CX-9 will not start

I have a 2009 CX-9 that has 24000 miles on it. Last week, on two different days, the car would not start. Turn the key and nothing happens - no lights on the dash, no attempt by the car to start. The key fob is not the issue, I took the physical key out of the fob and used it in the ignition switch and car still did not start. The first time it occurred, I tried to jump the battery - still didn't turn on. Both times I called Roadside Assistance and by the time the tow truck got there, the car started. The battery has been checked and is good. I took it to my local dealer and since the car started every time they tried it, they didn't even open the hood to check on anything because they told me that Mazda Corporate would not pay for a warranty claim unless something is found wrong with the car. I called Mazda Corporate and verified this is the case. At this point, I can not get Mazda Corporate to pay a Mazda dealership to do diagnostic work on a car under warranty. Does anyone have any positive experiences with Mazda Corporate in similar circumstances? I will continue to call Mazda Corporate until I can get someone at that company to pay my dealer to diagnose and fix my problem. Does anyone have any recommendations or experience on achieving this from Mazda? At this point, Mazda Corporate has told me they can do nothing until the problem occurs again and it can be reproduced at the dealer. So, my options are to leave my car at the dealership (without being worked on) until they can duplicate it or allow my wife and son to possibly be stranded. Any help, thoughts, or recommendations are welcome.

Did you replace the dumb "smartkey" battery?

A weak battery in the card may not send sufficient signal to allow starting. I had a few no start episodes, but it always came back to the smartkey positioning, or a low battery in the card.

Let us know when the problem is found/resolved.

Like dadeutsch23 said, he took the aux key out of the smart card and it would not start the engine either. Now, your aux key and the smart card both have independent RFID chips, and one does not have anything to do with the other. HOWEVER, if for whatever reason your aux key is not communicating with the vehicle, and there is no smartcard present or smartcard has a dead battery, then the car will not start. If your physical key lets say has an un-programmed or missing RFID chip which sits inside the key, and you try to turn the ignition, then the car will at that point try to communicate with the smartcard rfid, and if it communicates with the card successfully, then it will tell the system to engage (engage starter). Sometimes the RFID chip falls out of the key which happened to me. If its hollow and theres nothing in there, and smartcard battery is dead, then the aux key rfid is likely the problem. If your smartcard has a good battery, and you are using the physical key, and it won't start, then yes, only the dealer can figure that one out.
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However, lets say you have a duplicate/knockoff/newly purchased aux key that has been cut to fit, and is either unprogrammed or has no rfid, THE CX-9 WILL LET YOU TURN THE KEY ALL THE WAY TO THE "ON" position, where all the instrument cluster lights and such all come on, but when you turn the key to "start" it is at this point that it starts rapidly flashing the red "KEY" light at you, very very rapidly.

Basically, an aux key or any key for that matter that is cut properly, but does not contain an rfid chip, or contains an un-programmed rfid chip, will let you gain entry into the vehicle, but will not let you start it, unless it either has a programmed rfid chip in the key, or the car can communicate with any other rfid that might be present in the vehicle (i.e. smartcard sitting in the car, or another programmed aux key sitting close to the steering column)

I hope this helps....I'm guessing though that from what you are describing, when you turn the key to the "on" position, you don't even get any instrumentation lights or anything...so thats not good.

Thanks for the replies, but I am 99% sure it has nothing to do with the keys. I have replaced the batteries in the keys about a month ago, it occurs with either of the key fobs I have and both were the ones that came with the car.

I am almost positive that it is temperature related. The car was towed to a dealer on Monday. The 3 times that it has failed to start were the 3 hottest days of the year and the car failed to start in the late afternoon after baking all day.

With it failing so frequently now (3 times in 2 weeks), I am gaining some confidence that the dealer will be able to reproduce and diagnose the problem. However, I am still very upset that the dealer will do no work until they can replicate the problem and I am extremely disappointed with how Mazda Corporate is handling my case.

It sounds like a loose ground wire.

I've had this happen on two separate cars (1 mustang, 1 old dodge junker). The symptoms were exactly the same as what you describe: the car would be completely dead - no lights and nothing happened when you turn the key. However, it would miraculously come back to life after waiting a few minutes.

On the mustang, there was a ground wire bolted to the engine block and the bolt had backed out, causing intermittent contact. Sometimes, there was too much resistance to allow the starter to turn. On the dodge, the wire had kinked and started to break near the firewall.

I don't know where the ground wires are on the CX-9, but that's what I'd start with.

Good luck.

My guess would be on the battery connectors as well like jal142 suggested.

please let us know when u figure it out

i'm thinking it sounds like a bad battery cell or poor terminal connections. where did you have it tested?

jal142 is right. Thanks for the help. It was a loose wire from the ignition switch. The wire was loose somewhere behind the dashboard. The car spent 3 days at the dealer before they were able to duplicate it. Then they admit that it was just as I described it. Very frustrating that Mazda would not investigate until they duplicated the problem. I am still extremely upset with Mazda Corporate and their failure to trust their customer and work on a warranty item. Thanks everyone for their help and advice. Glad I didn't have to get to the step of trying to solve and fix it myself.

I understand your frustration with Mazda, but it seems to me that this is normal nowadays.
Usually, you need to agree to pay for the diagnosis first (says, $100), and if they are able to find the issue, the
repair or warranty will cover that charge. If not, you have to pay for the diagnosis charge.
(I've owned, Honda, Toyota, Mercury, BMW, Acura, etc - all the same to me)
I have a friend whose Toyota NAVI screen cracked naturally w/o external impact, the Toyota corporate refused
to cover it, saying he did something to it.... that really pissed him off. I am sure stories like that happen to all
automakers if you google online.

If you had proof (such as a video) to demonstrate the issue,
your case would have been much stronger to them.

I'm glad that your problem is found and resolved.

+1 ceric

Let's also remember that "trust" is a two way street. There are MANY customers who have gone out of their way to conceal damage done by mods and improper maintenance because they don't want to be accountable. No doubt all manufacturers have been duped into honoring the warranty. The OP is frustrated because such a repair may hit his bottom line. Lest we forget that manufacturer's also have a bottom line.

ceric, thanks for the info that other car dealers handle these issues in a similar fashion. I did video tape the issue, fortunately, I didn't have to use it for an argument.

Antonio, I have no doubt that customers try to take advantage of situations and lie. From the mfg point of view of a bottom line, do you think it is a good idea to not spend $75 to keep a customer happy? Pretty certain this will affect my future new car purchases.

IMO

Sure $75 sounds like a small amount, but it adds up for every exception they make, plus it sets a precedent- if they do for one and word gets out, then they must do for another, otherwise they're name is mud anyway. Much of this is also up to the dealer and how willing they are to fight. And how willing they are to fight usually depends on whether they expect you'll stay loyal to them. Remeber they're trying to run a business. And unless you've proven to them that you're going to be a reliable source of cash flow they probably won't be giving out freebies. Put it another way, how many dealers used to offer free car washes or other fringe benefits before the economy went south? These are the sorts of benefits that keep customers happy right? But they tend to be abolished when money is tight or when customers start taking advantage. Sure it seems like a small dollar amount but it does add up. Unfortunately the tendancy on both sides is to apply a scorched earth policy rather than try to manage each unique situation becasue it's less complicated and therefore perceived as cheaper. Customers do this all the time. They'll get annoyed/burned by one situation and then never go back to that dealer or manufacturer.

I'm not trying to side with the dealers or manufacturer as much as try to offer some perspective here. Often people have blinders on anf they'll tend to believe the worst. There's also also this mob mentality that manufacturers and dealers are out to get them. There are always going to be bad examples of both. But I think a lot of that bad rep is no different than discriminating against a race or culture because of a couple bad apples - i.e. stereotyping.

Like I said it's those bad apples that ruin it for the rest of us- unfortunately IMO.