hey mazda 3 fanbois...

Chris Brown · **Posted:** Thu Nov 06, 2008 10:23 am

i have a buddy that is looking for a mazda 3...can you help us out with some info or direct us to a good source for info on these cars:

1. what are some "known" issues that we should look for when shopping around?
2. he's looking at mazdaspeed version as well, any issues with it that you know of?

Michael Westerfield · **Posted:** Thu Nov 06, 2008 12:15 pm

Chris Brown wrote:

i have a buddy that is looking for a mazda 3...can you help us out with some info or direct us to a good source for info on these cars:

1. what are some "known" issues that we should look for when shopping around?
2. he's looking at mazdaspeed version as well, any issues with it that you know of?

I was looking at one before settling on the Stang.

The early models suffer from motor mount issues (2007), and turbo seal issues. Some find the transmissions to be hard to shift at times as well.
All in all the MS3 seemed to be a very good platform with no major issues though.

As far as forums go I never found a good one. There were a 2-3 I looked for information on, but as with all single marque boards, they were lame.

Ryan Holton · **Posted:** Thu Nov 06, 2008 12:58 pm

AC is WEAK

Kevin Butler · **Posted:** Thu Nov 06, 2008 1:04 pm

Brad Mackey has one that he does his sales traveling in. It's a hatch back. He seems to really likes his.

BriceJohnson · **Joined:** Thu Apr 13, 2006 7:33 am **Posts:** 2230

You talkin to me?

ALL of them have motor mount issues (speeds and regular 3's alike, its the same mount between the two :shock:

). The side mount is just a flawed design, and tends to fail quite frequently. They are cheap though, and mazda has redesigned it. You can get a reinforced version through mazdaspeed motorsports, but from what I hear its not actually that much stronger.

If you are looking at autos, stay away from the 4 spd, they had all sorts of troubles. 2006 they introduced the 5 spd auto that significantly improved fuel mileage and reliability.

The AC IS weak, mazda introduced a diffuser that helped things a bit in 2005 that can be retrofitted to any of them (as can a cabin air filter) but its still a full black interior, so you shouldn't expect it to cool down right away anyways.

They also tend to have PCV valve problems from what I hear, although I've never had an issue.

I frequent mazda3forums.com, and its ok, although its a bit juvenile sometimes.

There are no really big functional differences between the current car and 2004 though. I drive an early build '04 and haven't had many problems at all (just hit 93k miles). It was restyled a bit in 2007. If you are looking at a car with nav, you want one before 2006, as you can't do ANYTHING on it when moving 2006 and later. There was a special edition car in 2005, that wasn't really all that special (other than you could get it with an ugly brown interior).

Brad Mackey · **Posted:** Tue Nov 25, 2008 6:02 pm

BriceJohnson wrote:

If you are looking at autos, stay away from the 4 spd, they had all sorts of troubles. 2006 they introduced the 5 spd auto that significantly improved fuel mileage and reliability.

The AC IS weak, mazda introduced a diffuser that helped things a bit in 2005 that can be retrofitted to any of them (as can a cabin air filter) but its still a full black interior, so you shouldn't expect it to cool down right away anyways.

They also tend to have PCV valve problems from what I hear, although I've never had an issue.

There are no really big functional differences between the current car and 2004 though. I drive an early build '04 and haven't had many problems at all (just hit 93k miles). It was restyled a bit in 2007. If you are looking at a car with nav, you want one before 2006, as you can't do ANYTHING on it when moving 2006 and later.

Mine is a 2007 GT with all the bells and whistles + NAV. You're right about the NAV problem. You need to stop to do anything except basic stuff.
42,000 in 13 months. No issues. Everything works. The A/C seems OK, but can ice up on very humid days.

Karl Shultz · **Posted:** Tue Nov 25, 2008 6:08 pm

Those of you who have complaints regarding the effectiveness of your A/C, consider getting the windows tinted. It really makes a difference.

RobLupella · **Posted:** Tue Nov 25, 2008 6:14 pm

AC weakness seems to be a Mazda trait. We have a 6 wagon and took it back several times complaining about the weak AC. We were told its normal. It actually gets warm at stoplights. The automatic climate control works well in winter, but in the summer it blows on high continually, probably a result of a lot of open space in the wagon and probably a poorly located sensor.

TomFreeman · **Posted:** Tue Nov 25, 2008 7:03 pm

A related aside on weak AC. A friend told me this story...not sure of it's truthyness, but entertaining nonetheless.

In the 80's, US BMW owners complained consistently that the AC systems in new BMWs simply weren't up to the task of cooling the cars in hotter US regions. Naturally Claus, Hans and the other engineers on the refrigeration team in Munich laughed off the complaints from the silly Americans. BMW US flew the refrigeration team to Dallas in July, gave them a brand new 735i, black with black leather interior and made them drive to either Austin or Houston...The next model year, AC in BMWs got a lot better.

Aaron Buckley · **Posted:** Thu Nov 27, 2008 9:24 am

RobLupella wrote:

AC weakness seems to be a Mazda trait. We have a 6 wagon and took it back several times complaining about the weak AC. We were told its normal. It actually gets warm at stoplights. The automatic climate control works well in winter, but in the summer it blows on high continually, probably a result of a lot of open space in the wagon and probably a poorly located sensor.

Hertweck's RX-8 AC left something to be desired... so did my Protege. - AB

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