The Mazda CX-9 is the only one of these three with a record deep enough to argue over, and it has two bad patches: the 2011 and 2012 cars, CAUTION verdicts at 65 and 50 with Service Brakes accounting for 100 of 170 complaints and 143 of 221, and the 2018 car, a CAUTION at 57 with 126 complaints, 74 of them Engine. Everything else from 2014 onward is a BUY, apart from a 2023 with no data yet, and the 2020 and 2022 cars score 93 on 19 and 9 complaints. The Mazda CX-3 has 111 complaints across six years and low evidence in every one of them. The Mazda CX-7 has two years on record, and the 2011 car's 153 complaints are led by the suspension that the recalls later addressed.
The 2011 and 2012 CX-9: a brake pattern with no recall behind it
The CX-9 record opens on the last two years of its first design. The 2011 has 170 complaints, 11.3 per year on road, and Service Brakes is 100 of them; Power Train at 25, Air Bags at 22 and Engine at 15 follow a long way behind. The 2012 is worse on every measure: 221 complaints, 15.8 per year, Service Brakes at 143, almost two thirds of the total. Both years carry four recalls, three of them safety-critical, and none is for the brakes. Three of the four in each year are the passenger frontal air bag inflator: 18V717000 (12/10/2018), a regional campaign on the 2011 to 2015 cars; 19V782000 (31/10/2019) on the 2011 and 2012 cars, because inflators fitted under an earlier recall were of the same design; and 17V429000 (29/06/2017) on the 2011 car or 17V457000 (18/07/2017) on the 2012. The fourth is 15V451000 (20/07/2015), covering the 2011 to 2014 cars for front suspension ball joints that may corrode when water leaks into the fitting. Air Bags at 22 and 23 complaints in these two years lines up with the inflator campaigns; the brake pattern, the dominant one, has no federal remedy behind it, so I record it as a symptom owners reported, not a named cause. The 2013 car has no complaints on file and is DATA PENDING.
The CX-9 from 2014: engine reports, and the 2018 spike
The 2014 car resets the record: 54 complaints, 4.5 per year on road, a score of 88. The 2015 has 35 and scores 90, on low evidence. Engine becomes the top category and stays there for the rest of the record, at 19 on the 2014 car and 17 on the 2015, with Service Brakes down to 9 and 3. The 2014 and 2015 cars share the safety-critical steering campaign 16V203000 (11/04/2016).
The second-generation CX-9 arrived for 2016, and the EPA combined figure moves from 19 to 24 miles per gallon. The 2016 car has 99 complaints and scores 81, with Engine at 61; the 2017 has 61 and scores 89, Engine at 43. Neither has a recall. Then the 2018 car: 126 complaints, 15.8 per year on road, the same rate as the 2012, Engine at 74, a score of 57. Two campaigns cover it, and both bear on whether the engine runs. 19V403000 (30/05/2019) recalls the 2018 CX-9 for a wiring harness that may disrupt electrical communications and disable the passenger air bag, the turn signals and the engine starting system; 21V875000 (12/11/2021) recalls the 2018 and 2019 cars for a low-pressure fuel pump impeller that may crack and deform. The record does not say how many of the 74 Engine complaints are the fuel pump, but the campaign and the component pattern point the same way.
The 2019 car recovers to 53 complaints and a score of 83, Engine at 23, with the fuel pump campaign and a tyre campaign, 19V770000, for an incorrect rubber compound on one lot of tyres. The 2020 car has 19 complaints and scores 93; the 2021 has 38 and scores 86, Engine at 20; the 2022 has 9 and scores 93. All three are low evidence, and the 2020 and 2021 cars share one recall, 21V750000, for a second-row seat that may slide forward in a crash. The 2023 car is DATA PENDING.
Mazda CX-9: the record, year by year
| Year | Score | Verdict | NHTSA complaints | Recalls |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | — | DATA PENDING | 0 | 0 |
| 2022 | 93 | BUY | 9 | 0 |
| 2021 | 86 | BUY | 38 | 1 |
| 2020 | 93 | BUY | 19 | 1 |
| 2019 | 83 | BUY | 53 | 2 |
| 2018 | 57 | CAUTION | 126 | 2 |
| 2017 | 89 | BUY | 61 | 0 |
| 2016 | 81 | BUY | 99 | 0 |
| 2015 | 90 | BUY | 35 | 2 |
| 2014 | 88 | BUY | 54 | 3 |
| 2013 | — | DATA PENDING | 0 | 0 |
| 2012 | 50 | CAUTION | 221 | 4 |
| 2011 | 65 | CAUTION | 170 | 4 |
Live from the federal record as of 2026-10-04; linked years have their own page. Full table and repair costs on the Mazda CX-9 model page.
The CX-3: six years, 111 complaints, low evidence throughout
The CX-3 never accumulated a record. Its busiest year, 2016, has 48 complaints, 4.8 per year on road, and a CAUTION verdict at 58; its quietest, 2020, has 1 complaint and scores 93. Every year is labelled low evidence, so the scores move on small numbers and should be read as such. The 2016 car has three recalls where the later years have one or two: 16V203000 (11/04/2016), the same safety-critical steering campaign as the 2014 and 2015 CX-9; 16V644000 (06/09/2016) for the hatchback; and 23V487000 (14/07/2023), a rearview camera campaign covering every CX-3 from 2016 to 2021 for a flickering or distorted image. The 2016 car's complaints are spread across Electrical System at 11, Exterior Lighting at 7 and Back Over Prevention at 6, and that last category matches the camera campaign. The 2019 car, 27 complaints and a score of 72, carries the fuel pump campaign 21V875000 and has Electrical System at 9 and Steering at 5. The 2017, 2018, 2020 and 2021 cars score 86, 91, 93 and 92 on 21, 10, 1 and 4 complaints.
The CX-7: suspension and air bags, then it ends
The CX-7 has two model years on this site. The 2011 car has 153 complaints, 10.2 per year on road, a CAUTION verdict at 64, and the top components are Suspension at 51, Air Bags at 42, Exterior Lighting at 38 and Steering at 16. The 2012 car has 39 complaints, 2.8 per year, and scores 86 on low evidence, with the same three categories at 14, 12 and 7. Both years carry four recalls, three of them safety-critical, and the recalls match the complaints closely. 16V593000 (11/08/2016) covers the 2011 and 2012 cars for front suspension ball joint fittings that water may enter, the CX-7 version of the CX-9 campaign; the rest are the passenger air bag inflator campaigns shared with the CX-9. Suspension and Air Bags between them are 93 of the 2011 car's 153 complaints, and both have a campaign behind them. Exterior Lighting at 38 does not.
Ranking the three
- Mazda CX-9, first, on depth of record: eight BUY years from 2014 on, and three CAUTION years that are easy to name. Buy a 2014, 2015, 2017 or anything from 2019 to 2022; avoid the 2011 and 2012; treat the 2018 as CAUTION until its two campaigns are shown closed.
- Mazda CX-3, second, provisionally: five BUY years out of six, on low evidence throughout. Buy a 2017 to 2021 car; treat the 2016 with care.
- Mazda CX-7, third: one CAUTION year and one BUY year on low evidence. A 2012 with the campaigns closed is fine; a 2011 needs its suspension history checked.
What to check before you buy
- On a 2011 or 2012 CX-9, drive it with the brakes in mind: pedal feel, assist, any warning. Service Brakes is 100 and 143 complaints in these years with no recall to close, so the repair history is your only evidence. Confirm 15V451000 and the inflator campaigns by VIN.
- On a 2018 or 2019 CX-9, confirm 21V875000 is closed, and on a 2018 also 19V403000. Ask about any stalling or no-start event, since Engine is 74 and 23 complaints in these two years.
- On a 2014 or 2015 CX-9 and a 2016 CX-3, confirm the steering campaign 16V203000. On any 2016 to 2021 CX-3, check 23V487000 and watch the rearview camera image for flicker.
- On a 2011 or 2012 CX-7, confirm 16V593000 and the inflator campaigns, and have the front ball joints inspected.
- On any CX-3, the evidence is low; a clean service history matters more than the score.
Summary
The CX-9 is the Mazda to buy on this record, in 2014, 2015, 2017 or 2019 to 2022; avoid the 2011 and 2012 cars for their brake complaints and treat the 2018 as a CAUTION. The CX-3 is a BUY from 2017 to 2021 on low evidence, with the 2016 car the only CAUTION. The CX-7's 2011 car is a CAUTION led by suspension and air bag complaints; the 2012 is a BUY.