New to Mazda's

[SydneyCX9]

4 days into recently purchasing a Black 45,000KM's 2010 CX9 Luxury, for my wife, we're very happy with it. Previous relevant cars we've owned are BMW X5 E53 V8, XC90 T6 ,XC90 3.2 and for my sins a Range Rover Sport, all cars suffered from high maintenance/parts costs and what I'd consider to be too many issues. I do most of the work myself, got a great local mechanic that lets me use his lifts and oil disposal.

The choice was either XC90, Touareg, CX9, Kluger. We really liked the CX9 cabin and the perceived better reliability than the Euro SUVs.

I've kicked off by replacing Rear Blower Resister (great way to get the seller down as he had no idea) also added a OEM Tow Bar and Harness on the CX9 (very easy to do, did it on my own, far better with two people, nearly sliced my finger top off, did not remove the bumper) we tow a small bowrider, looking to bolt on an good OEM or After Market Trans Cooler and Fan as well, it gets crazy hot here.

I'm slightly concerned to hear rumblings about Transmission Issues on CX9's, whilst I read up before buying I would have hoped at least one SUV manufacture could produce a car without trans problems, it's crazy, this s**** has been going on for years, BMW, Volvo, Range Rover, some Jeep, have crap transmissions, customers have issues at very low Milage or failure shortly after warranty expiring.....

Anyhow looking forward to having the CX9 in the family for a long time, assuming it behaves itself.

Had to adjust the rear parking brake as it did not stop the car rolling down the driveway and was resting in park....not a good start.

New Discs and Pads all round are in order, I can feel they are warped....least i hope its only warping.

Looking to get the best brakes available (without changing callipers) something with a good bite for towing and low dust....still searching the forums for direction on this.

Last on the shopping list with be a roof mount DVD and rear tints for the long drives up north and the hot Aussie sun.

Looks like this is the place for all things Mazda, I've download the workshop Manual so looking forward to learning more about these cars.

Have a great Xmas with no car problems !

SydneyCX9

 

[voldsom]

Welcome @SydneyCX9! Sounds like you know your way around a motor. Always great to have another guy with know-how on the forum!

Kinda based on your other post: are there a lot of CX-9's in Oz? Mazda's seem pretty popular down there, no?

Merry Christmas!

Cheers
(drinks)

P.S. Throw up some pictures when you get a chance!

 

[SydneyCX9]

Thanks for the welcome, yes CX9 very popular in Sydney at least, up north they favour the Toyotas and Mit's which are work horses but abit less refined than the CX9.

Just popped to the shops and pulled up at the red light, with an identical CX9 to my left and a white one two cars behind.

There are lots of Asian people living in Aus and with that they choose the trusted Asian Car Brands, there's a Mazda stealership in most main towns waiting to take your hard earned cash.

Plus euro cars are so much more expensive to buy and run here. So going Jap is a good medium.

Have pictures to share, need to read up how to post them, looks like i need to create a URL link.

Cheers Merry Xmas

 

[voldsom]

Easiest way to upload photos is to use a site like Photobucket. Allows you to upload the picture at a good resolution, then you copy the "direct" link into the post between the "

" text, then you got your picture up!

Funny anecdote about the 9's in Sydney. Here in the states they are a bit less popular, but it's also a classic case of "once you buy your car, you see it everywhere." I pretty much never saw a 9 around here in Colorado, until I bought one.

 

[Scotch3]

but it's also a classic case of "once you buy your car, you see it everywhere." I pretty much never saw a 9 around here in Colorado, until I bought one.

They weren't there before. Everyone discovered they were the coolest car to own on the same day you did!

You make a big investment in a new car and then you watch for them with all the enthusiasm of a little kid in the back of a station wagon traveling on a family vacation looking for VW Bugs while playing "Punch-Buggy" with a sibling.

"Oh... that one must be a 2012, it has the chrome around the tail lights. That one must be an 09 - it has the big smile grill. That one has 20" wheels, it's must be GT...."


This reminds me, I think I still owe my sister a punch for an orange VW Beetle we saw leaving Disney World in July of 1977. I think I passed at the time for fear of Vacation Elbow.

EDIT: For those that are only children and not familiar with Vacation Elbow, it is a condition that suddenly develops in a father's arm during a vacation trip that allows him to reach out and slap you from incredible distances... even all the way to the back of the station wagon.

 

[Scotch3]

Oh yeah, welcome to the forum Sydney!

You've covered a lot of items with the car in just 4 days. As for the transmission, I've only heard complaints about the transfer case on AWD models. Is yours AWD or RFW?

 

[SydneyCX9]

Hi, its an AWD, we do a little amount of towing 30mins to the local ramps.

I've had torque convertor issues on an X5 and front diff on an XC90 so watch transmissions behaviours abit obsessively. Its smooth as silk currently. Previous owner had trans fluid changed around 30K if i remember the history correctly. My mechanic friend used a good scanner on it, no codes, will probably be doing that every 2mths. Will change the trans fluid at 60K, not sure how though, I read those flushing machines are abit harsh on the trans internals...come to that nearer the time.

Thanks

 

[voldsom]

Since you brought up the trans fluid, that sounds like the correct interval for changing the fluids. Typically just a drain and fill is recommended (some people do it twice at the same time, but it seems like that is just flushing money). Power flushing the transmission is harsh, and usually causes more problems; the thought being that if gunk is in there and it was working fine, the power flusher just dislodges it somewhere else and the trans is now acting up. Someone might be able to chime in on their more extensive knowledge of autos, as I have been a manual transmission man my whole life until this vehicle.

There are some threads on here on what fluid to use and how to do it. Short version from what I've read, there is a drain plug down low (on the trans), and a fill plug for it up near/underneath the air box.

The transfer case is a harder fill, as the fill plug for it is between the body and the case, on top of the case. That seems to be a recommended drain/fill as well to keep it working.

 

[voldsom]

@Scotch3 - You are describing exactly what I'm doing when I see 9's now... "Oh yes, that must be a....[insert trim level, year, color, etc.]" haha

 

[jrgmanict]

Welcome to the Forum and enjoy your CX-9.
Have almost 54,000 miles on mine and still love it.
I lieu of a Roof mount DVD I would suggest either over the rear seat DVD player or one that replaces the headrest from the front seats and / or the Second row seats.