NHTSA Complaint #10560903 — 2012 MAZDA CX-9

AS I WAS DRIVING HOME, THE VEHICLE BEGAN TO SLOW DOWN AND SOON CAME TO A COMPLETE STOP, EVEN AS I CONTINUED TO PRESS THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL, ALL AS THE ENGINE CONTINUED TO RUN. AT THE SAME TIME, I NOTICED A BURNING OIL ODOR. THIS SUDDEN DECELERATION AND STOP OCCURRED IN THE MIDDLE LANE OF A MAJOR CHICAGO-AREA TOLL ROAD ON A COLD AND RAINY FRIDAY EVENING. A POLICE OFFICER WHO ARRIVED AT THE SCENE WAS UNABLE TO PUSH MY CAR OUT OF DANGER WITH HIS CAR. FORTUNATELY, THE CAR WAS TOWED AWAY TO A MAZDA DEALER BEFORE AN ACCIDENT OCCURRED. THE DEALERSHIP TECHNICIAN CONFIRMED THE PROBLEM AND FOUND THAT THE TRANSFER CASE HAD OVERHEATED, LOST ALL ITS FLUID, AND SEIZED. THE TRANSFER CASE WAS REPLACED UNDER WARRANTY. THE FAILURE OF THE TRANSFER CASE AND SUBSEQUENT SUDDEN DECELERATION PUT ME IN GRAVE DANGER, AND SUCH A FAILURE IS UNFORGIVABLE FOR SUCH A NEW VEHICLE. I FEEL THAT HAD THE TRAFFIC ON THE EVENING OF THE INCIDENT NOT BEEN AS HEAVY, AND THUS SLOW AS IT WAS, I VERY WELL MAY HAVE BEEN REAR-ENDED BY ANOTHER MOTORIST. I URGE THE NHTSA TO CLOSELY TRACK ANY OTHER INCIDENTS CONCERNING SEIZED TRANSFER CASES IN MAZDA CX-9S--THIS IS POTENTIALLY A VERY DANGEROUS DEFECT. *TR