Is the CX-7 A Good Car?
 

I am in the market for a used car. I am finding 2008 & 2009 CX-7's and CX-9's at seemingly reasonable prices (~$8,000) with low mileage. I happened upon a few reviews that say there a lot of problems with these -- mentioning misfires, turbo failure, engine replacement, etc..

I was wondering if some of you could give me your thoughts? I will post this in the CX-9 area as well. Maybe you could let me know some of the following or other points?

1. What would you think one of these with 75,000 miles be worth?
2. Is there any specific points I should look for?
3. Is the transmission reliable?
4. What tires should I look for (any brand known to be ok)?
5. Any known issues with electronics? Some reviews mention Bose speaker issues?

Anything you could share would be great. These are good looking cars and I figure this is a great place to see what those of you who own one think!

Thanks!

Mike

Good cars... Yes
 

Keep up on the oil Flushes!!!! And run synthetic oil only! And it'll be just fine. Yes their good cars. Don't worry about the turbo. Turbo's blow up or conk out if they get plugged and clogged. There's a few screens filtering and small lines throughout and once those get clogged. And you extend the oil changes and the new oil can't get through the passages eventually they'll crap out. So keep up on that. And it'll be just fine. Run half a bottle of Seafoam liquid through it the week that you wanna do your flush. It'll clean as you drive. New oil and you'll be ok.

CX-7 turbo engines did have issues with timing chains & tensioners. If you start the vehicle up from dead cold, there shouldn't be any rattles from the engine, if there is, walk away.
Not aware of any common turbo issues in my market.

The 2.5 engines seem bulletproof.

Transmissions seem pretty good too, once again regular maintenance is paramount.

Tyres are black & round, buy the best you can afford.

Bose system seems reliable, however its a pretty basic & low power system.

I have a 2010 2.5L. with 119K on it. Here are a few things I have learned in a short amount of time. Every single Mazda CX-5 7 9 at some point will have the power window actuator fail. The plastic gears in the unit break and strip out.I just replaced mine on the passenger side. It's not too hard to change but if you allow the regulator to fall back into the door its likely the wheel inside the regulator will pop out and the cable will unravel. This happened to me. Since I haven't ever changed these I was unsure on how to attempt to rewind the cable. I completely destroyed it when I powered up the motor and tried to raise the window. The cable got kinked and would no longer align in the wheel tracks. I had to completely take it all apart again and then I had order a new regulator.

Another issue are the head lights. Count on replacing the low beam lights every 6 to 12 months or less. When I bought the car the previous owner had a lot of dealer receipts for maintenance. After I purchased the vehicle I went through them. I noticed he had a lot of charges for light bulb replacements at the tune of 140 bucks a pop. I mean like 10 times. I was like what the hell is the deal with the lights. Then I began researching it and found they burn out fast. The high beams burn out prematurely as well. The low beams are PITA to change. The rears get way too hot and melt and discolor the plastic from the inside.

The oil is a PITA to change as you have to remove the bottom engine cover. I read quite a few threads that mentioned problems with the wheel bearings going bad. I have not really seen much discussion with regard to 2.5L engine issues. I have not seen much about the 5spd auto having many issues either. For me I notice on moderate acceleration in 2 gear I have a vibration I can feel in the front under the foot rest. Kind of feels like it has a little bit of torque steer. It doesn't seem to do it in manual mode. Seems to be intermittent . I'm not sure what that's all about.

I hope that you do not need to replace the low beam bulbs. What a P.O.S. design!

I thought I could just take out old low beam bulbs and replace with new...but noooo... Apparently the crappy mounting design allows for the halogen bulbs to melt the mounting surface that holds them in place, which then allows the halogen bulb to rest against the headlight assembly, melting and destroying it.
A simple sub- $100 bulb swap becomes a $875 repair requiring new headlight assemblies on both sides. I am however swapping out the crappy halogen setup for LED though.

Don't get me started on the $300 tail light assembly.

I like the car, but.....
 

I've had a stall/no start issue with mine ('08 model) since the day after I drove it off the lot last October. It stalled on my way to work...going about 50 mph...pulled over and it started right back up...no engine light/codes. Then it happened again the next morning...was going about 35 and it lost power and the dash lights all lit up but it came back to life a few seconds later and I went on down the road. The dealer agreed to look at it and had it for a week but it never acted up for them(service manager drove it home a few times)...and there were no codes for them to diagnose. I then drove it for the next six months or so without a problem, thinking maybe it was just a battery/ecm thing from it sitting on their lot with maybe a low or dead battery. But, alas, it started stalling again just a few weeks ago...this time more frequently and also would have fits of just not starting (would take 2 or 3 cranks). Though this time around the check-engine light would stay on for 2 or 3 start cycles(then go out) and I finally got a code...P0335 - crankshaft position sensor!
A couple days before I replaced the sensor it would barely stay running...thought I wasn't going to make the last mile home. Then the day I tried to get it into the garage just to start working on it, it took at least 8 or 10 cranks to start....thought I was going to have to push it in. Replacing the sensor easy enough and it started right up afterwards.....several times. It ran great and I thought I had it licked.
...until 4 days later.
I went to leave work and it took 3 or 4 cranks to start. same symptoms...no lights, no codes. That was last Friday. It's now Tuesday and it has been running fine since. It actually hasn't stalled, just wouldn't start that one time, so who knows?...maybe I'll go another six months...it may give out on me again after work today...we'll see.
I've read where they've had fuel pump problems so I may go there next. I just don't have $100's to give to a shop/dealer for some guesswork. And the trade in value for these is not good so I'm stuck with it for a while. I do like it though...handles good, rides comfortably and has plenty of zip.

Now my exterior front driver side door handle broke off....just broke right off and I barely pulled on it. Now I have to run the window halfway down to get the door to unlock from the inside. This thing is really turning out to be a POS!

Is the CX-7 a good car?
Yes, I think so. I have a '08 model w/ 117k+ on it. Got it last October. Considering it's 10 yrs old, it is still pretty tight.
It developed a coolant leak a couple days after I drove it off the lot but the dealer (non Mazda) repaired it for me no charge. I had an issue with it randomly stalling that I believe I have corrected by replacing the crank sensor. Other than that I've only had to replace a brake light which was as easy as any other vehicle. It still runs strong, has plenty of zip and I enjoy driving it. The stories about turbo failure do concern me some but there are plenty of those 'failures' on any other car you can buy. As long as I maintain it and keep up with the oil changes (as you would with any other car) I think it will be just fine.

Yes, the CX-7 is a good car (crossover)
 

I researched the CX-7 before I bought one because for the price it is a lot of car for the money, providing you don't put all the money saved into major repairs. In early August 2018 I ended up buying a one-owner 2007 CX-7 with Touring trim for $4,000.

A women bought it new and used it for commuting to work, 160,000 freeway miles.It was obvious from appearances the car was well maintained and never abused. She got all maintenance done at the Mazda dealership. More important, there were four Mazda recalls on the 2007 CX-7, including the Takata airbag. She had all that work done (recalls applicable to your Mazda can be checked on Mazda's site by entering the VIN). Mazda also indicates when the work was done, if ever..

It came with flawless leather interior, moon roof, almost new tires, Bose, never used trailer hitch, roof rack, heated seats, blah blah blah. Although the owner had the oil changes done I'm sending the CX-7 to a local Mazda independent garage (who knows the CX-7 inside and out) to check everything, replace the timing chain and tensioners, check the oil, turbo, screens, lines, etc.

I don't drive much here in San Francisco, maybe 100 miles monthly, but I won't wait for problems to develop. E.g., on many vehicles I have owned, experts agree that the timing chain should be replaced at about 100K miles. No one likes doing that, but it is inexpensive insurance compared to needing a new engine.

Note: First thing I did was shop on eBay for LED bulbs to swap out the old style bulbs on the CX-7 that run way too hot. I also bought new taillight assemblies because the old ones were slightly cloudy, caused by heat from the taillight bulbs. I replaced them because on eBay new OEM assemblies (made in Taiwan) were $329 for the pair, shipping included! A small price to pay to make the rear of the CX-7 look like a new car. Although the taillights came with bulbs (old style) I replaced them with LEDs. There's 8 total (side marker, turn indicator, back-up, brake/taillight). I bought them from some seller named Alla Lighting, who only sells vehicle LED bulbs. Also bought a 10-piece interior LED bulb set, that included two bulbs for the license plate. All those replaced easy, as well as swapping out the taillight assemblies. Bonus Tip: The old assemblies are in good enough condition I will list them on eBay, which will end up lowering the price I paid for the new ones.

As others mentioned, replacing the front bulbs appears to be a PITA. I saw on YouTube how to do it, but I am going to have the garage do that along with the other work I'm having done.

Yes, like other cars using the old style incandescent bulbs, the bulbs get very very hot. Every bulb I removed showed burned marks around the housings. I highly recommend doing an LED bulb "conversion" on any vehicle you have that's using old style bulbs.

Hope that helps.

Stay away from any direct injections turbo charged engines.
 

Direct fuel injection is creeping into more mainstream vehicles these days and it can have an inherent fault we need to be aware of.

First, what is direct injection? Direct fuel injection on gasoline engines sees the fuel injector mounted on the cylinder head to spray fuel directly into the combustion chamber. Its predecessor, port injection, had the injectors mounted in the intake manifold and the fuel spray was directed at the back of the intake valves. Why the change? Direct injection technology provides slightly more power and better fuel economy; depending on the application, it’s usually in the 10–15 per cent range of improvement. But engine torque delivery can be bumped by as much as 50 per cent.

What’s the problem? On certain engines the back of the intake valves and their ports can become coated with carbon deposits. On the older style port-injection systems, the spray of fuel directed onto the valves kept this from happening as modern fuels contain cleaners. If enough carbon builds up it can cause rough idling, stumbling on acceleration, stalling, check engine lights, increased fuel consumption and a general lack of power. Some drivers experienced this with well under 50,000 km on the engine. Short trips that don’t allow the engine to see any significant time at full operating temperatures can aggravate this condition.

What’s the cure? It depends on the amount of the build-up and its hardness. In some cases a chemical liquid introduced into the intake such as Sea Foam can clean things up. It’s a relatively easy process where a port vacuum line is used to suck the liquid into the intake ports while the engine is running. It does create a substantial amount of smoke from the exhaust, so it should only be done in well ventilated areas. For more difficult cases, walnuts may be the answer. Yes, walnuts. Crushed walnut shells can be blasted into the intake ports by compressed air and immediately vacuumed out with a special adapter. The intake manifold has to be removed to do this and it really isn’t a DIY job.