Tap a category to read its complaints. One report may name several components.
When problems were reported
Mileage at the reported incident
90–25K
1025–50K
650–75K
175–100K
3100–150K
0150K+
29 reports with mileage · 75 unknown
NHTSA’s mileage field refers to the reported incident, not necessarily the filing date. This shows report counts, not the likelihood of a failure.
What to inspect
Issues worth paying extra attention to based on owner reports.
Engine. Review the 65 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
Electrical System. Review the 14 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
Service Brakes. Review the 11 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
NHTSA owner reports · September 18, 2026 snapshot.
3 crash reports1 fire reports2 injury reports
What owners actually said
104 reports
Mileage unknown · Sep 19, 2023
Electrical SystemVehicle Speed Control
As I am accelerating to merge onto the highway from an on-ramp, while the gas pedal is depressed, I will get a series of sensor alerts simultaneously (city brake malfunction, park assist malfunction, lane assist malfunction, etc.) and my gas pedal becomes non-functional at 60-70mph. It is terrifying especially when there is oth…
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As I am accelerating to merge onto the highway from an on-ramp, while the gas pedal is depressed, I will get a series of sensor alerts simultaneously (city brake malfunction, park assist malfunction, lane assist malfunction, etc.) and my gas pedal becomes non-functional at 60-70mph. It is terrifying especially when there is other traffic around my vehicle. This exact issue has happened 6 times within the past 12-18 months at seemingly random intervals but always when I am accelerating onto the highway at 50-70mph. I typically pull off to the side of the highway and turn off the vehicle. After letting it sit off for ~30 seconds, I turn the vehicle back on and all of the sensor alerts have cleared and the vehicle functions properly including the gas pedal and I am able to rejoin the highway. I took the car to the Mazda dealership in my state of Vermont a few months ago to have them diagnose and address the problem. They had never heard of this issue and were unable to find the root cause or fix it. Please help, this is dangerous!
NHTSA ODI #11545342
Mileage unknown · Sep 15, 2023
Engine
I just had my engine replaced due to a cracked cylinder head that allowed coolant to leak into cylinder #3 & #2.
NHTSA ODI #11544838
Mileage unknown · Sep 11, 2023
Engine
Crack cylinder head
NHTSA ODI #11543910
Mileage unknown · Aug 11, 2023
Engine
Cylinder head crack/failure required the replacement of the entire engine on my 2016 Mazda cx9, the odometer was only at 85,000km. The crack Resulted in loss of coolant and overheating, the indicator on dash stating to pull over and shut the car off. This could have resulted in engine seizing if I was unable to safely pull over.…
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Cylinder head crack/failure required the replacement of the entire engine on my 2016 Mazda cx9, the odometer was only at 85,000km. The crack Resulted in loss of coolant and overheating, the indicator on dash stating to pull over and shut the car off. This could have resulted in engine seizing if I was unable to safely pull over. This is a know issue by Mazda, the dealership has seen this issue before, there is lots of documentation online for this as well. There has since been updated parts to repair this issue, This should be a recall covered by Mazda. No car should require an entire engine replacement at 85,000km. This repair cost me $7700 out of pocket.
NHTSA ODI #11537889
Mileage unknown · Jul 7, 2023
Engine
First radiator blew (after noticing the temp gauge higher than normal and fan running a lot), and when replaced, the 2016 Mazda CX-9 continued to leak coolant. Took it to dealership to find out engine cylinder cracked and head gasket. A simple google search finds that so many Turbo Mazda’s between the years of 2016-20 experience…
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First radiator blew (after noticing the temp gauge higher than normal and fan running a lot), and when replaced, the 2016 Mazda CX-9 continued to leak coolant. Took it to dealership to find out engine cylinder cracked and head gasket. A simple google search finds that so many Turbo Mazda’s between the years of 2016-20 experienced this design flaw as well. Mazda would not cover any of it since the car was out of warranty. It costed me over $7,000 to repair radiator and engine.
NHTSA ODI #11530871
Mileage unknown · Jun 23, 2023
Engine
My 2016 Mazda CX-9 2.5l Touring has approx 67,500 miles. I noticed the "sweet" smell of coolant after driving. The temp gauge was not showing signs of overheating. I checked under the hood and coolant level in radiator and reserve tank were normal. I also did not see any coolant leak/patches under the car. Few days later the …
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My 2016 Mazda CX-9 2.5l Touring has approx 67,500 miles. I noticed the "sweet" smell of coolant after driving. The temp gauge was not showing signs of overheating. I checked under the hood and coolant level in radiator and reserve tank were normal. I also did not see any coolant leak/patches under the car. Few days later the car temperature gauge shot past the 1/2 mark. i stopped the care let it cool and checked under hood. radiator was empty but reservoir tank was still full. there were signs of coolant drips underneath car on the plastic cover below the area of the water pump (passenger front wheel side). waiting to have car assessed/fixed by mechanic.
NHTSA ODI #11528448
Mileage unknown · May 19, 2023
Electrical System
UKNOWN-Seat Heating system in my car gets too hot to the skin where it burns the skin if not turned off. I’m not able to use it often because even on low setting it gets extremely hot.
NHTSA ODI #11522786
Mileage unknown · May 11, 2023
EnginePower Train
While driving on the freeway in stop and go traffic the engine warning light came on. A few minutes later the data screen stated that I needed to pull over immediately as my engine was overheating. I was on a stretch of the 5 freeway north of Oceanside with no exits for several miles. I pulled over and when the light went off …
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While driving on the freeway in stop and go traffic the engine warning light came on. A few minutes later the data screen stated that I needed to pull over immediately as my engine was overheating. I was on a stretch of the 5 freeway north of Oceanside with no exits for several miles. I pulled over and when the light went off I got back on the freeway to try to make it to an exit. I repeated this process until I was able to exit and pulled in at the first mechanic I came to. The vehicle was losing power at that point. Pulling in and out of the traffic was hazardous to both me and the other drivers. When they inspected my car, they determined that the coolant had been leaking for a significant period of time as demonstrated by the worn spot on the pipe it had landed on. Further inspection revealed a blown head gasket. When a new head gasket was ordered from the local Mazda dealership, the mechanic was surprised to learn that Mazda had four of these parts in stock as most dealerships would have to order the part. The Mazda service department told him that they had four head gaskets in stock because this happens pretty often. My research on this site and on the Mazda forum indicates that this is a known defect to Mazda. This vehicle has just over 56,000 miles on it. It is regularly serviced. There was no warning light prior to this incident, in fact, the blue light indicating the engine was cool had regularly appeared whenever I started the vehicle. I have the replaced head gasket in my possession, should inspection of the part be necessary. I have reported this issue to Mazda but have been advised it is unlikely they will reimburse me.
NHTSA ODI #11521492
Mileage unknown · Feb 17, 2023
Engine
Head gasket blew in a 2016 Mazda CX9 while driving causing us to as safely as possible quickly get off the road from the middle lane of an interstate. This is from a known coolant leak in the cylinder head from service bulletin 01-013/21.
NHTSA ODI #11507815
Mileage unknown · Jan 23, 2023
Power Train
I took my car into the dealership and was told that I had a cracked cylinder head and the car is leaking coolant near the rear of the engine. This could cause the engine to cease should coolant get into the engine. The dealer (North Park Mazda, San Antonio) has confirmed this as the issue. I have received a video of the inspecti…
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I took my car into the dealership and was told that I had a cracked cylinder head and the car is leaking coolant near the rear of the engine. This could cause the engine to cease should coolant get into the engine. The dealer (North Park Mazda, San Antonio) has confirmed this as the issue. I have received a video of the inspection from the dealership explaining the issue. The vehicle displayed a warning that it was overheating which is what prompted me to bring the vehicle in for service.
NHTSA ODI #11503274
Official recalls
0
No recalls in this snapshot.
Model-level recall history does not show whether a particular VIN is affected or has received a repair. Check a VIN with NHTSA ↗
NHTSA investigations
0
No exact-year investigations in this snapshot.
2016 Mazda CX-9 Problems, Complaints & Recalls | Skip That Year