2012 MAZDA MAZDA3 Complaints

WHEN BREAKING FROM A SPEED OF 35 MILES PER HOUR THE HEADLIGHTS FLICKER TO A VERY DIM DEGREE. IT IS NEARLY A STROBE LIGHT. APPARENTLY THERE IS A SOFTWARE UPDATE FIX FOR THIS FROM A TSB SO WHY ISN'T THIS RECALLED? IT IS CLEARLY DANGEROUS AND COMMON.

WE RECEIVED A NOTICE THAT OUR VEHICLE HAD A SAFETY RECALL FOR LIFT GATE STAY DAMPERS IN OCTOBER 2016. AT THIS DATE 1/24/2017. THE PARTS ARE STILL NOT AVAILABLE FOR THE REPAIR. BASED ON THE SAFETY RECALL THAT THE LIFT GATE COULD CORRODE AND FALL WE BELIEVE THIS IS NEEDING A MORE SPEEDY RESOLUTION THAN THAT WHICH IT IS CURRENTLY RECEIVING. *TR

CRUISE QUIT WORKING, TRACTION CONTROL LIGHT CAME ON AND SHORTLY THEREAFTER THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON. THEN ALL THE LIGHTS ON THE DASH STARTED FLASHING AND WENT INTO LIMP MODE. CAR DECELERATED AND I PULLED OVER TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD. TURNED CAR OFF AND THEN IT WOULDN'T START. WAITED ABOUT 10 MIN AND RESTARTED SUCCESSFULLY WITH THE CHECK ENGINE AND TRACTION CONTROL LIGHT STILL ON. DROVE ANOTHER 70 MILES GOING IN AND OUT OF LIMP MODE WITH DASH LIGHTS FLASHING ON & OFF. TOOK TO DEALER AND REPLACED THE ANGLE (SP?) SENSOR IN STEERING WHEEL. DEALER RESET ALL CODES AND IT'S DONE IT TWICE SINCE GETTING CAR BACK, DEALER CAN'T FIGURE OUT WHAT'S WRONG. HAVE TO GO IN AND HAVE THE CODES RESET EVERY TIME TO GET IT BACK TO RUNNING AGAIN.

MY BATTERY WAS DEAD. I JUMP STARTED THE CAR AND BACKED OUT OF MY DRIVEWAY. WHEN I STARTED FORWARD, THE POWER STEERING HAD AN INTERMITTENT MALFUNCTION AND SEVERAL WARNING LIGHTS ACTIVATED. I REPLACED THE BATTERY, AND EVERYTHING RETURNED TO NORMAL. IN MY CASE, THERE WAS NO PROBLEM BECAUSE THE CAR WAS IN MY DRIVEWAY. HOWEVER, HAD I JUMP STARTED THE CAR ELSEWHERE, A SHOPPING CENTER PARKING LOT FOR EXAMPLE, THE LOSS OF STEERING MAY HAVE HAD ADVERSE CONSEQUENCES. IN RESEARCHING THE PROBLEM, I FOUND THAT THIS FREQUENTLY OCCURS IN MAZDA3S REGARDLESS OF THE YEAR.

WHEN DRIVING, THE FRONT HEADLIGHTS WILL FLICKER/STROBE/DIM WHEN THE BRAKE PEDAL IS ENGAGED OR WHEN MY FOOT IS REMOVED FROM THE GAS PEDAL. USUALLY THE LIGHTS WILL HAVE A MORE PRONOUNCED FLICKER AT SPEEDS BETWEEN 45-60 MPH; HOWEVER, I HAVE NOTICED THE FLICKER AT SPEEDS AS LOW AS 30 MPH. THIS HAS HAPPENED EVERY MORNING/NIGHT FOR A WEEK OR SO AND EVERY DEALERSHIP I HAVE TALKED WITH DOES NOT KNOW OF THIS ISSUE. I RESEARCHED A FEW MAZDA FORUMS AND FOUND MULTIPLE POSTS REGARDING A PROGRAMMING UPDATE FOR THE VEHICLE THAT WOULD BE A FIX. I AM WORKING ON GETTING IN TOUCH WITH MAZDAUSA FOR ADDITIONAL SUPPORT BECAUSE GOING TO A DEALERSHIP FOR DIAGNOSTIC TESTS AND SUCH IS EXTREMELY EXPENSIVE AND NOT AT ALL CUSTOMER FRIENDLY.

RAN CAR INTO SIDE FENCING PUT UP FOR CONSTRUCTION IN REGARDS TO DODGING DEBRIS ON I295 FROM CONSTRUCTION WORK. MY TIRE BLEW OUT FROM HAVING TO RUN INTO THE GUARD RAIL AND I HAD TO PUT A DONUT TIRE ON. I BELIEVE THIS INCIDENT IS CORRELATED TO THE CONSTRUCTION WORK GOING ON FOR MONTHS NOW AND THAT I SHOULD BE REIMBURSED A NEW TIRE AND RIM FOR MY 2012 MAZDA 3/

ABOUT A YEAR AGO, I HAD TO REPLACE MY TIRES AT JUST UNDER 30,000 MI BECAUSE THE TREADS WORE IMPROPERLY. FAST FORWARD A FEW MONTHS, MY AXLE WORE OUT AND HAD TO BE REPLACED. HOWEVER, THE REAL PROBLEM COMES WHEN ABOUT 3 WEEKS AGO, I WAS DRIVING AT ABOUT 75 MILES AN HOUR ON A MAJOR HIGHWAY, FOUR LANES OF TRAFFIC, AND THE ENGINE STARTS JUMPING. THE RPMS GO UP AND DOWN, BUT THE CAR WON'T ACCELERATE. I GET THE CAR TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD ON PURE MOMENTUM. THE CAR THEN TURNS COMPLETELY OFF WITH THE KEY IN THE ON POSITION, BUT NOT LIGHTS COME ON. I REMOVE THE KEY, WAIT 5 MINUTES AND THE CAR TURNS BACK ON. IT DIED AGAIN A FEW MIN LATER SO I HAVE IT TOWED TO A MECHANIC, WHO CAN'T FIND ANYTHING WRONG. 5 MIN AFTER LEAVING THE MECHANIC'S SHOP, MY CAR STARTS JUMPING AGAIN; I BARELY MADE IT BACK. THE MECHANIC IS AT A LOSS AND RECOMMENDS THE DEALERSHIP SINCE THERE ARE NO CODES. THE DEALER GETS IT AND WORKS WITH IT FOR A FEW DAYS AND SAYS THAT THE MASS AIR FLOW SENSOR (MAFS) WAS CLOGGED, WHICH WAS TURNING OFF THE CAR, AND THE BEARINGS WERE ALSO CAUSING PROBLEMS BECAUSE THEY WERE WORN OUT (FROM THE AXLE BEING IMPROPERLY INSTALLED). THEY REPLACED THE BEARINGS, CLEANED THE MAFS, AND RESET THE COMPUTER, UNDER THE WARRANTY, AND TOLD ME MY CAR WAS OK. 2 DAYS LATER, I'M DRIVING ON A MAJOR HIGHWAY AGAIN AND THE CAR STARTS JUMPING AGAIN. I WAS ABLE TO BARELY MAKE IT OUT OF TRAFFIC BEFORE THE CAR DIED AGAIN. THE CAR STARTS UP AGAIN 5 MIN LATER AND I TAKE ABOUT 10 MIN TO GET TO SAFETY AS THIS REPEATS. THE DEALER HAS MY CAR FOR ALMOST 3 WKS, MAZDA'S FIELD ENGINEERS GET INVOLVED, THEY-CHECKED THE FUEL COMPONENTS, THE COMPUTER, FILTERS ETC, AND THEN MAZDA RECOMMENDS CHECKING THE WIRING HARNESS. A CLIP HAD BROKEN ABOVE THE AXLE ON THE ENGINE THAT ALLOWED THE WIRING TO WEAR OUT. THEY HAD TO REDO THE WIRING IN A DIFFERENT WAY SO IT WOULDN'T WEAR--THIS SEEMS LIKE IT HAS HAPPEN TO OTHERS W/O RESOLUTION.

AFTER 90K MILES, THE AIRBAG LIGHT CAME ON. I TOOK THE CAR INTO THE DEALERSHIP, THE DIAGNOSTIC REQUIRED ME TO REPLACE THE SAS MODULE. I WOULD NEED TO RE-CALIBRATE THE AIRBAG SENSORS, IF THIS WAS UNSUCCESSFUL THEN I WOULD NEED TO SPEND ANOTHER $2400 REPLACING THE AIRBAG SENSORS. THE CAR HAS BEEN IN NO ACCIDENTS AND NO FENDER BENDERS, SEEMS LIKE A MANUFACTURE DEFECT.

GAS CAP. THIS IS A KNOWN PROBLEM. THE GAS CAP WORKS ITSELF LOOSE AND CAUSES THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT TO ILLUMINATE SINCE A LOOSE GAS CAP INTRODUCES AN OXYGEN LEAK. THE DEALER'S FIX IS TO TIGHTEN THE CAP. HOWEVER, ONCE THE CAR IS OUT OF WARRANTY, THIS CAUSES THE OWNER TO HAVE TO EITHER BUY A CODE SCANNER TO RESET THE CODE OR GO TO THE DEALER AND PAY FOR A DIAGNOSIS. THIS PROBLEM IS NOT AFFECTED BY THE TYPE OF DRIVING OR ROAD CONDITIONS. THE CAP WORKS ITSELF LOOSE AND THAT TRIGGERS THE WARNING LIGHT.

WHEN DECELERATING, I'LL PUSH IN CLUTCH, APPLY BRAKE, AND SHIFT TO A LOWER GEAR. AS I LET OUT THE CLUTCH, CAR WILL SOMETIMES LURCH FORWARD (AS IF I'M DEPRESSING ACCELERATOR EVEN THOUGH I'M NOT). I MUST IMMEDIATELY DEPRESS CLUTCH AGAIN AND LET OUT SLOWLY TO PREVENT THE SUDDEN SURGE IN ACCELERATION. MOST OFTEN HAPPENS WHEN I AM COMING OUT OF A TURN AND BEGIN TO LET OUT CLUTCH. ALSO, AT 3 1/2 YEARS OLD, WITH 95,000 MOSTLY HIGHWAY MILES, MANUAL TRANSMISSION HAS STARTED POPPING OUT OF 4TH GEAR WHILE DRIVING. I'LL BE DRIVING ALONG AND FOR NO REASON SHIFTER WILL POP OUT OF GEAR. INDEPENDENT TRANSMISSION SHOP SAID CAUSE IS LIKELY BAD BEARINGS INSIDE TRANSMISSION AND RECOMMENDED REPLACEMENT WITH MANUFACTURED TRANSMISSION. I NEVER HAD PROBLEMS WITH MY 2010 MAZDA 5 WITH 5 SPEED MANUAL TRANSMISSION. I'VE REPORTED PROBLEMS TO MAZDA SERVICE AND OF COURSE THEY CAN NEVER GET PROBLEM TO REPEAT ITSELF WHILE THEY ARE DRIVING.