2004 Mazda MAZDA3

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

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM FAILURE VEHICLE, MAZDA 3 MANUAL, WAS RETURNED TO DEALER AFTER AIRBAG RECALL MAINTENANCE WAS PERFORMED. VEHICLE'S ELECTRICAL SYSTEM SUFFERED FROM MANY COMPLAINTS. SERVICE DEALERSHIP STATED THAT A LOOSE GROUND WIRE AT ONE OF THE FUSE PANELS WAS THE FAULT. VEHICLE'S ELECTRICAL SYSTEM RAN AS PROMISED FOR MONTHS UNTIL BOTH LOW-BEAM HEADLAMPS BLEW AT THE SAME TIME. THE DEALERSHIP HAS BEEN NOTIFIED AND ACTION WILL TAKE PLACE. I HAVE EXPERIENCED SEVERAL ELECTRICAL FAULTS IN THE VEHICLE AND ASSUME MANY MORE ARE TO COME. SAFETY WAS SEVERELY COMPROMISED. NO HEADLAMPS AT NIGHT IN A CONSTRUCTION ZONE IS VERY MUCH A PROBLEM. *JB

VEHICLE WILL NOT START OR IDLE FALLS VEHICLE, MAZDA3 MANUAL, WOULD NOT START IN DRIVEWAY ON COOL SPRING SUNDAY EVENING. TOWING SERVICE WAS DISPATCHED AND VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE CLOSEST MAZDA DEALERSHIP. AFTER SEVERAL DEALERS CALLS TO MAZDA'S CORPORATE HEADQUARTERS, THE SERVICE PROFESSIONAL WAS TOLD TO REPLACE THE IGNITION KEY AND MICROCHIPS. AFTER FOUR DAYS I WENT TO PICK UP THE VEHICLE. UPON STARTING THE VEHICLE IN THE DEALERS LOT THE IDLE BEGAN TO FALL ONCE AGAIN; HOWEVER, IT DID START THIS TIME. A FEW MILES FROM THE DEALERSHIP THE IDLE BECAME SO HARD TO DEAL WITH THAT THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED BACK TO THE ORIGINAL SERVICE DEALERSHIP ONCE AGAIN. SEVERAL MORE CALLS WERE PLACED TO THE HEADQUARTERS AND FINALLY THE DECISION WAS MADE TO REPLACE THE O2 SENSOR. THE CAR HAS STARTED AND RUN EVER SINCE THE REPAIR, BUT THE IDLE IS MUCH LOWER THAN IT WAS ON ORIGINAL RECEIPT OF THE VEHICLE, AND THE ENGINE AT IDLE SPEEDS IS MUCH LOUDER AND SOUNDS LABORED. ONCE WINTER COMES I FEAR THE PROBLEM WILL REAPPEAR. THE FUTURE OF THE VEHICLE'S PERFORMANCE IS UNKNOWN. POSSIBLE SAFETY COMPROMISE. *JB

EXCESSIVE BRAKE WEAR AND NOISE DAYS AFTER PURCHASING MY MAZDA3 I PLACED A CALL TO THE DEALERSHIP WHERE I PURCHASED IT. I STATED THAT THE VEHICLE'S BRAKING SYSTEM WAS CREATING AN EXCESSIVE AMOUNT OF NOISE AND BRAKE DUST FROM WEAR. I WAS TOLD THAT DURING THE FIRST WEEKS OF A NEW CAR THAT THIS WAS EXPECTED. THE GENTLEMAN REFERRED TO IT AS SEATING. HOWEVER, AFTER SEVERAL THOUSAND MILES, MOSTLY HIGHWAY (NO BRAKES REQUIRED), THE PADS AND ROTORS ARE BOTH DEEPLY GROOVED AND WORN. MOST WEAR OCCURS ON THE REAR BRAKES. MOST ALL BRAKING IS DONE BY THE FRONT; THEREFORE, IF WEAR SHOULD OCCUR IT WOULD BE PRESENT IN THE FRONT BRAKING SYSTEM. DEALER REQUESTED PERMISSION TO TURN THE ROTORS, WHICH I DECLINED. TURNING THE ROTORS WOULD DO NOTHING MORE THAN QUITE THE VEHICLE FOR A FEW HUNDRED MILES, UNTIL THE GROOVES AND DUST WOULD REAPPEAR. THIS PROBLEM HAS BEEN OVERTLY OBVIOUS; HOWEVER, NOTHING HAS BEEN DONE. VEHICLE'S SAFETY IS COMPROMISED. *JB

THE CAR IS A MAZDA 3 2004 WITH 18000 MILES. I BOUGHT MY WIFE THIS MAZDA 3 IN MAY OF 2005. WITH 16000 MILES. THE CAR WAS RUNNING GREAT AND IT IS A PLEASURE TO DRIVE. 3 DAYS AGO I STARTED TO HEAR A NOISE WHEN YOU TAKE YOUR FOOT OFF THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL. SOUND IS LIKE A CLICKING SOUND THAT YOU MADE WHEN YOU PUT YOUR BASEBALL CARDS ON YOUR BICYCLE TIRE. TO MAKE A LONG STORY SHORT, THE TRANSMISSION IS BEING REPLACED UNDER WARRANTY. *NM