Alright, I ended up here through googling. I am completely lost, and probably completely screwed. I'm not a car guy, I don't know much beyond how to change my oil and rotate my tires.
I've been having some grinding/squeaking noises when breaking lately. My 2005 is at 47,000 miles, not having been driven much since I moved to the city. I figure it's the brakes, which have never been serviced, and take it into the Mazda dealership because they're not much more than a standard mechanic and are literally across the street.
Mechanic tells me my brakes are fine, but that I've got a cracked engine mount and my wheel bearing is "noisy" and needs to be replaced. He says mazda will cover the parts costs for free, which I think is a bit odd unless they're a known issue or something (I'm not still under warranty). At that point I call around for a quote from another local mechanic (reviewed well on the car talk site) and he says he can do the work for less, but that he'd be surprised if the bearings were already in trouble at just 47,000 miles.
So I take it over to him, he gives it the look over and he says he didn't notice the grinding sound when braking, but the wheel bearings seem fine. Instead, he says, he's got some weird sounds coming from somewhere between the transmission and the axle, and he doesn't know what could be causing it. He's recommending I head over to another mechanic, a transmission specialist.
The only trouble this car's ever been in has been a light collision with a snowdrift which barely cracked the front bumper (replaced) and a hard hit on a pothole which bent the right rim and blew the tire (both replaced).
I'm completely lost. I wish I knew more about my own car, because I feel like an idiot here. Additionally, being told completely different things by mechanics really makes me raise my eyebrows. Does anyone have any ideas regarding known '05 issues, or what I should be doing next? Advice is appreciated.
I've been having some grinding/squeaking noises when breaking lately. My 2005 is at 47,000 miles, not having been driven much since I moved to the city. I figure it's the brakes, which have never been serviced, and take it into the Mazda dealership because they're not much more than a standard mechanic and are literally across the street.
Mechanic tells me my brakes are fine, but that I've got a cracked engine mount and my wheel bearing is "noisy" and needs to be replaced. He says mazda will cover the parts costs for free, which I think is a bit odd unless they're a known issue or something (I'm not still under warranty). At that point I call around for a quote from another local mechanic (reviewed well on the car talk site) and he says he can do the work for less, but that he'd be surprised if the bearings were already in trouble at just 47,000 miles.
So I take it over to him, he gives it the look over and he says he didn't notice the grinding sound when braking, but the wheel bearings seem fine. Instead, he says, he's got some weird sounds coming from somewhere between the transmission and the axle, and he doesn't know what could be causing it. He's recommending I head over to another mechanic, a transmission specialist.
The only trouble this car's ever been in has been a light collision with a snowdrift which barely cracked the front bumper (replaced) and a hard hit on a pothole which bent the right rim and blew the tire (both replaced).
I'm completely lost. I wish I knew more about my own car, because I feel like an idiot here. Additionally, being told completely different things by mechanics really makes me raise my eyebrows. Does anyone have any ideas regarding known '05 issues, or what I should be doing next? Advice is appreciated.
