Mazda · CX-9 · 2021
1
Recall
33
Complaints
5/5
Safety Rating
The 2021 Mazda CX-9 has 1 recall and 33 owner-reported complaints on file with NHTSA. Overall safety rating: 5 out of 5 stars. Most reported issue: engine (15 reports).
Source: NHTSA Public Records · Updated Apr 25, 2026
This page combines three types of NHTSA data: recall campaigns (official manufacturer or government actions), owner complaints (unverified consumer reports), and crash test ratings (where available). A vehicle with many complaints is not necessarily less reliable — complaint volume correlates with sales volume and vehicle age. Recalls indicate identified defects, not overall quality. To compare this model year with others, use the year navigation in the sidebar or return to the model overview page.
Frontal Crash Test

Side Crash Test

Overall Frontal Rating
Driver and Passenger Assessment
Driver Side
Passenger Side
Overall Side Rating
Side Barrier and Side Pole Tests
Driver Side
Passenger Side
Rollover Resistance
15.1% rollover risk in single-vehicle crash
Safety Features
Mazda North American Operations (Mazda) is recalling certain 2020-2021 CX-9 vehicles equipped with 60/40 split bench second-row seats. The left-side second-row seat may unexpectedly slide forward during a crash. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 210, "Seat Belt Assembly Anchorages."
Remedy Status
Dealers will replace the internal parts of the affected second-row seats, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed November 4, 2021. Owners may contact Mazda customer service at 1-800-222-5500, Option 4. Mazda's number for this recall is 5221I.
Backup camera shows three to four feet before red collision line is not accurate causing severe damage to my garage door.
My vehicle is part of Mazda's 2021-2022 Mazda Valve Stem Seal Settlement. The dealership had yet to call me in for the repair of said valve seal repair as I was on a list. The settlement is suppose to extend out the powertrain warranty on the vehicle 2 years/24,000 to 7 years/84,000. My vehicle has 60,083 miles on it. One of the cylinders on my vehicle lost compression. The dealership and Mazda both say they will not cover the cost for repair as they only are covering things in the powertrain relate to oil consumption. The cylinders are part of the powertrain and carbon buildup from excessive oil burning because of the defective seal causes valve damage or sticking which will cause compression loss. Mazda is actively denying what they agreed to in the settlement and costing people money for repairs that should be covered.
My MazdaCx9 engine consumes (burns) an excessive amount of oil, necessitating frequent top-offs between oil changes.This issue started after the first oil change and continued since then.
On [XXX], [XXX], [XXX] I was driving on an interstate highway with a 65 mph speed limit with no warning and received the following codes which slowed the vehicle to the limp mode. 1) Smart Brake Support and Forward Obstruction Warning 2) Activsense system malfunction 3) Front Radar Sensor Malfunction 4) Engine Malfunction 5) Dynamic Stability Control Malfunction I reported all three incidents to the dealer and no codes were left and the dealership had no solution for the problem. They suggested dirt, sunlight, or blowing debris caused it, but that was not the case. Luckily the first two incidents happened with little or no traffic around but the third was during rush hour and almost caused a major accident trying to get off the highway. I shut the car off, restarted and the problem resolved no lights left on or warnings appearing all three times. Contacted Mazda several times and all representatives at the dealership and California Headquarters claim no knowledge of this happening. I found a few others reporting the same issue and wanted to report this. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Hello, I have been to a Mazda dealer complaining of clicking and squeaky brakes for 2 years now. Dealer replaced both front and back breaks and rotors around 22k year ago and to my surprise the issues persist, currently vehicle is at 49k. There is a TSB( 04-001/22) out for my vin and year, so they know its a manufacturing defect and all they do is throw white break grease and a month later the noise is there again when breaking , backing up. I am not the only one, people of reddit confirm this and so does a general google search. Besides that i love the car and the dealer was super cool about it all but I'm sorry, this is unacceptable, Every time i go get an oil change i ask about a fix and nothing.
The contact owns a 2021 Mazda CX-9. The contact stated while driving at various speeds and turning, there was a popping sound coming from the front end of the vehicle. The front-end popping sound also occurred while driving over bumps in the roadway. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who was unable to determine the cause of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The local dealer and manufacturer were not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 68,811.
I just purchased this vehicle 2 months ago. Yesterday my oil light came on, I pulled over and checked the oil it was completely low. I had to put a quart of oil in it. After that I did some research and learned this seems to be an issue with some 2021 models the cx9 included. There needs to be a recall on this and Mazda needs to fix this issue. These cars cost way to much to have to put a quart of oil every month.
Please add the 2021 CX9 model to the following bulletin. [XXX] This is exactly what is happening with my car and is extremely frustrating that a recall has not been issued to fix the problem. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
I was in a parking lot and came to a stop and placed the car in reverse to back into a parking space. The back-up camera was on and I began to back into the parking space when the car suddenly lurched/jerked forward and accelerated on its own. The car jumped the parking lot median strip and I hit a tree head on. I had my seatbelt on and the airbag deployed. The car then reversed back off the median into the parking lot. I turned off the car. Insurance company will have it inspected. The vehicle is a total loss. I was injured with a large lower abdomen hematoma and airbag burns on arms, wrists, and chest as well as various bruising. I was fortunate to have not hit pedestrians who were walking in the lot or other vehicles that were parked in the lot. There were no warning lights, messages, sounds. The brake assist did not engage. It was frightening.
6/29/2023--Vehicle stopped suddenly with i-ACTIVESENSE system malfunction, Dynamic Stability Control malfunction, Engine malfunction, engine output reduced, Front radar sensor malfunction. Dealer said these faults due to bad battery--replaced battery per Service Manager [XXX] at Lakeland Mazda. 9/10/2023--Incident #2 with same faults as above with vehicle stopping suddenly at risk of creating a rear end collision. Lakeland Service Manager [XXX] now said that the faults are due to a faulty ERG valve. Lakeland Mazda and [XXX] are absolutely clueless as to the root cause of this problem and are releasing the vehicle back to the customer with the potential of causing a significant collision that can result in serious injury and/or death. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
The contact owns a 2021 Mazda CX-9. The contact stated that while accelerating quickly and entering the highway, there was no motive power to the vehicle. While crossing the highway in the right lane, driving at 65 MPH, the vehicle in front moved over; there was a parked vehicle. The contact was able to stop the vehicle before causing a crash. The driver was starting to accelerate, but there was no motive power when the accelerator pedal was depressed. The smart brake system malfunction message was displayed. There were no warning lights illuminated. The contact called the local dealer, who scheduled an appointment. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and informed the contact to have the vehicle diagnosed. The failure mileage was approximately 53,186.
I was driving approximately 75-80 mph (speed limit for I-90 is 80 mph) on I-90 Eastbound in South Dakota (approximately 5-8 miles from Sioux Falls, SD) in the left-hand lane (passing lane with a minimal shoulder) when I heard a terrible noise that sounded like I had a flat tire and the car began to pull to the left. I immediately slowed down and steered the vehicle onto the small shoulder on the left-hand side of the interstate. It was at this point I looked out my window (driver's window) and saw the entire left front wheel (not just the rubber tire) rolling by (west in the grassy median of I-90). The vehicle did not roll over, hit another vehicle, or get hit by another vehicle. After coming to a safe stop, I got out of the vehicle and saw that the left front (driver's side) wheel (not just the rubber tire) was gone. There were two (2) other passengers in the vehicle at the time that the wheel fell off who exited the vehicle out of danger of passing cars/trucks/semi tractor trailers on I-90. The vehicle was towed and to my knowledge has not been inspected by the manufacturer. The Hertz rental vehicle was only "inspected" by PurCo claims specialist via pictures as they did not have the vehicle in their possession. There were no warning messages, lamps, lights, or other symptoms prior to the wheel falling off. The wheel fell off on 7/8/2023 on Interstate 90 in South Dakota. After the wheel fell off, it rolled down the median of I-90 bounced up onto the westbound lane of I-90 and struck another vehicle causing that vehicle's airbags to deploy. There were four (4) occupants in that vehicle.
The oil light keeps coming on before your initial oil change. Also, the oil is actually low. They have already changed it and I'm having the same problem in less than 2 months.
2021 Mazda CX-9 Frontal collision at a speed between 10-20 mph. Car shut down after collision and was not drivable. Concern is the driver side airbag did not deploy. (Neither did passenger but there was no person in the passenger seat)
Oil light came on, vehicle has ~15,000 miles.
2021 Mazda CX-9 Low Oil Light came on at around 18,900 miles (2/10/2023 and 2/11/2023). Took to Mazda, and they said there was defective valve stem seals that can allow oil to leak into the engine’s combustion chamber. Vehicle is currently with Mazda service department to be fixed.
the vehicles experience excessive oil consumption because the defective valve stem seals allow engine oil to leak into the combustion chambers. This concern usually occurs when the mileage reaches approximately 2,000 – 3,000 miles (5,000 - 7,500km) and may also occur again after replacing or topping off the engine oil.
The contact owns a 2021 Mazda CX-9. The contact stated that while driving at 60 MPH or exceeding 60 MPH, the vehicle would lose motive power and stall without warning. The contact stated that he would coast to the side of the road and the vehicle would restart after 2-3 attempts and regain normal functionality. The vehicle had not been diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 49,000.
The driver side airbag did not deploy in a front end collision on the drivers side. When approaching a vehicle that had come to a sudden and complete stop, the brakes were applied hard to the Mazda CX-9 in order to stop, but after about 1 second they just totally let go and there was no braking at all and the Mazda continued to move forward until it slammed into the vehicle that was stopped. The MyMazda app sent a message that stated that there was a Brake System Malfunctiom which is exactly what occurred and caused the accident.
A LOT OF ENGINE OIL CONSUPTION, 1 QUART PER 2500 MILES.
Showing 1–20 of 25 complaints
The 2021 Mazda CX-9 has 1 recall recorded by NHTSA.
NHTSA has received 33 owner-reported complaints for the 2021 Mazda CX-9.
The 2021 Mazda CX-9 received an overall safety rating of 5 out of 5 stars from NHTSA.
The most commonly reported complaint categories for the 2021 Mazda CX-9 are engine (15 reports), unknown or other (3 reports), service brakes (2 reports).
Yes. NHTSA has 1 recall on record for the 2021 Mazda CX-9. Scroll up to review the published recall summaries, consequences, and remedies. To check for unrepaired recalls on your specific vehicle, use your VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.
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This page summarizes publicly available data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Complaint counts reflect reports submitted to NHTSA by vehicle owners and do not by themselves prove defect severity or vehicle safety. Safety ratings may not be available for all vehicle-years. This site is not affiliated with NHTSA or any vehicle manufacturer. For official information, visit the official NHTSA page for this vehicle.