2004 MAZDA MAZDA3 Complaints

REAR BRAKE ROTORS WARPED, GROOVED AND WORN BEYOND REPAIR AT 49,000 MILES. I WAS TOLD THAT IT WAS MY DRIVING "STYLE" BY THE MAZDA DEALERSHIP THAT PROBABLY CAUSED THE EXCESSIVE WEAR. HOWEVER, THE FRONT BRAKE PADS HAVE PLENTY OF LIFE LEFT IN THEM AND THE ROTORS ARE SMOOTH AS CAN BE (I EVEN CHECKED THE INSIDE). MY CAR HAS A MANUAL TRANSMISSION AND MY WIFE AND I COMMONLY "DOWNSHIFT" TO CONTROL ENGINE SPEED. MY DRIVING STYLE HAS GIVEN ME LONGER BRAKING SYSTEM LIFE ON CARS I DRIVE AND HAVE DRIVEN. I HAVE ALWAYS NOTICED THE EXCESSIVE BRAKE DUST ON THE REAR WHEELS OF MY CAR AND ON OTHERS ON THE ROAD SINCE I BOUGHT THE CAR IN MARCH 2004, AND THOUGHT IT ODD SINCE MOST BRAKING IS DONE BY THE FRONT WHEELS. I HAVE SPENT MANY HOURS CLEANING THE BRAKE DUST FROM MY REAR WHEELS, SO I KNOW. UNFORTUNATELY, IT NEVER CLICKED IN MY HEAD THAT THE BRAKE ROTORS WERE BEING CARVED UP. I UNDERSTAND THAT THIS IS A WEAR ITEM AND NOT COVERED BY WARRANTY, BUT IS IT NOT COMMON IN THE INDUSTRY FOR THE PADS TO WEAR OUT MUCH BEFORE THE ROTORS? I THINK THERE IS CAUSE TO RESEARCH THIS FURTHER. I AM DISAPPOINTED IN THE TWO MAZDA DEALERSHIPS THAT HAVE DONE ALL MY OIL FILTER CHANGES AND HALF OF MY TIRE ROTATIONS, TO HAVE NEVER MENTIONED ANY BRAKE WEAR BEFORE. OTHER THAN THAT, SO FAR, THIS IS AN EXCEPTIONAL AUTOMOBILE. *NM

I TOOK MY CAR TO THE DEALERSHIP COUPLE TIMES PAST COUPLE YRS FOR EXCESSIVE BREAK DUST & SQUEAKING NOISE REAR OF THE CAR. THEY TOLD ME ITS NORMAL & THEY COULDN'T LOCATE OR HEARD ANY SQUEAKING NOISE. RECENTLY I WENT BACK TO GET AN OIL CHANGE & THEY NOTIFIED ME THAT I NEED MY BREAKS REPLACED. I DECIDED TO TAKE MY CAR TO TWO NATIONAL TIRE RETAILERS FOR PRICE QUOTES & BOTH RETAILERS TOLD ME ITS VERY RARE TO HAVE FRONT WHEEL DRIVE CAR THAT HAS LITTLE WEAR DOWN ON FRONT BREAK WHEELS BUT YET THE BACK REAR BREAKS & ROTORS NEEDED REPLACED, JUST UNDER 40K MILES. AFTER BEING NOTIFIED OF THE SERVER DEEP LIPS OF THE ROTORS I WENT BACK TO MAZDA DEALERSHIP & IT SEEMS THEY KNOW ABOUT THE ISSUE BUT THEY ARE TRYING TO COVER IT UP & SAYING ITS NORMAL WEAR & TEAR. AFTER TALKING TO SEVERAL OTHER CARS EXPERTS. I BELIEVE THEIR IS FAULTY BREAKING ISSUE. *NM

REAR BRAKES WORN OUT. FRONT BRAKES HAVE MORE THAN 3/4 INCH LEFT ON THEM. ROTORS SHOW EXCESSIVE WEAR GROOVING AND PITTING. *NM

DT*: THE CONTACT STATED WHILE STOPPED IN TRAFFIC THE VEHICLE WAS HIT FROM BEHIND PUSHING THE CONTACT INTO ANOTHER VEHICLE. MOST OF THE DAMAGE WAS DONE TO THE REAR OF THE VEHICLE. THE WHITE POWDER FROM THE AIR BAG WAS RELEASED, HOWEVER THE AIR BAGS DID NOT DEPLOY. THE SEAT BELTS WERE IN USE AT THE TIME. THERE WERE INJURIES SUSTAINED AND A POLICE REPORT WAS FILED. THE CRASH ZONE SENSOR HAD BEEN REPLACED BY THE DEALERSHIP ON 11-12-04, DUE TO A RECALL LETTER RECEIVED; NHTSA CAMPAIGN ID # 04V468000; AIR BAGS: FRONTAL: SENSOR/CONTROL MODULE. THE CONTACT IS AWAITING DETERMINATION FROM THE INSURANCE COMPANY AS TO THE EXTENT OF THE DAMAGES DONE; THEREFORE THE DEALERSHIP HAS NOT YET BEEN CONTACTED ABOUT A SECOND RECALL REPAIR.

AIR CONDITIONING IN MY 2004 MAZDA 3 IS VERY WEAK IF AT ALL. I HAVE HAD THE DEALER LOOK AT IT TWICE AND THERE WAS ONE RECALL FOR A/C ON THE VEHICLE, BUT THE PROBLEM HAS NOT BEEN RESOLVED. *NM

WEAK AIR CONDITIONING SINCE PURCHASE. IMPLEMENTED TSB 07-005/04 DIFFUSER PLATE #PART # BN8P-61-J6X ISSUE WAS NOT RESOLVED. WAS TOLD ISSUE WAS UNDER INVESTIGATION IN '04. TO DATE ISSUE HAS NOT BEEN RESOLVED. *JB

THE PASSENGER'S SIDE AIR BAG FAILED TO DEPLOY IN THE 2004 MAZDA 3 UPON IMPACT. *TS ***NO ANSWER REQUIRED*** THE PASSENGER SUSTAINED AN EYE INJURY. THE VEHICLE WAS A TOTAL LOSS. A FEW MONTHS AFTER THE VEHICLE WAS PURCHASED THE CONSUMER RECEIVED A RECALL FOR THE CRASH ZONE SENSOR. JAN 2005 THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER AND THE SENSOR WAS REPLACED. SINCE THE ACCIDENT THE CONSUMER IS SKEPTICAL AS TO WHETHER THE RECALL REPAIRS PERFORMED. *NM

I OWN A 2004 MAZDA 3S, VIN #[XXX]. PREVIOUSLY, IN THE END OF DECEMBER 2005 I WAS HOT FROM BEHIND IN CAMBRIDGE. MA. AND INCURRED ABOUT 700 WORTH OF DAMAGE. MY CARE WAS REPAIRED AND I PICKED IT UP ON FRIDAY JANUARY 6TH, 2006. UNFORTUNATELY, I WAS INVOLVED IN A HIT AND RUN ON FRIDAY JANUARY 13TH, 2006. EXACTLY A WEEK FROM THE DAY I PICKED UP MY CAR FROM THE AUTO BODY SHOP. ANYWAY, I WAS TRAVELING AT A SPEED OF 50 MILES PER HOUR WHEN HIT FROM BEHIND, WHICH PUT ME IN A SPIN OF ABOUT 6 360 DEGREES. THEN, I HIT THE CONCRETE BARRIER WITH THE FRONT OF MY CAR AND THEN BOUNCED OFF AND DID ANOTHER 5 360DEGREE TURNS AND THEN THE BACK OF MY CAR HIT THE CONCRETE BARRIER. UNFORTUNATELY, NONE OF MY AIR BAGS WERE DEPLOYED, HOWEVER, I DID HAVE MY SEAT BELT ON AND HAVE A SORE NECK AND HEAD. I AM FEELING BETTER, BUT AM CONCERNED WITH THE FACT THAT THE AIR BAGS DID NOT DEPLOY IN THIS SITUATION. THERE WAS A RECALL WITH THE FRONT AIR BAG SENSOR FOR MY MODEL, BUT APPARENTLY, MY CAR WAS MANUFACTURED ON 05-13-04. THE MANUFACTURING DATES THE RECALL AFFECTED WERE FROM 6-24-03 - 3-22-04. MY INSURANCE COMPANY IS NOT BEING COOPERATIVE WHEN IT COMES TO THE AIR BAGS. THEY ARE NOT SURE IF THEY SHOULD OF DEPLOYED, BUT ARE SAYING THAT THEY MAY NOT HAVE. THE SPEED I WAS TRAVELING AT AND THE LEVEL OF IMPACT LEADS ME TO SAY WITH A HIGH DEGREE OF CONFIDENCE THAT THE AIR BAGS, SIDE AND FRONT SHOULD HAVE DEPLOYED UPON THE IMPACT. PLEASE HELP ME, AS I THE MANUFACTURER IS EXTREMELY UNWILLING TO HELP ME OR PROVIDE ANY SPECIFICATION OR CRASH TEST RESULTS, ETC. BEST REGARDS, [XXX]; [XXX]. *NM UPDATED 07/17/2012 *JS INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

I AM WRITING YOU TO SEEK YOUR ASSISTANCE IN REVIEWING A COMPLAINT THAT I FILED WITH MAZDA, BUT HAVE YET SEEN NO RESOLUTION. ON DECEMBER 27, 2005 - THE OIL FILTER HOUSING CARTRIDGE ON MY 2004 MAZDA3 BASICALLY FRACTURED AND ALL OF THE OIL WAS RUN OUT OF THE CAR, AND THEN THE ENGINE SEIZED. MY CAR HAD APPROXIMATELY 54,000 MILES, AND 5 OIL CHANGES, ALL WITH SYNTHETIC OIL. I HAD THE CAR TOWED TO TOM BUSH MAZDA, WHERE THEY VOLUNTEERED TO DO SOME RESEARCH TO SEE IF THEY COULD DETERMINE THE CAUSE, AND THEN PERHAPS ASK MAZDA FOR "GOODWILL" ON THE CAR ITSELF. ON TUESDAY, JANUARY 3RD, I WENT INTO THE MAZDA DEALER, AND WAS TOLD THAT THE "OIL FILTER HOUSING CARTRIDGE" HAD BEEN CRACKED BY FAULTY WORKMANSHIP AT ONE OF THE OIL CHANGE LOCATIONS THAT HAD CHANGED THE OIL. UPON DOING FURTHER RESEARCH, I FOUND THAT MAZDA CHANGED THE DESIGN OF THE ENGINE TO NO LONGER USE THE PLASTIC CARTRIDGE HOUSING, BUT WENT TO A CANISTER FILTER, AND ISSUED A SERVICE BULLETIN TO ALL OF THEIR LOCATIONS THAT SEVERE DAMAGE COULD RESULT IF THE PROPER TOOL WAS NOT USED TO REMOVE THE CARTRIDGE. THEY NO LONGER USE THIS DESIGN. THERE ARE SEVERAL COMPLAINTS VIA WEB SEARCH OF SIMILAR FAILURES OCCURRING TO THIS FAULTY DESIGN FEATURE. IT IS FURTHER COMPLICATED BY THE FACT THAT I HAD THE OIL CHANGED AT TOM BUSH MAZDA PRIOR TO THE RELEASE OF THEIR SERVICE BULLETIN - IT ADDS MORE CONFUSION TO WHO MAY BE CULPABLE FOR THE PROBLEM. I AM TRYING TO BE RATIONAL ABOUT THE ISSUE, AND AM FINDING THAT MAZDA WILL NOT DESCRIBE THE CHANGE IN DESIGN OR ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY IN THE DEFECT OF THE PRODUCT/DESIGN. THE OIL LOSS IN QUESTION WAS CATASTROPHIC - NOT A MINOR LEAK, THE ENTIRE CONTENTS OF THE ENGINE EMPTIED IN 30 OR LESS SECONDS. I HAVE CONTACTED THE REGIONAL DIRECTOR OF CUSTOMER SERVICE, MICHAEL VON BALSOM, AT 904-731-4010, AND HAVE NOT RECEIVED ANY RETURN PHONE CALLS, HAVE REQUESTED AN ESTIMATE OF REPAIRS FROM TOM BUSH MAZDA FROM PAM BUSBY, AND HAVE NOT RECEIVED AN ESTIMATE. *NM

2004 MAZDA, MODEL MAZDA3 PASSENGER CAR, FRONT WHEEL DRIVE, 16,000 MILES. THE REAR WHEELS CONTINUALLY SHOW LOTS OF BRAKE DUST WHILE THE FRONT WHEELS ARE ALWAYS CLEAN. THIS INDICATES MOST BRAKING IS DONE BY REAR WHEELS CONTRARY TO EXPECTATIONS. DEALER IGNORES MY COMPLAINTS. *NM