Trailor Hitch???

[littlezeke84]

Ummm, I'm new to this whole forum thing, but I was just wondering if anyone has attached a trailor hitch to their Mazda3. I have a 04 Hatch and thinking about buying a new Yamaha Wave Runner. I was going to tow it with my car. Any ideas or suggestions? Thank you in advance for all of your help!

And oh yeah! How can I change my username?

 

[lelola]

Check your owner's manual.
I'm pretty sure it says "never tow a trailer with your mazda"...

 

[tsunami]

yeah its not meant to hual anything... though i am sure you can figure something out a jetski's toungue weight shouldn't be that much...

 

[djltoronto]

Ummm, I'm new to this whole forum thing, but I was just wondering if anyone has attached a trailor hitch to their Mazda3. I have a 04 Hatch and thinking about buying a new Yamaha Wave Runner. I was going to tow it with my car. Any ideas or suggestions? Thank you in advance for all of your help!

And oh yeah! How can I change my username?

I have a trailer hitch and I tow things all the time.....

I am well aware that the manual does not recomend towing anything... But I tow 2 dirt bikes and a small trailer which weigh in total not much more than 2 adults sitting in the back seat.... The tongue weight of the trailer is 80 Lbs, so I am very confident it's not hurting ANYTHING at all!

My hitch is made by hidden hitch, and is actually quite hidden.

 

[icspots]

In the US Mazda says you cannot tow anything with the 3, however it does have an authorized towing capacity in other countries. I'm not sure what that towing capacity is, but you should be just fine towing a single jetski. If you do add the hitch and they ask about it just tell them you have a bike rack to put in it.

Of course if there is a wiring harness plug then they might wonder about it a bit more. You could always just tell them that you had someone install it for you and they installed the wiring plug with it.

 

[littlezeke84]

Thank You for your reply's they were very helpful!

 

[Nice_Mazda3SP23]

i tow a 13foot boat all of the time up to 500km in a single drive. the Mazda 3 sp23 has no problems at all. and no problems pulling the boat out of the water.

 

[Captain KRM P5]

keep in mind that for US customers, if anything goes wrong with the engine or transmission and you have any kind of hitch present and a dealer/warranty rep spots it they can consider the warranty voided.

** cue here all the response posts and rants and raves about magnusson/moss and the know it all posts about how that can be contested and won and LOL ON MAZDA **

that said - i've worked for the dealer, spent many hours in discussion with mazda's corporate warranty reps. the process starts at the dealer so; is it possible that your dealer will overlook the hitch and be real chill about it and tell mazda to warranty the repairs? sure. is it possible that a warranty rep is going to come out, find the hitch and void the warranty based on what the manual says? sure. is it possible to contest all that and go to court and fight it out and win? sure. do you want the hassle of not having a running car throughout the time consuming litigation process as well as the headache of dealing with it all over a hitch? thats up to the consumer.

not trying to be a killjoy, and believe me i fully believe that if my wifes dodge neon is rated to tow then so can a mazda3, just offering up some things to think about before anyone just says "F the manual". we had a protege5 with a blown engine come in and he paid out of pocket because he had a hitch on it, despite his claims he used it solely for a bike carrier.

 

[bbrich57]

I was just wondering if anyone has attached a trailer hitch to their Mazda3. I have a 04 Hatch and thinking about buying a new Yamaha Wave Runner. I was going to tow it with my car. Any ideas or suggestions?

'Any questions?

I can tell you that this was the finale' of 1650 miles of towing this trailer (just a "few" family heirlooms) from Pennsylvania back to Texas. It was not very fun and my gas mileage went to s*** (around 15 MPG.)
I unloaded the rear suspension both nights we were on the road using the car's jack and worried about it the rest of the time. My front tires certainly took a beating as they were 2/32 "shorter" than the rears when we returned. The trailer was less than 2/3rd's full. The car was completely full, but we did make it.
Be aware that Captain KRM P5 makes some VERY good points and they should probably be heeded by most. Take a look at that manual you got... that big black book in the glove compartment that you forgot about months ago. That thing wasn't written by car people. It was written by lawyers who don't give a crap about this, that or the other thing. Their ONLY goal is to protect Mazda Corp from paying out anything that they don't have to.

 

[Antonio DiMarco]

I was just wondering if anyone has attached a trailer hitch to their Mazda3. I have a 04 Hatch and thinking about buying a new Yamaha Wave Runner. I was going to tow it with my car. Any ideas or suggestions?

'Any questions?

I can tell you that this was the finale' of 1650 miles of towing this trailer (just a "few" family heirlooms) from Pennsylvania back to Texas. It was not very fun and my gas mileage went to s*** (around 15 MPG.)
I unloaded the rear suspension both nights we were on the road using the car's jack and worried about it the rest of the time. My front tires certainly took a beating as they were 2/32 "shorter" than the rears when we returned. The trailer was less than 2/3rd's full. The car was completely full, but we did make it.
Be aware that Captain KRM P5 makes some VERY good points and they should probably be heeded by most. Take a look at that manual you got... that big black book in the glove compartment that you forgot about months ago. That thing wasn't written by car people. It was written by lawyers who don't give a crap about this, that or the other thing. Their ONLY goal is to protect Mazda Corp from paying out anything that they don't have to.

There are plenty of stupid people out there who modify their cars and then break them. Who can blame Mazda for protecting themselves? Like any manufacturer Mazda designs cars for a certain purpose. If people don't agree with it then they should buy a different car that suits their needs. It specifically states in the manual that Mazda does not recommend towing a trailer.

Sorry but this sort of complaining irks me. Just like those people who drag race and expect their transmissions to hold up. No one wants to be held accountable for their stupidity.

 

[bbrich57]

I believe you either misread or did not understand my post. Perhaps I wasn't clear...
My only complaint here is that the "stupid people" sue for any and every reason they can think of in an effort to gain financially, and that others are made to pay (suffer) for this by the virtue of company's having to "protect themselves" by hiring teams of lawyers and legislators. In effect, this is replacing one form of greed for another.
When I read my manual, I couldn't believe the legal disclaimers that werer on literally every page!! I'd never seen anything like it before.
I frankly think that it's a shame that people, Americans in particular, are not more realistic and less greedy, and have no concept of what their actions might mean in the long run... this manual being a perfect example.
Yes, I knew I was taking a risk when I had the hitch installed... destroying the car, or being beatened to death (verbally, of course) by my headstrong wife. I tried to be careful when using it for this purpose. And if some HAD broken something, then "I" would've been responsible.
I don't care for anyone that is that greedy, the "stupid people" that sue, or the lawyers that exist because of them.
On the good side, I was able to justify getting rid of the BadYears (as Goldwing likes to call them) after this trip made them uninspectable.

 

[Antonio DiMarco]

I believe you either misread or did not understand my post. Perhaps I wasn't clear...
My only complaint here is that the "stupid people" sue for any and every reason they can think of in an effort to gain financially, and that others are made to pay (suffer) for this by the virtue of company's having to "protect themselves" by hiring teams of lawyers and legislators. In effect, this is replacing one form of greed for another.
When I read my manual, I couldn't believe the legal disclaimers that werer on literally every page!! I'd never seen anything like it before.
I frankly think that it's a shame that people, Americans in particular, are not more realistic and less greedy, and have no concept of what their actions might mean in the long run... this manual being a perfect example.
Yes, I knew I was taking a risk when I had the hitch installed... destroying the car, or being beatened to death (verbally, of course) by my headstrong wife. I tried to be careful when using it for this purpose. And if some HAD broken something, then "I" would've been responsible.
I don't care for anyone that is that greedy, the "stupid people" that sue, or the lawyers that exist because of them.
On the good side, I was able to justify getting rid of the BadYears (as Goldwing likes to call them) after this trip made them uninspectable.

I actually wasn't targeting you. I was speaking in general and agreeing with you. Responding to your post probably gave you the wrong impression.

My wife works in insurance and you wouldn't believe the number of stupid people she deals with everyday. We purchased a walkabout for our first child and I was amazed to see a foot long tag of disclaimers hanging off the walker. My wife told me that each disclaimer (and there must have been 20 of them) corresponded to a law suit the company probably lost. You wouldn't believe the crap manufacturers have to cover themselves on. "Do not use as a flotation device, Do not use near high voltage wiring, Do not leave child unattended near swimming pool, do not use as a sled in the snow" etc.

Crazy stuff that any sane parent should know not to do, was listed on this tag.

Social Darwinism just doesn't work fast enough.

 

[bbrich57]

Funny you say that because the more I thought about your reply, and I did spend time thinking about it, the more I thought the same thing... that you and I were actually agreeing, not disagreeing.
But I was under the impression that you thought I was complaining.
GOOD!! So we can agree TO agree. What a nice change of pace....

"Social Darwinism just doesn't work fast enough."

I couldn't agree w/you more. Just look @ the middle east if you want a good example.