I just bought my first Mazda 3 weeks ago and I am having problems with the rear air controls. It wants to work whenever it wants to. I took it to the dealer but since it was working at the time (early in the morning after the car sat in the garage all night) they said they couldn't do anything. I was at the hospital later that day and had to park on the upper deck with the car in the hot sun and low and behold, the rear air controls would not come on and I could only control it from the front. It is obvious that something is getting hot and shorting out the controls from front to rear. Has anyone else had this problem? I can always control the rear air from the front, but my kids want to control it from the rear and frankly I Paid for this option so I want it to work!

 

I had a 2007 CX-9 but had no problems with the rear air controls. Now that you mention it, though, it seems when I was reading the owners manual in my new 2012 Mazda5 last month it said that the rear control only worked in one mode or the other - - heat or AC - - I can't remember which.

You might want to re-read that section of your manual to make sure of just how yours was designed to work.

 

I too just got a 2011 CX-9... and I believe you can only control the rear temps (ac or heat) via the rear buttons. I have tried to control it from the front but does not work. The ONLY thing I can control from the front is actually turning off the rear all together. Which, in reality, unless someone is sitting back there, you don't need it on.