MP3 OWNERS: Bushings Noise? Tell me about it here!!!
- Thread starter DooMer_MP3
- Start date
DooMer_MP3
Member
My letter? I haven't written one yet. I wrote my experience in page 1 of this thread though! Just cut 'n paste 'er out of there.
Chris
Chris
hi,
my car isn't really doing the clunking noise thing, but it does have a heck of a squeak. i have taken it back to mazda like 6 or 7 times (i really should have lemmon lawed it, but i couldnt part with the car) for the noise, and when it is cold outside it gets worse. they told me it was the rear bushings, it was even squeaking up front for a while. maybe this is something to the effect that you are looking for. i cant tell if it has messed up my car or not, i am no mechanic, but it sure as hell is annoying. i still have all copies of the paperwork from when i took it in, but now my car is no longer under warrenty. got any suggestions???
thanks,
brandy
my car isn't really doing the clunking noise thing, but it does have a heck of a squeak. i have taken it back to mazda like 6 or 7 times (i really should have lemmon lawed it, but i couldnt part with the car) for the noise, and when it is cold outside it gets worse. they told me it was the rear bushings, it was even squeaking up front for a while. maybe this is something to the effect that you are looking for. i cant tell if it has messed up my car or not, i am no mechanic, but it sure as hell is annoying. i still have all copies of the paperwork from when i took it in, but now my car is no longer under warrenty. got any suggestions???
thanks,
brandy
DooMer_MP3
Member
Ok everybody, last chance. I'm sending my letter to Mazda North America Operations ATTN: Consumer Compliance next Wednesday! Tell me a brief story about your clunk if you haven't (preferably including location as well).
Chris
Chris
DooMer_MP3
Member
TTT One last time. Come on people, everybody with the slightest clunk, or even history of it post your quick story. We need Mazda to see the numbers! This will be going into the mail tommorrow night or Thursday morning.
Chris
Chris
Here's my letter Doomer....Initial, you can use it as well.....Fight for Canada!
TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:
In May of 2002, I was thinking of purchasing my first new vehicle. The 2002.5 Sunburst Yellow Mazda Protg 5 caught my attention. Unfortunately, this wasnt my first vehicle of choice. I went to my dealership in search of an MP3 but unfortunately, they were all sold out. My dealership only received 2 and they were both sold before they were delivered. So I decided to get the Protg 5, but always kept the MP3 in mind. In early October, I received word from my Mazda dealership that a MP3 was coming in off a one-year lease. I was the first person that was able to look at the car. It had 59,000kms on it and was in good condition, except for an odd clunking noise I noticed when I test drove the car. I expressed my concern to my dealer at which point they assured me that it would be taken care of. There would be no damage to the vehicle if driven until the parts arrived. I paid $25,000 CDN for the vehicle since it was a collectors edition and purchased the 150,000 km extended warranty along with Mazdas Pro-Pack (undercoating/rust inhibiter etc).
The clunk noise was very noticeable anytime I either went over a slight bump in the road or a speed bump. I waited for about a week, until I couldnt take the clunking noise anymore. So I took it back to the dealership and they told me that the bushings on my rear sway bar had practically disintegrated. The parts were on back order, and two and a half weeks later, my car was fixed. At this time, winter had come into Winnipeg and I had found that the suspension (probably the Tokico shocks) would creak over any type of use (such as going over a speed bump) this is not my main concern.
However, shortly after my last oil change, I noticed the same noise gradually coming back from the rear of the car again. Once again, it got increasing loud over the week so I took the car back to the dealership. They told me, yet again, that my bushings were causing the clunking problem. After yet, another two weeks of waiting for the order, my car was clunk free.
I have owned my MP3 for a total of 3 months and have replaced the bushings twice after less than 10,000kms. I hope that Mazda will take this letter to heart, and come to the aid of their well paying drivers. It appears that this is a common problem among all MP3 owners. It would be nice for Mazda to come up with some type of a permanent fix for the bushings problem. This is my second Mazda and overall I have found that it is a dependable vehicle other than the relying problem. Please take this letter into consideration in finding a solution.
Sincerely,
David Czarnecki
Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada
2001 Laser Blue Mica MP3
TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:
In May of 2002, I was thinking of purchasing my first new vehicle. The 2002.5 Sunburst Yellow Mazda Protg 5 caught my attention. Unfortunately, this wasnt my first vehicle of choice. I went to my dealership in search of an MP3 but unfortunately, they were all sold out. My dealership only received 2 and they were both sold before they were delivered. So I decided to get the Protg 5, but always kept the MP3 in mind. In early October, I received word from my Mazda dealership that a MP3 was coming in off a one-year lease. I was the first person that was able to look at the car. It had 59,000kms on it and was in good condition, except for an odd clunking noise I noticed when I test drove the car. I expressed my concern to my dealer at which point they assured me that it would be taken care of. There would be no damage to the vehicle if driven until the parts arrived. I paid $25,000 CDN for the vehicle since it was a collectors edition and purchased the 150,000 km extended warranty along with Mazdas Pro-Pack (undercoating/rust inhibiter etc).
The clunk noise was very noticeable anytime I either went over a slight bump in the road or a speed bump. I waited for about a week, until I couldnt take the clunking noise anymore. So I took it back to the dealership and they told me that the bushings on my rear sway bar had practically disintegrated. The parts were on back order, and two and a half weeks later, my car was fixed. At this time, winter had come into Winnipeg and I had found that the suspension (probably the Tokico shocks) would creak over any type of use (such as going over a speed bump) this is not my main concern.
However, shortly after my last oil change, I noticed the same noise gradually coming back from the rear of the car again. Once again, it got increasing loud over the week so I took the car back to the dealership. They told me, yet again, that my bushings were causing the clunking problem. After yet, another two weeks of waiting for the order, my car was clunk free.
I have owned my MP3 for a total of 3 months and have replaced the bushings twice after less than 10,000kms. I hope that Mazda will take this letter to heart, and come to the aid of their well paying drivers. It appears that this is a common problem among all MP3 owners. It would be nice for Mazda to come up with some type of a permanent fix for the bushings problem. This is my second Mazda and overall I have found that it is a dependable vehicle other than the relying problem. Please take this letter into consideration in finding a solution.
Sincerely,
David Czarnecki
Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada
2001 Laser Blue Mica MP3
Toronto_Raj
Member
I own a Canadian ver of blue mp3 with 24000K on it maintained by the same dealer and oil change every 3500K. I had the clunk and squeak problem for a long time and I kept on complaining to dealer. But recently (4 weeks) they agree to look in to it and replaced my bushings under warranty. The next day it started making the same noise again :-(. Im tired of going back and forth to the dealer. Any way I got in to a tough argument with service manager and he agree to go for a ride with me and agree to look in to rear end noise (clunk and squeak), but he doesnt want to look in to front end squeak . He said its normal to all Mazda he even took me for a ride in his protege5 2002, with 15000k on it makes the same noise at the front end. Again I do have problems with trani... it wouldnt shift some times, grinds in and there is a lots of vibration on shifter but the dealer is saying that its normal to Mazda!!! It seems like Mazda Canada has no interest in fixing our problem or informing dealers about the new release of parts. As matter of fact my dealer didnt even know that there is another release of bushing with "D" series!! He was so surprised when I told them. Mazda Canada does not respond to calls (**** suckers). I think Mazda should concern more about fixing the problems rather than coming up with mew design of vehicles and trying to compete with other companies. Well, if Mazda is really interested in competing then go for a service and maintenance competition, instead of going for a production and sales competition. SUCKERSsssss........
Chris I guess it would be a peanut for add on to your complain letter, but still i feel good because with all the language deficulties i'm trying to give you some thing to add on. heheh
Oh by the way dont laugh ENGLISH is my 4th language man
Chris I guess it would be a peanut for add on to your complain letter, but still i feel good because with all the language deficulties i'm trying to give you some thing to add on. heheh
Oh by the way dont laugh ENGLISH is my 4th language man
In October, I traded in my Protege5 for an MP3 that had arrived at a new dealership opening in Ontario (Ajax Mazda). I had owned my Protege5 for just under a year at the time.
Similar to SomaMP3 I did not get a great deal on the price of the MP3. It had just over 23,000 Kms on it. The MP3's clunk was noticeable and very surprising since the first day I had it. Due to the holidays and my busy work schedule I have not yet been in to my usual dealership (Downtown Mazda) to tell them about my clunking problem but will be making a trip there this week as it is time for an oil change anyway.
Aparently the new version bushings do not fix the problem, but any relief from the clunking is welcome .. it sounds like the car is broken! I was very worried for the first week until I came on this message board and started reading the woes of other MP3 owners.
It has been theorized that this clunk will also plague the new Mazdaspeed Protege models, and with that in mind I know myself and all other MP3 owners are hopeful that Mazda will invest the resources to see their customers satisfaction.
Similar to SomaMP3 I did not get a great deal on the price of the MP3. It had just over 23,000 Kms on it. The MP3's clunk was noticeable and very surprising since the first day I had it. Due to the holidays and my busy work schedule I have not yet been in to my usual dealership (Downtown Mazda) to tell them about my clunking problem but will be making a trip there this week as it is time for an oil change anyway.
Aparently the new version bushings do not fix the problem, but any relief from the clunking is welcome .. it sounds like the car is broken! I was very worried for the first week until I came on this message board and started reading the woes of other MP3 owners.
It has been theorized that this clunk will also plague the new Mazdaspeed Protege models, and with that in mind I know myself and all other MP3 owners are hopeful that Mazda will invest the resources to see their customers satisfaction.
I purchased my MP3 in august of 2001. I initially noticed the car pulled to the right. I took the car in for an alignment. The car was supposedly okay. They rotated the tires to see if that would help. It did not. They insisted it was the high performance tires. After installing winter tires the car still pulls to the right.
I noticed the squeak in the struts as soon as the temperature dropped (approx. one month). I took it in to the dealer, they could not duplicate the noise, so they greased the bushings. The car began squeaking the following day. Recently (November) I noticed a slight clunking from the rear. The clunking is much worse now and I plan to take it in next week before it drives me crazy. I have been following problems on this site and have been waiting for a fix because I doubt my dealer could actually solve the problem. It is an inconvenience to take the car to my dealer (Mainway Motors) when they do not seem to know anything and their service hours are Mon-Fri 8-5.
ps. The next closest dealer is 150 miles away.
I noticed the squeak in the struts as soon as the temperature dropped (approx. one month). I took it in to the dealer, they could not duplicate the noise, so they greased the bushings. The car began squeaking the following day. Recently (November) I noticed a slight clunking from the rear. The clunking is much worse now and I plan to take it in next week before it drives me crazy. I have been following problems on this site and have been waiting for a fix because I doubt my dealer could actually solve the problem. It is an inconvenience to take the car to my dealer (Mainway Motors) when they do not seem to know anything and their service hours are Mon-Fri 8-5.
ps. The next closest dealer is 150 miles away.
I bought my MP3 in July 2002, with 3k miles on it. It steers right on day one, and a couple alignment visits to a Mazda dealer didn't solved the problem. They also told me its the tires that causes the right steer, and my alignment was perfect. I end up driving with my left front tire slightly less inflated to compensate the steer.
I also noticed the squeak from the front every morning when I go over the bump in my driveway. Right now, my car has 8k miles and I had the clunk in a couple incidents. Both took place when I was backing out my car in a parking garage after work. It was quite loud, and I can feel it from the seat, coming from the rear of the car. Fortunately, that doesn't happen as often as some of you guys...yet.
Another thing is the notchy 2nd gear. Shifting is quite notchy from 1st to 2nd when I rev 4k rpm or higher. There is a split second delay before the stick can slide into the slot and have the gears engaged.
Also, the clutch stutters(slip) once in a while, shaking the entire car like crazy. It happens more often during morning when the car is cold. But I do realize it still happens even after 20-30 minutes of driving. It is just that the stutter is a lot less violent when the car is warmed up. I have to baby the clutch to prevent it from happening, but it happens sometimes when you least expected.
I still love my car very much, and wouldn't trade it in for something else. But I am a little disappointed with the problems it has and no official fixes on any of them. The car only has 8k miles
Oh well.
I also noticed the squeak from the front every morning when I go over the bump in my driveway. Right now, my car has 8k miles and I had the clunk in a couple incidents. Both took place when I was backing out my car in a parking garage after work. It was quite loud, and I can feel it from the seat, coming from the rear of the car. Fortunately, that doesn't happen as often as some of you guys...yet.
Another thing is the notchy 2nd gear. Shifting is quite notchy from 1st to 2nd when I rev 4k rpm or higher. There is a split second delay before the stick can slide into the slot and have the gears engaged.
Also, the clutch stutters(slip) once in a while, shaking the entire car like crazy. It happens more often during morning when the car is cold. But I do realize it still happens even after 20-30 minutes of driving. It is just that the stutter is a lot less violent when the car is warmed up. I have to baby the clutch to prevent it from happening, but it happens sometimes when you least expected.
I still love my car very much, and wouldn't trade it in for something else. But I am a little disappointed with the problems it has and no official fixes on any of them. The car only has 8k miles
Oh well.I purchased my MP3 on Spetember 11, 2001 (hard to forget) from Don Miller Mazda in Madison, WI. I noticed a squeaking when the weather began to turn cold. The squeaking came from both the front and rear of the car. I also started to notice the "clunk", it sounded as if something was loose in the trunk. After spending a weekend emptying the car to see what was clunking, I learned the problem was the same as the squeak.
I had the bushings replaced in spring of 2002.
This fixed the problem until fall of 2002 when the weather got cold again.
I haven't been in to have the problem fixed, again. I do plan on getting in ASAP.
I have noticed the squeak mainly occurs when the car is cold on a cold day. I have noticed the "Clunk" occurs on a cold day when the road is wet, or when I just got done washing the car.
I assume, since the problem is occuring when the car is under warranty, that any future problems, even when the car's warranty is expired, will be handled under warranty.
Thank You,
Tim Robbins
I had the bushings replaced in spring of 2002.
This fixed the problem until fall of 2002 when the weather got cold again.
I haven't been in to have the problem fixed, again. I do plan on getting in ASAP.
I have noticed the squeak mainly occurs when the car is cold on a cold day. I have noticed the "Clunk" occurs on a cold day when the road is wet, or when I just got done washing the car.
I assume, since the problem is occuring when the car is under warranty, that any future problems, even when the car's warranty is expired, will be handled under warranty.
Thank You,
Tim Robbins
I purchased my MP3 in Winnipeg, Manitoba at Gerry Gordon's Mazda in August of 2001. I had a project in Toronto however, so for the next 4 months I was there with my car. While in Toronto, I had no problems with the car whatsoever. I returned to Winnipeg in December of 2001.
Shortly after I returned, I started to notice a slight clunking sound coming from the rear of the car and seemed to be more focused on the right side than the left. I had even at this point read about the issues others had with this issue so I was prepared. I went to the dealership and even pointed out I'd heard other MP3s around North America were having the same problem. When I picked up the car the clunking was gone and I was extremely appreciative as it's hard to explain just how frustrating and annoying that clunk can get once you are driving around with it for awhile. I only drove around for a few days tho and the clunk returned. I brought the car back in and they informed me that all they had done was grease up the joints and tighten things up. This time however they decided to do it properly and ordered the swaybar bushings. They replaced the bushing and this time the sound went away and stayed away for a good long time. Throughtout the summer I had no problems. In November however, probably around 8 - 10 thousand Kilometers later, the clunk returned. I brought the car back in and rather than replacing the bushings, the dealership once again thought they knew the problem better and that it was I believe the struts so they replaced those. I got the car back and it was exactly the same...still clunking. I had to bring it back in again and they said they'd already replaced the bushings before and I told them again that had fixed the problem before for awhile at least. The service at Gerry Gordon's has frustrated me as they don't ever seem to be willing to take input at all. So they finally decided to order the bushings, but now they were on backorder. I still haven't got them put in altho I'm finally scheduled to get it done tomorrow so I'll let you know the results altho I fully expect the problem to be fixed at least for awhile. For me, the biggest thing has been all my time I've had to waste bringing and re-bringing in my car every time there's a problem...and it's compounded by the fact that normally it's one time to the dealership so they can analyze the problem. Then they need to order whatever parts so then it's another trip to come in to install the parts...and because they have on different occassions fixed it incorrectly, it's meant I've had to repeat that whole process again. Very, very frustrating.
Shortly after I returned, I started to notice a slight clunking sound coming from the rear of the car and seemed to be more focused on the right side than the left. I had even at this point read about the issues others had with this issue so I was prepared. I went to the dealership and even pointed out I'd heard other MP3s around North America were having the same problem. When I picked up the car the clunking was gone and I was extremely appreciative as it's hard to explain just how frustrating and annoying that clunk can get once you are driving around with it for awhile. I only drove around for a few days tho and the clunk returned. I brought the car back in and they informed me that all they had done was grease up the joints and tighten things up. This time however they decided to do it properly and ordered the swaybar bushings. They replaced the bushing and this time the sound went away and stayed away for a good long time. Throughtout the summer I had no problems. In November however, probably around 8 - 10 thousand Kilometers later, the clunk returned. I brought the car back in and rather than replacing the bushings, the dealership once again thought they knew the problem better and that it was I believe the struts so they replaced those. I got the car back and it was exactly the same...still clunking. I had to bring it back in again and they said they'd already replaced the bushings before and I told them again that had fixed the problem before for awhile at least. The service at Gerry Gordon's has frustrated me as they don't ever seem to be willing to take input at all. So they finally decided to order the bushings, but now they were on backorder. I still haven't got them put in altho I'm finally scheduled to get it done tomorrow so I'll let you know the results altho I fully expect the problem to be fixed at least for awhile. For me, the biggest thing has been all my time I've had to waste bringing and re-bringing in my car every time there's a problem...and it's compounded by the fact that normally it's one time to the dealership so they can analyze the problem. Then they need to order whatever parts so then it's another trip to come in to install the parts...and because they have on different occassions fixed it incorrectly, it's meant I've had to repeat that whole process again. Very, very frustrating.
PA_MP3_Man
Member
To whom it may concern,
I purchased my MP3 in October 2002 with 20,188 miles on it. After about a week of driving my car I started to notice a noise in the rear of the car when I went over harder bumps in the road. After about 3 weeks of driving there was a clunk whenever I went over any type of bump. I went to my dealer and they ordered new rear links and bushings. After waiting 3 weeks becuase of backorder, they were replaced and the car was great. No noise from any bumps. It is now 1-08-03 and the clunk is almost back in full force. I am about to take it back to the dealer to have it looked at and bushings changed again.
I would like to see a real remedy for this problem. It's not fair to have to replace bushings every month, and once the warranties are up then what do I do? I'm stuck with a car that doesn't work right from the factory. Doesn't have a permanent, or atleast long term fix, and is out of warrenty and will kill me in costs to fix it all the time. I love this car but if this keeps happening, I will be forced to use the lemon law and get my money back. I would encourage others to do the same.
Please help us out. We love our MP3's and I really want to keep mine. But I'm not going to keep something that is broken, or needs to be repaired on a monthly basis.
Any kind of help, explinations, tactics would be greatly appreciated. If you need to contact me you can do so by e-mail at: stivasonm@sasd.k12.pa.us
or postal mail at
Mitchel Stivason
374 Rattigan Rd.
Chicora, PA 16025
Thanks for you time and consideration,
Mitch
I purchased my MP3 in October 2002 with 20,188 miles on it. After about a week of driving my car I started to notice a noise in the rear of the car when I went over harder bumps in the road. After about 3 weeks of driving there was a clunk whenever I went over any type of bump. I went to my dealer and they ordered new rear links and bushings. After waiting 3 weeks becuase of backorder, they were replaced and the car was great. No noise from any bumps. It is now 1-08-03 and the clunk is almost back in full force. I am about to take it back to the dealer to have it looked at and bushings changed again.
I would like to see a real remedy for this problem. It's not fair to have to replace bushings every month, and once the warranties are up then what do I do? I'm stuck with a car that doesn't work right from the factory. Doesn't have a permanent, or atleast long term fix, and is out of warrenty and will kill me in costs to fix it all the time. I love this car but if this keeps happening, I will be forced to use the lemon law and get my money back. I would encourage others to do the same.
Please help us out. We love our MP3's and I really want to keep mine. But I'm not going to keep something that is broken, or needs to be repaired on a monthly basis.
Any kind of help, explinations, tactics would be greatly appreciated. If you need to contact me you can do so by e-mail at: stivasonm@sasd.k12.pa.us
or postal mail at
Mitchel Stivason
374 Rattigan Rd.
Chicora, PA 16025
Thanks for you time and consideration,
Mitch
