2007 Mazda Cx-7 timing chain issue that needs to be replaced for free. The warranty company is trying to not pay the claim. I was driving 20mph and my car died. It was towed to the dealership. They said this never happens. I have gotten all of the oil changed in my car when it needed to be and they are trying to say that I did something to the vehicle. I'm 42 years old and paid alot of money for this vehicle. I do know how to take care of it.

- Duluth, GA, USA

While normal driving, the 2007 Mazda Cx-7 stopped running. It was towed to the local Mazda dealership (san antonio, tx). Upon further investigation, the consumer was informed that a new engine was required due to excessive sludge build-up in the engine. Additionally, the consumer was told that this repair would not be covered by the warranty due to lack of required maintenance resulting in sludge build-up. The vehicle was maintained in accordance with the owners manual, but the consumer was told approx. $7000 for an engine replacement.

- Stafford, VA, USA

Mazda Cx-7 with less than 90,000 has engine light on due to bad variable actuator for the engine and bad oil control valve. I have had regular oil changes and maintenance. The cost of repair is $1700. Last year I spent $3000 due to air conditioner and other problems with the car with less than 60,000.

- North Attleboro, MA, USA

My Mazda 2007 CX7 stalled on me and then died on the side of the road. I had it towed to the dealership and on Monday they told me the oil was low and I needed a new engine. I maintain my car as required and there were no signals indicating my oil or anything else was not working properly. I bought this car brand new in 2007 and this is the first major incident I have ever had. The dealership did not give any other options but to buy a new engine for $6,400. I was told that my warranty expired at 60,000 miles.

- Brentwood, TN, USA

I recently bought a used Mazda Cx-7 grand touring edition vehicle. I bought it on November 8, 2008 with 18,000 miles on it. After owning it for a year and a half I was driving to work one morning when I heard a pop and clanking sound. I continued to drive until my car started losing power however I managed to make it to work. No lights came on, nothing. My husband came that morning to drive the car to the mechanic and within 2 miles all the dash lights came on and the car lost all power. It was towed to grappone Mazda in concord nh for what I thought would be warranty work since we were still under the warranty. We were told to produce all service records which we did, and they found some gaps, however, never over the recommended 7500 miles that they recommend for an oil change. Our warranty coverage was denied twice. To this day, we still don't know what is wrong with our engine. There have been suggestions and also we've been told that the turbo definitely went. We obtained a carfax to see what was done to the car before we owned it and found out the turbo had been replaced before we bought the car when it was only a year old with 18,000 miles on it. Mazda is refusing to work with us on this and have left us without a car now for 2 months.

- Ashland, NH, USA

Driving home from work during rush hour. Smoke began pouring out of engine compartment outside vehicle and into the cabin. Fearing an engine fire, pulled off to left shoulder of highway and shut off engine. Opened hood (with much trepidation) to observe problem. Smoke continued to emanate from passenger side of engine compartment near serpentine belts - no obvious fire. Let vehicle sit for 5 minutes and restarted - same problem. Shut off A/C, and smoke and noise discontinued. Idled for 5 minutes - no more apparent problems with A/C off. Pulled back on to highway and continued trip home. Did some online investigation and deduced that A/C compressor had seized. Anecdotal evidence of widespread problem, including catastrophic failures for other Mazda CX7 owners. Anecdotal evidence of a complete component redesign for 2008 model year. Brought car to dealer following Monday - A/C compressor had seized and required replacement to the tune of $1300 at my cost (12,000 km over warranty). No help from the dealer, and no help from Mazda. Zoom-zoom appears to represent how quickly Mazda retreats from customer support.

- Carleton Place, 00, USA

2007 Mazda Cx-7 grand touring. (family car)! 43,636 miles(out of warranty) first off, my wife and I have a had our car serviced and oil changed every 3000 miles! and we have taken the car in numerous times for the A/C not working in over 90 degrees temperatures. And have been told by 2 dealerships that the Cx-7's A/C doesn't work well over 90 degrees. Living in southern California its over 90 degrees for almost 6 months of the year. A couple days ago, my wife, young daughters and I were driving our car to a destination only 3 miles from home. (the car had been sitting all day, in the garage.) we had the A/C on half way(85 degrees out). About ready to get off the freeway and only going 60 mph. The air blowing out of the A/C started blowing hot, easily over 100 degrees. The A/C started whining, though it was a belt slipping. Immediately turned off the A/C and fan motor. And then began to smell burning plastic. Drove 1/4 mile to destination and right before parking it, a plume of white smoke started coming out of the engine compartment and A/C vents. I opened the hood to put out the fire, I thought would be there. But the car just kept smoking with no visible flame. Smoked-no it "plumed", for about 15 minutes. I called aaa, and had the car towed to a local Mazda dealership. When I told the service what happened, he smiled and shook his head and told me that the A/C compressor blew. Without even looking! he said, he couldn't understand why Mazda has not recalled this problem yet. And that he has had a lot of upset Cx-7 owners spending over $2500 because they didn't turn off the A/C when it stopped working. Resulting in timing chains, blown engines and other expensive parts going out due to the stress caused on the A/C belt when the compressor blows. And if I hadn't been reading blog after blog online since 2007 when we got the car, about the A/C compressor problem, I would of been paying $2500 or more too! one day of service and $1025 later. The car seems to be fine.

- Moorpark, CA, USA

Have a 2007 CX7 with 34,000 miles on it. It was purchased in Sept of 09 at a Mazda dealership used. Upon exiting the interstate, at the bottom of the ramp the car stalled just as the light turned green. The car and semi behind me almost crashed into me.. I put it in park and it started up. I got about 2 blocks down the road and was sitting at the light when I noticed white smoke coming from the passenger engine compartment. Engine temps were fine but you could smell burnt rubber. I pulled into a gas station and lifted the hood. I could tell the a\C compressor was not turning so I turned the a\C off and made it to my destination about 3 miles later.I took the car into Mazda today only to find out the 36 month time period had expired on 2/20/2010. The tech writer almost verbatim described to me what happened when I told him I believed the compressor had failed. I believe there should be a tsr on this product.

- Las Vegas, NV, USA

While driving with family, air conditioner suddenly started blowing warm air. All attempts failed to adjust air conditioning. This failure has only happened once but is still not operating properly. When the vehicle was started the next day it began making a grinding noise. The suspected defect is the A/C compressor, it has not been repaired or replaced.

- Saint Marys, GA, USA

Driving on freeway and A/C began to blow hot. Smoke and burnt rubber smell coming from under hood. Lost power steering assist but was still able to barely steer vehicle to side of freeway. Had vehicle towed to shop. A/C compressor locked up and destroyed drive belt. Had compressor replaced and it failed 20 miles later, before I even got home. Have to replace it again. Compressor failure is a safety hazard due to the loss of power steering.

- Turlock, CA, USA

2007 Mazda Cx-7 started making a grinding sound from underneath the hood, with smoke bellowing from the engine. Come to find out that the A/C pump and or compressor has suddenly seized causing major damage to the engine and vehicle itself.

- Portage, MI, USA

My wife and I purchased a 2007 Mazda Cx-7 a few years ago, and over the last three months it has been in the shop with multiple problems. From an oil leak, to a bad compressor, then the timing chain gone bad and now another problem with the egr. The car has a little over 38K miles and to me it seems very odd for a car being this young in miles, to have major problems such as these. After going back and forth with the Mazda corporate office, they first agreed to pay for the parts for my latest problems since I'm now out of warranty. I was fine with that until I found out the labor was over $500 to fix this problem. When I call the corporate office to try to discuss splitting the labor costs, their supervisor contacted me back with an attitude like I did something wrong and decided they were now not going to help at all. That is just poor customer service behind a vehicle that was not ready to be put on our us roadways. In my opinion, this car should be recalled. After reviewing some of the forums, many others agree with my displeasure in the problems with the Mazda Cx-7--check this linktownhall-talk.edmunds.com/direct/view/.F0E5B59/110. thank you.

- Grand Bay, AL, USA

While driving at night at highway speed, noise started to come from engine compartment. Seemed to come and go, but suddenly smelled smoke and lost power steering. Nearly had a head on collision. This was a very serious near miss. Managed to get car to neighborhood car repair shop. After inspection, cause was determined to be seized A/C compressor that led to cascading failures. Cost to repair all damage was $2250. I have since read that this is a common failure on Mazda Cx-7 and still no recall? I will be sending a claim to Mazda usa and would also be interested in joining any class action suite to recoupe all my costs and to force Mazda usa to make a recall. Family's lives are at stake.

- Katy, TX, USA

While driving we heard a noise from the engine, we were about a mile from our destination. When we pulled into the parking lot we saw smoke coming from the engine compartment. When my husband opened the hood, we saw flames. We immediately called 911 and ran to the building to procure a fire extingusher. We were able to locate one and my husband put out the fire. We were told by the Mazda dealership that the compressor clutch had failed, causing the fire. We had purchased an extended warranty on the vehicle, unfortunately, it only covered to 60,000 miles and the vehicle had 61,000 miles. The service manager suggested that we should file a claim on our insurance, but since we haven't been able to get a detailed estimate on the damages, we haven't proceeded that far yet. They have had the vehicle for three days and there is no complete information on the damages.

- Hershey, PA, USA

Car's A/C stopped working and smoke came from the engine. Then the car stalled and the control via power steering went non-existent.

- Homestead, FL, USA

I got into a Mazda forum where many costumers are having problems with the air conditioning clutch failure (seized) loosing power steering while driving. Turbo failure, causing engine overheating. Timing belt failure. I can not find any recalls about these failures.

- Union City, NJ, USA

My wife was driving her 2007 Mazda Cx-7 when she heard a bang and smoke started billowing from under the hood. She pulled over and turned off the car. After inspection, I determined it was the ac compressor because it wouldn't smoke when the ac was turned off. We took the car to the dealer and they confirmed my suspicion. The air compressor had locked up and needed to be replaced as well as the belt. This was going to cost $1069 plus tax. After reading over 15 pages of similar complaints on edmund's forum, I am filing a complaint. It appears that my wife only had a minor incident while others lost power steering and complete operation of their vehicle. This issue definitely needs to be recalled as this is happening to many vehicles and may cost someone's life.

- Hoover, AL, USA

We own a 2007 Mazda CX7. We took a vacation to Florida from Ohio. On the way back, we began to smell burning rubber. I stopped to check it out, but everything looked to be in order and nothing was leaking. We then lost air conditioning and the smell became more prevalent. Minutes later, there was a loud bang from under the hood. The car basically began shutting down. All check engine lights came on. Smoke from under the hook. No power steering. This happened at 1am in the hills of West Virginia, and we were lucky to coast into a motel. This left us stranded at the motel, and upon opening my hood - there was coolant all over the engine bay and there were shreds of rubber from the belts that had snapped off. The shredded belts were still sitting inside the engine bay, and everything was still smoking. The cap had popped off of the radiator, which is why there was a coolant mess everywhere. We had to get the car towed to the closest Mazda dealership (1 hour away). We were then left without our vehicle for a month while they were trying to retrieve parts. It was during this time that I found out this isn't an isolated incident, and I feel Mazda needs to address this asap. I was driving with my wife, toddler, and infant - and this put us in a very frustrating situation. I was glad I was driving and not my wife, as it could have put her stranded somewhere. This is inexcusable that a car, with only 30,000 miles on it, would have this much damage. They need to address these faulty compressors.

- Dover, OH, USA

The ac compressor locked up and caused a list of damage including needing a new motor. Started smoking outside and inside the car and then making a horrible noise. Replaced ac pump, belts, crank pulley, belt tensioner, idler pulley and because the timing belt also broke this caused the damage to the engine. After doing research, this seems to be the trend for a 2007 Mazda CX7.

- Pinson, AL, USA

I was driving down the road when all of a sudden I could smell smoke and my ac just stopped. I took my 2007 Mazda Cx-7 into 3 shops. One was the Mazda dealer where I bought the car. All 3 places told me that my ac compressor clutch had gone out. The part and labor is costing me $750 to fix. I have been reading on several online forums that this is a common problem and often leads to the S-belt breaking and the entire car just stopping while driving. I even had one of the mechanics tell me that it could happen to me at any time.

- Imperial, MO, USA