Lemberg Law is investigating numerous consumer complaints about 2024 Mazda CX-90 Hybrid vehicles suddenly losing power while on the road. Drivers say that when this happens, the vehicle becomes completely inoperable. There are also many reports of drivers being unable to shift the gears and get into neutral so they can push the vehicle out of the road and away from traffic. Even though Mazda has issued a recall for the problem, a growing number of owners state their vehicles aren’t included in the recall and dealerships won’t do anything to help them.
What’s Happening with the 2024 CX-90 Hybrid?
There are major issues with the 2024 Mazda CK-90 Hybrid losing power while driving. Complaints to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) vary, but the common factor is that vehicles simply stop running, often on highways. The conversation in the CX90 Forum tells the same story.
While the issues are clearly related to problems that resulted in 4,252 2024 Mazda CX-90 Hybrid vehicles being recalled in October 2023, descriptions of what happened differ somewhat. The general pattern shows that the problem starts with malfunction warnings and ends when the vehicle loses power and stops wherever it is on the road.
Even though there was a recall, some owners said that their faulty vehicles weren’t covered. Others were furious because they said that they bought their 2024 Mazda CX-90 Hybrid without knowing that there was a recall, only to discover that they were faced with this very same malfunction.
Since then there has been a second for many more vehicles.
Recall
The initial recall notice, NHTSA Campaign Number 23V719000, states that it is a powertrain problem and a software error. As a result, the engine and electric motor may shut down unexpectedly, which can result in a loss of drive power. The fix was that dealers would update the software for the powertrain and engine control module free of charge.
The initial safety recall report issued on October 26, 2023, states that the engine and electric motor of 4,252 2024 CX-90 plug-in hybrid electric (PHEV) vehicles may shut down suddenly, without any warning, while they are in failsafe mode. Unsurprisingly, the consequent loss of power increases the risk of a crash.
While there was no notification before this happened, the recall notice states that the problem was caused by an increase in the temperature of the plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) system inverter. The temperature increase activates the failsafe mode that is controlled by software in the powertrain control module. Then, the faulty software program simply stops the engine and electric motor from operating.
Importantly, the report notifies dealers that while there is no defect in the engine control module (ECM) it must be reprogrammed to align it with the improved powertrain control software.
Since then, there has been a second recall. Issued more than a year later, on October 31, 2024, it also warns of the risk of a loss of drive power increasing the risk of a crash. This time, 31,488 2024 CX-90 and 2025 CX-70 vehicles are implicated. Like the first recall, this is also regarded as a software problem. Specifically, the powertrain control module (PCM) and ECM software may cause malfunction indicator lights to illuminate and a loss of drive power.
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Owner’s Experiences
Many of the complaints to the NHTSA and comments made on the CX90 Forum relate to virtually brand-new vehicles. Some say that they experienced warning signals literally as they left the dealership with their shiny, new purchases.
Many of the complaints blame a faulty powertrain, which is not surprising since the two recalls are listed as powertrain issues. When the first recall was released, lots of owners were saying they regarded the problem as an engine or electrical system problem. Some dealers were saying that the source of the problem was a failed positive temperature coefficient (PTC) heater issue. The 2024 recall is regarded as a combined powertrain and electrical system issue. This is no surprise since the complaints we have sourced are also seen as electrical, vehicle speed control, and engine issues.
Many of them report suddenly getting a “Hybrid System Malfunction” message. For example, an owner from California states that when this message and the check engine light appeared, the vehicle began to stall, “slowing down to nearly a full stop almost immediately. When I pressed (the) gas pedal, it would not accelerate.” The Mazda was in EV mode when this happened — with only about 20 miles of electric range 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.” Fortunately able to switch to gas power mode, the owner drove to the dealer.
“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.”
NHTSA Complaints
Less than a month after buying a 2024 CX-90, an owner from Colorado experienced multiple failure messages. The vehicle was towed to a dealership because they couldn’t get it to start or go out of Park. While this owner hadn’t experienced a complete power loss, the Mazda had decelerated on the highway after these error messages.
An owner from Maine tells how a 2024 Mazda CX-90 with a bit more than 500 miles suddenly stopped in the middle of the road. Warning signs were popping up on the dash screen including “I-active sense malfunction, hybrid battery malfunction, engine malfunction light on, and on top of these, critical vehicle malfunction.” The car wouldn’t start and wouldn’t switch to neutral. This meant that his wife, who was in the car with his daughter, couldn’t move the car out of the road. “My wife and daughter’s life was put in danger when this vehicle suddenly stopped in the middle of the road with cars passing by on both ways.”
An owner from California tells how, on a busy freeway during rush hour, the Mazda was suddenly unable to accelerate. Fortunately, she was able to pull off, restart, and then limp back onto the road. The car was towed to a Mazda dealership. But they weren’t able to get it off the flatbed because they couldn’t get it into reverse. She was told it was simply “a computer system glitch.”
The PTC failure issue was found to be the problem for an owner from Maryland. After experiencing multiple error messages, the car stopped and “became completely immobile.” But, while the dealer found a failed PTC heater to be the problem, the complaint states that the dealer was unable to say “what would cause the unit to fail and how to avoid future problems.”
Forum Conversation
The forum conversation started in June 2023 and has continued through November 2024.
A very worried owner who posted on the forum early on said he was “very unhappy” and was therefore joining “the bandwagon.” Within less than 24 hours of leaving the dealership, the CX-90 started flashing warning lights. It “looks like we’re on the pace to have a class-action lawsuit soon…”
Others talked about the battery draining before there are errors. “I’m curious if maybe the system was trying to regenerate too much (or too little) energy from the ICU,” says one member.
On the battery topic, another owner was advised by a dealership “to drain and recharge all the batteries. Tomorrow morning we’ll get an answer to see if that solves the issues.”
Then there’s the issue of not being able to put the vehicle in neutral. Another forum member stated that because of this, the tow truck couldn’t pull into the driveway and they couldn’t put the Mazda CX-90 into Neutral, so they couldn’t tow it away to be fixed.
In February 2024, an owner was told “the battery on the hybrid (was) going bad.” Because it could take as long as six months to get a new one, they were forced to “take a chance on it tearing up another part like the transmission that would void the warranty.”
Sometimes owners are proactive. One forum member contacted the local attorney general. “He said they have 30 days to try to repair the vehicle or we could sue for purchasing a lemon. So I guess this is where we are. I will never buy another Mazda.”
In November 2024, a forum member shared that he had “got the dreaded hybrid/i-stop/engine malfunction warning.” He states, I love the car but not sure what to think”
CX-90 Engine Losing Power on You? Get Help
Lemberg Law is aware that a large volume of 20224 Mazda CX-90 Hybrid owners are reporting power loss problems. Complaints aren’t identical, but it appears that there is a common thread that relates to vehicles stalling, stopping, and sometimes not engaging in gear on roads and freeways.
So, if you have any kinds of power loss issues while you are driving your 2024 Mazda CX-90 Hybrid, we’d like to hear about it. All you have to do is fill out a contact form or call our Helpline. It’s not going to cost you anything because the law says Mazda must pay the legal bills for lemon law cases. We will evaluate your problems free of charge to see if your vehicle can be categorized as a lemon.
About the Author:
Sergei Lemberg is an attorney focusing on consumer law, class actions related to automotive issues, and personal injury litigation. With nearly two decades of experience, his areas of practice include Lemon Law (vehicle defects), Debt Collection Harassment, TCPA (illegal robocalls and texts), Fair Credit Reporting Act, Overtime claims, Personal Injury cases, and Class Actions. He has consistently been recognized as the nation's "most active consumer attorney." In 2020, Mr. Lemberg represented Noah Duguid before the United States Supreme Court in the landmark case Duguid v. Facebook. He is also the author of "Defanging Debt Collectors," a guide that empowers consumers to fight back against debt collectors and prevail, as well as "Lemon Law 101: The Laws That Lemon Dealers Don't Want You to Know."
