Mazda Recalls CX-9 for Overheating Seats

On Wednesday, Mazda announced that it will recall 12,300 of its CX-9 crossover SUV due to seats that could potentially overheat.

In certain CX-9s with electric seat heaters, the control circuit of the seat heater may overheat and fail because of inadequate electrical grounding. According to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration documents, the failure can cause seat-surface burn damage, and in the worst situations, smoke and fire as well.

CX-9 owners affected by the recall will be alerted by mail. The notice will ask them to take their CX-9 to a Mazda dealership for the installation of a new ground wire harness. In certain cases, the entire control circuit of the seat heater may need replaced and the seat repaired, if necessary.

Mazda became aware of the problem in December when a dealership documented an incident where the seat heater of a CX-9 could not be shut off even when the vehicle was turned off. Consequently, the battery of the SUV was run down and the seat was burned.