2008 MAZDA MAZDA3 Complaints

WE WERE DRIVING THE CAR IN THE USUAL MANNER WHEN THE POWER STEERING WENT OUT MAKING THE CAR VERY DIFFICULT TO STEER. THIS ONLY HAPPENED ONCE BUT WAS VERY SCARY AND POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS. THE CAR RETURNED TO NORMAL ONCE IT WAS SHUT OFF AND THEN RE-STARTED SOMETIME LATER. *TR

WHILE TURNING THROUGH AN INTERSECTION ON AN EXTREMELY COLD DAY (BELOW -10 DEGREES FAHRENHEIT) DRIVER DEPRESSES BRAKES ON AN ICY SURFACE. ANT-ILOCK BRAKING SYSTEM FAILS AND VEHICLE BEGINS TO HANDLE UNEXPECTEDLY. BRAKE WARNING LIGHT AND ABS WARNING LIGHT ILLUMINATE. AFTER ~2 MILES OF DRIVING, SYSTEM STILL INACTIVE. DRIVER PULLS OVER AND SHUTS OFF VEHICLE FOR 30 SECONDS. WHEN VEHICLE IS RESTARTED, ONLY THE ABS WARNING LIGHT STILL ACTIVE. AFTER BRAKING IN SAFE LOCATION, ABS SYSTEM ACTIVATES, AND WARNING LIGHT GOES OFF. DEALER INVESTIGATION STATES THAT THE MALFUNCTION IS LIKELY CAUSED BY EXTREME LOW TEMPERATURES. NO CORRECTIVE ACTION TAKEN. *TR

AFTER EACH TIRE ROTATION, ~EVERY 10,000 MILES, TIRE NOISE BECOMES PROGRESSIVELY WORSE. AT 47,000 MILES, MECHANIC STATES THAT TIRES ARE WORN UNEVENLY, DUE TO ALIGNMENT ISSUES. *TR

I WAS DRIVING MY 2008 MAZDA3 IN HEAVY TRAFFIC ON A 90 DEGREE DAY AND THE POWER STEERING FAILED. WE HEARD A THUMP, LIKE RUNNING OVER A PAVEMENT REFLECTOR, THEN 20 SECONDS LATER THE POWER STEERING LIGHT CAME ON. I HAD TO USE TWO HANDS TO PULL IT OFF THE HIGHWAY. AFTER A RESTART, THE LIGHT WENT OFF AND THE POWER STEERING CAME BACK. *TR

WHILE SITTING IN TRAFFIC ON A HOT SUMMER DAY I WENT TO CHANGE LANES TO GRAB A COMING EXIT, IN THE MIDDLE OF MY LANE CHANGE THE CAR BECAME EXTREMELY HARD TO TURN, TO THE POINT THAT I ALMOST HIT THE CENTER MEDIAN. ONCE I WAS GOING STRAIGHT I LOOKED AT MY DASH AND THE POWER STEERING LIGHT WAS ON. I PULLED OVER I TURNED THE CAR OFF AN ON AND MY POWER STEERING CAME ON. THE NEXT DAY I WENT TO THE MAZDA DEALER AND THEY QUICKLY RECOGNIZED THE PROBLEM AND PUT IN A NEW POWER STEERING PUMP. THE FACT THAT THE MAZDA DEALER WAS AWARE THAT THIS TYPE OF PROBLEM WAS POSSIBLE ON MY CAR BUT DID NOT TELL ME LED TO ME ALMOST BEING IN AN ACCIDENT. *TR

HI - I SAW IN A NEWS STORY THAT YOU OPENED UP AN INVESTIGATION INTO MAZDA3 POWER STEERING. THIS IS A PROBLEM I'VE HAD A COUPLE OF TIMES OVER THE LAST COUPLE OF MONTHS. I HAVE A 2008 MAZDA3 PURCHASED NEW IN EARLY APRIL 2008. BASICALLY, THE POWER STEERING HAS GONE OUT TWICE ON ME - THE VEHICLE IS STILL FULLY FUNCTIONAL AND THE WARNING LIGHT DOES GO ON, BUT IT JUST REQUIRES A LOT OF MUSCLE TO TURN ON THE CAR. BOTH TIMES, IT WAS ON A WARM DAY (I LIVE IN CHICAGO) AND TOWARD THE END OF A RELATIVELY LONG COMMUTE (1 HOUR 15 MINUTES+) OF MOSTLY STOP AND GO TRAFFIC, SO I WONDERED IF IT MAY BE HEAT-RELATED BUT THAT COULD ALSO BE COINCIDENCE. THE FIRST TIME, I DROVE IT THE REMAINING MILE OR SO AND WAS ABLE TO PARK IT. AFTER RESTARTING THE CAR, POWER STEERING STILL DIDN'T WORK. WHEN I CAME LATER (EITHER A FEW HOURS OR THE NEXT DAY), IT WAS FINE. SECOND TIME WAS SIMILAR, I WAS ABLE TO TAKE BETTER MENTAL NOTES OF WHAT MIGHT HAVE TRIGGERED IT - THIS TIME, IT WENT OUT SHORTLY AFTER I CUT THE WHEEL ALL THE WAY TO ONE SIDE WHEN THE CAR WAS PRACTICALLY STATIONARY. AGAIN, HARD TO TELL IF THAT WAS WHAT TRIGGERED THE PROBLEM OR IF IT WAS SHEER COINCIDENCE ... THIS TIME, THOUGH, I PULLED OVER AND TURNED THE CAR OFF FOR JUST A COUPLE OF MINUTES AND WHEN I RESTARTED IT, IT WAS FINE. NOT SURE WHAT ELSE YOU MIGHT NEED TO KNOW... I AM UP-TO-DATE ON MY SERVICING AND THE FIRST INSTANCE OCCURRED ABOUT A WEEK AND A HALF AFTER SERVICE AT MAZDA (A WEEK IN WHICH I HADN'T REALLY DRIVEN THE CAR SINCE WE WERE ON VACATION WITH OUR OTHER CAR). I HAVE NOT YET CONTACTED MAZDA ABOUT THE PROBLEM, I WAS JUST GOING TO ASK THEM TO TAKE A LOOK AT IT NEXT TIME I BROUGHT IT IN. *TR

MY DAUGHTER WAS DRIVING OUR 2008 MAZDA 3 HOME FROM VACATION. SHE WAS IN NEW YORK CITY WHEN THE POWER STEERING FAILED. SHE STOPPED CAR. RE-STARTED APPRX 30 MINUTES LATER IT WAS OK. THE POWER STEERING FAILED AGAIN WHILE STILL IN NEW YORK. SHE WAS ALSO HAVING PROBLEMS WITH ALL THE ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS. SHE COULD NOT STEER CAR AND HAD TO STOP IN THE HOV BUS LANE. SHE WAS ALONE IN THE CAR WITH HER NEWBORN BABY. THIS CAR ONLY HAS 38000, LESS THEN 3 YEARS OLD, ALWAYS MAINTAINED AT 3000 INTERVALS. WE HAD TO PAY OVER 600 TO HAVE FIXED AND WERE TOLD THERE WAS NOTHING WRONG WITH ELECTRICAL. SOME COMPONENTS FAILED AFTER HAVING IT BACK FOR 2 DAYS, RETURNED TO DEALER AND HAD TO PAY ALMOST 200 TO HAVE REPAIRED. WE ARE OUT OVER 800 FOR A PROBLEM THAT SHOULD NOT HAVE HAPPENED. IN ADDITION WE HAD AN EXTENDED WARRANTY THAT COVERED ALMOST NOTHING. *TR

VEHICLE: 2008 MAZDA3 5 DOOR SEMI-AUTOMATIC AFTER IDLING FOR APPROXIMATELY 15 MINS. THERE WAS A COMPLETE LOSS OF POWER STEERING. I RESTARTED THE VEHICLE AND CHANGED GEARS WITH NO EFFECT. I DROVE THE VEHICLE HOME WITHOUT POWER STEERING. THE NEXT DAY THE POWER STEERING RETURNED WITH FURTHER INCIDENT. *TR

1. WHILE THE CAR WAS STOPPED FOR MORE THAN 5 MINUTES THE ENGINE WAS RUNNING INCLUDING THE AIR CONDITIONER 2. LOSS OF POWER STEERING 3. STOPPED THE CAR AND WAITED FOR A WHILE AND THEN RESTARTED THIS HAS HAPPENED TWICE IN THE PAST 2 MONTHS. *TR

WHILE DRIVING MY '08 MAZDA3 5-DOOR, 2.3L ON THE I80/94 EXPRESSWAY IN STOP AND GO CONSTRUCTION TRAFFIC, I LOST POWER STEERING. IDIOT LIGHT CAME ON. WAS ABLE TO STEER CAR HOME; JUST NO POWER STEERING. PER OWNER'S MANUAL RESTARTED CAR AND PROBLEM WAS GONE. POWER STEERING HAS NOT BEEN A PROBLEM SINCE. HAPPENED WITH ABOUT 36,000 MILES ON CAR. *TR