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Comments
Daryl
everfeb
It took a couple of days to get approval from Mazda's regional office to reseal or replace the windshield. I had to wait a little longer since we were also waiting for a new rear speaker. I took my car back in when they received that part.
They said it might be a couple of days but later that same evening I got a call from them informing me that the car is ready.
Picked it up and have been exteremly happy. No clicking sound, and the the Bose sounds great! Other than that clicking sound, I have always found that my Mazda 3 feels solid. No other rattles or squeaks (other than my stuff in the car).
Since I had the shift shock problem fixed I have noticed a small improvement but still nothing to brag about. I have filled up 3 times since - one tank was 22 - the others were 21MPG. Normal has been around 19 MPH - most of my driving is city stop and go and because of the weak AC and warm climate I run the AC most of the time. So it looks like I have about 2 MPG improvement.
My MPG have ranged from a low of around 16 MPG - for several tanks after Mazda fixed my CEL problem - to a high of 29.+ on a pure highway trip.
I still get the "Post could not be completed due to login delay" every time I sign on - but at least I know its not just my PC - I had some kind of virus called NavExcel my software kept catching it - and removing it - but it would come back - one day I killed it at least 25 times.
I thought maybe this virus was causing my problems.
Its pretty good so far..but it is definitely a noisy babe car..probably also because the road condition in San diego is not that great, but the road noise is realy really noticable @.@~ Ok, not really here to complain about this obvious fact to everyone..but curious to know if there is anything I can do to reduce that noise? :confuse:
Speaking of brakes. Mine make a clicking or creaking noise when backing up, even after long driving. Anyone else experience this? The inept dealer cant find anything wrong. Mind you, all of the Mazda dealers service departments in my area are very tiny and it's difficult to hear unless they drive the car in and back up in a decent sized underground parking lot.
http://www.finishlineperformance.com/docs/maz3_sat_install.pdf
http://www.bcmazda3.com/forum/index.php?topic=1542.0
These posts are funnier than watching the Comedy channel!!
Are they going to replace yours under warranty?
everfeb
My 2004 MZ3 also had creaking noise from the front passenger side half year ago when I turned left slowly or backed up. My dealer replaced the front shock mount, power steering bracket, front brake pads and rotors. The noise disappeared after that.
There are a few TSB's about brake problems - grinding - squealing - defective rotors - you may be able to get the problem solved under one of these.
I complained about grinding rear brakes in February of 2004 (purchased car in January 2004) Mazda said it was normal - then the came out with a TSB to fix grinding rear brakes - they did the "fix" it lasted about 2 weeks - then the grinding returned - they did the same TSB again - problem solved - for 2 weeks. Then they just said that it was normal for the rear brakes to grind. WHAT??
How could this be normal?
About a month ago I noticed my rear pads & rotors were almost worn out - 18,000 miles of GRINDING will do that - Mazda issued a new TSB about defective rear rotors - so since my rotors were so thin they could not be turned down - and my rear pads (on the inside) were almost gone - Mazda replaced the rear pads and rotors - no more GRINDING - the brake dust has even been reduced a little.
AND IT ONLY TOOK MAZDA 23 MONTHS TO FIGURE IT OUT!!
The driver’s seat bottom squeak – a few months, now. It was fine until I decided to change the seating position (up/down) from what was set either at the factory or at the dealership. Now, I can’t get it to stop unless it’s either all the way up or all the way down.
Air Bag light illum/Passenger side air bag OFF light illum. The wiring for the weight sensor for the passenger seat is a bit shoddy. Whether not long enough or not harnessed correctly, it’s a matter of opinion. IMO it should have been harnessed better. All kinds of goodies end up under the seats; the longer the wire the more chances of tangling. I was vacuuming my car and move the seat fore/aft. It wasn’t until aft that I noticed something unusual – the seat did not come to an abrupt stop; it felt like it jammed. I move it a bit forward and back again and then it did come to jolting stop. I repeated the procedure by move the seat all the way up and then all the way back and it jammed again. I looked under the seat with a flash light and observed one of the two loose black wires getting caught on the corner of the sensor unit bracket. A couple of procedures and the wire may have disconnected. Good thing I have an oil change coming up in a few hundred miles (last time, I had just gotten an oil change when the gas attendant didn’t fasten the gas cap correctly, causing the check engine light to illum.). This may be recall material. Has anyone else had the same problem???
I may be able to help a few people who have claimed that their hatch doors rattle. I started to observe a rattle in the back several weeks ago. The rattle could only be heard driving less than 25 mph over road imperfections. So, I started to remove and check everything in the rear of the vehicle – removed all non OEM items; check or tightened down the spare tire, jack (and accessories), rear seat belt buckles. (BTW – my dealership doesn’t read TSB’s - found the radio antenna from the factory besides the spare tire).Yet, the rattle persisted. Through process of elimination, I found it was the hatch cover. Even though it has a couple of rubber tabs, the tabs are not substantial enough. Only on driver’s side does it not make contact with the hatch door interior cover allowing the cover to bounce and rattle. The passenger side rubber tab barely makes contact, but enough to hold it in place.
I think with the colder weather, the wires may have shrunk enough to cause this issue. Perhaps Mazda needs to take a few pointers from the utility companies on how they hang wires depending the ambient temps.
What do you suggest needs to be done in order to stop the hatch rattle? I have some of your symptoms...
I thought about reversing those tabs. Almost impossible without the proper tool.
Then I thought about making them more solid or substantial by stuffing cotton balls in the center.
Finally, I thought about applying a couple of adhesive backed coasters (inch or less in width and about an 1/8 inch thick), like the ones placed under vases or furniture to prevent scratches on floors or furniture.
I will try a couple of these ideas these this weekend. I'll probably forgo trying to pull the tabs out to reverse them. If I knew the tabs were replaceable without having to replace the hole cargo cover, I would do it.
Splash guards (mud flaps): Another pet peeve of mine is that Mazda does not make a splash guard set to fit the M3- hatchback. The low profile tires (especially fronts) throw up a lot of rocks / road grime on my yellow M3 and I would really like to avoid that. The modified side sills on the hatchback are not enough to combat this. I hear that the front splash guards available for the M3-"i" version will definitely not fit the hatchback (or the "S" sedan) due to the different side sills. Since the rear bumpers on the M3-hatchback and M3-"i" do not look that different to me, I would think that the rear splash guards available for the M3-"i" might also work on the hatchback -- but of course getting front splash guards is more important for me than getting rears. Has anybody found a solution to this problem of front/rear splash guards, even to the extent of using aftermarket splash guards that they could recommend?
Thanks for your help.
Over at the Mazda3forums.com discussion board, there are about 20 other folks with the same exact problem. I called the dealer and they have no clue.
It isn't a huge deal, but annoying on a brand new car. My fear is that it's a sign of other future electronic/electrical problems. I'm sure I'm just being paranoid about that...
Anyone else have anything happen like this?
Curious. A poor battery leaps to mind, but then wouldn't it do the same during the day? Have you looked at it to see if there's something awry? Condensation or dirty posts may be possible culprits.
I know this sounds crazy - how can they consider the clock to be WITHIN SPEC if it is this far off - but this was posted by several people with the problem (back in 2004 anyway)
After almost 2 years of fighting with Mazda about defective AC, brakes, tranny, suspension .... it does sound like something Mazda (& Ford) would do.
I was very seriously ocnsidering the Civic when I was shopping. I just found the handling of the Mazda and the more conventional interior to suit me better. The extra power doesn't hurt either, but the tradeoff is the less than great fuel economy. I average about 24mpg with the manual transmission, mostly city driving, though.
Mazda is 4 years /50K - so take your pick.
My Mazda3 had problems within my first month of ownership - Mazda just said they were all normal - FINALLY after 23 months all my issues have been fixed - but it took 16 trips to the dealer. So the way I look at it Mazda does not stand behind there cars very well - unless they have a TSB issued they just say - its operating as designed. They take their time issuing TSB's - even for OBVIOUS defects - like grinding brakes and poor shifting auto tranny.
BTW I have been to 3 different dealerships - they all had differences in their loaner car program. One would give a loaner if the car was in the shop over 24 hours - so the first day you were on your own. One would give a car if they were keeping the car over night - one would give you a car if they thought the car was going to be in the shop more than 24 hours.
These may all sound about the same - but in reality they give very different results.
I never took the loaner car - my auto insurance does not cover it (saved me $75 on my premium) so I would need to buy the CDW which is $20+ per day -
I would check with someone in the service department - in other words NOT JUST THE SALES GUY - to find out how the loaner car program REALLY works. I would also ask about insurance coverage - the dealership normally has liability - but if you crash the car you would be responsible - out of your pocket or under your insurance (if you have this coverage).
On page 13 of the warranty information book, it says the following are not covered:
Extra Expenses and Damages
Any financial loss, for example: payment made for loss of use of the Mazda Vehicle, lodging, car rentals, travel costs, loss of pay and any other expenses or damages.
I am not sure whether it's the same as in the States.
However, based on Bill's experience and my experience I would avoid this car.
BTW, some credit cards in Canada cover rental insurance. I don't know if similar cards are available in your country.
And based on thousands of other completely happy owners with smiles when they drive, you should get it. This is a place to come with problems. So it will seem like the problems are more widespread than they really are. There is one of these "probles and solutions" forums for every single model - and they ALL have posts in them. Consumer Reports gives the 3 high marks for reliability
mcap
True, the essence of this board is to bring forth unhappy people that have problems and hopefully a resolution that others with similar problems can use.
I don’t think it, the problems board, can be uses as some sort of statistical measurement of the reliability of any make/model.
Everyone of vehicle that I’ve been interested in, and that would be many, has many items in the problem board that you would hope wouldn’t occur on a new vehicle but still does.