Mazda MPV: Problems & Solutions

pricetag

Sounds like you bought your MPV at Cory Fairbanks. They really push follow up surveys.
I hope they fix everything.
I've had a vibration at highways speeds since day one (05/31/99). They replaced the tires 6 months ago, which helped somewhat, but it's still not perfect.

mykidsdriver

yes, it was cory fairbanks. they took me for ride in demonstrator which also made wind noise (but a little less and more evenly distributed). still, as long as it doesn't leak water... but they STILL did not replace last piece of trim. apparently, they have to replace all of back windshield with it and they'll have the glass folks who do this come to my house (or so they say!). It was "oversight" (another one!) that they didn't do it while car was in. since i pass by classic mazda daily when school is in session, i'll probably try them for maintenance.

karenk57

I am posting this here because I want to know whether I should wait to purchase a 2001. I have two concerns: first, there is that "sluggish" engine. Most of you do not seem to feel it is a problem, but I have not seen a post addressing accelerating to highway speeds from a slow onramp with a full load. Would this cause problems?

My second question concerns the driver's seat:I am concerned about the flatness of it and the lack of lumbar support for long trips. Any comments?

julyar

This is not a new question. It seems every person new to this forum has the same one. The engine is a fine engine that does very well at high RPMs where it gets most of its horsepower, however, it is slow from a standing start, and it needs to revv up when going up steep hills, none of which are a problem. It has adequate power for any type of freeway merging, unless it is an unusually slow ramp going uphill into a turn, which would cause problems for everybody. As to whether you should wait or not, it is personal, but if you have the option, I would wait. Either you will get a 2001 with a new bigger engine, or you can aget the 2000 for even a better price than you can today, so it sounds like a win-win situation. We couldn't wait, so we dove in.

As far as the seats, they are the most comfortable of any car I have ever driven. We went from SF to Tahoe, not a real long trip, but about 3 hours in one sitting, and I was not sore or uncomfortable at all. Others have taken longer trips and have noticed the same.

Hope this helps.

tboner1965

Many seem to have only rumor no facts or announcments by Mazda. Given the choice of a 2.5L MPV and a 3.0L MPV, I'd probably choose the 3.0L, but the choice we made was 2.5L MPV vs "The Rest of the World of Mini-Vans" and we are quite happy.

We do understand the limitations. In our case, 90% of our driving is around town, stop and go, less than 40MPH.

TB

chestnutbluff

Took delivery of my 2000 MPV LX in August of '99 - one of the first 11 in the Richmond, VA area. Fine car, no real complaints save the busy transmission and low end power deficit which present no real difficulties. Lately, though, the foam inside the left armrest of the passenger side center row seat has begun to disintegrate and fall out of its covering. Was wondering if there have been any similar experiences?

larry_nh

Anyone know when the 2001 MPV's are going to be available for delivery??

cariello

I just bought a LX model. I picked up on a thursday and on the next monday I was back at the delaer complaining about the vibration I felt while driving. They kept the car for two days, balanced the tires and aliegned the wheels. I came bac 2 days later with the same issue. The service man told me later that they will take the tires to a special machine to re-round then. After the procedure, they informed me that some MPV have this problem and Mazda is aware of that. They asked me for patience to wait for a Mazda factory fix.
The car is vibrating so much that I am afraid that the bolts can become loose. Does nayone have faced the same problem?

dlncmay

Seats - We did a 2,800 mile vacation in 17 days. We loved the seats. Very comfortable and supportive.

Engine - Transmission under certain conditions can get a little busy. At times you may need to rev the engine. Under most driving conditions the engine is quite smooth. I don't see engine strength as a major issue. My only complaint is wanting a little better gas mileage in town. I don't like 15 to 17 mpg.

Take care.

evaddave

My fiancee's MPV (Black ES) exhibits the popping sound described in earlier posts. It was easy to hear the day we decided to drive through downtown Philly when the Tall Ships were in town (lotsa stop & go -- ugh!). The van made one Pop as it slowed down to a stop. Then it made another after I lifted my foot and let the van drift forward, and then another pop or two as I gradually accelerated.

I took it into the Mazda dealer and they machined the rotors, which didn't take care of the problem. The problem is definitely more pronounced when the van is warmed up, or even hot. The only other time I heard this noise was in my fiancee's previous car, a '93 Intrepid. That ended up requiring new tie rods to fix.

Does anybody else hear a low-frequency "beating" while driving with the rear windows down? I'd almost liken the sound to that of a helicopter.

Also, as far as seat comfort goes, we have taken "Maxine" on a number of long trips (God bless that entertainment system) and the seats are perfectly comfortable. That being said, they're no match for the seats in my Solara!

marcb

..yes i have that too, specially when only one of the 2nd row windows is open.

but this is not unusual since my old 1990 nissan axxess (which was actually the 1st van to have rolldown windows on the sliding doors) had the same problem too.

just either crack one of the front windows or moonroof.

bill124

I am not sure if I have this or not as I really don't use the van since it's my wife's car. I too was in traffic over the fourth of July weekend and noticed in stop and go traffic what I guess was a popping sound but only when braking, not upon release of the brakes. I wasn't sure this was worth investigating.

Anyone have any issues with their rear defogger? I am not sure if the lines on the back window are working. Anyone have a way of checking?

meera

several have this problem including myself. Mine seems to be fixed after aligning and switching the tires. Please post hear if you find out about a "mazda factory fix". The last few days the van seems a little bumpy in the 65 mph range, so I fear the problem is coming back.

cmd3

Just a few questions to you all...have a 2000 dx with 3 children under 31/2...newborn is in 2nd row with seat slid to center for safety. Because of oldest child being in rear row he has to climb under the shoulder strap that secures the base of her seat..any reccomendations? Also on the AC is it normal for the engine to be louder when the AC is on..especially when idling it seems like the engine is working harder and the sound of it keeps changing. Thanks.

dispatch1

....that seat belt on the seat that slides. We opted for dual captain chairs for the the second row with the babies in them, ONLY because it made it impossible for the other two to get back there without climbing thru the belts. That chair, IMHO, should have had a different restraint system available.

I think the fan is loud when I am outside the vehicle, but I can't hear when inside. Not really an issue for me. Our heat index has been hitting 100 by 10 am lately, so the AC is ALWAYS on. Not sure what it sounds like with the AC off.

adamhut

Superbondo, regarding my mention of vehicle lean in post # 276, meera in post # 287 correctly explained the issue. Sorry I didn't get back sooner, but I took a trip to Central Pennslyvania last week, and I'm happy to report that the hills there (some significant along Rte. 322) were not a problem whatsoever, even as we were loaded (my two kids, niece, me, wife, four pieces of luggage, large stroller, portable crib, cooler, camera, camcorder, etc., etc.).

No call yet from the dealer on the "spring selection kit" arriving, but I'll be patient for a while. I do have a very slight pull (no vibration) to the left, and I'm hoping that it's attributable to the lean.

morrish1

We have a Teal MPV ES. My wife loves the van except for the odd popping noises that come out of the front end after the vehicle is hot. The dealer has looked at it twice with no fixes. They have another one doing the same thing that they tried tie rod ends on (per Maxda Corp.), but will not tell us whether this worked or not. I suspect it's suspension related (springs or struts), but the dealer only shrugs their shoulders.

Anyone else have this problem and actually got it fixed. Like I said, we love the vehicle, but these noises are driving us nuts. I appreciate any help or suggestions.

Shannon

msgjvh

My teal ES was made 7/99. I do not have any problems with popping noises with 6k miles on it. Only thing we are dealing with is getting the alignment set so its not so sensitive to the road. Friday it goes to a speciality frame shop to make sure all is inline. Other than that we too are in love. So much so our plate is "luvrmpv". ;P

Read thru the other subjects there are a few postings that talk about spring adjustments. My 92 & 95 Olds 88 had that problem. A shop tore the rear completely apart and couldn't find the source. Every time we would park it in the garage and get out it would pop. No I am not that heavy either! Maybe Mazda will find the problem soon.

dlncmay

I too agree that the 2nd row seatbelts lack sufficient mobility. The latch on the seat is not a flexible belt, but is a short metal arm with a limited angle of adjustment. I think I read somewhere that the newer produced MPVs are not like this??? In any case, I concur that they are a minor annoyance. The limited angle makes it difficult for me to "blindly" reach over my 5 y/o and buckle her in her booster seat. The buckle has to hit the latch just right in order for it to engage.

Buh-bye

tboner1965

Have them look at the exhaust system for the popping noise. Since the problem seem to occur only when the vehicle is hot, then perhaps it exhaust pipes/joints that are binding during engine movements. When you accel/decel then engine rocks slightly in its mounts. If the exhaust pipes connected to the engine are "binding" then they may be making the popping sound.

Just another angle...

TB

madgalaxy

I have had this problem since I got my MPV. They have replaced the struts and outter tie-rods ends, with no success. So I called Mazda Corp and complained. The dealer called me the next day and I took it down to have the inner tie-rods ends replaced and guess what? It does not pop any more! Feels like it drives better too! The dealer called Mazda corp to advise them that replacing the inner tie-rod ends fixed the problem. But seeing they were messing with the front end the alignment is off again, but I am gonna take it down this week to have that corrected. Hope this information helps.

- Gary

wpt1

19K...no problems! Some of you people will complain about anything! Does anyone know if a trailer hitch is available?(mazda says no)

tboner1965

Glad it was fixed.

Cheers,

TB

msgjvh

There is a Hidden Hitch available for the MPV it is approximately $108.00. Look back a several post on the cruisers club I believe or do a search. You will find the link.

madgalaxy

Wpt,

Not sure about you, but when I put down $25,000 for something, I want it to work correctly...

morrish1

Madgalaxy,

Thanks for the info. My dealer called today and they are going to replace the inner tie rod ends on Thursday. I suspect this will be the final fix since I got a message from Mazda saying that their quality engineering group knew about the problem. Too bad they didn't pass it on to the dealers before we all had to call them.

This was actually our third run in with quality issues on this vehicle. First was steering wheel covers that rubbed when you turned the wheel creating a loud scraping noise, second was a disintegrating drivers side sun visor (surprised my wife), and last was these noises. I agree that these are all minor, but very annoying.

I also agree with you on the complaining issue. Just an opinion, but Americans accept mediocrity way too often. I'm with you that when you pay this kind of money for a vehicle, you expect it to work and not have weird problems. That's why my wife and I went back to the Japanese after years of American ownership (tainted by Chrysler and Ford, no offense, you can get bad in anything).

Great to hear all the experiences on this forum. This is why we're finally getting our van fixed. I'll post after it's done to let you all know.

Thanks again,
Shannon

javadoc

Just wondering if anyone has heard any news on the rumored "suspension lean" and "bumper reinforcement" recalls. I haven't seen anything new, just curious.

Anyone? Bueller? Bueller? ;-)

--Java

shrty87

does anyone experience using their cruise control
and all of a sudden the rpm will go up and almost reach the red zone. is this normal? do you also experience going uphill and the speedometer almost stop at 50 mph and no matter how much you
step on the accelerator, it still stays on 50 mph.
please respond to this. thanks.

julyar

If you are on a hill that is a little steep, it is not unusual for it to drop out of overdrive to maintain the speed, but it should not get that close to redlining it. On the other problem of not being able to go past 50, unless you are on a 45 degree incline, I would think that it is a serious problem, and would recommend that you take the car into the dealer to have it checked out. Good luck!

cmuniz

shrty87 - Going about 70 mph with the cruise on it is quite normal for the rpms to go from 3,000 to 4,500 when you start to go uphill. This engine really like to rev up since that's where the max torque kicks in. If that bothers you, turn the cruise control off and use the accelerator to compensate for the lost spped and it won't shift so much or so severely. As "julyar" said, unless you are going up a very steep hill or have a very heavy load, the van should be able to accelerate beyond 50mph since it does has a lot of power at high rpms. On country roads if I need to pass at 50mph it will really get up and move to make passing relatively easy, but again will rev up above 4,000 rpm. Hope that helps.

jay_bee

Well, 5 weeks, 1600Kms, I got my first, sniff, scratch on the side of my DX. Nothing major, but hurts nonetheless, given the fact that in 5 weeks it's been washed, vacuumed and cleaned 5 times, every Sunday. Other than that, this is by far the best vehicle I've purchased (only bought 3 in my life so far) For all the people that are concerned about the power in this vehicle based on the comments of some reporter/reviewer that works for some magazine or newspaper that is dominated by north-american car advertising, think about the fact that that seems to be the ONLY thing they can say neg. about it. They had to pick on something, other wise Chrysler/GM/Ford might pull their dollars, lol. The power in this car is perfect for this car. I do alot of driving in the Rolling Hills of Alberta and the Rocky Mountains of B.C. Canada and have never had any problems, with full-load.

That's my thoughts not yours..... )

topspinsteven

I'm currently in the market for an MPV, and will probably buy one within the next two months. What I would like to know is if anyone has put together a complete list of all the problems that this vehicle has had, so I really know what to look for when I go to purchase my MPV. Also, I've noticed a lot of chat about the vehicle manufacture date. Is there a consensus as to what month that Mazda may have straightened out some of these problems?

Thanks in advance,
Steve

javadoc

Most problems, as I've been observing, are:

1) Some vans pull. This seems to be an alignment issue, easily fixed.

2) Some vans lean an inch or so down on the left side. Mazda is said to be issuing a fix

3) MPVs won't do a 10 second quarter mile. Shucks. Get nitros and a small V8 if you want. :-)

4) Looks like some white vans are having a small paint problem, but I haven't seen much of that on the forums.

Am I forgetting anything?

People are comparing manf. dates to try and see if certain issues are more common with the earlier vans. Mine was made in 7/99 and I have had no problems, except my rear brakes glazed, from too much city driving. I have 10k miles now. The 2.5 motor does great at hauling the ven. Don't believe the car mags about a smaller engine.

Problems for the MPV seem minor compared to the Honda van. Lurk there for a while and you'll see horrific problems. The MPV is a great rig, and you'd probably be very happy with one, as most everyone on these forums will attest to.

Helps?

--Java

meera

Mine is 7/99 too, and it has had ALL the problems. You forgot one though- shaking/vibrating at highway speeds also related to the alignment. I guess it's just the luck of the draw....

msgjvh

Mine is 7/99 only problem I have had is the pulling but they are taking that in to correct it.
That and getting used to the tranny shift. They say its smooth but its not when compared to my old 95 Olds 88. That was smooth.

dlncmay

manufacture date. Did not buy it until May, 2000. It had 5,400 miles when we bought it from the dealer. We have not experienced any of the problems listed above. Of course there was the recall work that was completed prior to our purchase. Sooner or later there will be a recall for the front bumper (it needs reinforcement plates). I would consult the dealer and Edmunds for any outstanding recalls.

Great van!

Take care.

julyar

The only problem is that either my wife has the van, or there are small children in it, so I don't get to crank out the bass, and blast the stereo while driving it!!!

morrish1

Just to let all know, the popping noises in the front end of our MPV was the inner tie rod ends. These were replaced Friday and we haven't heard a sound since. Thanks again Madgalaxy for pointing in the right direction.

bill124

Does anyone find that shifting out of park (that is, moving the shift on the steering wheel from park to drive) is difficult? Maybe I am used to an on the floor shift but it seems hard to me.

auerbach

Sometimes it feels like it takes more effort to "pop" it out of park. Something to try might be to engage the parking brake before putting it into park. This would take the pressure off of the parking "pawl" (I think that's the technical term for it) which keeps the car from moving while in park.

On another transmission aside - does anyone notice a harsh shifting from 1st to 2nd under light load conditions??

javadoc

I usually use the parking brake after I've put the van into park, and before I remove my foot from the brake. This way, the van doesn't roll that little bit and "bind" the pawl. A trick my good ole dad taught me in the dark ages of auto-dumb.

I have noticed an occasional abrupt shift from 1-to-2 when accelerating lightly. Mostly before everything is all warmed up though. It's almost as if the engine revs a bit too high, then goes into 2nd, like it's confused or something. Maybe the tranny wants to be drag-raced? Where's my nitros bottle? j/k

--java

auerbach

You describe the 1 - 2 shift perfectly. I'll see if I notice it once everything is all warmed up.

gpfeiffer

Mine is 6/99 and none of the usual problems. Now, the power window fuse blew. Trying to get a new fuse. Mazda dealer doesn't have it in stock, ordering. These are new and special fuses. Auto parts stores don't carry them. Supposedly new Ford models use the same fuses but Ford dealer didn't recognize it. Any experiences? How long will it take to get a Mazda fuse?

kbamford

I had heard earlier about the potential to blow the power window fuse if you are attempting to roll more than one widow up at once...I don't know if I read it in the manual or saw it in a much earlier thread. Do you recall if this was the case when you blew your fuse?

bill124

I think our rear defogger had a problem from before we picked it up (in Feb.). Recently had it fixed. Was hard to tell if there was a problem because the rear window is tinted but the dealer said it needed to be fixed.

pappy7

make sure the brake pedal is pressed before shifting to drive from park. this safety feature is designed for unintended acceleration a la audi 5000

pappy7

this safety feature is
designed for PREVENTION OF unintended acceleration a la audi

pappy7

this safety feature is
designed for PREVENTION OF unintended acceleration a la audi

msgjvh

I have asked my dealer about that shifting on two occasions. He drove with me and of course it was smooth as butter! He said that they could check the line pressure warm and cold and maybe do some adjustments. In order to do that they needed the van overnight. I will ask them to try that once I return from my roadtrip next week.

BTW, they corrected my pulling problem. Seams much better now. Of course one problem replaces another and I think the front tire has a leak now!

On the other hand, God sent me a message today. My Subaru with 145k on it decided that because I left the ignition on it wouldn't start. I jumped it got a mile down the road and got a flat. No sooner did I get the Flat fixed than the car died again and I had to wait until someone jumped it again. I rarely ever have a problem with my legacy! To my fortune, there was an accident on the way home that could have but didnt involve me, due to the delays!

bigdipper

Check the fuse box, I believe there are spare fuses in it along the sides. I recently blew a fuse while plugging my cell phone into the a/c outlet.