What are the most common problems on the 2020 Mazda CX-9?

NHTSA has 19 owner complaint(s) on record for the 2020 Mazda CX-9. Engine is the most-reported problem area on the 2020 Mazda CX-9, cited in 5 of 19 filed complaints (26%).

Problems › Mazda › 2020 CX-9

2020 Mazda CX-9 Problems & Owner Complaints

19 NHTSA owner complaints

1 crash 1 injury

Age-normalised, this year draws ~2.7 complaints per year on the road — ranking 13 of 14 Mazda CX-9 years we track (1 = most complaints per year).

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What owners report

Engine is the most-reported problem area on the 2020 Mazda CX-9, cited in 5 of 19 filed complaints (26%).

Electrical System is next (4 complaints, 21%), followed by Fuel/Propulsion System (3), Forward Collision Avoidance (2), Power Train (2).

Across all complaints, 1 report a crash, 1 report injuries.

The most safety-critical cluster is Air Bags: 1 crash, 1 injury report(s).

Complaints by vehicle system

Owner complaints filed with the U.S. NHTSA for the 2020 Mazda CX-9, grouped by the vehicle system each cites. A single complaint can name more than one system, so the group totals can add up to more than 19.

Engine 5

“The vehicle will hesitate/stall while driving down the road. The vehicle has done this multiple times and has actually shut off on 2 different occasions while at a stop. on 2 occasions now the vehicle has not wanted to start. I have taken vehicle to Mazda dealership and they can never duplicate it. When they check for any codes, the vehicle computer does not give accurate times when happened. This last date I took it to them 6/9/25, the computer said it happened 4000 miles ago. The time before, I took it in the morning it happened, 5 min after it happened and the computer said it happened 10 s…”
NHTSA complaint #11665964, 2025

“The vehicle was overheating and a message came up that power will be reduced. Then it would go away and come up every 3 minutes while driving. I brought it to the service center, we filled it up with coolant and the issue kept coming back this time with a lot of white smoke coming out at vehicle start up. My mechanic said this is a bigger issue most likely to do with a coolant leak at the cylinder head. There is a technical service bulletin but no recall as of yet.”
NHTSA complaint #11654408, 2025

“Excessive oil consumption. In less than 3000 miles, I have to add a quart of oil”
NHTSA complaint #11641859, 2025

Electrical System 4

“The information screen is getting 'spider cracks" spreading across the face and turning opaque making the information unreadable. Mazda is apparently aware of this defect and issued a TSB for earlier models. Dealers were unhelpful and quoted $1000 - $3000 to repair depending on the VIN.”
NHTSA complaint #11714995, 2025

“Vehicle randomly displays "smart brake system malfunction," "forward smart city brake malfunction" and " front radar system malfunction." This has been going on for at least a year. I will be driving on a highway, trying to accelerate and these messages will pop up. I'm not able to accelerate when these messages pop up and I have to turn on my hazard lights and pull over to the side of the road. The only thing that clears these warnings are for me to completely shut down my car and restart it. Luckily I have been able to get over to the side of the road on the highway without an accident, but…”
NHTSA complaint #11662517, 2024

“We were on the freeway and all of a sudden it stopped accelerating and the engine light, sensor light, and sensor warning came on. We could not accelerate, that became disabled and we had to pull over. My husband said our fluid levels were normal and he checked them all in the shoulder of the freeway. We turned the vehicle off then on again and all lights went away and we continued on. This is a safety hazard because the car would not accelerate while we were going 60 mph on the freeway. I quickly took a picture of the dash as this was happening so I can take it to the dealer.”
NHTSA complaint #11521908, 2023

Fuel/Propulsion System 3

“The mazda Cx-9 is having the same fuel pump issues that was recalled up until 2018 models. The issue with the lean codes and faulty fuel pump continues”
NHTSA complaint #11745213, 2026

“Prior to [XXX] The vehicle ran rough and sputter excessively. I took car to local repair shop. Diagnostic equipment determined the fuel injector needed to be replaced. Vehicle ran better but continued to sputter and ride rough on occasion. Prior to [XXX], the vehicle stopped operating properly. The vehicle would not travel faster than 20 mph and sometimes would stop completely in the middle of the road. This was a hazardous situation. The vehicle seemed to be starved for fuel. All warning lights were displayed on the short trip home. Being too dangerous to drive the vehicle was towed to a diff…”
NHTSA complaint #11741400, 2026

Unknown Or Other 3

Forward Collision Avoidance 2

“On 10/12/2021 we were driving on and urban street when the vehicle infront of us signaled and initiated a right hand turn. At that point were we traveling approximately 20 mph, and we were driving with active cruise disengaged. When we were around 150 feet behind the vehicle taking a right when our CX-9 falsely engaged the emergency braking. Our car with our whole family in it locked up the brakes and stopped in 80 feet short of the car taking a right. The vehicle behind us only managed to stop 10 feet short of hitting us in the rear. It is in the 4 people in our vehicles opinion that this ope…”
NHTSA complaint #11433381, 2021

Power Train 2

“FUEL CAP LIGHT ON IN DEC 2020. OUR CAR MILEAGE ~14,000 MILES . WE BOUGHT BRAND NEW CX9 2020 IN AUGUST. DEALER INSPECTED IT AND FOUND NOTHING WRONG. DEALER REPROGRAMMED IT. A MONTH LATER JAN 1,2021, FUEL CAP LIGHT IS ON ON AGAIN. WE IGNORED IT THINKING IT IS ANOTHER PROGRAM ISSUE. CAR STARTED TO JERK AND VIBRATE AT STOP SIGN. WE BROUGHT TO DEALER THE NEXT DAY. DEALER SAID CHARCOAL BOX IS LEAKING. I THOUGHT CHARCOAL BOX SHOULD LAST A LIFE TIME. THEY SAID IT IS NOT UNDER WARRANTY: $680 LATER, THE JERKING/VIBRATING ISSUE IS FIXED. HOPEFULLY THAT IS IT SINCE WE ONLY HAVE THE CAR FOR 5 MONTHS”
NHTSA complaint #11391114, 2021

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Service Brakes 2

“I've had it repaired for over 30+ times. I'm tired of the car not being fixed. The last visit I was told maybe its the way I drive.”
NHTSA complaint #11658142, 2025

Air Bags 1 1 crash 1 injury

“The contact owned a 2020 Mazda CX-9. The contact stated that while driving approximately 60 MPH, a second vehicle crashed head-on into the front of the vehicle. During the head-on crash, no air bags inside the vehicle deployed. The contact sustained a concussion and right eye injury and later received medical attention. A Police report was filed at the scene. The vehicle was destroyed and towed to a local storage facility. No information was available concerning the second vehicle's occupants. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The lo…”
NHTSA complaint #11747446, 2026 · crash · 1 injury(ies)

Back Over Prevention 1

“Warning signal front camera sensor system malfunction Forward Smart City Brake Support malfunction When this initial happen the steering wheel becomes hard to maneuver than releases The front and back cameras are clear from any debris or obstructions What should I do next?”
NHTSA complaint #11724926, 2026

Structure 1

“The passenger rear plastic wheel trim fell off with no incident/ damage”
NHTSA complaint #11457856, 2022

Tires 1

“All 4 of my BH255/50R20 XL 109v NOKIAN WR G4 vehicle tires are exhibiting abnormal tread degradation and excessive sidewall cracking. The tire defect includes a circumferential crack along the top of all 4 tires, where the top of the tire's sidewall and tread base meet. Upon tire inspection, the structural integrity and safety of these tires with continued usage is questionable. The tires in question are only 26 months old and have approximately 31K miles of usage.”
NHTSA complaint #11721291, 2026

Visibility/Wiper 1

“While driving at freeway speed in Oregon, with 85 degrees ambient temperature and A/C inside set to 74 degrees, our CX-9 sunroof exploded outward. The sound was close to a very loud pop, and not the sound of rock/debris impact. At the time of explosion, there were no vehicles nearby and no overpasses from which an object could have dropped. The vehicle had been washed the day before and there was no visible damage to the sunroof. At the time of explosion, the sunroof and interior cover were closed. Upon stopping the vehicle (within less than one mile) inspection showed that nearly no gl…”
NHTSA complaint #11474545, 2022

How we read this (methodology)

How to read this: raw complaint totals are not a clean reliability score — a model year with more cars sold, or simply more years on the road, accumulates more complaints regardless of how good it is. So this page leans on two signals that are not distorted by sales volume: the share of complaints falling on each vehicle system (the breakdown above) and NHTSA's own crash / fire / injury / death flags. When we compare model years of the same model, we normalise by years on the road (complaints ÷ vehicle age) rather than comparing raw totals. Age-normalised, the 2020 Mazda CX-9 draws about 2.7 complaints per year on the road, ranking 13 of 14 among the Mazda CX-9 model years we have ingested (1 = most complaints per year on road).

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Data source: U.S. NHTSA (nhtsa.gov). SaveVIN surfaces public recall data and is not affiliated with or endorsed by NHTSA.