Mazda CX-90 Brake Lawsuit, What Owners Need to Know in 2026

TL;DR

• Two class action lawsuits accuse Mazda of selling 2024 to 2026 CX-90 SUVs with brakes that squeal, judder, and wear out early, and that dealers cannot permanently fix (Green v. Mazda Motor of America, Inc., C.D. Cal., filed June 29, 2025; Burnell v. Mazda Motor Corporation, No. 2:26-cv-00256, E.D. Va., filed March 17, 2026).
• One plaintiff took his CX-90 to Mazda dealers eight times between February and November 2024, roughly 36 days in the shop, and the squeal came back after a full brake replacement (The Brake Report, 2025).
• Separately, Mazda recalled 9,914 2024 CX-90 hybrids for a smart brake system that slams on the brakes at 10 to 15 mph after mistaking roadside objects for traffic (NHTSA Recall 24V-349, 2024).
• NHTSA opened investigation RQ26002 in January 2026 into 43,752 CX-90s after a 2024 steering recall fix allegedly failed, with 26 complaints and 2 crashes reported after the repair (NHTSA, 2026).
• A class action pays cents and takes years. A lemon law claim can pay a full buyback plus a civil penalty. You usually cannot collect both, so the order you file in matters.

What the Mazda CX-90 Brake Lawsuit Actually Alleges

The Mazda CX-90 brake lawsuit claims the SUV’s brakes deteriorate far too early, screech loud enough to turn heads in a parking lot, and keep failing no matter how many times a dealer works on them. Two separate class actions make versions of this argument, and they land on the same conclusion. Mazda knew, and the fix does not stick.

The first case is Daniel Green v. Mazda Motor of America, Inc., filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California on June 29, 2025. Green leased a 2024 CX-90 in September 2024 and reported a loud, high-pitched squeal along with juddering and dragging. His complaint points to Mazda Service Alert SA-016/24, issued March 2024, titled “Brake Noise, Judder and Dragging Diagnosis and Servicing” (CarComplaints, 2025).

The second case is Burnell v. Mazda Motor Corporation, No. 2:26-cv-00256, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia on March 17, 2026. James R. Burnell bought a 2024 CX-90 in November 2023 and brought it back eight times over the following year. The Burnell complaint adds a second defect, a lane-keep assist system that fights the driver, and cites the Virginia Consumer Protection Act and common law fraud (Top Class Actions, 2026).

Neither case has been certified as a class. Nobody has been paid. If you found this page because your own CX-90 sounds like a freight train every time you slow down, the class action is not your rescue plan, and the section on your two options below explains why.

What CX-90 Owners Say the Brakes Actually Do

Owners describe a brake system that announces itself, and not in a good way. The most common complaint is a high-pitched squeal that shows up early, sometimes within the first few thousand miles, and refuses to leave.

Here is the progression reported across the complaints and owner forums.

Early on: A sharp squeal at low speed, worst when the brakes are cold on the first stop of the morning. Owners describe it as embarrassing in a drive-through or a quiet garage.

As it develops: A judder or vibration you feel through the pedal when braking, plus a dragging sensation as if the pads are not fully releasing. One lawsuit alleges brake pads needing replacement within the first 1,000 miles, against a normal expected life of 30,000 to 65,000 miles (The Brake Report, 2025).

The part that wears owners down: The noise comes back after every repair. Dealers have greased the hardware, resurfaced the rotors, sanded the pads with 80-grit sandpaper, applied anti-squeal lubricant, and in Burnell’s case, swapped the entire brake system. The squeal returned almost immediately each time (Autoblog, 2025).

There is a specific flavor of frustration here. You bring the SUV in. The service advisor tells you brake noise is “normal,” hands you the keys, and three weeks later you are back in the same waiting room reading the same magazine. Burnell’s file reportedly shows eight visits and about 36 days out of service in a single year, ending with one dealer effectively calling the brakes unfixable (The Brake Report, 2025).

Write down every visit. The repair order you almost tossed in the glovebox is the single most valuable document in a lemon law claim.

The CX-90 Phantom Braking Recall Is a Separate Problem

The squealing-brakes lawsuits are not the same as the CX-90 phantom braking recall, and mixing them up costs owners real leverage. The recall is a documented, Mazda-admitted defect with a free fix.

In May 2024, Mazda recalled 9,914 model year 2024 CX-90 plug-in hybrids under NHTSA campaign 24V-349. The smart brake system could activate suddenly at 10 to 15 mph after falsely detecting roadside objects as approaching vehicles, which raised the risk of a rear-end collision (NHTSA Recall 24V-349, 2024).

The root cause was software. Mazda’s report blamed improper programming of the vehicle control module, which misread reflections from objects along the road as traffic closing in. The remedy is a free reprogramming of that module with logic built to stop the false detection (NHTSA Recall 24V-349, 2024).

Two things matter here. A recall is not the same as a lawsuit, so the fact that Mazda admitted the phantom braking problem does not automatically resolve the separate squealing-brake claims. And a vehicle that stomps its own brakes in traffic, then needs repeated visits to make it stop, is exactly the fact pattern a lemon law claim is built on. You can check whether your VIN is covered at NHTSA’s recall lookup. Our breakdown of Ford brake recall problems shows how these phantom-braking and brake-defect claims play out on another brand.

The Steering Recall and Why NHTSA Reopened It

The CX-90 also has a steering problem that Mazda already recalled once, and federal regulators are now checking whether that fix actually worked. This is a third, separate issue from the brakes.

In January 2024, Mazda issued recall 24V-022 for roughly 43,752 CX-90s over excessive friction in the electric power steering worm gear, which could cause a sudden, unexpected change in steering effort. Mazda reported that about 98 percent of those vehicles had received the remedy by January 2026 (Lemberg Law, 2026).

The fix did not settle the matter. On January 26, 2026, NHTSA opened investigation RQ26002 to determine whether the recall remedy resolved the original problem or created a new one. Regulators cited 26 complaints of “sticky steering” or a momentary spike in steering effort, including 2 tied to crashes, all on vehicles that had already received the recall repair (NHTSA Investigation RQ26002, 2026).

That gap between a recall and a real fix is the heart of every lemon law claim. When a manufacturer patches a defect and the defect keeps coming back, the law stops asking the owner to keep waiting. If your CX-90 has been repaired under a recall and still misbehaves, that repeat history strengthens your case rather than closing it.

Class Action Versus Lemon Law Claim, and Why the Order Matters

An individual lemon law claim almost always pays more than a class action share, and pursuing one usually means opting out of the class. Here is the trade in plain terms.

The mechanics are simple. If a class gets certified and you do nothing, you are in it, bound by whatever the settlement says, and accepting it generally releases the claims you could have brought on your own. Owners with strong individual cases opt out, which the class notice explains how to do.

The choice is real. A class action costs you nothing, takes no effort, and might pay you a couple hundred dollars in three years. An individual claim takes paperwork and might return the price of the vehicle. Our guide on how the lemon law works walks through the process, and our Chevy Equinox class action breakdown shows how the same decision plays out on another defect.

How Lemon Law Applies to a CX-90 Brake Defect

State lemon laws require a manufacturer to buy back or replace a vehicle it cannot repair after a reasonable number of attempts, and brakes that keep failing qualify on their face. Brakes are a safety component, which raises the stakes and often lowers the number of attempts the law requires.

Most state lemon laws work off one of two triggers. Either the dealer made a set number of repair attempts for the same defect, often as few as two for a safety-related problem, or the vehicle sat out of service for repair for a cumulative number of days, commonly around 30. Burnell’s reported 36 days in the shop in one year clears that second bar on its own (The Brake Report, 2025).

A CX-90 sits comfortably inside Mazda’s warranty for these claims. Mazda’s New Vehicle Limited Warranty runs 36 months or 36,000 miles, and the powertrain warranty runs 60 months or 60,000 miles (Mazda USA, 2026). A brake defect reported inside that coverage is what a lemon law claim is built on, even if the vehicle is later out of warranty when you file.

Two features make an individual claim worth the paperwork. On a winning claim, the manufacturer generally pays your attorney fees and costs, so representation costs you nothing out of pocket. And in many states, a manufacturer’s willful refusal to buy back a defective vehicle exposes it to a civil penalty on top of your refund. For the full walkthrough, see our page on how a car qualifies for lemon law in California and our guide to California lemon law for new cars.

The Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act adds a federal backstop that applies in every state. It lets owners sue over a breached written warranty and, like the state statutes, shifts attorney fees to the manufacturer on a successful claim. Our explainer on the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act covers how it works alongside your state law.

Does the Lemon Law Cover a Used or Leased CX-90?

Yes, in many cases, and this trips people up. Lemon law protection follows the original manufacturer warranty, not the second owner’s assumptions, so a used CX-90 still under Mazda’s factory coverage can qualify.

Leases count too. Daniel Green leased his 2024 CX-90 and still brought a claim, because a lease does not strip you of warranty rights (CarComplaints, 2025). What matters is whether the defect appeared and was reported while the vehicle was covered, not whether you hold the title.

Rules vary by state, and some states have separate used-car provisions. Our guide on whether the lemon law applies to used cars covers the details, and if a lender is pressuring you over a vehicle you cannot safely drive, our page on help with car repossession explains your options.

What to Do Right Now If Your CX-90 Brakes Are Failing

Six steps, in order. None of them requires a lawyer to start.

1. Get the complaint on paper today. Book a service appointment and describe the symptom in the exact words you would use to a friend. Loud squeal on the first stop every morning. Judder through the pedal. Ask for a copy of the repair order before you leave, even when the technician finds nothing. “Could not duplicate” on a dated repair order is still evidence that you reported it.
2. Collect every record you already have. Purchase or lease contract, window sticker, every repair order, every loaner or rental receipt, and the dates the vehicle sat at the dealership. Photograph the odometer at each visit.
3. Check your VIN against the federal database. Run it at nhtsa.gov/recalls and confirm whether recall 24V-349 or 24V-022 applies to your CX-90. Do it again in six months, because recall and investigation status changes.
4. File a complaint with NHTSA. Submit it at nhtsa.gov/report-a-safety-problem. Complaint volume is what opens federal investigations, and the CX-90 steering probe RQ26002 exists because owners filed. Your complaint becomes a public record the class action lawyers can point to.
5. Confirm what your warranty still covers. Mazda’s basic coverage runs 36 months or 36,000 miles (Mazda USA, 2026). Read our guide on what voids a car warranty before anyone tells you an aftermarket part or a missed oil change disqualifies you, because most of the time it does not.
6. Have the file reviewed before you accept anything. Do not sign a goodwill repair agreement, a release, or a class settlement claim form until someone has read your repair history against the statute. Signing the wrong document can close the door on a buyback worth many times the offer in front of you.

Common Mistakes That Sink CX-90 Brake Claims

• Skipping the repair order. A verbal complaint does not exist legally. If the squeal is not on a dated repair order, Mazda will argue you never reported it.
• Accepting “brakes are supposed to be noisy.” Some brake noise is normal. A loud squeal that returns after a full brake replacement is not, and a dealer saying otherwise in writing helps your case.
• Waiting for a recall on the squeal. There is no recall for the squealing and juddering brakes, only for the separate phantom braking system. Waiting burns your warranty and your filing deadline at the same time.
• Assuming a lease or a used purchase excludes you. Warranty coverage, not the title, controls. See does lemon law apply to used cars.
• Staying in the class by default. Doing nothing is a decision. If a settlement is approved and you did not opt out, your individual claim may be gone.

Frequently Asked Questions About the Mazda CX-90 Brake Lawsuit

Is there a class action lawsuit against Mazda for the CX-90 brakes?

Yes. Two class actions target the CX-90’s brakes. Green v. Mazda Motor of America, Inc. was filed in the Central District of California on June 29, 2025, and Burnell v. Mazda Motor Corporation, No. 2:26-cv-00256, was filed in the Eastern District of Virginia on March 17, 2026. Both cover 2024 to 2026 model years, and neither has been certified or settled.

What is wrong with the Mazda CX-90 brakes?

Owners report a loud, high-pitched squeal, a judder felt through the brake pedal, a dragging sensation, and pads that wear out far earlier than expected, in one alleged case within 1,000 miles. The lawsuits claim dealers cannot permanently fix the problem, with the noise returning after cleaning, resurfacing, and even full brake replacements.

Is there a recall on the Mazda CX-90 brakes?

There is a recall on the smart brake system, NHTSA campaign 24V-349, covering 9,914 model year 2024 CX-90 hybrids that could brake suddenly at low speed after false object detection. There is no recall for the squealing and juddering brakes at the center of the class action lawsuits.

What is the Mazda CX-90 steering investigation about?

NHTSA opened investigation RQ26002 on January 26, 2026, into 43,752 CX-90s to check whether a 2024 steering recall, 24V-022, actually fixed the problem. Regulators cited 26 complaints of sticky steering after the repair, including 2 tied to crashes.

Can I file a lemon law claim if my CX-90 is leased or used?

Often yes. Lemon law protection follows the original manufacturer warranty rather than the title, so a leased or used CX-90 still under Mazda’s factory coverage can qualify. What matters is whether the brake defect appeared and was reported while the vehicle was under warranty.

How many repair attempts does it take to qualify for lemon law?

It varies by state, but many lemon laws require only two attempts for a safety defect like brakes, or roughly 30 cumulative days out of service. One CX-90 owner reported eight visits and about 36 days in the shop in a single year, which clears the day count on its own.

Do I have to pay a lawyer to bring a lemon law claim?

Usually no. State lemon laws and the federal Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act generally require the manufacturer to pay the consumer’s attorney fees and costs on a successful claim, so lemon law representation is typically handled at no out-of-pocket cost to the owner.

Should I opt out of the class action to file my own case?

If you have a documented repair history under warranty, opting out and filing individually usually produces a much larger recovery than a class settlement share. Have your records reviewed before the opt-out deadline in the class notice, because that deadline is firm.

Key Takeaways

• Two class actions over the CX-90’s squealing, juddering brakes are active, neither certified, neither paying yet.
• The phantom braking recall 24V-349 and the steering investigation RQ26002 are separate issues from the brake-noise lawsuits, and each one strengthens an owner’s repair-history record.
• The single most valuable thing you can do this week is get your brake complaint written onto a dated repair order.
• Owners with a documented repair history usually recover far more through an individual lemon law claim than through a class settlement.
• Leased and used CX-90s can qualify. Warranty coverage, not the title, is what controls.

Talk to Consumer Protection Law Group About Your CX-90

Consumer Protection Law Group represents vehicle owners in lemon law claims against manufacturers. The firm reviews repair histories at no charge, and on a successful claim the manufacturer generally pays attorney fees and costs, so there is no out-of-pocket cost to the owner.

Bring your repair orders, your purchase or lease contract, and the dates your vehicle sat at the dealership. That file is usually enough for a first assessment.

Request a free case review or read our frequently asked questions about the claim process. You can also see how we handle Mazda lemon law claims, and since the Burnell case was filed in Virginia, our Virginia lemon law and California lemon law pages cover the rules where these cases are being fought.

This article is general information about consumer warranty law and is not legal advice. Outcomes depend on the specific facts of each vehicle and its repair history.

Sources

• com, “Mazda CX-90 Squeaky Brakes Cause Class Action Lawsuit” (2025)
• The Brake Report, “Mazda CX-90 Faces New Brake and ADAS Lawsuit” (2025)
• Autoblog, “Mazda Can’t Fix CX-90 Brake Issues, Alleges New Lawsuit” (2025)
• Top Class Actions, “Mazda Class Action Claims CX-90 SUVs Contain Brake, Lane-Keep Defects” (2026)
• org, “Class Action Suit Claims Mazda CX-90 Vehicles Contain ‘Patently Dangerous’ Brake, Steering Defects” (2026)
• National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Recall 24V-349, Mazda CX-90 Smart Brake System (2024)
• National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Recall Query RQ26002 and Recall 24V-022, Mazda CX-90 Steering (2026)
• Lemberg Law, “2024-2025 Mazda CX-90 Sticky Steering Problem” (2026)
• Mazda North American Operations, “Mazda Warranty Information” (2026)