Mazda CX-9: Years to Avoid and Best Years to Buy
Mazda CX-9: 13 model years scored from 885 NHTSA owner complaints and 19 recall campaigns. Worst year 2012, best year 2015.
Mazda CX-9: which years to avoid
Across 11 scored model years the Mazda CX-9 ranges from 50/100 in 2012 to 93/100 in 2020 — a 43-point spread, so which year you buy matters more than whether you buy a CX-9 at all. The weakest year’s complaints concentrate in Service Brakes (143 of them).
Safest years: 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 — scored 70 or better.
Check carefully: 2011, 2012, 2018.
Scored from NHTSA complaints per year of exposure and recall campaigns. How the score works · every car’s years to avoid.
Editor's note
Avoid the 2011 and 2012 CX-9, CAUTION verdicts at 65 and 50 with Service Brakes accounting for 100 of the 2011 car's 170 complaints and 143 of the 2012 car's 221; buy a 2014, 2015, 2017 or any year from 2019 to 2022, which score between 83 and 93. The 2018 car is a CAUTION at 57 with 126 complaints, 74 of them Engine. The brake pattern on the first-generation cars has no recall behind it; their campaigns are the passenger air bag inflator (18V717000, 17V429000, 17V457000 and 19V782000) and 15V451000 for front ball joints that corrode when water enters the fitting. Engine becomes the top component from 2014 on, 61 on the 2016 car and 43 on the 2017, neither with a recall, then 74 on the 2018, where 19V403000 covers a wiring harness that can disable the engine starting system and 21V875000 a fuel pump impeller that may crack. The 2020 and 2022 cars have 19 and 9 complaints and score 93 on low evidence.
Read the guide
Used Mazda CX-9, CX-3 and CX-7: what the record says — written and signed by Adir Trabelsi, 2026-09-16.
How the CX-9 changed, run by run
The federal record falls into 2 stretches of years that behave alike. A redesign shows up here as a step in the complaint rate that then holds.
2011–2012
Mean score 58/100, about 14 complaints per year on the road. Owners of these years complain about Service Brakes more than anything else (243 complaints). 6 recall campaign(s) in this run touch fire, crash or stall risk.
2014–2022
Mean score 84/100, about 7 complaints per year on the road. Owners of these years complain about Engine more than anything else (262 complaints). The record improves by 26 points against the years before it. 7 recall campaign(s) in this run touch fire, crash or stall risk.
Year-by-year data table
Best year in our data: 2015 (score 90). Worst: 2012 (score 50, CAUTION).
| Year | Score | Verdict | Running cost / yr | NHTSA complaints | Recalls |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | — | DATA PENDING | $3,460 | 0 | 0 |
| 2022 | 93 | BUY | $3,642 | 9 | 0 |
| 2021 | 86 | BUY | $3,784 | 38 | 1 |
| 2020 | 93 | BUY | $3,840 | 19 | 1 |
| 2019 | 83 | BUY | $4,063 | 53 | 2 |
| 2018 | 57 | CAUTION | $4,359 | 126 | 2 |
| 2017 | 89 | BUY | $4,328 | 61 | 0 |
| 2016 | 81 | BUY | $4,528 | 99 | 0 |
| 2015 | 90 | BUY | $5,240 | 35 | 2 |
| 2014 | 88 | BUY | $5,406 | 54 | 3 |
| 2013 | — | DATA PENDING | $5,460 | 0 | 0 |
| 2012 | 50 | CAUTION | $5,900 | 221 | 4 |
| 2011 | 65 | CAUTION | $5,955 | 170 | 4 |
Running cost is fuel or energy plus the maintenance band midpoint for that car at its age today, re-priced to your country. Purchase price, insurance and depreciation are not included.
Photographs and every generation of the CX-9, through the years →
What goes wrong on the Mazda CX-9
Across every CX-9 model year in our index, owners report these component groups most often. The cost beside each one is the representative repair for that group at a US independent shop, re-priced to your country.
- Engine302 complaints across all CX-9 years · typical job: Cooling-system or timing-drive repair$1,040–$2,220
- Service Brakes284 complaints across all CX-9 years · typical job: Pads, rotors and caliper service, both axles$580–$1,140
- Power Train87 complaints across all CX-9 years · typical job: Transmission service or clutch-pack repair$1,290–$4,040
- Unknown Or Other75 complaints across all CX-9 years · typical job: Diagnosis and mixed repair$360–$940
- Electrical System47 complaints across all CX-9 years · typical job: Alternator, battery-drain or body-module diagnosis and replacement$540–$1,310
- Air Bags47 complaints across all CX-9 years · typical job: Airbag module, clockspring or sensor replacement$600–$1,700
Flat-rate labour hours x local shop rate plus a parts band. An estimate of what this class of failure costs, not a quote. Formula.
FAQ
What are the best Mazda CX-9 years to buy?
2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 all score 70 or better. The strongest is the 2020 at 93/100, on 19 complaints and 1 recall campaigns.
Which Mazda CX-9 years should I avoid?
The 2012 is the weakest year we score, at 50/100 (CAUTION), on 221 complaints and 4 recalls. Check the year-by-year table above before committing to any particular car.
What is the most common Mazda CX-9 problem?
302 of the complaints filed against the CX-9 across all its model years sit in the Engine group — more than any other component.
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Sources: NHTSA, EPA · Methodology · Updated 2026-10-04