAME SPONGY AND STOPPING POWER DIMINISHED CONSIDERABLY. HEARD A LOUD HISSING SOUND FROM THE FRONT DRIVER'S SIDE. HAD TO FULLY DEPRESS THE BRAKE PEDAL TO STOP QUICKLY.
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 18V717000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 19V782000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 17V457000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 15V451000 SUSPENSION 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 2012 Mazda CX-9? What happened to yours?
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