For those not already aware, it was brought to my attention that Mazda has released (quite some time ago now) a service bulletin for 2016-2020 Mazdas with the 2.5L turbo. Apparently the cylinder head can crack and either leak externally, or crack inside, which would destroy the entire engine. There is a fix for this, but if the vehicle's out of warranty, the fix would be on the owner's dime. The fix includes replacing the head, and installing four separate gasket kits. I priced out all of the parts (Mazda parts, not aftermarket), and they come to $1300. Labor would be the killer on this project as the engine has to come out of the vehicle to replace all of the parts.
This puts me at a crossroad with our 2017 CX-9. It's in excellent shape, as I take very good care of it both cosmetically and mechanically, but it has 78K miles now. My wife and I absolutely love this vehicle, and further more it's paid off. Trading it in for something else is not plan A, because I don't want to start another round of car payments. On the other hand, spending several thousands of $$$ on a vehicle when the turbo could go out next year, or even next week, wouldn't be good either. I looked up the value of the CX-9 and it's value is still fairly high, but how much does that change in 2 or 3 years when it has over 100K miles? Trade-in value is as good as it's gonna get right now. I had looked into getting a warranty plan, but even that would run $100-$150 a month. There's also the chance our vehicle won't be affected by this issue, but going this route leaves us with a vehicle of questionable reliability. I'm going in to talk to my mechanic about this tomorrow to find out what he would charge me to do this repair, and get some of his advice. I've had him for years and I know he's a straight shooter so I know can trust him. That will probably have a lot of influence on my decision. I really don't know which to go with this...
This puts me at a crossroad with our 2017 CX-9. It's in excellent shape, as I take very good care of it both cosmetically and mechanically, but it has 78K miles now. My wife and I absolutely love this vehicle, and further more it's paid off. Trading it in for something else is not plan A, because I don't want to start another round of car payments. On the other hand, spending several thousands of $$$ on a vehicle when the turbo could go out next year, or even next week, wouldn't be good either. I looked up the value of the CX-9 and it's value is still fairly high, but how much does that change in 2 or 3 years when it has over 100K miles? Trade-in value is as good as it's gonna get right now. I had looked into getting a warranty plan, but even that would run $100-$150 a month. There's also the chance our vehicle won't be affected by this issue, but going this route leaves us with a vehicle of questionable reliability. I'm going in to talk to my mechanic about this tomorrow to find out what he would charge me to do this repair, and get some of his advice. I've had him for years and I know he's a straight shooter so I know can trust him. That will probably have a lot of influence on my decision. I really don't know which to go with this...