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http://www.autosite.com/Reviews/2004-mazda-3.asp
"However, the air conditioner’s ability to cool the cabin was deemed questionable during a springtime heat wave that sent temperatures soaring above 100 degrees in downtown Los Angeles. High temperatures, a black interior, and leather seats require deep-freeze A/C capability, and the Mazda 3 did not deliver – Phoenix residents considering the 2004 Mazda 3, be warned."
Here lies the problem though. It doesn't sound like it's not working at all, just that it's weak. And since the writer probably drives numerous cars all the time there's definetly something wrong. So since it may be "weak" in most cars and not outright not working (although some may not have any cool air coming out at all) then it may explain why some people don't complain. Depending on climate and how much they use the A/C some people will find it acceptable.
I know you're impatient but using the G35 example again it took a solid 6 months to get it fixed. On top of that the G35/Skyline was out several months beforehand in Japan. They may have already found the cause and are now working on getting the parts ordered and together. THEN they have to be able to send a sufficient amount to each dealer. They probably also want to make sure the fix they may have found will work on a long-term basis before wasting the time and effort and money on getting a fix to dealers that may fail. There could be any number of things going on we don't know about.
Bottomline is they acknowledged the problem and also reviews are starting to pick up on it so you better believe they aren't going to sit on their hands. Not sure if you can lemon law a car on the A/C not being fixed. I think you need documentation that they tried a certain number of times to fix it. Of course if they're saying everything is normal you won't get very far.
So what do you do? You're doing the first thing. Spread the word and cost them some sales. I don't know if that'll "speed up" the process of a fix any but if I bought a brand new car with a non-working A/C I'd be mad too. And if it becomes too little too late boycott the brand. That's exactly what I plan to do when I buy my next car based on past experiences. I know every company has lemons but cars are expensive and I at least expect the company and dealership to work with me to fix it and stand behind the product.
I have read the review you posted. Problem is I bought my Mazda3 on January 21, 2004. This article was written May 31, 2004. I had already found out that the Mazda3 has a defective AC system - the hard way!
modock
I don't understand your post - you say " If you wanted a car that would immediately have cool air then you will have to pay more than the $16K we both paid for our cars"
But you also post "I had a 92 Nissan 240SX which I consider to have had a great AC system"
Did you pay more that $16K for the 92 Nissan?
"I had a 92 Nissan 240SX which I consider to have had a great AC system [but] If you wanted a car that would immediately have cool air then you will have to pay more than the $16K we both paid for our cars."
Quality Assurance technical resources, however, and not any corporate offices."
We need to keep up the pressure by publicizing this issue.
On the other hand, I just refilled the gas tank on my 3S today: 11.7 gallons and 430 miles; that's 36.6mpg. I am sure that the undersized a/c unit helps allow better mileage. But, since it's cooling is so minimal, I wonder how much better the mileage might be with no a/c unit?
rs4184: From my experience, your fuel gauge is way off. I usually have 120-130 miles before the gauge shows the first 1/4 tank gone. The low fuel light had not come on yet when I refueled today. It usually comes on when I have less than two gallons left.
"We do take customer feedback quite seriously. If this IS related to the
normal operation of the system and you are not satisfied with the
performance, be assured, I have already documented your comments
regarding it. These records are constantly reviewed by both our product
planning department and our technical service department to evaluate.
Such evaluation can sometimes even include countermeasures to be
developed in the future, as is possible with the A/C cycling for the
MAZDA3. Any developments would go directly through your dealership and
their regionally-placed Mazda Quality Assurance technical resources,
however, and not any corporate offices."
36 mpg??? I cant even dream of such a number with my mazda3 hatch. I dont get above 25 mpg, even with the AC not being cool or even turned on...
Waygrabow - In regards to fuel efficiency, do you do mostly highway driving? My 3i (purchased in Jan. 2004) gets about 27-29 city and 33-35 highway.
Oldmonk - I had the same problem when I first got the car (averaging 23-25 mpg). I called the service dept at my Mazda dealership and they told me it needs to "break-in." According to them, after the 3rd oil change (~10k miles), things should be up to par. Pretty long warm up period, I think...
I ask - What should I do to get my problem resolved?
Mazda answer - I can give you a web site that you can go to every few weeks and it will list all of the TSB that are issued. If/when Mazda issues a TSB on the AC of the Mazda3 it will be posted on this site.
Turns out the site is the National Highway safety / transportation web site -
I ask - So Mazda's idea of customer service is to send me to a government web site?
Yes - at this time that is all Mazda can do - until a TSB is issue no repairs can be authorized.
Mazda customer service is a JOKE.
>> "According to them, after the 3rd oil change (~10k miles), things should be up to par"
I have 16K miles already!
the opportunity to respond to you.
In regard to your inquiry, Mazda is aware of the A/C concerns you're
experiencing with your MAZDA3. Our Product Engineering Department is
currently investigating this concern with the Engineers in Japan. We
hope to have a resolution very soon. I certainly apologize for any
inconvenience this has caused you.
I sent a reply E-mail to Mazda around June 15th to ask them if any progress had been made finding a solution to the problem - They did not even bother to respond, I sent a second reply - Maybe the first one was lost - still no reply.
I think Mazda is using the "we know about the concern - engineers are investigating" as a stall. What they say may be true - they know about it and are investigating - but that does not mean they are going to do anything about it.
When I called Mazda 800 number Tuesday they acted like they had never had anyone even complain about the AC before.
As you suggested, I point blank asked the customer rep. how they would respond if the A/C did not perform to my expectations. At first he didn't give a direct response, but eventually said "we will do whatever it takes to correct the problem". He had no idea how they would determine whether or not the A/C is working to spec -- he kept telling me that out of the several dozen M3's they've sold, no complaints about A/C yet. Of course in the Boston area the temperature has barely gone over 80 degrees this summer (so far).
It'll be interesting to see what happens when the first REAL heat wave comes!
Regardless, the experience of driving the M3 home yesterday was absolutely exhilarating -- Mazda has really come up with an excellent car design. By far the best I've ever owned.
Since you live in a much cooler climate you may never experience the AC issue -
If you are unlucky enough to experience problems I wonder what your dealer will do - I can only guess that they would fall back on the old - Mazda won't authorize any repairs -our hands are tied - the system is working as designed -BS that they are giving me.
As a matter of fact, as I look at the recent post about cold-starting problems (perrito), it occurs to me that the only vehicle of mine to have a serious design flaw was the 1998 Corolla that I just traded in for the M3. It seems so ironic that the one vehicle (out of five I've owned over a 20-year period) with a major annoyance was a Toyota. So much for build quality reputation.
Perrito's problem sounds just like what happened to my brand new Corolla in 1998 -- after several trips to the dealer it turns out the fuel pump was defective. Once they replaced the pump the problem never came back in my six-plus years of ownership. Just a thought.
http://web2.iadfw.net/theman/protegefaq/tsb/tsbmenu.html
I was getting 22 MPG - but then my CEL came on - after three trips to the dealer the CEL light is off - but now I am getting around 19 MPG - lowest tank was 17 - I have not been over 20 since my CEL "repair". I would take 27 MPG any day.
I also took some friends to lunch in my car - when we got out of the car one guy said - next time we go to lunch lets take my car it has an AC that works. A little embarrassing - yes - more so when you know his car is a 1990 something Honda Civic with over 200K.
I hate to give you the bad news but chances are if you have cool air coming out of your vents your dealer will tell you that the AC is up to Mazda's (low) standards. When the dealer told me this I ask what the standard for cooling is - seemed like a fair question - if a car is "up to standard" - turns out that means cool air is coming out of the vent and the system has a certain PSI reading. It has nothing about actually cooling the car.
Mazda customer service department is a complete JOKE - they do not have a clue what customer service even means - the 800 number and Mazda E-mail service do nothing.
One of the bigger kicks in the groin is when you call Mazda at 800 222 5500 you get to hear a recorded message - "Have you seen the great new Mazda3 - best small car in the world - bla bla bla" - Kind of adds insult to injury
I am also in the "club" and have taken it to the dealer to check it out, and have been given the "temperature and pressure is within manufacturer specs" response. I hate having to clean my door panels from dog drool/saliva, since it takes forever for any cool air to get to the back of my sedan
Compare the amount of R134A that is considered a full charge:
Mazda3 17.55 ounces
Nissan PU 22.5 ounces (28% more)
Chevy Silverado (reg & X-cab) 28.8 ounces (64% more)
Chevy Tahoe 48 ounces (173% more)
Maybe someone can post the amount of R134A that some other vehicles require - so we can see if Mazda3 is really on the low end as far as quantity of freon the system holds.
There is a label under the hood that will indicate how much R134A the system requires.
I would be interested to know how much freon a Mazda6 holds - or a Honda Civic - Toyota Corolla.
That theory is shot down - I have not read of anyone having problems with the 6.
I have thought that the software could be the problem - but it seems like if that was all that was wrong it would not take Mazda so long to fix it - and a program update would only take a few minutes and be a small cost - compared to replacing parts anyway.
With the temperature in Houston hitting 95 degrees it sure would be nice to have a killer AC instead of a weak piece of crap.
Apparently, there is no insulation around some of the A/C hoses that come into the 3 from under the hood. These hoses happen to be near "hotter" parts of the components under the hood. I should know more, but at the moment, I can't find that part of the thread.
From those posts, it is not uncommon for other cars to have insulation around those hoses to keep the processed cool air in a cool state.
Does anyone know anything about this?
I belong/participate to/in the forum you refer to, and no one has come up with a definitive cause to the subpar AC performance. It could be lack of insulation, but I don't think the member you refer to ever gave an update on the "fix" or not.
Hopefully that will be the solution
Sorry for breaking "forum decorum".
We noticed this weekend with heavy Boston area humidity the AC was not as effective at full blast to cool the car as my Pontiac or Nissan do. Perhaps you folks have a valid case. You would think with such a small sized car the Max setting would cause you in the least to get the chills. I hope Mazda can be convinced to make it better.
harddrivet - The thing I notice when driving my other vehicles - I point the vents so they are NOT blowing air right at me - it gets too cold even when the fan speed is turned down on low.
> I can't believe someone is complaining about open window wind noise - that is too funny!
I like this car too. But that does not mean that you need to be happy with everything, the wind noise may be of least concern to you since you may be driving with everything shut all the time, I like to enjoy the nice air outside and on the highways if I keep the windows open I end up closing it soon since it is noisy...I am comparing it to my 92 eclipse.
Nevertheless it is best to complain here so other people can know what to expect if they buy this car. A bad A/C may be a superficial issue for you since you need it only for 2 weeks in a year, but not so for many other people...
What is funny is: you dont want to hear negative things about this car since you paid so much money and you like it a lot! You should probably not be looking at the "mazda3 problems" discussions since you are perfectly happy anyways.
As an owner of an '03.5 Mazda ES and an '03.5 P5 Protege, I have read all your posts with interest.
1) Re: AC. What are the specs of the Mazda 3 system compared to the Protege? The AC in both of our vehicles is excellent, regardless of driving environment. In the hottest climates--Tucson, Albuquerque, Las Vegas, etc., we can use "2" on the blower, with temp at coldest and it's more than adequate. This, in 100+ degree temps. In fact, we've owned a number of Mazdas and never had a complaint about the heating/cooling systems.
Looking at the laundry list of Mazda TSBs, I don't see one for a "weak" Protege AC system, regardless of year. Why now?
2) Re: Mileage. The Protege 2.0L engine isn't considered to be a top-mileage engine, and an automatic will be worse than a stick, although driving habits can alter that. Both our cars have cold air intakes, aftermarket cat-back exhaust systems, iridium plugs and, on the P5, an overbored throttle body. Both cars are quicker than stock, thus tend to be driven "spiritedly."
That said, I pass the following #s along for comparos: both cars average 27-33 mpg depending on city/hiway use; a working figure over a period of time would settle in around 29-30. Frankly. I expected less based on our driving habits.
Example: this past week, we drove the ES 1500 miles from Denver to Las Vegas and back. We averaged 27+, at an average speed of over 75 with AC running most of the time.
Maybe we're lucky?
Why does that seem SO familiar for some reason?