Why the stigma around Mazda?

Klausmai

Banned
Hello everyone,,
So I had a 2015 Toyota Corolla S which was totaled while I was sitting in a parking garage (I’m okay thankfully) and I’m getting the insurance payout in two days for about 12k. I’ve been researching 2015-2016 Mazda 3 hatches and I hear great things about them aside from things like weak paint.
The reason of this post is every person I tell I’m considering getting a Mazda they go like “why a Mazda” “get a Honda or Toyota instead” “they don’t last”. Are people just misinformed or basing their opinions on older vehicles or is there just a general brand stigma against Mazda?
What’s your take after owning your car for whatever X amount of years and miles????
 
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Google "Mazda rust".

Mazda had some trouble with corrosion in the past that has left a bit of a cloud over the brand in some people's minds.

I have a 2010 CX-9 and it is rusting around the rear hatch opening.
 
Hello!

Short Answer is:
It's a fun car brand that is just as reliable as Toyotas and Hondas (assuming you do proper servicing) if you plan to keep it forever. Chances are you will get a better value and more car since they are seen as the smaller brand of the 3.

Longer Answer:

It is my opinion that this 'stigma' is simply because Toyota and Honda has been in the US market longer than Mazda and have essentially built a bulletproof reputation for reliability. I myself have told number people to 'buy a toy-honda' because they will last forever if you just do basic maintenance. Simply put, it is the safe choice.

Mazda did not really come into the US scene until the mid 2000s with an aggressive push into the US market and now is ranked as the best car brand of 2020 according to US news.
I have owned Toyotas/ Hondas/ Mazdas and I am very happy with all of my purchases. (Camry, Corollas, Seinnea Accords, , Odyssey, Civics, Mazda 3, Miata, Mazda 5, Protege 5).


Bias Opinion Time:
I think as long as you buy a model that's still being build in Japan you will have a car with fewer problems.

70%+ of Toyota cars are now made in the US, Canada (and MexicoI think)- I believe they are the largest auto manufacture here in the United States. Honda is not too far behind with plants in the US and Canda.

Most if not all Mazda Models are still built in Japan and to me that's a big purchasing decision for me. Maybe it's the culture or the water, but of all the Japanese car brands that I owned the ones built in Japan virtually had no issues whereas the ones built in Canada/US started to rattle and peel way sooner than my older cars.

And if you want your car to last even longer- get a standard transmission.

Hope this helps!
 
Honda and Toyota are are basking in their success based on the brand name now, more than their actual products. Most people that buy them don't bother cross shopping.
Honda especially is not what it was.
Some people, like my brother in law, are just too lazy or stupid to go anywhere else, even after a bad experience.
He bought a new 2017 CR-V, and had serious problems with oil dilution, lack of heat, etc, and he raised hell with Honda. He kept it less than a year, and traded it in (at a big loss) on an HR-V instead.
His wife drives that car now.
A year later, he decided to get rid of his 2006 Acura TL (a nice car btw), and guess what? He traded it in.....on a used CR-V. I was astounded to say the least.
After his experience with the first one, he said he'd never deal with Honda again.
He knew I bought a Mazda and knew I liked it, but he still couldn't be bothered to check them out.

Anyway, Mazda may still be tainted by their earlier association with Ford as well. They split from Ford back in 2013 I believe, but the uneducated masses still think a Mazda is a rebadged Ford, which it isn't.

The only other concern, as someone else mentioned, is rust.
Here in Canada with snow and road salt, older Mazda 3's look like hell.
You don't see and Proteges here anymore either. They disappeared into a pile of brown dust.
Supposedly the newer Mazdas, from about 2016 on, have better sheet metal and rust protection. Time will tell.
If you're not in a rust belt, you should be safe with a used Mazda.
 
Mazda ranks #2 in the top 3 most reliable brands in Consumer Reports, next to Lexus at #1 and Toyota at #3. I am partial to the current generation, as Mazda made many changes and improvements to the 2016/2017 generation models, so personally I'd spend a bit more for one of them. These changes include underbody paneling, suspension improvements, better glass, and better door seals.
 
Must be a US thing because in Australia Mazda is highly regarded especially since the split from Ford.
Toyota is still up there for those who love their reliable whitegoods.
Honda on the other hand is considered a bit of an oddball choice with their dealers shutting down and moving to a more online sales style..
Kia and Hyundai are going gangbusters here with good value for money and a great reputation for reliability.
The once mighty and much loved GM could do no wrong here....but managed to do so by importing cheap Korean products and putting Holden badges on them. Things fell apart after they stopped designing and manufacturing cars here as it was as if us Aussies had our hearts ripped out. GM will probably return but they will still be on the nose for a while.
Ford is hanging in there with a reasonable model range. Even with perceived and real quality issues people have fallen in love with the Mustang here and it has been a good seller since released here (finally) in 2015. I know I love mine.
Anyway sorry if I digressed from the thread a little
Take it easy on me for my first post.
 
Honda and Toyota are are basking in their success based on the brand name now, more than their actual products. Most people that buy them don't bother cross shopping.
Honda especially is not what it was.
Some people, like my brother in law, are just too lazy or stupid to go anywhere else, even after a bad experience.
He bought a new 2017 CR-V, and had serious problems with oil dilution, lack of heat, etc, and he raised hell with Honda. He kept it less than a year, and traded it in (at a big loss) on an HR-V instead.
His wife drives that car now.
A year later, he decided to get rid of his 2006 Acura TL (a nice car btw), and guess what? He traded it in.....on a used CR-V. I was astounded to say the least.
After his experience with the first one, he said he'd never deal with Honda again.
He knew I bought a Mazda and knew I liked it, but he still couldn't be bothered to check them out.

Anyway, Mazda may still be tainted by their earlier association with Ford as well. They split from Ford back in 2013 I believe, but the uneducated masses still think a Mazda is a rebadged Ford, which it isn't.

The only other concern, as someone else mentioned, is rust.
Here in Canada with snow and road salt, older Mazda 3's look like hell.
You don't see and Proteges here anymore either. They disappeared into a pile of brown dust.
Supposedly the newer Mazdas, from about 2016 on, have better sheet metal and rust protection. Time will tell.
If you're not in a rust belt, you should be safe with a used Mazda.

Mazda ranks #2 in the top 3 most reliable brands in Consumer Reports, next to Lexus at #1 and Toyota at #3. I am partial to the current generation, as Mazda made many changes and improvements to the 2016/2017 generation models, so personally I'd spend a bit more for one of them. These changes include underbody paneling, suspension improvements, better glass, and better door seals.

Basically this 👆

Newer Mazdas are built much better than they were when they were with Ford, which is when they developed the stigma they still carry today. You should be safe with a 3rd generation 2013-2018 model (which is built on Mazda's SkyActiv chassis instead of sharing Ford's C1 platform, according to Wikipedia). The 2.0L and 2.5L SkyActiv-G engines have been pretty bulletproof with regular maintenance. I believe the 2nd generation is assembled in Japan, and the 3rd generation is assembled in Mexico and Japan (same for the current generation).
 
Sigh.. looks like OP was another spammer who tried to insert malicious links in the original post.
WTF is wrong with people these days? I'm starting to hate the human race.
Maybe someone should turn off the internet for a while.
No more Facebook, or Twitter or Instagram or any of the other crap sites for starters.
Life was simpler before it was invented.
I'd have to wait until my mailman dropped a letter in my mailbox from some Nigerian Prince needing money in order to get scammed.
And nobody back then bitched about a low resolution backup camera either.
Ah, the good old days.

I think I've been cooped up for too long. Get me outa here....aarrgghh
 
Actually, perhaps the fact that a spam post can generate a really interesting conversation shows what a great Community we have here...Not only is the spammer effectively dealt with, the spam itself is rendered ineffective and reconfigured into a contribution! 😁

For what it's worth. I took your advice a few years ago and its been great. Thats why i look for forums rather than Facebook groups
Now if only more people did the same!

Regarding Mazda's rep, I agree with many of the reasons already posted here...Seems to me they've been the "underdog" for a long time and have recently started to "move up the ladder"...It also seems like they've always had passionate top tier engineers and designers but have suffered from a lack of capital and size to make the most of that talent...That was until recently...Give Mazda the right ingredients, and they will flourish (along with their reputation).
 
Anyway, Mazda may still be tainted by their earlier association with Ford as well. They split from Ford back in 2013 I believe, but the uneducated masses still think a Mazda is a rebadged Ford, which it isn't.

I definitely still thought this until I decided to go look at one for the heck of it when I was car shopping (and was pretty disappointed in the RAV-4, CR-V, Sportage, and Rogue I had previously looked at).

Let's just say, Mazda won me over quick. Wasn't even a contest. I got out of the CX-5 from the test drive and instantly knew that was the car I was buying.
 
Historically, Mazda has been 3rd rate. Starting in 2013-2019 depending on model, they have achieved overwatch or at least parity.
 
I am pretty happy with the Mazda 5 (one from 2010 and one from 2015 that I currently own). I think Ford - Mazda partnership gave Mazda a bad name. Though Ford left Mazda around the 2009 recession, several parts from Ford were still used in 2015 Mazda 5.

Also Mazda as a brand has small sale volume comparing to Honda and Toyota. According to

2019 US market brands sales:
Mazda | 278,550
Honda | 1,608,370
Toyota | 2,383,318

While bad things tend to stand out even with less number of individual reports, a good reputation requires large amount of satisfied users and it takes time and effort to build. That's why Toyota wins this long term reliability war.
 
Have your Honda fanboys take a look at this Consumer Reports Cost of Ownership chart.
 

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Really clear that BMW offers free maintenance plans here.

Flummoxed by Chrysler, perhaps people just stop shelling out for the big repairs after a while...

Did you see that JD Power APEAL survey? Really subjective stuff and tightly grouped:

1595473400237.png


The J.D. Power Automotive Performance, Execution and Layout (APEAL) StudySM examines new-vehicle owners’ assessments of their experiences with their new vehicle after 90 days of ownership. The study data provides insight on experiences with design, performance, safety, usability, comfort, perceived quality, and other factors.

APEAL is based on more than 40 vehicle attributes in 10 experience groups:

Walking up to your vehicle
Setting up and starting your vehicle
Getting in and out of the vehicle
Your vehicle’s interior
Your vehicle’s powertrain
Your vehicle’s driving feel
Your vehicle keeping you safe
Using the infotainment system
Your vehicle’s driving comfort
Fuel usage

 
Really clear that BMW offers free maintenance plans here.

Flummoxed by Chrysler, perhaps people just stop shelling out for the big repairs after a while...

Did you see that JD Power APEAL survey? Really subjective stuff and tightly grouped:
...

JD Power is a marketing company ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J.D._Power ). Their list of ranks from the study is ordered based on the amount of "donations" they receives from each car manufacturer.

That being said, I don't know the deal with Chrysler on CR's top of the list either. They only have 300 (really bad car, avg ~45,000 cars sold in the us per year), Pacifica (there was a gap between 2008 and 2017 so 10 year cost of ownership study won't / should't cover it), and Voyager (another minivan, re-entered the market in 2020, doesn't count). So I don't really know how much it means when CR still treated Chrysler as a brand instead of under FCA auto group.
 
I have a theory about why Chrysler appears to be very reliable, based upon cost of ownership.
Many people who continue to buy Chrysler products, over and over may qualify as deep-rooted "buy only American" folks. As such, when they fill in surveys, they tend to "fudge" the input because doing otherwise may make them look like fools. This wouldn't work if only a small percentage of Chrysler owners did this, but I think these owners fall into the fanboy club category.
Tesla owners tend to fall into this category, also but Tesla's first sedan came out in 2012, so that explains why it is not listed. You can see in youtube that there have been many serious issues with them.
 
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