2024 MAZDA CX-90 PLUG-IN HYBRID Complaints

On April 3rd, around 5:20 PM, while driving with my daughter on a suburban street, my Mazda hybrid experienced sudden brake failure as I approached a stop sign. Attempts to engage the brakes failed, but they unexpectedly resumed, allowing the car to stop safely. This incident triggered multiple dashboard warnings including "Engine Malfunction," "Hybrid System Malfunction," and "i-Activesense System Malfunction." The hybrid battery’s range indicator also fluctuated erratically between 1 and 4 miles. The primary malfunction involved the vehicle’s braking system, with concurrent issues in the engine and hybrid systems as indicated by the alerts. The vehicle and all related components, along with the computer fault codes, are available for inspection and further testing at the Mazda dealership. The brake failure significantly endangered the safety of both myself and my daughter, as we nearly entered an active intersection uncontrollably, which could have led to a severe collision, posing a grave risk to both occupants and pedestrians. Despite extensive diagnostics and approximately 33 miles of test driving under various conditions, the dealership was unable to replicate the brake failure, raising serious concerns about the braking system’s reliability and predictability. The dealership's technicians, in cooperation with Mazda corporate engineers, have inspected the vehicle and analyzed the diagnostic data and fault codes. As of April 19th, the car remains with the dealership for further analysis. No additional inspections by police, insurance, or independent service centers have been reported. The inability to reproduce the brake failure and the spontaneous nature of the dashboard warnings underscore the necessity for continuous investigation by Mazda. Without a clear resolution, my trust in the vehicle’s safety is deeply shaken, especially for driving in high-speed or heavily trafficked areas.

Driving up snowy pass on I-90 approaching the top of Snoqualmie Pass. Vehicle stalled and warning lights flashed critical warning and loss of power. The vehicle stopped in the middle of the highway and would not start or go into drive. After a few minutes, because of speeding and adverse conditions, another driver collided with my vehicle from behind. Another following vehicle lost control and ran off the road. Nobody was injured. Mazda has not provided any information to what happened with the vehicle. We added about 12k miles in the 5 months of driving it, so we had lots of testing with it, and never ran into this serious of an issue with this or any other vehicle.

When using adaptive cruise control on multiple lane highways/freeways the vehicle detects other cars/trucks that are in other lanes as being in your lane. (Shows on the dash display as in your lane). This fools the vehicle into believing it needs to make an emergency brake as a vehicle is in your lane and a crash is imminent when no such maneuver is necessary. This could cause a rear end crash or loss of control of the vehicle when it brakes unexpectedly with no real world cause. This has been an issue since vehicle is owned (July 2023) it is also widespread with this specific model [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

On 12/09/23, my 2024 Mazda CX-90 PHEV, purchased on 11/11/23, just got out of the driveway to make a left turn around 500 feet from the driveway when there was resistance in turning the steering wheel left, causing vehicle to swerve to the right and hitting the fire hydrant on the side of the road located just around the corner. Both airbags deployed causing extensive damage to the passenger front side of the car. The automatic emergency braking did not engage to avoid collision with the fire hydrant. One of the passengers suffered avascular necrosis of the hip as a result of the accident. The vehicle was towed to a collision center, then towed to the Mazda dealership, but according to the dealership, no inspection report was available in their system as of 03/19/24. The insurance company declared the vehicle a total loss. There were no warning lamps, messages, or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure.

While connected to a level 2 charger, overheating caused both the charger and charging port of the vehicle to melt together such that it was very difficult to disconnect, and both were then unusable – needing replacement. (photos attached) We feel that there should be some safeguard in the vehicle to prevent this situation as it is a fire hazard. There were no warning lights, sounds, nor signals from the vehicle to warn of the problem. We were present when this occurred, so we could disconnect before a potential fire may have occurred. When we called for service, we had to wait two weeks for an appointment, and then were told that the car was not safe to drive until repaired. This was not considered a warranty item even though the car had fewer than 2800 miles and only owned by us for fewer than 7 months. We were charged $5000 for the charging port and cable assembly and $800 labor. (Copies of service receipts attached.) We contacted Mazda regarding our concern and were given Case #00182286. We received a reply by phone telling us that Mazda bears no responsibility for this (they feel ii was the fault of the charger) and that it is an insurance matter. In fact, auto insurance does NOT cover this. Our concern is that it very well may be a safety issue as people usually charge in their garages or near other cars and buildings in public. In either situation, a fire could be a serious hazard for many people.

At 3200 miles the vehicle had a major powertrain malfunction causing the vehicle to throw multiple error codes - Hybrid System Malfunction; Charging System Malfunction; Electrical Leakage Detected. Was instructed to pull over to a safe area immediately. Was unclear how long car would continue to be drivable. Once car stopped it became completely immobile. Repeated restart attempts would not let vehicle start ICE engine or shift into gear. Had to be towed via dollies to nearest dealer for diagnosis and repair. Dealer found a failed PTC heater unit as source of problem and replaced it (Mazda part- KMV6-61-FHX). Vehicle is once again drivable, but the dealer has no idea what would cause the unit to fail and how to avoid future problems. Dealer has heard about this with many vehicles and repaired several similarly. We are fortunate to have found a safe place to pull off the road before powertrain shutdown, but if not we would have been stuck on the road with no ability to move the vehicle and occupants to safety. I hope NHTSA can investigate whether a recall of that part or the software that controls it is needed. NHTSA should also look into the failure mode of the vehicle to see if a different approach is safer and more appropriate.

On [XXX], San Diego, CA. (car is new purchase of 1 month 1 week old, 1250 miles, outside temp of 60 degrees, 3/4 battery charge, full tank of gas) Slowed to a stop at a red light in morning rush hour traffic. Engine sputters and multiple warnings appear on dash, including "Hybrid System Malfunction" "I ActiveSense Malfunction" "check engine" etc etc. CAR DIES IN LANE OF TRAFFIC AND LOCKS IN PARK. Attempted to restart 5-6 times, car would start and die immediately with same warnings. 7th restart and engine starts but had to finish drive in sport due to "Hybrid System Malfunction". Per NHTSA and dealer, all previous recalls had been performed/addressed prior to purchase date of [XXX]. Left car with dealer on [XXX] to address and repair issue. Completely unsafe for vehicle to suddenly die in traffic, with no way to move to the side of the road. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

On [XXX], I was driving on [XXX] near Pasadena at normal speed of traffic when suddenly an error message “Hybrid System Malfunction” appeared on the dash board along with check engine light, and the car began to stall slowing down to nearly full stop almost immediately. When I pressed gas pedal, it would not accelerate. Because I was in the far right lane, I had just about enough time to pull over onto the shoulder before the car stopped completely. The car was in EV mode (using all electric power) when this incident occurred with 20 miles of electric range still left. I was lucky that no cars were right behind me as the traffic was moving about 60 mph or my car could have been rear-ended when it came to such an abrupt stop. I put the car in park and turned off the engine, then turned it back on after a couple of minutes. The dashboard was flashing “Hybrid System Malfunction” and “check engine” light was on but I was able to drive it because it had switched to gas power mode. I immediately drove the car to New Century Mazda in Alhambra where I purchased it on [XXX]. The Mazda app on my phone captured two Vehicle Issues Detected at the same time: Hybrid System Malfunction: There is a possibility of restricted power output” and “i-ACTIVSENSE malfunction.” The Hybrid System Malfunction was the most serious and frightening of a series of malfunctions that my car experienced since it was purchased two months ago. On [XXX] (4 days after purchase) the car displayed “Approaching Vehicle Audible System (AVIS) Malfunction,” on [XXX], a “Brake!”light came on when we started the car after it had been parked, which disabled the steering wheel and the gear shift preventing us from driving (problem resolved by turning the car on and off several times). On [XXX], another vehicle issue was detected: “Air bag system and seatbelt pre-tensioner system malfunction.” Car was fully inspected by Mazda dealer in mid-January. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

LA SUV MAZDA CX90 PHEV HIBRIDA SE COMPRO EN JULIO DE 2023, ES TOTALMENTE NUEVA. QUEREMOS PONER EN EVIDENCIA EL ALTO RIESGO QUE PADECEMOS CON EL VEHICULO, ENTRE [XXX] MI MUJER Y YO IBAMOS EN EL AUTOMOVIL Y DE REPENTE SE FRENO POR COMPLETO EN MEDIO DE UN PUENTE QUE ES MUY TRANSITADO Y CAUSO UNA PREOCUPACION Y MUCHO MIEDO PORQUE NO LO ESPERABAMOS Y AFORTUNADAMENTE NO PASO NADA POR QUE IBAMOS DESPACIO EXACTAMENTE 25 MILLAS POR HORA Y PORQUE EL CARRO QUE VENIA ATRAS DE NOSOTROS GIRO A LA IZQUIERDA JUSTO ANTES DE NOSOTROS PERDER EL CONTROL DEL AUTOMOVIL QUE SE FRENO SOLO SIN JUSTIFICACION ALGUNA NO OBSTANTE ADELANTE DE NOSOTROS NO HABIA NIGUN AUTOMOVIL PARA QUE EL AUTOMOVIL SE DETUVIERA. NOTA: MI MUJER SE ENCUENTRA EN ESTADO DE EMBARAZO Y NO SE SIENTE CONFIADA EN EL AUTOMOVIL, TIENE MUCHO MIEDO A LA HORA DE USARLO. EL PROBLEMA ES AUN MAS GRANDE PORQUE DIAS ANTES DEL INCIDENTE EL CONCESIONARIO REALIZO UN SERVICIO DE CAMBIO DE ACEITE Y SERVICIO POR UN RECALL POR LOS SENSORES DEL VEHICULO, DE LO CUAL SOLO HICIERON CAMBIO DEL ACEITE. ADICIONALMENTE A ESTA INFORMACION EL VEHICULO POSEE VARIOS RECALL QUE NO HAN SIDO SOLUCIONADOS POR EL CONCESIONARIO, TENEMOS PRUEBAS DE LOS VARIOS PROBLEMAS QUE VIENE PRESENTANDO EL VEHICULO. ADICIONALMENTE HEMOS VENIDO PRESENTANDO DIFICULTADES CON EL SERVICIO PRESTADO EN EL CONCESIONARIO DE MAZDA DE LODI NJ CODIGO POSTAL 07644, NO HAN TENIDO VOLUNTAD EN SOLUCIONAR NUESTRO PROBLEMA , HICIMOS LA RESPECTIVA QUEJA ANTE MAZDA MATRIZ Y SOLO NOS DIERON LA OPCION DE LLEVAR EL VEHICULO A REVISION , EL CUAL FUE REVISADO HOY [XXX] Y SE TARDARON SOLO 1 HORA PARA ANALIZARLO Y DECIR QUE NO TIENE PROBLEMAS EL VEHICULO. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Hybrid system electrical leakage. Literally makes the car unusable. Dozens of examples on both Reddit and Facebook.