Pitter,
How deep was the water? Was it higher than your tail pipe?
Did water go into your tail pipe and reach the CAT?
I recall that the manual recommends replacing rear diff fluid if submerged in water.
Transmission should be OK.
IMHO, Toyota should have come up with a better name than eCVT. I remember when I owned a '05 Prius, Toyota did not call it eCVT. Planetary gears, that was what Toyota called it.
I would check the battery voltage to see if it is low. Have you replaced it since new? It has been 3-4 yrs...
If OK (says, 12.6v or at least 12.4v), then, likely as you said, the actuator could be at fault or borderline of failing.
Dealers usually start to clear out current model year from Labor Day weekend.
By Nov/Dec, you will have fewer in stock, but probably better price.
Buy at the end of month when salesperson is under quota pressure.
Professor2,
You can buy OE accessories here:
Mazdaswag.com
Mazdaparts.org
The latter has free S&H if you buy more than $100.
Both are Mazda dealers. I have bought from both before.
Be cautious about buying stuff from Amazon. A lot of those items are knockoffs or poorly made. Quality is...
I got a '22 Turbo since new. I put in 87.
Two months ago, I started to put in 91 ( highest in CA) to check MPG.
I did not find better MPG after a few tanks of commuting (same routes).
However, I did feel better acceleration from red light (i.e. >4k RPMs).
More than static torque/horsepower curve...