By accessing this website, you acknowledge that Edmunds and its third party business partners may use cookies, pixels, and similar technologies to collect information about you and your interactions with the website as described in our
Privacy Statement, and you agree that your use of the website is subject to our
Visitor Agreement.
Comments
Loren
everfeb
it has 2 miles on it...how do i break it in correctly?
thanks
It basically goes like this -
Vary speeds for the first 600 miles (1000km).
Jason
i heard there are other way to break in better...but i guess the way in manual is probably the best.
I also noticed my heater duct under the glove compartment is loose. Is that normal? When I was trying to feel what was loose down there, a blue electrical tape just came off. Hmmm...
i didn't buy it yet
http://www.autobarn.com/keystone/parts_lookup_keystone.php
I also have a rattle coming from the windshield defroster vent area. Have you been able to figure out the cause?
BTW, over the past 6 mos. I've had my dealer fix a globebox rattle and one in the instrument cluster. The dealer can't find the one around the defroster vent.
i didn't order one yet but will soon
http://www.autobarn.com/keystone/parts_lookup_keystone.php
I still have bumps from the seat belt/back seat area and it is very hard to troubleshoot when the car is not moving. There are a lot of probable culprits in that area (seat belt, seat back latch, seat base moldings, under seat wires, inside speaker wires). =(
ndphdjd - Ever since I corrected my tire pressure, the rattle from the windshield/defroster area has subsided for now, hopefully.
That is the automatic transmission in drive, trying to start the car out in first gear when stopped. Normal for automatics the rumble a bit. Just put the car into neutral - no problems ;-)
My advise - this shake - or vibration that you are calling rough idle will not get any better as time goes on - and will most likely become worse. So if it bugs you now - I would look for another car.
I test drove several different 4 cylinder Accords - some were very ruff (in gear - stopped with AC on) some were smooth.
Loren
RRRight, that's useful advice. NOT! The car is over a month's old and telling someone to go and look for another car is ridiculous. The prudent thing to do is to ALWAYS complain about it to the dealer and when it does get worse, it will be on your service record. No way will Mazda will be able to weasle out of their responsiblity to get it fixed right. Rough idle is not normal.
:confuse: Loren
I'd like to buy a Mazda3 sooner, but after reading yours, I'm afraid to buy one.
Do you still recommend de MZ3?
Loren
Mazda warranties their cars for three years and their powertrain for 5. The Mazda3 is the successor to the Protege which has had a spectacular record for over a decade. Consumer Reports, which tests cars independently and relies on the history of thousands of car owners, recommends the Mazda3 in its latest issue; the issue compares hundreds of cars and the Mazda3 ranked in the top 3. My 2002 Protege5 has been trouble free for the last three years and is a lot of fun.
But if you need time to think it over, all the better. This way you can test drive a whole bunch of other cars as well as the 3 and you'll get to see some shiny new ones, like the Honda Civic 2006 coming this fall.
Best of luck looking for your new wheels!
The title of this thread is Problems & Solutions. What else did you expect to find here?
Waht should concern you is if you think the problems are major AND if you see that Mazda isn't solving the problem.
None of the problems I've seen are huge problems. Annoying, yes.
Grooved rotors, weak AC, clocks that can't keep time (mine can't), minor squeeks and bumps.
None of these particularly bother me. I'll know about my AC come summer as I live in Georgia. But I have a sunroof to vent heat out, so no worries.
Overall, the 3 is a fantastic little car. In the sedan market there is lots of competition so I'd look around and compare. But in the hatchback/compact wagon there really isn't anything that matches the 3.
If you are looking for a fun little car, why not check out a 2003 Protege? My mother bought a Protege 5 and she LOVES it. And it cost a lot less than a new car.
Jason
My harsh 1-2 shift is still pretty much limited to the first time I drive the car each day. About once per week - out of the blue I get a BIG CLUNK. The first few times this happened I though the tranny was gone - or maybe I hit something (like a 4x4). It is strange that the clunk happens when I am going slow - like in a school zone - never when I am pushing it.
I could put up with the grinding brakes, harsh shifting, clunking suspension and poor service after the sale if I could only get my AC to actually cool my car.
Let me know if the new tranny stays smooth. :lemon: :lemon: :lemon:
Chuck
I do know - back in the old days - with a manual tranny - the general opinion was if you are going to be stopped for a while like stuck in very heavy traffic - or waiting for a train to pass - it was thought you should shift to neutral and take your foot off the clutch - something about not putting excess wear on the throw out bearing.
Considering the only two cars that did well had side air bags... don't get a new car without them.
Jason
Thanks Sean for the update. Would you mind posting which small cars are recommended by CR at this point?
Bill replied: while like stuck in very heavy traffic - or waiting for a train to pass - it was thought you should shift to neutral
Bill is right to say that one should not be moving, in effect, while shifting to neutral which is what the manual recommends. I've been shifting at light stops into neutral for many years (originally to lower vibration on an earlier car but now out of habit). Just remember not to daydream or you'll get a honking reminder to step on the gas.
\Likely Mazda3 would have passed with a full set of bags. The thing has more airbags than a roomful of politicians. :shades:
http://www.consumerreports.org/main/content/autos/vehiclefinder.jsp
Interesting how CR can "recommend" cars like the xB and ECHO that haven't been tested in any way by the IIHS, but cars that don't pass one of the IIHS tests aren't recommended. In this case, "ignorance is bliss" I guess. Although a car with an unproven reliability record is NOT recommended. Hmmmm.
Loren :surprise:
I, too just limped my Mazda3 Sedan into the dealer with a blown transmission. It's an '04 with 10,600 miles. The dealer called into Mazda and they're replacing it with a new tranny. It started two days ago with a couple good thumps going from third to fourth. Then verratic slipping, especially in third and fourth gear. Bad deal.
I agree this is confusing and potentially misleading. In the current (May 2005) issue they have provided some background which may explain the situation, but it remains a messy picture. The message: don't buy any car without the side air bags option.
"A new side-crash test by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety shows that few small cars are adequantely designed to protect their occupants in a side impact by a larger SUV or pickup. In early March, the IIHS released its first side-crash-test results for small cars in which 14 of 16 tested cars were rated Poor. The Chevrolet Cobalt and Toyota Corolla earned an Acceptable rating, but only when equipped with optional head-protection side-curtain air bags."
Although it is true - if only a small % of cars have the problem your odds of getting a defective one would be lower - since I have a several problems with my Mazda3 (including the worthless & defective AC) my perspective is a little different.
You could say that 99.99 % of all the customers who bought chili at Wendy's in the last few months have been happy with the product - only that one little (finger) problem.
The real issue here is not that the car has a few problems - it is the FACT that Mazda will not honor their warranty & fix the problems. It has even been posted that the president of Mazda NA knew that the AC system in the Mazda3 was weak - and would be a problem with customers in the USA - but did not care enough to do anything about it before intro - and also will not fix the problem on cars that were sold with poor AC.
In a strange way it would be better - IMO - if all the cars had the same problem - them Mazda would (at least 50/50 chance) agree to fix the issue. The way things stand now Mazda could NOT CARE LESS. :lemon:
But before I decided on the red one, I test-drove a Winning Blue one with a build date of October 21, 2004. It was about 80 here in Richmond yesterday, and I took the car off the lot and went for a quick drive. I turned on the a/c. I stopped in a parking lot after about a mile and got of the car, leaving it running with the a/c on in full sunlight, while I did a little walk-around -- you know, looking under the hood, inspecting the brakes -- just general admiration stuff. About 10 minutes later I got back in, and the car was nice and cool -- even to my 280-pound standards!
I think Mazda has worked out whatever a/c problem there was. BTW, the red one I took delivery of has a build date of 2/25/05. (Couldn't quite make up my mind yesterday -- it was a toss-up between Booberry, Screaming Pumpkin and Woo-Woo Truck.)
Just let me get one thing straight with all these a/c complaints. Is everyone here on the same page about how you operate an import a/c system? You turn it on with the lever on "outside" until the car cools down substantially, and then you move the lever to "recirculate"? I ask, because if you leave it in "outside" forever, you never will get the full cooling effect of the a/c. This is true both on paper (in the owner's manual) and in real life (this is the fourth Mazda car I've owned in 13 years). My most recent car, the 2000 Protege ES I traded for this car, would not cool down too well if you leave it in "outside." Slide it over to recirculate and it would freeze me outta there.
Zooming into the future 3-style,
Meade
On my current imported compact cars, once the initial cool-down is done, I sometimes have to turn the thermostat to a warmer setting (and this is in fresh-air mode) to avoid over-chilling the interior. I actually use exactly the opposite approach on a hot, sunny day when the car has been sitting in the sun awhile: first I set the A/C on "Max", which puts it into recirc mode, and open the rear windows a crack (and tilt the moonroof on my car that has one). After a few minutes, I close her up and set the a/c to normal.
But I will remember your approach for when I buy a Mazda and specifically the 3.
I think this is a no-brainer ...
Meade
Congrats! Four Mazdas, you're a loyal customer! Is the Pro5 still humming; mine feels better than new!