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Mazda3 Maintenance & Repair

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Comments

  • z71billz71bill Member Posts: 1,986
    #971 of 985 A/C happiness by jsnschmasn Aug 13, 2004 (5:10 pm)

     
    Thank you again for contacting Mazda North American Operations. I appreciate the opportunity to respond to you.

    In regard to your inquiry, the Product Engineers in Japan have come up with a resolution for the A/C concern. However, we are waiting for parts to be available. We expect parts to be available in the next few weeks. I'm so sorry for the delay.

    I E-mailed Mazda sent them a copy of this post and ask them if this was correct information -

    this is what they sent me.

    Dear William,

    Thank you for contacting Mazda North American Operations. I appreciate the opportunity to respond to you.

    At this time we are working on a way to improve the air conditioning performance of the MAZDA3. However, we do not have any official changes
    that we would recommend at this time. In addition, I do not have a time frame of when we will have a recommendation to improve air conditioning performance. However, once something is released it will be released to
    the dealership directly and you will be able to go through them to obtain it.

    I wonder what is going on here - Could just be the normal Mazda incompetence shining through - again.
  • conallconall Member Posts: 91
    Not that you should have to do this, but - if you have long enough legs, drive with your knee mostly in front of the stack. This is my normal driving position, and it doesn't bother me on loooonng trips either.
  • sschaffersschaffer Member Posts: 80
    What this means is that Mazda hasn't issued the service bulletin to the dealers yet. Toyota (I work in a toyota service dept) is the same way, won't give customers any definitive info before the dealers have been issued a bulletin.

    Chances are the modification's already being done in current production and they want to get some in the field feedback before issuing a bulletin.

    They will also need to get parts for the mod in the pipeline so that customers won't be taking their cars in and being told they have to wait 3 weeks for parts.

    I've read of the AC problem on earlier production cars but some with 5/04 and 6/04 production dates are happy with their ac.

    I'm in Fresno, 100+ most of the summer and my 6/04 MZ3's ac works better than most of the other small cars I've owned, so I suspect my car already has the modifications.

    As for incompetence, this is the first cooling season since the introduction of the 3, and it's only half over. In my experience with this sort of thing on Toyotas their response on this is actually fairly quick. I've seen as much as an entire year or 2 go by before a service bulletin gets issued on some fairly common problems on some Toyota models.

    Keep in mind that the lawyers are involved in these things almost as much as the product engineers.
  • qddaveqddave Member Posts: 164
    Same thing happened where I work. The recent recall that Chrysler unveiled for the '93-'99 Intrepid/Cirrus/Stratus/etc. for being able to get out of Park without pusing the release button took a long time. The issues that spurred the investigation were years ago. Safety Office (NHTSA) has to go through piles and piles of engineering documents and files to make sure the issue is properly idsentified and that the fix will actually solve the issue. Then, it took us 4 weeks to design the fix, 10 weeks to build tooling, and 11 weeks to fill MOPAR's pipeline.
  • z71billz71bill Member Posts: 1,986
    One E-mail says "the Product Engineers in Japan have come up with a resolution for the A/C concern" the E-mail I get today says "At this time we are working on a way to improve the air conditioning performance of the MAZDA3. However, we do not have any official changes"

    Am I the only one that thinks these two E-mails are in conflict?
  • eaglewingseaglewings Member Posts: 20
    sschaffer has given a very plausible explanation on the workings of TSBs. I am convinced that:
    1) there has to be a sufficient number of complaints to trigger a TSB investigation. Manufacturers do not have knee-jerk reaction to the first few complaints unless it definitely involves a safety issue.
    2) Their engineers have to work on the fix.
    3) their lawyers have to review the ramifications of the fix vis-a-vis NHTSA, among other things
    4) their suppliers have to be in a position to ramp up production of the replacement part so as not to cause unduly long waits for it.
  • mdaffronmdaffron Member Posts: 4,421
    Be glad Mazda is admitting there's a problem and taking steps to do something about it. Rest assured something will happen. It's nice to see them being proactive -- you know, they could have just said, "There are no problems with our A/C systems," even if they were working on a solution. They know there's a problem and they're probably pretty close to issuing a fix. I have faith -- I received a recall notice on the engine coil in my 2000 Protege ES about two years ago without ever having had any symptoms of a bad coil. Took the car in, waited an hour and had a new coil. I still don't know what the problem with the old one was, but whatever it was, Mazda took care of it proactively and with little hoopla.

    Meade
  • z71billz71bill Member Posts: 1,986
    I do not have as much patience as some. I have been sweating all summer long.

    I have been told on several occasions that there is NO problem with the AC system - it is working as designed. Mazda has not admitted they have a PROBLEM - they are calling it a CONCERN.

    I understand how a TSB is issued - I understand that the engineering department must come up with a fix - that parts must be produced - not sure about the need to get NHTSA involved since this is not a safety issue - but what I don't understand is the conflicting statements.

    Why tell one customer that they have a resolution to the concern and tell the next one that they have no resolution? That has nothing to do with any of the excuses that are being offered for Mazda's complete incompetence.

    At least pick a lie and stick with it.
  • qddaveqddave Member Posts: 164
    how is this conflicting? these two emails are saying two totally different things. the first one states that, yes, Mazda realizes there is a concern and they have come up with a fix. the second states that nothing the engineers have done is official yet, meaning it isn't released to the public/dealers yet.
  • oldmonkoldmonk Member Posts: 38
    This is the 3rd reply from Mazda...,

    Thanks for again contacting Mazda.

    As you know, we can not inspect, diagnose nor perform repairs from this
    office. For those purposes, we rely on Mazda dealerships. I am
    confident that your dealership has advised correctly that there is no
    defect with your A/C system and that it is operating normally.
    ...
    but as
    I've mentioned on several occasions, if there are ever any
    countermeasures to change the NORMAL design of the climate control
    feature, your dealership would be the party to receive AND complete any
    such technical developments.

    Continue to keep in contact with them periodically about your concern,
    perhaps during your regular maintenance services. If ever there is a
    Service Program or bulletin regarding this matter, your dealership will
    have full access to it or your will be notified directly.
  • z71billz71bill Member Posts: 1,986
    In Canada it is not conflicting to say two totally different things - in other words - give two completely different answers to the same question? So for a conflict to exist they must tell everyone the same thing?

    Even John Kerry would see this (Mazda E-mails) as a flip flop.

    Some have stated that the AC in the Mazda3 is "OK for the class of car" - if you want a better system you will need to pay much more.

    Well today I went to lunch with a friend that just bought a Kia Rio - payed $11,500 out the door including TT&L - By any measure the Mazda is a better car - except that the AC system in this $11.5K car blows ice cold air. From a car sitting in the hot sun - within 2 blocks we turned the fan speed down to low - the car was cool.

    I never have my fan speed less than 3 and even after 20 miles my Mazda3 is still warmer inside.
  • drywalldrywall Member Posts: 18
    I agree that the two responses from Mazda weren't entirely consistent, but I don't think they were contradictory.

    If I ask 2 people to describe what's happening at a given moment, and one says, "The Red Sox are losing bad" and the other says, "The Red Sox are starting to make a comeback," I have received two answers to the same question: very different, but not conflicting, answers.

    The two answers from Mazda definitely leave two different impressions of what exactly the situation is, and I wouldn't be happy to have gotten those responses. But, truth be told, I didn't see anything in them that conflicted directly. There's no need to rip on Canada about this, z71bill.

    And we get that your Mazda's AC is unacceptably bad for you -- though thanks for reminding us with the Kia comparison.

    I don't feel a need to apologize for Mazda, as some people (particularly z71bill) have gotten a raw deal. But there are also a lot of us out here who by virue of geography, comfort standards, or luck feel the AC is either a) working perfectly, or b) subpar but livable. For thousands of owners the Mazda3 is most definitely not a fundamentally flawed car with a major defect.

    Being behind several months on a fix for something classified as a convenience feature (even if it's a necessity for some) is far from praiseworthy. But it's not the end of the world.

    For some perspective: GM took a year and a half to recall my previous car for suddenly inexplicably dying on a regular basis, leaving me stranded on several occassions. I'll take Mazda's service over GM's any day.
  • sschaffersschaffer Member Posts: 80
    No car company assigns caseworkers to any single given customer--the e-mails get answered by any number of individuals, just as when you call your cable company or DirecTV you don't get the same customer service rep every time. For this reason it's highly unlikely that you're going to get the exact same answer to your question every time you send an e-mail.

    So far you've gotten 2 answers affirming that Mazda is aware of the problem and is working on a solution, and one stonewall. My guess is that the first two are more accurate than the third, that the third was from someone ignorant of Mazda's working on the problem or too lazy to research it as the first two did.

    Why not just keep sending essentially the same e-mail every day, maybe 6 or 8 a day and see if you start getting the same person answering so you get the exact same answer?

    I have to call Toyota's tech assistance line for help a couple of times a month and even these engineers don't all give the same exact advice on the same problem, until a tsb is issued.

    I remember a time when car owners were allowed to subscribe with mfgs to be sent all relevant service bulletins on their particular car, but I don't think this exists anymore.

    Hopefully when/if Mazda issues a bulletin someone wil post the tsb number or it might become available on the NTSA site.
  • eaglewingseaglewings Member Posts: 20
    You can still get info on TSBs by going to a certain web site posted by someone else on this forum (sorry I forget it).

    Also you can subscribe ($$) to a private organization that tracks recalls and TSBs.

    I'm sorry that z71 is frustrated with Mazda service and PR, but as sschaffer said, evne Toyota can take a long time to respond to fixes.

    In my opinion, z71's A/C is not really defective, just inadequate for his comfort level (probably can be improved and should be) There are some who find the A/C satisfactory.
  • oldmonkoldmonk Member Posts: 38
    I have been excahnging emails with Mazda customer service on this AC problem, after a couple of email exchanges, I am told:

    ...
    Any further correspondence from you regarding this concern will be
    documented for our corporate record, but please understand that this
    will be our last response to this matter. Direct any further inquiries
    to your Mazda dealership.
    ...

    It would have been nice to hear a assurance from them - something like "we are aware of it and working on a fix..." instead they just keep asking me to contact the dealers many of who pretend to know nothing about the AC problem.
  • mdaffronmdaffron Member Posts: 4,421
    Let's compare Mazda's customer service to, say, GM's.

    My wife's last car was a 1995 Chevrolet Cavalier. At about 30,000 miles, my wife started having to add coolant every week, and a green puddle had formed in the driveway and it was growing. Its head gasket was leaking. We were advised that GM was aware of a head gasket problem and had extended the warranty on the head gasket to 100,000 miles. So it was fixed for free.

    Six thousand miles later, we found a new puddle of green coolant in the driveway. The new head gasket was leaking. We took the car in, confident that the warranty would cover it. We found out, however, that the "extended head gasket warranty" only covered ONE replacement. (A car should never need even ONE replacement head gasket in 36,000 miles -- heck, I've owned several cars to more than 115,000 miles, and NONE have EVER needed a new head gasket.)

    Oh -- and never mind the fact that we were still within the car's warranty when the second one went -- head gaskets, like all gaskets, we were told -- are a "wear item." So no help there! $40 for the gasket and $560 for tearing the engine down to install it, please! (Yep, $600!)

    It gets worse. At 48,000 miles the THIRD head gasket was leaking.

    It appears, my friends, that it wasn't the head gaskets at all -- GM had designed too thin an aluminum head on the engine, and after a lot of warmup and cool-down cycles, gaps started appearing between the aluminum head and the cast-iron block. GM would never admit this, and seeing that replacing a head gasket once was a lot cheaper than replacing the entire head, they went the easy route at the expense of countless tens of thousands of owners. This problem persisted through the 1995 to 1999 model years.

    We saw that this was a no-win situation, even after lots of correspondence with GM "Customer Service". GM flatly refused to help us any further, when obviously there was a design flaw. Head gaskets last a hundred thousand miles, not six thousand miles. But they stonewalled us everywhere, from the dealership (we tried three) to the corporate level. They simply refused to stand by their product, even though Internet research and talking with the dealership's service writer revealed that this problem plagued all Cavaliers with this engine.

    We traded the car, still leaking like a sieve and in need of its fourth head gasket, at the ripe old (for a GM product) age of 52,000 miles, for a 2002 Mazda Protege5 which now has 36,000 miles on it (three head gaskets by GM standards) and has had zero problems. I will never, ever buy another GM product. If something goes wrong, you're on your own, I've learned.

    Now enter Mazda. Having purchased five new Mazda products over the last 13 years, I was unfortunate to buy one lemon -- a 1994 Mazda B2300 pickup -- in December 1994. For those who don't know, Mazda pickups are rebadged Ford Rangers, and I got one of Ford's lemons with its notorious 2.3-liter, 8-plug 4-banger. I didn't know any better at the time, but this engine is plagued by lean driveability problems (it pinged ALL THE TIME). (It's the same engine in the late 80s - early 90s Ford Tempo -- and you can find LOTS of complaints on those engines.)

    Anyway, my troubles began at about 8,000 miles. The thing had never gotten even close to its EPA gas-mileage ratings (19 on the highway; it was rated at 26), and the engine started sounding like a Coke can full of marbles all the time. I had it back at the dealership many times under warranty while they checked and adjusted things. I was confident they were making progress, and I trusted them as they made one change after another in an effort to get to the root of the problem. Alas, they didn't -- but they never stopped trying, and they never charged me anything even though the truck never stopped running as a result of this. By the time someone told me I might have a lemon-law case, it was too late for my state's lemon-law requirements -- the truck had too many miles on it. So I did all I could do -- I kept complaining to my dealership.

    My dealership threw up its hands after trying everything they could do by making engine adjustments and checking sensors -- so I contacted Mazda NA. Now, instead of stonewalling me like GM did, they arranged a meeting with me, my truck and a Mazda NA rep at my dealership. He rode in the truck with me (on two occasions), heard the noise and ordered that the entire engine be torn apart, if need be, to find a fix. They kept my truck for almost three weeks, sending the block out for remanufacturing, replacing the head and the intake and exhaust manifolds, the catalytic converter, and a wealth of sensors and other parts. I saw the bill -- over $4,000. I didn't pay a cent. This was at 54,000 miles, by the way -- 4,000 miles past when my warranty expired.

    Mazda obviously did not want to admit that they had gone with a bad Ford engine in this truck. But I think they admitted it indirectly by redesigning the engine in only its second year -- ooops, there's where I learned NOT to buy any vehicle in its first year of production!!!

    But I have nothing but praise for Mazda's customer service and doing everything short of eating the truck -- which I think they might have done if I pursued it further. They did offer me several pretty fabulous buy-back deals, but I was too upside-down to take them up on them at the time. When it finally did come time to trade the truck, they gave me nearly $1,000 more than it was worth toward my 2000 Protege, and they gave me the "college grad" discount (which is only good for first-time car buyers) even though they knew well that this was my FIFTH new car from them.

    My Protege has 80,300 miles on it this morning, and it has never been in the shop for anything other than maintenance. After my experience with the truck, Mazda and this dealership (Whitten Brothers Mazda in Richmond, Virginia) have my business.

    Meade
  • everfebeverfeb Member Posts: 115
    Have you had a new fuel pump installed??? Did you see an improvement in your gas mileage and or crank times once the new pump was put in????? Have you had any subsequent problems related to the installation of the new pump????

    I've been getting sickeningly poor mileage (trust me) and crank times to start have been getting longer and longer and longer. Mazda service says "fuel pressure drops slightly over a 5 minute period" and have ordered a new pump for my 3.

    I hope-almost pray this solves the problem. Comments???

    Thanks for the help!!!

    everfeb
  • z71billz71bill Member Posts: 1,986
    Even an earth worm can tell the difference between cool and hot - You may not agree with what I have to say about the Mazda3 AC defect / or anything else - but please give me the benefit of the doubt - I can tell when I am sweating.

    mdaffron - so when did Mazda change to the GM method of handling customer problems?
  • rinebirdrinebird Member Posts: 83
    Here is a NTSA web site for vehicle complaints etc .I see where Mazda bulletins are on there for 2004.Also anyone can search for a bulletin and or file their own complaint.

    http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars
    I have the other site you mentioned that another owner put in this thread. That is where I got my mazda brake problem(grooves in rotors) TSB.I went back to my dealer and they fixed it.( first time they said nothing was wrong with my brakes).
  • drywalldrywall Member Posts: 18
    I just had an extraordinarily unpleasant experience with my Mazda 3, made possible by poor, thoughtless design. What caused it? I left my lights on while I was at work.

    Came out of the office to find my car dead, which was odd. Eventually figured out I left the lights on which must have drained the battery -- something that never happened in my 1996 Sunfire, which was smart enough to just turn off the lights after a while if I forgot. And really -- if my eight-year-old, $16k GM car is smart enough to not let the battery drain when the lights are left on, why isn't my brand new, $18k Mazda 3? Kind of annoyed about this, but then again, it was my fault for leaving the lights on.

    But that's only the beginning.

    I flag down a co-worker, ask him if he has time to give me a jump. He drives his car over next to mine, and we discover he has no cables... no problem, because I do.

    Except that my cables are under the floor in the hatch. And the hatch can't be opened if the battery is dead: no remote release, no keyhole in the back, nothing. The only way to open it is to fold down the rear seat, and reach/crawl inside, pop open a cover and use the "emergency release."

    I didn't actually bother to do this (instead I just emptied out the back and removed the floor piece), because my owner's manual tells me that after using the emergency release, I should bring the car in for service at a dealer. For using an emergency release? Are you kidding me?

    The car is fine now - although I need to reset the clock as well as re-program all my radio presets - but I'm amazed at the sheer thoughtlessness of the design that A) lets headlights kill the battery (I thought we'd gotten past this problem years ago), and B) prevents easy access to the obvious place to store emergency materials, e.g. jumper cables, in case of emergency.

    Just thought I'd share. Now, back to the radio re-programming...
  • neomonkeyneomonkey Member Posts: 32
    That is not a design flaw at all.
    Stop picking out every minor thing and pointing it out as a "FLAW."

    The only flaw is that you left your lights on...period.

    Don't expect engineers to role play every possible thing that you might do wrong and design the mazda 3 to be accomodating.

    Just like there was one person who bought the hatch complaining that there was a major design flaw because he could not open the hatch because he had on thick winter gloves.

    The design flaw bells go off.
  • lmp180psulmp180psu Member Posts: 399
    I agree with neomonkey's statement. It would be nice if the lights would either turn off as soon as you shut off the ignition ( like in my mom's 2004 Subaru Outback Sport) or after a few minutes, but there is a noticeable, audible warning chime to alert you of the lights being on. Now if there was no warning chime of any kind at all, then yes, that could be considered more a design flaw then lights not shutting themselves off.
  • backybacky Member Posts: 18,949
    If the lights are not designed to shut off by themselves, and if the car is not designed to sound chimes when the lights are left on, it is not a design "flaw." But you have to wonder why Mazda did not include either of these features in the Mazda3 when: a) they are very inexpensive, just some cheap electronics, and b) just about every other new car has one of those features today, even cars that cost thousands less.
  • cdnp5cdnp5 Member Posts: 163
    Why didn't you just call road side assistance to come and charge the battery. Or is it not standard in the USA like here in Canada. If so, you paid for it, might as well use it.
    Also, how many cars actually turn off the headlights when left on? I know the interior lights will turn off though as I've done that.
  • backybacky Member Posts: 18,949
    Lots of cars turn off the headlights automatically if left on. My '01 Elantra GLS (about $7000 cheaper than the car in question) does it, for example. Great feature. Also serves as daytime running lights if you like having your lights on all the time.
  • kmh2468kmh2468 Member Posts: 62
    I was rather surprised too that the 3 doesn't offer such an feature to turn off the headlights automatically esp. when they offer a nice "high-end" option such as Xenons. Maybe they'll consider putting in that feature in the future versions.
  • birdman579birdman579 Member Posts: 151
    Not being able to open the hatch is definitely a design flaw. Dead batteries are not that uncommon and typically jumper cables are stored in one's trunk. Its silly there's no easy manual release. Just goes to show you that you should've bought a sedan. We have good old mechanical releases :)
  • oldmonkoldmonk Member Posts: 38
    In my opinion, auto shut off lights are nice to have but not a design flaw, but the designers should have definitely considered how the absence of a remote release can be a pain in such a drained battery situation...
  • z71billz71bill Member Posts: 1,986
    The Mazda3 sedan has a vent right under the back window - I assumed it was the return air vent for when you have the AC on recirculate.

    I am not so sure now - if I put the AC in recirculate - fan on high I get no air movement into this vent.

    Anyone know what this vent is for?
  • kyfdxkyfdx Moderator Posts: 235,200
    It is probably an "exhaust" vent.. Air has to have someplace to leave the vehicle.. Not for ventilation so much, but to make the doors close more easily, etc.... (just a guess)

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  • mdaffronmdaffron Member Posts: 4,421
    Walt has it right.

    All cars have a vent of some kind at the very back. Some have them at the bottom of the rear window, some at the top; some even inside the back door jambs. They're there to allow air to move through the car. Ever try blowing into a Coke bottle? Doesn't work. You can't push air into a sealed space.

    Your recirculation intake is integrated into the air handler/ductwork and is usually found somewhere above where the front seat passenger's left toes would be.

    Placing a recirc intake at the rear of the vehicle would be next to impossible because they'd have to run some kind of duct from the rear window to the dash area.

    That said, my dad's 1973 Volvo used to intrigue me because it had two defroster vents in the rear parcel shelf that blew warm air onto the rear window -- as opposed to the more common wire defrosters. I never did figure out exactly how the air got back there. I was only in my early teens, so I really didn't pursue the matter very much, other than knowing that there wasn't a separate blower/heater in the trunk.

    There ... today's piece of useless automotive trivia.

    Have fun with your seriously flawed 3s, everyone. I'll get back into my 2000 Protege which, with lack of lighted ignition key switch, lack of a glovebox light, lack of rear cupholders, lack of valet-key locking and lack of NAV system is one SERIOUSLY DANGEROUS vehicle. All Protege owners should be given full refunds IMMEDIATELY. How dare Mazda let something with so many serious design flaws be released to the good citizens of America. I don't care if mine's been 80,350 miles with nary a defect. It's FLAWED, I TELL YA!!!

    (My Protege does turn my headlights off automatically. I've watched it happen. They stay on for a while, then they get dimmer, and dimmer, and dimmer ... and then they go out!)

    Meade

    P.S. I forgot to leave my 5-speed Protege in gear when I parked on a hill the other day. I also forgot to set my parking brake. No warning chimes or blinkin' lights came on to tell me I'd forgotten to do these things. The car up an' rolled away, running over three children and hitting a school bus. Now I'm in jail. Who's fault is it? MAZDA'S, of COURSE!!!! FLAW!!!!!!!
  • mdaffronmdaffron Member Posts: 4,421
    The Mazda3 DOES have a way to get into the trunk when the battery's dead; they just forgot to apply the "In Emergency, Break Glass" decal!!!

    :D
  • guestguest Member Posts: 770
    ...I think we can do without the sarcasm. This is problems and solutions, after all. What one perceives as a problem may not be relevant to someone else, but let's try to be tolerant.
  • drywalldrywall Member Posts: 18
    You guys are right and I should have been more specific.

    The lack of some kind of auto-shutoff for the headlights is definitely not a design flaw, and I didn't mean to suggest it was. "Suprising feature omission" is probably a better term.

    I do think, however, that the difficulty opening the hatch presents when the battery is dead is a design flaw. It's the obvious place to store emergency equipment -- making access extremely difficult in an "emergency" is bad.

    I didn't call roadside assistance because I don't have a cell phone and my coworker was nearby. It was faster to just deal with the problem than to call and wait for someone else to deal with it.

    Besides, I was embarrassed that I left the lights on. :)
  • npaladin2000npaladin2000 Member Posts: 593
    There is a definite difference between a "problem," a "design flaw," and a "lack of a feature" and that point had to be made. Sometimes people get so lazy because they're used to getting in a car that starts and drives itself, that when they get into a car where you actually have to turn the key and push the accellerator they see it as a "design flaw."

    Personally, I don't mind that the lights stay on when the engine's off. There are situations where you'd want them to stay on, and with car with the "feature" of cutting off the lights with the ignition, you can't do that. True, if you leave them on, the battery may drain, but I'm used to looking back at my taillights when I press the door lock button on the key fob, so I'm gonna KNOW if I left the lights on; no big deal.

    Don't know what to do about not being able to open the hatch though, except keep the jumper cables in the huge glovebox...not being able to get into the hatch if the battery is dead or the power lock system goes on the fritz doesn't bring warm fuzzy thougts, even though it hasn't happened to me yet. Maybe Mazda will design in a manual unlock switch accessible from the interior or something in the future. If so, I hope they can retrofit it onto earlier Mazda3 models as well.
  • rinebirdrinebird Member Posts: 83
    were you looking for this site about TSB's for the Mazda 3?

    http://web2.iadfw.net/theman/protegefaq/tsb/
  • rinebirdrinebird Member Posts: 83
    I just received this from Mazda USA customer service.I did not receive any TSB from my service manager.I went there with complaints in regards to brake noise and tire noise.There was a brake TSB I found, thanks to someone on this board posting the Mazda 3 TSB's(web site).
    from MAZDA:
    "I apologize that the dealership did not notify you
    when the technical service bulletin (TSB) was issued. Whenever Mazda
    North American Operations issues a TSB we request that the dealerships
    contact ALL customers who have reported a problem, so they can get the
    fix performed. I apologize on behalf of the dealership that you were
    not contacted.

    Please let me know if I can be if any further assistance."
  • cdnp5cdnp5 Member Posts: 163
    Being embarrassed is something I can relate to. Once my g/f (at the time) locked my keys in my car so I had to call CAA to get them out. Even though it wasn't my fault they never believe you, haha.

    I don't understand why they removed the key hole to unlock the hatch on the Mz3. I've never had to use mine on the P5 but its nice to know its there if I have to. We all have our bad days. I guess this is called progress?
  • kyfdxkyfdx Moderator Posts: 235,200
    The first generation Acura CL had no keyhole.. and that car had a trunk, not a hatch!!

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  • sschaffersschaffer Member Posts: 80
    I noticed the other day that my Mazda 3 sedan has no keyhole in the right front door, only the driver's door. I started looking at other cars after seeing this and noted that my boss's BMW 3 series sedan also has a keyhole only in the driver's door.
  • rinebirdrinebird Member Posts: 83
    Do you know that you have to click twice on the on the keyless entry to get the passenger door open? no keyhole..I never noticed.
  • mazda6smazda6s Member Posts: 1,901
    Those cheap BMW bastards!
  • cdnp5cdnp5 Member Posts: 163
    I think the reason for clicking twice to open the passenger door is a safety reason. If all the locks opened on one click and somebody was standing on the other side of your car they would be able to get in. Just like the doors will re lock if you don't open one within so many seconds.
  • mdaffronmdaffron Member Posts: 4,421
    My 2000 Protege ES's fob is one click for driver's door, two clicks for the rest of 'em.

    Meade
  • oskwioskwi Member Posts: 88
    I read back a few posts regarding the "keyholelessness" of the M3 wagon. So, if I understand correctly, there is absolutely no keyhole on the hatch and the only way to open the hatch door is from the keyfob, and if there is no battery power, you can't do that either? I would assume the sedan version has a manual release on the driver's side floor or in the glove box?

    This seems odd to me...I would want a keyhole on the hatch...the lack of one on the passenger side wouldn't bother me as much! I'll really have to inspect this car when I purchase next May/June.

    I'll tell you though, I've looked into countless other crossover/small wagon vehicles and I still think Mazda has it as close to correct when compared to its counterparts. Subarus are great but AWD all the time is fuel foolish...gas prices in NYS are 2nd most expensive nationally! The Matrix scares me because of GM's input. The new Honda Elements, Toyota Scions seem too trendy to me personally...probably good longevity though. I looked into the Hyundai Elantra GT, but after talking with a few owners and reading posts here, that went off my list! I keep looking and returning to the M3!
  • mdaffronmdaffron Member Posts: 4,421
    Strange, ain't it?

    Question for you owners ...

    Doesn't the trunk lock open along with the rest of the doorlocks when you press the key fob's unlock button twice? And then when you lock the car using the key fob, the trunk locks along with the doors? That's how my wife's Protege5 works.

    But does the key fob function when the car's running? My car (2000 Protege ES) won't let you play with the remote lock buttons on the key fob when the car is running. So it seems that if you stop on the side of the road and need to get something out of the hatch or trunk while the car's running, and the hatch or trunk is locked, you're out of luck ... or can you use the power door lock button on the driver's door to unlock the trunk by pressing it twice or something?

    Confusion, confusion!!!

    There's a quirk about the Protege5's locking function (and therefore probably about the Mazda3 too) that really had me going one day. I wanted to get something out of my wife's hatch, so I went into the kitchen (the driveway's right outside the kitchen window, and our keys hang on a little set of hooks near the window), hit "unlock" on her key fob twice, which unlocks the doors and the hatch, and went outside.

    Got out there and the hatch and the rest of the car was locked. Hmmm, I thought, I must not have pressed the button hard enough. Walked back in the house, back to her keys hanging on the wall, and hit the button again -- this time looking out the window. I saw the door locks go up. So I went outside.

    Got to the car and it was locked again.

    "STOP IT TAM!!!" I yelled, thinking my wife was messing around with me. She came downstairs wondering what she'd done NOW. :)

    After ruling her out, we did a little investigating and fooling around (WITH HER KEY FOB -- GET YOUR MINDS OUT OF THE GUTTER) and discovered that her locking mechanism -- unlike that on my 2000 Protege ES -- has a timing feature. Unlock the car and do nothing in about 10 seconds, and it relocks itself.

    Now, whenever I need anything out of her trunk, I either race to beat the timer, or take her keys with me!

    Meade
  • wongpreswongpres Member Posts: 422
    Yes, like the Pro5, if you use the keyfob to unlock one or more doors but don't actually open a door within 30 seconds, the Mazda3 will relock itself again.

    And yes, like the Pro5, the Mazda3 hatch's door locks/unlocks along with the passenger locks. Note that this applies only to the Mazda3 5-door (the sedan's totally different).
  • backybacky Member Posts: 18,949
    This is actually a nice feature. Think about it. It's easy with some remotes to accidently press the unlock button. If that were to happen and the doors remained unlocked indefinitely, it would be great for any thieves who happen to walk by.
  • kyfdxkyfdx Moderator Posts: 235,200
    You want to know why it does that? Because people with OCD would never be able to get away from their car...

    Press the button
    Put key in your pocket
    Did I accidently press the button again?
    Go back and check the car...locked
    Put key back in pocket
    Did I do it again?
    Go back and check the car...locked
    ETC.

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  • npaladin2000npaladin2000 Member Posts: 593
    Incidentally, you can also unlock the hatch using the power door lock system, yes. You push the "unlock" button up front before you get out and it unlocks all 5 doors, including the hatch.

    But such a system requires electricity to run. ;)
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