Mazda MPV: Problems & Solutions

mazda_guy

I had the same problem, however, I think it was due to the accident. BMW run into my parked minivan and I had the door replaced. Week after the door started doing exactly as you explained. I took it to the dealer and the door needed simple adjustment.

mazda guy

tomj5

The check engine light came on today at 5200 miles. Dealer said that if it is orange that it is probably an emmission problem or fuel cap and car is ok to drive. When the CE light is red is when you don't won't to drive it, dealer said. I didn't know the light is color coded. Car runs great no problems that I can tell. Got a Monday appointment. Will update on cause of light.... Why don't the builders put a digital read out below the CE light that would display the code?????????? Chezzz, it would be so simple....
Tj

subearu

AFAIK, there is only one color to the engine light, at least on the '02's. According to the '02 Owners Manual, page 5-27:

If this light comes on while driving, the vehicle may have a problem. It is important to note the driving conditions when the light came on and consult an Authorized Mazda Dealer. The check engine light may come on in the following cases:
• The fuel tank level being very low or approaching empty.
• The engine’s electrical system has a problem.
• The emission control system has a problem.
• The fuel-filler cap is missing or not tightened securely.

If the check engine light flashes continuously, decrease your speed and consult an Authorized Mazda Dealer as soon as possible.

I think that bottom section is what they're referring to - if it's not blinking, then it's likely a minor emission related thing (gas cap for example). If the condition was only a one time thing, it will clear itself in a few uses of the vehicle.

bsvoller

The '03's use the exact same system, and have the same entry on the same page in the owner's manual.

There is no "red" CEL, there's only steady on, and blinking. Blinking is bad, steady on is prolly a minor issue, but keep an eye on it.

hth,

-brianV

tomj5

Yeah, read the same. But, the phrase "flashes continusly" could mean steady on to the Japanese??? I will ask about that when I take it in... The service department asked me what color it was the first thing and did not say anything about blinking. They said that orange is good to drive and red is not good to drive and made an appointment for Monday. The dealer is a very large Mazda dealer and sells a lot of them plus they sell Dodges. Dodges probably is what keeps the service department busy??? Well anyway, the light went off. I'll take it in anyway to see what the stored code is... I bet it is the gas cap...
Tj

bob57

Three years and 50K miles and 'Red' experienced it's first problem. The trama, the total letdown, the feeling of loneliness, the group hugs and sympathy afforded by the children and wife, the stares....
Anyway, I replaced the dead battery.

javadoc

Horror of horrors! Get rid of that lemon, Bob!!!!

Do you need a therapy group??

<evil grin goes here>

mazda_guy

javadoc is right. Battery dead.... it is time for a new minivan :-)

mazda guy

jsfein

The black paint on wife's factory installed roof rack on 2001 MPV is seriously peeling. Anyone experience this problem? If so, what has been dealer response?

bob57

My wife and I took the Sienna (MPV was next) in for an oil change Saturday - I found her sitting in a new Highlander on the showroom floor all smiles and eyeballing the dealer sticker.
Do you know how embarrassing it was with all the screaming and yelling trying to get her out of there?
I later apologized and said I was sorry for all the screaming and yelling - and I gave the salesman a bottle of champagne for kicking him so hard....

And you guys want ME to get a new van....

emmepink

Hi all of you MPVer's:

We are seriously considering buying the 03 LX model with the winter package. We test drove one the other day, and while it doesn't compare to the oomph of the new Nisson Quest, I still feel it has enough power to bop around town (my husband feels differently) but our real concern was the shaking we encountered when we reached 65+ I know from reading these boards that this has been an issue, but I thought it was resolved? I love this van, but purchasing a new car with that kind of shaking really rattles my brain! Can anyone shed some advise here? I am going to try testing out another vehicle, but I don't like the idea of playing Russian relet with a 20K plus purchase!!

scott31

None on our '03 LX

emmepink

Thanks Scott31 for your input. Do you think it was just a fluke? Given the history of the shaking and alignment problems I've read about, I'm still a bit concerned. Can anyone else here give me some insight? Thanks for you input!

subearu

A couple of things could be causing the vibration - it's likely the tires. They could be out of balance (quite likely). They could be flat-spotted from sitting on the lot for a while (even though they likely will have the PSI up to 40 to help prevent this when sitting on the lot).

You can have the tires balanced under warranty during the first year. To get the best balancing, try to find a place that uses Hunter equipment (may be at your dealer, may not be either).

-Brian

bob57

Subearu is right - it's probably the tires. Mine drove, well, ok, with the stock tires at high speed. It did smooth out some when I made all the pressures even (36psi on the factory Yoko's). MPV seems sensitive to that.
When I went to Michelins all around it cruises at 80+ very nice - no shudder at all.
I don't know what equipment Discount Tire has (Hunter???) but they have always done an excellent balancing job on all my automobiles.

subearu

Hunter has a wheel balancer that puts a load on the tire, which will result in a better balanced wheel. more here: http://www.gsp9700.com

I had our MPV balanced by a 'normal' machine shortly after purchase at my dealer and have no vibration issues to date.

-Brian

emmepink

Thanks to all who replied about the balancing/shaking issue. My confidence has been restored and I'm pretty sure we are going to go ahead with our purchase. We are interested in purchasing the LX with the All Seasons Package plus rear heat, rear AC and a roof rack. We live in Boston. Anything else worth getting?
Also, wondering if we really need the rear AC and heat????? I have two little ones. (One who hates AC!)

Lastly ---- can anyone recommend a good Mazda dealership around the Boston area??? Thanks again for all your replies, this site has been a great help in providing key information.

moib

Hi!

I have to agree with you, this site is very helpful! I spent hours reading old posts prior to our purchase and also posted some questions after our purchase.

Regarding what you "should get" on your MPV...If you're looking for opinions, I would highly recommend you get both the A/C and heat options. I think you'd be sorry later if you didn't have them...maybe your one child will later decide they need the A/C! Besides, without one or both of those options, you will not have any vents back there and I think that could affect your total circulation options - ie, blowing just regular outside air into the van. I also know that as hot and cold as it gets here in Minnesota, we really want the ability to cool things down or heat things up fast for our back seat passengers. I really can't imagine things cooling down or heating up very fast with just the front vents doing all the work.

As for other options....We do not have the 6-disc radio and now I wish we did. We also wish we had that back bumper guard or step plate too. Otherwise, for us, we're pretty happy with the options we got. (One we got is the Traction Control but we haven't tried that out yet!)

Good luck with your purchase......Sharon

tomj5

The light went out on its own. But I went in to the service dept anyway. The Gal that ran the dept said that the book is not always up to date. She says that all the lights have red and orange colors. Orange you can drive it or Red you best not drive it????? Maybe she was thinking about something else. I ask her was she talking about the MPV... She said yes... Well I think I need to see it to believe it.... Gals get a little confused sometimes when it comes to car things....

Tj

tomj5

The MPVs that you find on the lots now are left overs and not a good idea to buy them unless you get a great deal and are prepared to take what you can get... I would wait until the 04 cars come out and order exactly what you want. I read about the 04 Toy Sennias in Popular Mechanics Wow,,, I would have to take a look at them first. Even though there is a gas tank recall in effect for the 04s...
Still love our 03 MPV. Best car I have ever owned..

Tj

jeffatlm

We live west of Boston and bought an LX back in July for 150 under invoice before the rebate. We went to Sentry Mazda out in Shrewsbury. I got the the price quote through their internet sales rep and there really was not much back and forth.

Be prepared to spend some time at the dealer waiting to get in to the sales/finance manager to finalize the paperwork - but if you're patient you should get a decent deal. Be weary of Quirk and IRA dealers - talk about stereo types...

emmepink

Hi Jeffatlm,

Thanks for your input. $150 under invoice with no haggling & before the invoice??? That's a great deal! I'm going to call them today to get a quote. P.S. I called IRA and I've already crossed them off of my list. The salesman really turned me off.

emmepink

emmepink

Hi -

Question: Do you negotiate from the invoice price before opitons or from the invoice price with the options added in? New at this.

big_guy

I would use the Edmunds vehicle pricing and use the invoice price with all the options added in. The Edmunds data will give an MSRP, invoice, and TMV cost that includes the vehicle plus all options. Start there and see where they go. Also, negotiate the price without them adding in all the incentives etc. When you have settled on a price then add the incentives to get the best deal. Last summer, I negotiated the price on my '02 MPV LX, w/ 4 seasons, Rear Air, Security Package, Luxury Package, Roof Rack, and rear bumper step plate for $300 over invoice then applied the $2000 cash incentive. Result was a deal at $1700 under invoice. The whole process was smooth and relatively painless. Good luck.

emmepink

Hi -

We bought our new 03LX MPV last night!

4 seasons package
Sideairbags/traction controll
Roof rack
Rear AC & Heat
Rear bumper step plate
Wheel locks

Pretty much everything we wanted except the tow h itch for a bike rack. Anyway the dealer offered $20,899 and we ended up paying a bit less....did we do well???

jimscott3

I,too, am in the Boston area and I'm about to get a very similar 03 LX. In fact, the only difference is I will add power doors.

The $20899 is after $2k incentive and before tax/tile? It sounds like a great deal! PLEASE ... which dealer? 128, Ira, Sentry? (Right now I'm talking to Ira but don't like them. 128 doesn't have the exact vehicle I want... Sentry is far away but maybe...)

thanks!
jim

emmepink

Hi Jim

That's after the rebate, but includes the destination fee. (500 something) We went to Sentry, which was also a stretch for us, but the Manger negotiated over the phone without much haggling, and overall treated us very fair. She gave us a good price on our trade in too, so we bottomed out at $16,700. I'm very happy with my experience, seemed to be very professional dealer. Beautiful brand spanking new service building. Talked to the head honcho who ran the service station, because I had a lot of questions after reading these boards. The van we tested at Norwood Gallery did NOT compare to the one we bought at Sentry. MUCH BETTER RIDE! We couldn't believe it was the same van! Anyway at the risk of babbling.... we are very satisfied with our desicion to purchase at Sentry. It's a bit of a haul from where we live, but I think in the long run we will be happy dealing with them.

P.S. IRA and QUIRK were NOT good to deal with and Nor wood Gallery was so-so (Manager played games over pricing, & made me mad). I never dealt with Champion Mazda in Brockton, you may want to check them out. Hope this helps!

Emmepink

lsinc

Ok, I'm back for good. We spent the summer in VT and I have to report that my '03 MPV with almost 8k on it has been a dream. I put 1,000 miles (maybe a little more) just going back and forth from CT to VT. I have had no problems whatsoever.

I will say that the only problem I had was it got extremely dirty and I had to have it detailed. Oh sigh! Such trouble.

Leslie

emmepink

We are picking up our 03 LX today and I can't wait to put some miles on it!

glideslopes

LOL too funny. I used to really get stressed out every 48 months not knowing if my battery would last the week. Group therapy was very effective for me. I now replace my battery every 36 months regardless of it's condition.

Seriously, if our first year and 20,000 flawless miles have been any indication of what is to come i'm sure we will experience the same "problem."

Mark. : )

dlmc4

I purchased a new LX @ Sentry West optioned out @ $25,500 MSRP. We paid "S" plan pricing before $2,000 rebate. The bottom line number was approx. $21,000 which was more than a fair price. I was even able to get more than KBB value for my trade which was also more than fair.(that part was a bit of a negotiation but never unpleasant) I've purchased 6 new cars in my life all at different dealerships and this was by far the best experience by a long shot. I was never pressured or made to feel uneasy from the time I walked in to the time I drove off in my new MPV. Even a follow up call by the salesperson a couple of weeks later to make sure everything was good. I would give this dealership an A+.

tomj5

Glad you had a good summer. DW and I worked all over the beautiful state of Wisconsin (maybe someday she will tell me what she does and for what Govt agency)... Oh well, it was fun. The MPV ran prefectly. The CE light came on once due to a loose gas cap. It went out later.. The MPV handled the rough roads great... We had a scare once in the North Country. There was a downburst close by and I thought it was a tornado. Sheets of rain and a touch of hail. Lucky the heavy hail passed us by. The MPV handled good in the high wind and heavy rain.
Well the leaves are turning and soon we will be heading back to Phoenix. Got to close summer base camp. We like living in eternal summer.

Love our PEEVEE
Tj

lsinc

I'm sad to see Summer go! But, school has started and it's back to reality.

I really have been happy with our MPV. I talked to an RV dealer and asked about towing a small trailer (not a popup) and he didn't feel the MPV could handle it even with the tow package. My DH and I have towed a popup camper with my Olds. Cutlass which had a 3.0 V6 in it. I can't imagine that the MPV would have issues. Loaded up our camper had to weigh in excess of 2000 lbs. We also towed our sailboat with my Chevy Celebrity wagon which had a 6 cylinder. The RV dealer said that car manufacturers over state what the vehicles can tow.

I'd like to hear if anyone else has towed something larger then a pop-up or small boat with their MPV. Just curious. We have a 35 ft. 5th wheel that we need a truck to tow. We thought maybe we would trade it in for a small tag along and do a little traveling.

Anyway, glad to be back.

Love our PEEVEE tooooooooo!

Leslie

ltswin

I am new to Mazda (had Toyota Camry before) and we just took possession of a new 2003 MPV today. It sure is pretty. We drove it home, and temp gauge was fine. However, when I got out, I noticed a faint oil burning scent and then I touched the top of the hood and it was hot...not all over, but in one place it was a pretty hot (we live in NW FL but I never remember my Camry being hot after driving it - I don't say it didn't happen, but just don't remember)

I had my husband feel it and he agreed, however, he said that it is probably b/c it is a new engine and it only had 9 miles on it. He is going to call the dealership and ask just in case.

Does anyone know if this is normal with a new car? I've never had a brand new car before.

thanks!

Laura

ytz

I had the same situation when I got my new MPV 03 10 days ago. The first day at about 30 ~ 40 miles we noticed there was strong oil burning smell from front wheels, and the hood was hot. But since 2nd day, everything became normal and no smell any more. I called the dealer and I was told this was normal for a new car. I don't know how true it is. I owned a new Honda accord also and never had this kind of situation. Did anybody else have the same experience with the new MPV? If this is common for a new MPV, Mazda should put some notice in the manual and the dealer should tell the buyer in advance. This situation really makes the new buyer fluctuated.

Laura, please share us the answer if you get it from your dealer.

I have owned the MPV for about 10 days, so far I like the car, except higher gas mileage than I expected ( so far about 14~15 mile/gallon for the first 200 miles for city driving).

Many happy miles to you, Laura.

backy

This situation really makes the new buyer fluctuated.

If that is what owning a new MPV does to you, I'm not sure I want in on that! ;-)

stever

Laura, the burning smell is common on many new cars; it's usually the protective coating burning off the mufflers etc. Your mileage should go up over time as things break in. My van's mpg kept increasing even after 10,000 miles.

Leslie (welcome back), most car companies reportedly are conservative on their towing limits for US vehicles, because of the fear of lawsuits. Some otherwise identical vehicles have higher towing limits when sold in other countries. Anyone towing in here?

Steve, Host

lsinc

The burning smell is normal on a new car. There are many components in the engine that are breaking in.

There was also a discussion a while back about the MPV making a hissing noise after the engine is shut down. Mine also does this but only after I've run the A/C. I believe it's the run off from the A/C, after the car is shut off, hitting the hot engine. IMHO, Why it happens on the MPV and not other cars is due to the layout under the hood. Some cars have more room in the engine compartment so the run off isn't hitting anything hot.

Steve, thanks for the towing info. I agree with you. If my olds. could tow our pop-up camper then the MPV should be able to tow a tag along. Gee, do you think I should try towing our 5th wheel??? I'd have a "modified" MPV if I tried that.

Leslie

ltswin

Hey thanks you all! It didn't do it today and I did some driving. I love this car already. I have to do my checklist sometimes, but so far everything seems to work....I am really happy with it and I love the way the sports package makes it look. Even the dealer was impressed. They haven't seen one with the sports package and they said, "hey we like the sports package on it - hope we can get some more of those".

Thanks,
Laura

bsvoller

I just posted a lengthy report on towing a pop-up in the MPV 2000 forum. It didn't seem to fit this one (not a problem or solution).

In short, the MPV tows as advertised, with the disclaimer that the 3000# limit effectively includes the passengers and cargo in the van due to the gross combined vehicle weight limit. So realistically, unless you're towing alone with all the cargo in the trailer, you're limited to class I, not class II (2000# + cargo and passengers, instead of 3000# + cargo and passengers). The 3000# figure is a bit of marketing magic, not a real-world number, IMHO.

That said, there's plenty of stuff you can tow that weighs around 2000# - our pop-up is quite nice and plenty big.

-brianV

glideslopes

When I first test drove my 6s it had 1.5 miles on it. It had a strong burning smell for the first day or two. Don't remember any smell on our 02 MPV.

Mark.

stever

Leslie, I'd stick to what's recommended in the owner's manual, and trailer brakes are always a good idea. Off to read Brian's post now....

Steve, Host

lsinc

Thanks for the info. We had a pop-up for years and towed it with my Olds. At this point we have a 35 ft. Jaco 5th wheel which is stationery up in northern VT. We really don't want to go back to a pop-up only because when doing any kind of traveling you can't stop and utilize the interior for rest stops. It's also hard to stop each night, set up and pray it doesn't rain. Gotta pack it down wet. We are thinking along the lines of a small, self contained, tag along. Can't imagine that one of those would weigh any more then a pop-up.

Anyway, I really appreciate all of the help.

Leslie

crissman

Recently this light has been coming on for a day or two(5 or 6 restarts) and reappearing about every week or two. Coincidentally, I've needed a new air filter (fixed that) and gas mileage seemed to drop a bit. Could there be a connection between the dirty filter and the light? Maybe imagination, but there seems to be just a touch more power now with new filter.

bsvoller

My pleasure. Glad someone could use the info.

I'm not that familiar with the tag-alongs, as you call them, but I found most of the trailers out there get well above 2000# 'wet' (fully loaded) pretty fast. Even the bigger, fancier pop-ups with slide-outs (slide out dining area) run over 3000# fully loaded nowadays.

Good luck shopping. I'd be curious to hear what you find in a tag-along.

-brianV

snorris1

I have a 2000 MPV ES. This summer we starting hearing a whining noise and yesterday the battery light came on. Today I could smell something burning so I popped the hood and it appears a pulley located down low toward the front of the car is not turning. Dealer can't look at it until Wednesday. Any ideas?

mariaj3

check engine light #1 ...that pvc tube that others in here have complained about went and had to be replaced

check engine light #2 (2 days after getting the van back from the dealer) something had to be reprogrammed

check engine light #3 havent taken it in yet, but this one is within 1 month of the first

van has 24k miles..warranty good for another 6,000 miles, and i'm worried.

would you:
ditch the van
get an extended warranty
cross your fingers and hope that bulb will eventually burn out and that light will stop coming on.

could someone link me to a good site on reliable vans? i seem to have missed again. this is our second unreliable van.

mariaj3

our car still farts out sulfer smell when i hit the brakes. ew ew ew . not a huge problem but certainly a problem to my nose.

lazyfox

[quote]this is our second unreliable van[/quote]

I thought it was a 3rd one for you.

[quote]this is our 3rd unreliable minivan. are there no reliable vans out there ????? just last year we lost over 8,000$ on a bum silhouette.[/quote] mariaj3 Aug 17, 2003 1:45pm

mariaj3

i had forgotten about the ford windstar