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Comments
Haha.. I was just thinking the same thing last week when I took my Odyssey through the car wash...
From here on out I am just going to save the $2 and clean the wheels myself..
Again, what about the hundreds of user reviews on MSN, Edmunds, Yahoo, cars.com? Do these not count? The fact that the Mazda 3 gets rave reviews and satisfaction ratings from the folks who have purchased it means nothing to you?
As for Mazda, out of twelve vehicles that I have owned in the last 15 years, this is my fourth. For the price that I paid for it, the performance, the features, and (hopefully) the MPG I am quite happy since this is strictly a commuter car. I have had very good luck with all of the Mazda vehicles I have owned (except for my first RX-7 which was totalled in an accident) I have purchased and have had great dealer service. That said, none of the vehicles that I have owned have been problem free. Every one of them, at one point or another, required warranty work. I actually go out of my way to be nice to a dealers service department and not be visibly upset or confrontational. My 2002 Nissan Altima SE had (what it seems like) about a dozen recalls and I always tried to have a great attitude with the service team..
nifty56, sell your 3 and get a Corolla.. Life is too short to get this worked up over weak A/C...
How do you explain that?
http://www.finishlineperformance.com/mazda3/bulletins_index.html
And were it not selling, why would they be lying about it? If, as you claim, Mazda has deliberately failed to fix a three year issue with the car that would brutally impact Texas sales, wouldn't these dealer employees be absolutely livid?
You can track Mazda inventory at mazdausa.com. The last six digits of the VIN represent the build number across the lifetime of the 3. I've been watching for a particular color combination -- it's pretty easy to see that supply has been low and that the cars are not sitting around for long...
mrblonde, consult a statistician or a high school math teacher and ask/him or her why CR's ratings should be taken with a grain of salt. CR is typically used as an example in how the ratings are skewed. BTW, this topic was also brought up in a Mazda forum and anyone with half a sense won't put any faith in CR's ratings.
In general, better stopping power requires softer pads = more dust. Look at the front wheels of all the european cars (those which haven't been cleaned in the past week, anyway)...
2 year. Whatever they did to the 2006's, it's fixed...
For me personally, the cars that I have had are accurately portrayed for reliability in CR. Every one. So I can only go by my own experience. Maybe their methodology isn't statistically sound, but in my experience it lines up with real life data
You still didn't answer why JD Power is not prone to the same skewing...
JD Power: 2006 Initial Quality Results
Thanks,
Host
A/C works great - we've had 90+ degree days and it'll freeze me if I don't cut it back.
Rear wheel brake dust - I just spray the wheels with a wheel cleaner before going through the carwash - works great.
Mileage - highway 37, around town (with A/C on) about 30.
Complaints - I wish it had variable speed intermittent wipers.
Another happy 3 owner.
Eric
I still cannot believe this car cost 17K.. It is a blast to drive. The interior materials and fit and finish are more European than economy Mazda.. The manual shifts much more smoothly than most of previous cars that I have owned. I am counting the days until the car is fully broken-in so I can really open it up..
So if it's not bad material quality, why the new pads have much fewer dust while with the same stopping power? :confuse:
"
Are we sure it's the same stopping power?
Go to the link that is posted at #2 and #3 in the A/C problems issue here and look at the poll. Get back to us and let us know what you think.
Would the real Mazda 3 employees please stand up...me, still sitting.
Some posts were removed for "flaming". Please try to maintain courtesy toward other members at all times, and if you feel provoked, do not respond, just e-mail me.
Thank you and remember, you are here to enjoy yourselves.
Shifty the Host
I hope to get slightly better mileage as the engine loosens up a bit. My Honda Civic EX didn't start getting 40 MPG highway until after 20K miles.
As John McEnroe used to say "You can't be serious".
Anybody else with a 04 or 05
Thanks
No, I am not sure because I don't have that data. May be you can ask Mazda to provide. But I don't feel any difference in stopping power between the old and new. If Mazda is willing to replace the dusty ones with low dust ones, the new ones must be at least within the same spec as the old ones. So my logical conclusion is the old ones are not good enough. Therefore, they have to be replaced by better quality ones. If both can provide the same result, why do we have to tolerate the dust and the dirty wheels?
When it was time to replace the brake pads, I put ceramic pads on the Altima and it helped a ton. They cost a little more, but are better pads.
Pretty sure I will replace the 3's pads with ceramic pads when the time comes.
but the point is the rear get dirty quicker than the fronts. The front dust is normal and not excessive.
Most cars have the fronts with more dust than the rears as the fronts do most of the stopping, that is why the front rotors are larger than the backs. The amount of dust on the rears builds up too quickly. One day of stop and go driving and at the end of the day it looks like the wheels haven't been cleaned in days while the fronts have a very small amount of dust if you look really hard. We have rear Volvo brakes as many owners of early 2000 Volvo owners complained of the same problem. Ford+Mazda+Volvo...
Now don't get me started on early morning brake squeal... :mad:
I thought the front wheels should have more brake dust because they do more of the work stopping the car.
Since the Mazda3 has way more brake dust on the rear I thought - the rear brakes were doing more work than the front - or maybe the rear brakes were dragging slightly.
I have a friend who has a laser thermometer (it looks like a pen) - its pretty cool - you point the laser at something and a digital readout gives the temperature. I have no idea how this thing works - but it does.
After a nice drive & several fast stops - we took the temp of the front and rear rotors.
The fronts were much hotter that the rears - so much so that I came to the conclusion that the front brakes had to be providing more of the stopping power than the rear. Plus I no longer though there was much change that the rears were dragging.
Mazda claims the material used on the original front and rear pads is the exact same compound.
I have no idea why there is so much dust on the rear - but the Mazda3 has very good brakes - so I can live with a little dust.
Do you have steel rims?
Your Mazda 3 has road side assitance from Mazda. It should be in the owners handbook that you were given. I have used this service in the past and it is great.
Thanks.
The first time I rotated my tires it was very hard to get the wheels off. Rubber mallet did nothing.
I finally sat down on the ground facing the wheel - car was up on a floor jack with the tire a few inches off the ground - I kicked the edge of the tire with my feet - as hard as I could - after about 3-5 "mule kicks" they came free.
I solved this problem by spraying WD-40 on a paper towel and using it to wipe the hub / and also the wheel surface where it contacts the hub. I would not just spray WD-40 straight from the can - because you need to control the amount and location - you don't want WD-40 on the studs (that you put the lug nuts on. I do this every time I take a wheel off - and now they are very easy to remove.
About all you can do is keep driving the car (as long as you don't feel it is a safety issue) until the problem becomes more predictable.
I do understand your feelings - but Mazda can't just replace the tranny unless they can actually determine what the problem is.
I have not heard of this issue before -
Is the problem just in 1st gear - like when you shift from R to D - or does it also happen on shifts from 1-2, 2-3?
However, I have never had an automatic transmission do this for me. As zbill mentioned, there is not much Mazda can do unless the problem gets worse or occurs more frequently. Keep an eye on it.
Thanks!
Micah
I should also mention that the air conditioner and stereo are both off.