2016 Mazda MAZDA3

In mid-2021, the Mazda Connect infotainment system suddenly stopped working. Upon starting the car, the software boots over and over again. The Bluetooth is inoperable; radio plays but I cannot change stations; steering wheel functionality of these features is absent; backup camera is intermittent and dimmer. The latter is a safety issue. The Mazda dealer diagnosed a malfunction of the connectivity master unit (CMU) and said they have had a rash of the same problem with 2016's recently.

The infotainment system fails to work - it is where I can access information re: maintenance schedule, or any info that is associated with a lit engine light. In addition the charging system for my mobile phone has ceased working. This includes both the usb ports and the lighter port which can be adapted with a charger that works in that receptable. These are all safety issues as far as I am concerned. Not having information related to the vehicle engine light is a big issue, but so is the fact that I can't charge my phone on long distance drives. If I needed assistance, I would be unable to contact anyone without a working cell phone. Because the display also controls the ability to pair a phone with blue tooth, there is concern for other drivers of the Mazda 3 (mine is a 2016) will be using the phone regardless of the bluetooth malfunction. I have seen a safety recall on other Mazda's with relation to the infotainment screen, but I do not see one here. I wonder why? To repair this crucial component would cost many hundreds of dollars -- something I am not in a position to do. Mazda claims this infotainment center is not under warranty, but with so much important information and safety features embedded into it, I think it should be corrected by recall. Thank you for investigating this issue. Regina

THE INFOTAINMENT SYSTEM COMPUTER IS ON CONSTANT REBOOT LOOP. AT FIRST IT WOULD ONLY OCCUR WHEN WEATHER WAS VERY COLD OR HOT. THEN IT STARTED HAPPENING AT LEAST 75% OF THE TIME NO MATTER THE WEATHER. I HAD MAZDA DEALERSHIP LOOK AT IT PRIOR TO FULL WARRANTY RUNNING OUT, THEY COULDN'T FIND AN ORIGIN OF ISSUE AND SIMPLY CHECKED FOR SOFTWARE UPDATES. IT STARTED HAPPENING MORE FREQUENTLY AND PAST FULL WARRANTY SO CANT GET LOOKED AT OR DIAGNOSED FOR FREE. A RECALL FOR THE INFOTAINMENT SCREEN WAS NOTIFIED TO ME AND REPLACED AT DEALERSHIP BUT DID NOT RESOLVE THE ISSUE. WHEN IT REBOOTS, IT OCCURS FOR ALMOST ENTIRE DRIVE, MAKING IT ALONG WITH ALL ITS FEATURES UNUSABLE. THIS IS DANGEROUS SINCE THE BACKUP CAMERA BLACKS OUT SPONTANEOUSLY WHEN IN REVERSE. THE HANDS FREE DRIVING, GPS, MUSIC, AND EVERYTHING ELSE RELATING TO INFOTAINMENT SYSTEM IS UNABLE TO BE USED. MANY OTHERS HAVE HAD THIS SAME ISSUE AND MAZDA HAS NOT RECALLED THE PART. BECAUSE IT TURNS OFF ABRUPTLY WHEN BACKUP CAM AND GPS IS IN USE, IT IS A MAJOR SAFETY ISSUE. IT IS GENERALLY ALSO DISAPPOINTING BECAUSE A MAJOR FACTOR IN PURCHASING THAT YEAR AND MODEL OF MAZDA WAS DUE TO THE AWESOME INFOTAINMENT SYSTEM, BUT BEFORE WARRANTY EXPIRED AND AFTER I HAVE BEEN UNABLE TO USE IT 90% OF THE TIME.

MY CAR HAS 28330 MILES. I BOUGHT THE CAR TWO YEARS AGO. LAST WEEK I WAS PARK IN FROM OF MY HOUSE. IN THE MORNING, I GOT IN THE CAR AND MY STEERING WHEEL DOESN'T TURN. I TOOK IT TO MAZDA AND THEY WANT TO CHARGE ME $3200 TO FIX THIS. THEY WON'T TELL MY WHAT HAPPEN OTHER THAN I NEED A NEW STEERING RACKS. I BARELY DRIVE THIS CAR, NEVER ROUGH, ALWAY SERVICE IT. THIS CAR IS TOO NEW TO HAVE THIS PROBLEM. MAZDA WILL NOT EVEN TRY TO HELP ME. THIS CAR IS MY LIFELINE.

MY 2016 MAZDA 3 IS DOING THE SAME THING AS WHAT YOU JUST HAD A RECALL ON WITH THE SOFTWARE BUT MAZDA UPDATED THE SOFTWARE AND IT'S BACK AGAIN MY CAR IS HAVING TROUBLE GOING IT MISFIRES MY CHECK ENGINE LIGHT IT'S ON IT TAKES A LOT OF RPMS TO GO IT'S SUCKING UP MY GAS I'VE ALREADY HAD TO REPLACE MY BATTERY BECAUSE MY CAR IS DYING MY FUSE BOX SMOKES EVERY NOW AND THEN AND I ONLY HAVE 45000 MILES THIS SHOULDN'T BE HAPPENING

THIS IS IN REFERENCE TO A MAZDA RECALL I RECEIVED IN THE MAIL IN 08/19. I OWN A 2016 MAZDA3 AND THE RECALL NOTICE WAS FOR THE SOFTWARE/DISPLAY CONSOLE. I CALLED HYMAN BROS MAZDA IN NEWPORT NEWS, VA TO MAKE APPT TO GET THIS FIXED ON 08/21/19 AND WAS REFERRED TO THE SERVICE DEPT. I MADE AN APPT AND WAS SEEN ON 08/28/19. I DID NOT UNDERSTAND WHEN I MADE THE APPT ON 08/21/19 THAT THIS WAS NOT TO REPAIR MY VEHICLE BUT TO LOOK AND CONFIRM THAT IS WHAT I NEEDED. I TOOK TIME OFF WORK FOR WHAT ENDED UP BEING A 5 MIN APPT TO CONFIRM I DID IN FACT NEED THAT PART. HOWEVER I AM STILL WAITING ON THAT PART. I HAVE CALLED WEEKLY FOR A STATUS UPDATE AND THE BEST THE PARTS DEPT. CAN OFFER ME IS THAT THE PART IS ON BACK ORDER AND NOT SURE WHEN IT WILL COME IN. MEANWHILE I AM STILL DRIVING MY VEHICLE AND THE ELECTRONIC DISPLAY WILL INTERMITTENTLY NOT WORK. THE NAVIGATION FEATURE AT TIMES IS NOT USABLE, OTHER TIMES IT WILL AUTO DIAL NUMBERS IN MY CALL HISTORY WITHOUT MY PROMPTING OR AUTOMATICALLY JUMP FROM ONE RADIO STATION TO ANOTHER. I FEEL THAT IT HAS BECOME UNSAFE FOR ME TO DRIVE. I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW HOW MUCH LONGER I AM EXPECTED TO WAIT ON A PART FROM A NATIONWIDE RECALL TO GET MY CAR FIXED. I CALLED 11 TIMES SINCE 08/19 AND SENT 2 EMAIL REQUESTS THROUGH THE HYMAN BROS MAZDA WEBSITE WITH NO RESPONSE. THE 1ST TIME I SENT THIS QUERY, I RECEIVED AN AUTO MESSAGE ON 09/11/19 STATING THEY RECEIVED MY EMAIL AND WILL BE IN CONTACT WITH ME SHORTLY. THAT WAS OVER A MONTH AGO AND I HAVE YET TO RECEIVE ANY RESPONSE. THE 2ND TIME I SENT A QUERY ON 10/17/19 AND AGAIN RECEIVED AN AUTO RESPONSE STATING THEY WILL BE IN CONTACT WITH ME BUT STILL NOTHING. ON 10/22/19, THE CAR AUTO-DIALED 5 TIMES AND PREVENTED ME FROM HANGING UP. THIS WAS AN ACCIDENT WAITING TO HAPPEN AS I WAS DRIVING DISTRACTED TRYING TO SHUT IT OFF. I PARKED THE CAR AND DISCONNECTED THE BLUE TOOTH FEATURE FROM MY CELLPHONE.

6/18/19 6:45 AM: MY CAR 'STALLED' OR LOST POWER AS I WAS ACCELERATING AND TURNING LEFT ACROSS A BOULEVARD (US 51 HWY IN MCFARLAND, WI). LUCKILY, I WAS ABLE TO PULL OVER AND CAME TO A COMPLETE STOP, PUT THE CAR IN PARK, TURNED OFF THE CAR (EVEN THOUGH I HAD NO POWER), WAITED A FEW SECONDS AND RESTARTED IT. THERE WERE A LOT OF DASH WARNING LIGHTS TRIGGERED ONCE I LOST POWER, BUT I DO NOT RECALL SPECIFICALLY WHICH ONES. I RESUMED DRIVING AND HAVE NOT HAD A PROBLEM SINCE. HOWEVER, I DID FIND OUT LATER (JULY 10, 2019) THAT MY CAR COULD BE UNDER NHTSA RECALL NO. 19V497000, BUT WAS TOLD BY MY DEAL RUSS DARROW-MADISON, WI, ON 7/26/19 THAT MY CAR WAS NOT ELIGIBLE. I ASKED IF THEY REPORT THE PROBLEM TO ANYONE & THEY SAID NO, BUT IF THERE IS A RECALL ON MY CAR, IT WOULD HAVE DOCUMENTATION IN THEIR NOTES THAT SAYS THERE WAS A PROBLEM.

CMU IS ON A CONSTANT REBOOT. BROUGHT TO MAZDA DEALERSHIP TO BE NOTIFIED THE CMU NEEDS TO BE REPLACED. CAR IS ONLY 3.5 YEARS OLD WITH 53K MILES. THIS IS A KNOWN ISSUE WITH THESE CARS BUT MAZDA WON'T PAY FOR THE REPAIR BECAUSE IT'S OUT OF WARRANTY. 1200+ FOR REPAIR. CONTACTED CORPORATE AND THEY OFFERED $500 TOWARDS THE REPAIR. NOT GOOD ENOUGH, WILL BE GETTING RID OF THE CAR AND THEY LOST A LOYAL MAZDA CUSTOMER FOREVER. MAZDA IS STAYING THIS ISN'T A SAFETY ISSUE THAT IS WHY THERE IS NO RECALL. I BEG TO DIFFER. HAVING AN INFOTAINMENT CENTER THAT IS ON A CONSTANT REBOOT IS VERY DISTRACTING AND HALF THE TIME WHEN I REVERSE THE CAMERA DOESN'T LIGHT UP DEPENDING ON WHERE IN THE REBOOT CYCLE IT IS.