The 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.
The risk
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.
The 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, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington D.C., West Virginia, and Wisconsin. The second phase will be for model year 2010-2014 vehicles in the same states. Finally, all remaining vehicles will be remedied. Owners may contact Mazda customer service at 1-800-222-5500. Mazda's number for this recall is 8515G.
NHTSA's own wording · initiated by ODI
Vehicles covered
| Model | Model years |
|---|---|
| Mazda CX-9 | 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 |
Components: SUSPENSION:FRONT:CONTROL ARM:LOWER BALL JOINT | SUSPENSION:FRONT:CONTROL ARM:LOWER ARM
Model years in this recall
NHTSA complaints and the number of recall campaigns for each model year this recall covers.
| Model | Year | Complaints | Recalls |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mazda CX-9 | 2007 | 67 | 4 |
| Mazda CX-9 | 2008 | 172 | 5 |
| Mazda CX-9 | 2009 | 59 | 6 |
| Mazda CX-9 | 2010 | 162 | 6 |
| Mazda CX-9 | 2011 | 170 | 4 |
| Mazda CX-9 | 2012 | 221 | 4 |
| Mazda CX-9 | 2013 | 68 | 4 |
| Mazda CX-9 | 2014 | 54 | 3 |
Other suspension recalls in 2015
64 of the 863 recall campaigns reported to NHTSA in 2015 concerned the suspension; Mazda North American Operations filed 95 campaigns in all.
| 15V863000 22 Dec 2015 | Kaufman Trailers |
| 15V838000 14 Dec 2015 | Charmac Trailers Inc. |
| 15V784000 23 Nov 2015 | DS Corp DBA Crossroads RV |
| 15V753000 13 Nov 2015 | Trails West Manufacturing Of Idaho, Inc. |
| 15V727000 3 Nov 2015 | Newmar Corporation |
| 15V725000 3 Nov 2015 | Prevost Cars, Inc. |
| 15V654000 14 Oct 2015 | Newmar Corporation |
| 15V649000 13 Oct 2015 | Great Dane Trailers |
NHTSA recalls (public domain) · all recalls of 2015