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I have a hard time ignoring left lane cruisers. On my weekend drive via I-5, commercial vehicles take up a good portion of the right lane, so most of us use the left lane to pass. If the driver behind me appears eager, I move back into the right lane as soon as it is safe, even between two...

I am expecting another report this week from my 2/16 sample. My backup car R56 (ex DD) is in the shop for brain surgery. Once it is road-ready, the CX-3 can take a break while I figure out what to do. 🤦Whatever it is, I lean heavily towards repair. There is not another gas car on the market...

When the values indicate a concern, they'd address it in the comments. I finished cutting open the filter media (oem from Thailand and 5K on VRP) and found a few tiny black bits in the pleats. It wasn't more than what I have seen before on a Bosch filter with a different oil. Is there any...

UOA from 5K OCI on 12/23/25. Comments: "Potassium and sodium went down, but that doesn't mean the coolant leak is going away. The decreases are probably thanks to the shorter oil change interval. That said, the coolant leak doesn't appear to be getting worse, either; potassium & sodium are...

A second sample from my 5K OCI has shown elevated values of potassium and sodium. Need to let it ride. 😬 Should I go with 3K OCI? I had planned to finish 4 rounds of VRP. EDIT: Yes. Cleaning carbon is important but not urgent. After this round of VRP, I will step up to 3K OCI on $24 oil and AC...

I stay out of the fast lanes (#1 and #2 if #1 is HOV or express.) Being in the middle allows me to look ahead and better gauge the flow in neighboring lanes. I also leave room for folks with poor judgment. I would rather they cut in front of me than behind me. It is never personal, they don't...

The factory rear wiper is a life-time component, it was still wiping well after 176K miles. 😂

This is a 1WPE-14-302 from my most recent 5K OCI. Removed on Monday. The can was the most difficult of the 4 that I have cut open so far. Scuffs on the can were left by vise grip and plumbing wrench. The shorty element with metal end caps is a Royal Purple from 2 cycles ago. Shorty is very...

Those headlights are bright! 😎

@bojo It it awesome that you're figuring this out from the beginning of your ownership. I didn't look into it until much later on, like 8 years and 150K miles in. 🤦

Appreciate this!! My rear wiper is as vintage as the car. Can't believe I never looked for help on this in the manual. 🤦

Thank you I am glad I asked!

I bought a replacement but can't seem to remove the old one from the rear. I expected it to slide out like the ones on the windshield. If I apply any more force, I might break it. 🤦

I have used mostly non Mazda filters. The Mazda filters that I have used are made in Thailand. I like oil filters with large inlet holes, large filter media, and holes instead of louvers on the inner tube.

On Monday I drained the first round of VRP after about 5K miles. Took the OEM filter out but couldn't cut it open with the specialty tool. Did the blade go dull after cutting open only 3 filters? Or is the can particularly strong? Will try one more time tomorrow before using the circular saw. 🤦...

Mazda was so confident with the CX-3 that they felt no need to display the engine oil pressure/temp and coolant temp on the dashboard. 😅 I have to get the values from an OBDII device/app. I have tried a few apps but none is showing the oil pressure. The closest item I get is the "oil pressure...

For my 2017 CX-3, the original battery started to act out in 6/2023. Over the span of a couple of months, every time I finished loading/unloading from the hatch, the car would need to get jump-started. The hatch mechanism seems to draws quite a bit of wattage when left unlocked for more than...