MAZDA Complaints

Car had 63,000 miles on it. Began making very loud noise. Brought to private mechanic, then dealer. Both agreed car had mechanical failure of rear differential. The full system needed replacing for safety. All agreed this should not occur with only 63,000 miles.

The vehicle has a poor quality of paint which chips quite easily upon the slightest impact by road debris. I purchased this SUV brand new in Soul Red color, newly launched for 2017, and soon discovered that the paint was chipping away in various spots exposing the clear coat. This started happening immediately after buying the car and continues to this day at 20,000 miles. Every time we would go on a highway trip (not off-roading), the paint would chip in new spots (hood, fenders etc.) upon the slightest impact with small, everyday highway debris. The dealer dismissed it and stated that this is “normal”, as if I was new to driving and maintaining cars. I have always kept the car clean, washed, and waxed so I was terribly disappointed when this started happening. It has reduced the resale value of the car without a doubt, and will certainly initiate body corrosion in places where the paint has chipped. I have been forced to use paint touch-up in different spots just to maintain the cosmetic look and stop corrosion.

The underside frame/carriage of the vehicle developed corrosion in just the first three years. Granted it is surface corrosion, and not a perforation, still it is not something that a customer expects in the first 3-5 years of owning a vehicle. This indicates a low level of anti-corrosion treatment to the metallic parts of the undercarriage.

The Adaptive Cruise Control system (collectively including the Lane Departure Warning, Forward Collision Warning, Smart city brake support etc.) on this SUV stops working abruptly and randomly while the car is in operation on the road. This is a major safety concern as it can crash into a leading vehicle in absence of adaptive cruise capabilities. The system generally resets or starts working again after a 5-10 minutes, but there is no rhyme or reason why it stopped working or when it would start again. It has happened in cloudy, harsh cold weather, and also on a bright, warm sunny day. This makes the ACC unreliable. The dealer could not reproduce the malfunction, as generally the car is stationary in the workshop or isn’t driven for a long enough time while testing.

The brake pads on this vehicle wear out prematurely, despite not using them aggressively. All four brake pads on the SUV wore out in less than the first 16,000 miles (first 3 years) and had to be replaced. The braking has also aways been “soft” and the car takes longer to come to a full-stop in the event urgent braking has to be done in traffic. The rotors have corroded prematurely too, despite keeping the car very clean and dry as a matter of habit. The dealer dismissed this issue stating the brakes were fine, as if this was the first car I was driving. I do not engage in hard stops, or perform sudden, jerky, brake applications and yet the brake pads wore out to almost nothing. All the other cars that I’ve owned historically had their brake pads last for 6-8 years of normal driving while this car wore them down in just 3 years. Premature brake pad wear can be a huge safety issue since an unsuspecting driver may not be aware of it and can result in an accident on the road from the vehicle not being able to come to a full stop in time.

The car battery does not get fully charged even after long trips and continuous use of the vehicle. It has been so ever since the vehicle was purchased brand new and maintained meticulously with all service performed on-time at the dealership. Even after long trips exceeding 350 miles, the battery would charge only up to 50% (12.2 volts) and never to 100% (12.7 volts). Thereafter it would quickly discharge to Low (<11.9 volts) if a few shorter trips were made. Upon bringing this to the dealer’s attention while the car was still under warranty, they ran a battery and alternator test and quickly dismissed the issue saying that both the battery and alternator were working fine. Nevertheless, in just two years the OEM battery failed from constantly being in a state of low charge, despite using the vehicle regularly for long trips. Because the dealer refused to honor the warranty, I had to replace with a new battery at my own cost. Now the new battery doesn’t charge beyond 50% (12.2v) either, and I have to routinely charge it every few days to full (12.7v) with an external battery charger just so the battery doesn’t die and either gets me stranded on the road (safety issue for myself and others) or damages computers/other electrical components (reliability and repair issue).

The contact owns a 2019 Mazda CX5. The contact received notification of NHTSA campaign number 21V875000(Fuel System, Gasoline) however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The local dealer was contacted and it was confirmed that the part was not yet available and would not be available until mid-summer. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The contact stated on two separate occasions while driving at undisclosed speeds, the vehicle stalled without warning. After a restart, the vehicle operated as designed. The contact was concerned that the failure might occur while driving on a busy freeway. VIN tool confirms parts not available. The failure mileage was 5,000.

Driving my car pulling out of driveway when power steering cut out and steering became very difficult Had car brought to mechanic and he found there was a recall on steering torque sensor. Mazda said that was replaced on 8/10/2016 but the part they replaced it with failed just like the original recalled part did. They refused to fix it again saying they completed the recall on this car. Wouldn’t even have a next level supervisor call me to talk about fixing the safety issue

Headed out to the store and engine was running rough and CEL was on. Thought it was bad gas because I just put a few dollars in. Added gas treatment and topped off tank and continued to store. Stopped at Advanced Auto near the grocery store so they could pull the code. It was a P0016 - cam position sensor. If that was bad it would explain rough idle. Leaving to come home engine was a bit rougher and realized there was no heat blowing. Only 4 miles from home so kept driving figuring thermostat was broke but was concerned 2 things bad at once. About a mile up the street complete loss of engine power, power everything was on. Had no power steering or brakes. Managed to coast into a parking lot. Shut off engine, and waited. Restarted engine, notice temp gauge starting to go higher - pulled back onto street but again lost power steering and brakes. Managed to pull into parking log of auto repair shop and left vehicle there. Contacted Mazda next day - they agreed it was mostly the water pump failure and could possible fix it. Arranged for tow later in the week. Mazda inspected and said they could not repair. Needs new engine $5000-6000.

Car has 38000 miles and the caliber needed replaced yesterday. Brakes started grinding a day before that slightly in the morning by the time I got off work and drove home it was so loud I was terrified to break at all. Mechanic said he’s not seen calipers seize up like that in a newer model car.