Common problems with the Mazda3
- Thread starter blondee_yvr
- Start date
2007 Mazda 3s auto touring. at 40k miles (2yrs) my A/C compressor locked up internally. Aparrently this is not all that uncommon from what my mechanic said. 500 for a mazda compressor 500 for a a/c clutch. ugh. my mechanic was able to by the whole unit instead of buying them seperate so it was cheaper. cost my $948. Mazda wanted to charge me 1300, and another place 1400.
Mazda Customer service sucks...I dealt with them for 4 months trying to get some kind of goodwill assistance. no go. this will be the first and only mazda I buy.
currently have 63k miles. just fixed my a/c yesterday. thats a year in swfl heat with no a/c.
Mazda Customer service sucks...I dealt with them for 4 months trying to get some kind of goodwill assistance. no go. this will be the first and only mazda I buy.
currently have 63k miles. just fixed my a/c yesterday. thats a year in swfl heat with no a/c.
skylar2ups
Member
- :
- 2011 Mazda3 iSport
I had this issue and it was a bad battery I had Auto Zone run a test and then bought a new battery totally fixed the problem.
Mine power steering gone out 3 times. Two times I had just started my engine and began to pull out of my parking space and noticed the power steering was out. The 1st time I was driving on the street when it went out. Scary. But luckily I wasn't in traffic and was able to pull over almost immediantly into a nearby business parking lot. My car is just out of warranty so this will be out of pocket for me unless a recall is issued.
Everyone that has this problem should file complaints! The National Highway Traffic Safety Admin is doing an investigation and more complaints will make it more likely for a recall. File your formal complaint here: http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/ivoq/index.cfm
Everyone that has this problem should file complaints! The National Highway Traffic Safety Admin is doing an investigation and more complaints will make it more likely for a recall. File your formal complaint here: http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/ivoq/index.cfm
Immediately noticed squeaking rear springs. Powersteering hasn't gone out yet... (however in our rental mazda 3, it has several times mid-traffic!!!!) , other than that it ran fine for a month after we bought it........... until tick,tick,tick.... u know the rest. Now its sitting, while still makin payments and can't afford a replacement engine (can't find nothin under $2200) and oh yeah, the best part, the used dealer we got it from threatened to take us to court if we mentioned it again.
I have an 06 GT 5door. Im sitting on 129,000 miles and other than eating tires Ive had no real problems at all! I recently had to have a shift solenoid repalced, and another one soon as they are going out an causing hard shifts. 1st one was the 5th gear, waiting on 4th gear part to come in.
actually considering buying a new one if I can find a job closer to home( I drive 90 miles a day)
actually considering buying a new one if I can find a job closer to home( I drive 90 miles a day)
mollymazda
Member
last week I got a letter in the mail for a recall on the power steering pump. talk to your dealer once parts are fully available they will retro fit your car with new parts. mine went out about a year ago in transit between duty station from sand diego to jacksonville florida. broke down in oklahoma mazda refused to release car to be towed the rest of way. told me it would be about 3 months to get part and offered me a rental car that I could not take out of state, so i had to leave my car at the dealership in a state that i do not even live in when i had to report in 3 days!!!. wtf, I told mazda usa I was goin to call base legal and look into my legal options then mazda usa operations ceo personally called me and appologized and told me my car would be fixed the next day. Nice but I was already 1 state away.
GTXT23
LightFoot
Is your clutch the original factory clutch ???? CUZ if it aint all it takes is one grease monkey to touch the clutch plate eeven with body oils on the hand let alone grease or other substances and you will have a neverending clutch vibration ---that is NOT indicitave of a Mazda3 --clutch vibration that is ---
GTXT23
LightFoot
My last 1st gen Mazda-3 was a 2008 GT HB and I love that thing - It was relatively problem free , so these items I mention COULD be attributable to a fender bender I had at 20K . I had somebody back into my car while parked end to end . The damage was no to severe and they just needed to replace the small grille withe the emblem and some bumper work ....but NO mechanical damage at all ? Then at about 41K miles My Bose audio system started acting up it would freeze , not turn on or off and refused to change channels --you name it . They said disconnent the battery and reboot - It worked !!!!! and it seemed good but the CD player was still no spitting CDs back out on demand and it began to act up slightly again ---I traded it for a 2010 . the other thing that was warranty covered was the engine mount on the left side that is visible and touchable when the hood is open . Its liquid filled and that bladder burst and I had this unusual fluid on my garage floor , it was dark blusih/green and I couldnt figure it out.....then they said ..Motor mount ! covered under 5year/60 - but the Bose was NOT.
left the Bose alone and it was working when sold . Lastly I noticed at 48K that in the morning when I started the car it would rev up as if the auto-choke was readying to level off at 1500 rpm's for warm up and it would drop down to 100-200 rpms and go to a near shutdown , shutter and return to idle . Sometimes It would not kick over the first time . BUT if I started it and it did this . Turned it off and restarted , it never would do it twice in the same day UNLESS it was left to cool down completley ! The dealer said that I had been using 91 octane as was not reccomended and the injectors were slightly clogged --they fixed it ?--and that was it --Great Car ..BUT not as great as the 2010 ---the 2010 is a thunderbolt and it flys in a different way than the gen 1s did --different and I like it much more --others disagree and like the go-cart like ride of the gen 1s as they let you know everything that is transmitted thru the tires good and bad---I needed the extra refinement of the Gen2 sorry gettin older now
left the Bose alone and it was working when sold . Lastly I noticed at 48K that in the morning when I started the car it would rev up as if the auto-choke was readying to level off at 1500 rpm's for warm up and it would drop down to 100-200 rpms and go to a near shutdown , shutter and return to idle . Sometimes It would not kick over the first time . BUT if I started it and it did this . Turned it off and restarted , it never would do it twice in the same day UNLESS it was left to cool down completley ! The dealer said that I had been using 91 octane as was not reccomended and the injectors were slightly clogged --they fixed it ?--and that was it --Great Car ..BUT not as great as the 2010 ---the 2010 is a thunderbolt and it flys in a different way than the gen 1s did --different and I like it much more --others disagree and like the go-cart like ride of the gen 1s as they let you know everything that is transmitted thru the tires good and bad---I needed the extra refinement of the Gen2 sorry gettin older now
quarrydawg
Member
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- 2007 mazda 3 2.3l auto
When my wife purchased her 2007 mazda 3 we had only been on three dates, i couldn't say anything. that was five years and $18k ago. My first thoughts were wow, this thing slams over bumps, oh well, cheap car. we got in one day and heard a rattle on start up, she asked what i thought it was and i said it sounded like a resevoir flopping around and shure enough the windshield washer tank clip had broken off around 20k for no damn reason. "what do i do?" she asked. i pulled a zip tie out of my truck and secured the tank. That zip tie is the strongest part of the car at 83k. He's a list.
1. windshield washer res broke at 20k
2. wind visor on sun roof broke at 30k (cracked around the bolt holes until it fragged)
3. TCS light comes on intermitendly from 40k (steering angle position sensor)
4. runs real porely on cold start which started around 50k and now at 84k it stalls after the first cold start
5. Oil pressure sensor failed at 75k (that, if no other part, should be a million mile item.)
6. Started shaking on the highway, passenger side motor mount at 83k
7. front wheel bearings are toast at 83k
8. shockes and struts are shot at 83k
9. drivers window not was an intermitent malfunction at 84k
So those are the mechanical issues. My biggest issue is that this car only averages 25mpg on the highway while my '97 2.3 turbo saab which lays down and extra 75hp averages 31 mpg highway. I can't speak to the newer models, they apear to have flipped the fuel conservation switch...but i do know that another mazda title will never make it into our fire box.
1. windshield washer res broke at 20k
2. wind visor on sun roof broke at 30k (cracked around the bolt holes until it fragged)
3. TCS light comes on intermitendly from 40k (steering angle position sensor)
4. runs real porely on cold start which started around 50k and now at 84k it stalls after the first cold start
5. Oil pressure sensor failed at 75k (that, if no other part, should be a million mile item.)
6. Started shaking on the highway, passenger side motor mount at 83k
7. front wheel bearings are toast at 83k
8. shockes and struts are shot at 83k
9. drivers window not was an intermitent malfunction at 84k
So those are the mechanical issues. My biggest issue is that this car only averages 25mpg on the highway while my '97 2.3 turbo saab which lays down and extra 75hp averages 31 mpg highway. I can't speak to the newer models, they apear to have flipped the fuel conservation switch...but i do know that another mazda title will never make it into our fire box.
jcarroll07
Member
- :
- 2008 Mazda 3i Sedan- 5MT
I bought my 2008 Mazda 3 2.0 5MT new in early 2008, and currently have about 64k on the clock. To date there have only been two issues:
-Power steering went out a few times on long (300+ mile) drives between '09 and '10, replaced it when recall was issued.
-Power door latch mechanism on front passenger door stopped working at around 55k, quick fix at my local mechanic once they got the part in.
Overall I'm incredibly pleased with overall vehicle wear. Very pleased that the original brake pads are still holding up, albiet nearing the end of their lifespan at 64k. Typically seeing 27-28mpg city and 33-35mpg highway with an admittedly heavy right foot.
-Power steering went out a few times on long (300+ mile) drives between '09 and '10, replaced it when recall was issued.
-Power door latch mechanism on front passenger door stopped working at around 55k, quick fix at my local mechanic once they got the part in.
Overall I'm incredibly pleased with overall vehicle wear. Very pleased that the original brake pads are still holding up, albiet nearing the end of their lifespan at 64k. Typically seeing 27-28mpg city and 33-35mpg highway with an admittedly heavy right foot.
Youngbuck20
Member
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- 07 Mazda 3
My car has no balls. It has 50k on it and when in fifth i put it to the floor and nothing happens lol. Rpms barely move, speedometer barely moves. What gives?
what the hell are you expecting from a car with <160hp?
andrew.savage
Member
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- 2006 Mazda 3 5-Door
Hi, I know this is a really old thread and reply but, I had the same problem as you did a few months ago. I would start my 2006 Mazda3 in the morning and it would putter around 500 RPM and then sometimes even dip down and stall. If I shut it off and restarted it would rev at like 2K, come down and be fine after that. Mine also had an issue with the power steering going off while driving as well.
Anyway, I took it to the dealership and they kept it for a few days and they couldn't find anything wrong with it. So after a few days, one of the techs took off the battery terminals, cleaned them up and reattached them because he said they were gunked up. Well to my surprise, after that, it has been over a year and I have had no idling problems, steering problems at all. Now, I make sure to clean the terminals every now and then. I don't have an explanation for why the idling issue and steering issue stopped with cleaning the battery terminals, but if you are still having this problem, or anyone else is, give this a try before you take it in. It might save you some money.
2009 Mazda 3 ... 65,000km
Carpet doesn't seem to fit near passenger foot-well (can see wire harness exposed from new.) Loss of steering assist making it hard to steer occasionally... Problem has not occured since power steering recall was performed. Driverside window controls sometimes fail to operate despite lockout not engaged... happened only 2 or 3 times, dealer unable to replicate. Car is on 3rd set of brake rotors now due to shady dealer performing unnecessary work improperly.
Engine surges a little bit at idle sometimes... not sure what it is, too busy to bring it in.
Carpet doesn't seem to fit near passenger foot-well (can see wire harness exposed from new.) Loss of steering assist making it hard to steer occasionally... Problem has not occured since power steering recall was performed. Driverside window controls sometimes fail to operate despite lockout not engaged... happened only 2 or 3 times, dealer unable to replicate. Car is on 3rd set of brake rotors now due to shady dealer performing unnecessary work improperly.
Engine surges a little bit at idle sometimes... not sure what it is, too busy to bring it in.
