The 2012 Mazda Cx-9 has 4 NHTSA recall campaigns affecting an estimated 498,201 vehicles. Recall repairs are always free at any authorized dealer. Owners have filed 263 complaints with NHTSA, most often about the service brakes. Last updated July 5, 2026.
Recall campaigns
AIR BAGS19V7820002019-10-3169,879 affected
Defect
Mazda North American Operations (Mazda) is recalling certain 2007-2012 CX-7, CX-9, and 2009-2012 Maza6 vehicles. These vehicles had their passenger frontal air bag inflators previously replaced under a prior recall using inflators of the same design. The inflators may explode due to propellant degradation occurring…
Consequence
An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
Remedy
Owners are advised not to drive their vehicles until the repair has been performed. Mazda will notify owners, and dealers will replace the front passenger air bag inflator with an alternate one, free of charge. The recall began December 3, 2019. Owners may contact Mazda customer service at 1-800-222-5500, option…
AIR BAGS18V7170002018-10-12155,436 affected
Defect
Mazda North American Operations (Mazda) is recalling certain 2014-2015 Mazda CX-9 vehicles sold, or ever registered in the states of Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands (Saipan), and the U.S.…
Consequence
An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
Remedy
Mazda will notify owners, and dealers will replace the front passenger air bag inflator with an alternate inflator, free of charge. The recall began November 9, 2018. Owners may contact Mazda customer service at 1-800-222-5500, Option 4. Mazda's number for this recall is 1317F.
AIR BAGS17V4570002017-07-1879,402 affected
Defect
Mazda North America Operations (Mazda) is recalling certain 2012 CX-7, CX-9 and Mazda6 vehicles sold, or ever registered, in the states of Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands (Saipan), and the…
Consequence
An inflator rupture may result in metal fragments striking the vehicle occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
Remedy
Owners are advised not to drive their vehicles until the remedy is performed. Mazda will notify owners, and dealers will replace the front passenger side air bag inflator with an alternate inflator, free of charge. The recall began October 4, 2017. Owners may contact Mazda customer service at 1-800-222-5500. …
SUSPENSION15V4510002015-07-20193,484 affected
Defect
Mazda North American Operations (Mazda) is recalling certain model year 2007-2014 CX-9 vehicles manufactured October 24, 2006, to December 28, 2013. The affected vehicles have front suspension ball joints that may corrode from water leaking into the fitting.
Consequence
Over time, the ball joint corrosion may result in the front lower control arm separating from the ball joint, causing a loss of steering control and increasing the risk of a crash.
Remedy
Mazda will notify owners, and dealers will replace both the left and right lower control arms, free of charge. The recall began on September 14, 2015. The recall will begin with model year 2007-2009 vehicles registered in Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts,…
Complaints by component
SERVICE BRAKES
139
4crashes1injuries
ENGINE
25
1crashes
AIR BAGS
23
2crashes6injuries
POWER TRAIN
18
1crashes
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
11
4crashes
SUSPENSION
9
1crashes
STEERING
7
1crashes
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
6
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
5
EXTERIOR LIGHTING
3
Total complaints263
What owners report
Verbatim reports filed with NHTSA, lightly edited for readability and with personal
information removed.
“While drive I feel like there is sticking something below the car when I am accelerating. And the acceleration became hard. Also I heard a weird noise at that time. Then a saw a leakage below my car.”
“My driver and passenger side curtain airbags randomly deployed without a collision. Thankfully I was at a stop sign when this happened. If it happened while I was driving, i’m sure I would have wrecked and could possibly be dead. It was loud! I thought i’d been shot or that i’d driven over a…”
“Ball joints replaced due to tear in both rubber covers and driver side ball joint very loose. Was previously repaired in july 2015 under recall number: 15v451000.”
“I was driving normally when I started sowing down and noticed the brakes were harder to push. I finally stopped just before almost rear-ending a vehicle in front of me. It turns out the brake booster, a known problem that was not communicated to me a few years ago, failed and makes braking the…”
“The water pump suddenly started leaking and the mechanics I talk to said this is a very common problem with this vehicle and type of engine. Sounds like owners are left to foot the bill for this costly and difficult repair of a defective product. Hopefully more owners come forward and report their…”
“The contact owns a 2012 mazda cx9. The contact stated that the vehicle had previously been involved in a crash due to a fractured passenger's side lower control arm. The dealer was made aware of the failure and confirmed that the vehicle had been repaired under nhtsa campaign number: 15v451000…”
“On august 14, 2020, the brake booster along with the master cylinder failed, resulting in very dangerous and frightening driving conditions, and the parts were replaced with mazda original parts. This was an ongoing issue with the mazda cx-9’s. I reported it to the nhtsa, complaint number…”
“The contact owns a 2012 mazda cx-9. The contact stated that on several occasions while driving at various speeds, the front passenger’s side seat belt was tightening intermittently causing discomfort for the front seat passenger. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle had not yet…”
Defect investigations
InvestigationPE15022 Opened 2015-06-09 · closed 2015-08-20
Lower ball joint separation
In an July 7,2015 letter to NHTSA, Mazda identified a safety defect that could result in lower ball joint separation in approximately 193,484 model year (MY) 2007 through 2014 Mazda CX-9 vehicles (NHTSA Recall No. 15V-451,Mazda 8515G).Mazda indicated that damage to the ball joint boot may allow water to enter the…
InvestigationPE19006 Opened 2019-05-02 · closed 2021-01-15
Inadvertent Curtain Air Bag Deployment
The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened this Preliminary Evaluation (PE19-006) on May 2, 2019 to investigate two Vehicle Owner Questionnaires (VOQs) and Early Warning Reporting data related to allegations of inadvertent deployment (IAD) of side curtain airbags in Model Year (MY) 2010 through 2013 Mazda CX-9…
InvestigationPE19006 Opened 2019-05-02 · closed 2021-01-15
Inadvertent Curtain Air Bag Deployment
The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened this Preliminary Evaluation (PE19-006) on May 2, 2019 to investigate two Vehicle Owner Questionnaires (VOQs) and Early Warning Reporting data related to allegations of inadvertent deployment (IAD) of side curtain airbags in Model Year (MY) 2010 through 2013 Mazda CX-9…
InvestigationPE19006 Opened 2019-05-02 · closed 2021-01-15
Inadvertent Curtain Air Bag Deployment
The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened this Preliminary Evaluation (PE19-006) on May 2, 2019 to investigate two Vehicle Owner Questionnaires (VOQs) and Early Warning Reporting data related to allegations of inadvertent deployment (IAD) of side curtain airbags in Model Year (MY) 2010 through 2013 Mazda CX-9…
Recall, complaint, and investigation records from official NHTSA datasets (FLAT_RCL,
FLAT_CMPL, FLAT_INV), synced weekly. Counts reflect NHTSA records for the 2012 Mazda Cx-9 as of
July 5, 2026. Complaint narratives are consumer-submitted and unverified. This page
contains ads and affiliate links. Full methodology.