The 2007 Mazda CX-7 has 5 recalls, the most serious being a passenger frontal airbag inflator that can rupture and send metal fragments into the cabin, causing serious injury or death.
The airbag issue has been the subject of multiple repair attempts, and prior replacement inflators of the same design were found to carry the same risk, meaning earlier repairs did not fully resolve the problem. When the inflator ruptures, it is not a controlled deployment but a violent failure that scatters sharp metal pieces toward whoever is sitting in the passenger seat.
The remaining two recalls both involve the front suspension ball joints, which describe the same underlying defect. Water, particularly from road salt in wet climates, can work its way into the front suspension ball joint fittings where it causes corrosion. Over time, that corrosion weakens the joint's connection to the lower control arm to the point where the joint can physically separate. When a ball joint separates at speed, the front wheel can collapse or kick outward, and the driver loses the ability to steer or control the vehicle. This failure can happen without obvious warning and carries a high risk of a crash.