2007~2015 Help me buy a used cx-9

hi everyone, looking for some advice. i am looking to buy a used 2012 cx-9 touring with 62k miles. Its a private seller and the guy "seems" trustworthy, he is the original owner (i saw the title). Car looks to be well maintained, very clean, etc. that said, i now read horror stories about this ptu issue. should i look for something else? are they good reliable cars if one replaces the gear oil every 10k miles? are there tell-tale signs of this issue, by looking under the car or how it drives? good car for a good price, but no price is worth it if the car is going to break down with expensive repairs. Also, i heard there is an extended warranty for 7 years 90k miles, is this correct? would it still hold true if i am not the original owner?

any help would be greatly appreciated!!

ps. sorry for double posting, i put a similar post in the transmission section, not sure where best to post this.

k50 said:

hi everyone, looking for some advice. i am looking to buy a used 2012 cx-9 touring with 62k miles. Its a private seller and the guy "seems" trustworthy, he is the original owner (i saw the title). Car looks to be well maintained, very clean, etc. that said, i now read horror stories about this ptu issue. should i look for something else? are they good reliable cars if one replaces the gear oil every 10k miles? are there tell-tale signs of this issue, by looking under the car or how it drives? good car for a good price, but no price is worth it if the car is going to break down with expensive repairs. Also, i heard there is an extended warranty for 7 years 90k miles, is this correct? would it still hold true if i am not the original owner?

any help would be greatly appreciated!!

ps. sorry for double posting, i put a similar post in the transmission section, not sure where best to post this.

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Maintenance records?

These cars have a couple gremlins that result in very expensive repairs, among them the PTU and the water pump. To a lesser extent, the transmission is a bit of a wild card, search the forums. I'd take a hard look at all the maintenance records to see if the transmission fluid has been flushed and the PTU oil has been replaced regularly.

62k is pretty low miles for a 6 year old car, but that's right at the beginning of the window for these issues. Personally, I'd pass on a first generation CX-9 with AWD, they appear to be more trouble than they are worth.

^^^What he said ^^^ Avoid the AWD if you can. Avoid at all costs if it has a hitch on it. Be sure to get it checked out if you're dead set on getting it.

K50 I'm a little late to the game here, but would be interested to see what you ended up doing.
I agree with prior responses. Stay away from awd on this model unless you absolutely need it (if you live a mountainous area or an area with really steep hills all over).
Has a direct bolt-in transfer case from the Ford Edge which is failure prone at low miles and when it goes it takes the transaxle assembly with in. Also problems reported with the rear differential but those seemed to be more remedied by 2012 or so. The 2wd transmission is a Japanese transmission mated to a Ford engine block bored out to 3.7. It is rock solid. 101k on my 2008 and no issues ever. I've only drained & refilled once, probly should do it again soon. The water pump issue creeps up on here every now and then with someone experiencing an issue. There is a class action lawsuit right now being set up, or trying to be set up by some law firm trying to go after Ford/Mazda/Lincoln V6 motors with water pump failures. I am tossing around the idea of replacing mine but just hate to spend all that time and money when it still works just fine. But it can potentially take out your engine pretty quickly if it fails. Per book labor, engine has to come out but a couple people on here have replaced it without removing the motor.

If you are in the market for a used CX-9 ~2012 or so, I highly recommend Grand Touring, as it really is set apart from sport & touring. If for nothing else, the night time lighting is night and day difference (no pun) there is no comparison with light output onto the road.

Good luck