general problems of the 2011 Mazda CX9

Driving kids to school a few months ago. Car started to smell like burning rubber. I thought it was the garbage truck ahead of us. As we turned the corner 2 blocks later, the car dead stopped and we all went flying forward. It jerked so hard, we are lucky our necks didn't snap. I put the car in park and turned it off. I waited a few minutes as I was too worked up, and started the car again. We got about 50ft before a very loud noise began, almost as if something was dragging underneath. I stopped, and had it towed home. I then had it towed to mechanic. They said bad transfer case & drive shaft. - trans pan gasket. I am a single mom with no money to afford to have it fixed in fear of it going bad again. They quoted me 3,500 here in PA.

When getting off highway engine began to knock. Engine stalled and would not restart. Upon inspection the water pump was found to have failed and leaked engine coolant into oil. This caused engine to have a complete failure. No check engine light illuminated but when car was scanned multiple codes were found. The car was also found to have a bad transfer case.

The contact owns a 2011 Mazda cx-9. The contact stated that while driving at 60 mph, and upon approaching oncoming traffic, the vehicle unexpectedly shut off. The contact was able to restart the vehicle and pulled the vehicle off to the shoulder. The contact stated that upon restart of the vehicle, the check engine light illuminated on instrument panel. Due to the failure and the warning light, the contact had the vehicle towed to an independent mechanic. Upon inspection of the vehicle, the mechanic informed her that coolant had leaked into the oil cylinder and they referred her to a dealer for assistance. The contact then had the vehicle towed to the dealer where they diagnosed the vehicle with a defective water pump as well as engine failure. The manufacturer was also notified of the failure where they stated that the failure was caused due to poor maintenance; they offered no further assistance for the failure. The vehicle had yet to be repaired and remained in the possession of the dealer. The failure mileage was approximately 144,000.

Defective water pump located inside the engine that when failure occurs can cause coolant to leak into engine causing complete engine failure. This is a major safety hazard due to the fact that these cars with defective water pumps can break down with very little warning in the middle of a freeway! I have contacted Mazda who refuses to do anything due to it being outside warranty but will not acknowledge the safety concern sudden engine failure can cause on a perfectly maintained car. In California there is currently a lawsuit against Mazda for this issue and hundreds of other Ford and Mazda owners who have been caught in very dangerous situations due to this water pump failure issue. The situation we were involved in could have gone very differently and that was my family in the vehicle that Mazda seems to care about a couple thousand dollars more then the value of life. . . Is just ridiculous! please do the research yourself so no one has to loose their life over this.

Failure of the power transfer case / power transfer unit ("ptu"). The defect was discovered when a black oil like substance was found under the engine compartment of the vehicle in the garage. Vehicle was taken to a Mazda dealership for inspection and diagnosis. Oem advised that it was a defective ptu. Oem states that it is a known defect. Internet research reveals the breadth of the defect. Oem states that limited warranty was extended to 7 years and 100,000 miles. Subject vehicle has 71,000 miles, but is a few months outside extended warranty. Oem never sent notice to consumers advising of the defect. Oem never issued a recall for the known defect. Oem never sent notice to consumers advising of the warranty extension. Oem refuses to cover the defect under warranty. Consumer has promptly remediated all prior known recalls directly with oem upon receipt of notice.

Transfer case - had unusual wear and tear on the transfer case that lead me to lose stearing and driving capability when driving to work. Took my car to car dealer and the transfer case was ground down and the transmission was rusting. Had no water dammage and cost over $4,000. Since have researched and found that many Mazda owners have been experiences issues with their transmisson and transfer case. I believe this should be looked into.

Same issue as everyone else hissing when brakes are compressed -or car is stopped and bad or lagging in braking. My brakes were completely down to the floor and the car kept slowly trying to roll. I had to pump the brakes. Or put the car in park. When I let the brakes go no hissing.

Tl- the contact owns a 2011 Mazda Cx9. The contact stated that after driving 45 mph at night suddenly the contact noticed a flickering coming from the front end of the vehicle. The contact pulled over to assess the situation, he found that flames had ingolfed the engine. The fire department put out the fire. A police report was filed. The contact luckily, the contact and passenger did not sustain any injuries. The cause of the fire had yet to be determined. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 65,000. Az.

While driving on interstate 77, north bound, at 55mph, other motorists informed me that my car was on fire underneath. There were no dashboard warning lights or signals that came on it light up as a warning sign. I pulled over to the side of the road, the fire department and sheriff's office put out the fire and the car was towed. The car is quite new and with very low mileage. Well maintained car. No recent work other than regular oil change. Mazda denies any problems with this car.