2017 Mazda MAZDA6

Mazda 6's from 2017 have a known, reported defect that causes the touch screen to "ghost touch" and randomly enter into the car's menus and change settings, dial phone numbers, delete entries, etc. There is a service bulletin issued to replace the touchscreen cover/lens but Mazda does not honor this repair for cars out of warranty and want to charge customers for this repair. This is a potential liability since the car can change safety settings that a driver is accustomed and relies on without their knowledge possibly resulting in serious injury or death.

I’ve had my 2017 Mazda6 for 2 years and first had an issue when the vehicle could not detect the key fob was near. A Mazda dealership at that time could not resolve the issue. Now at times the vehicle won’t start unless i physically hover the key fob over the push to start button. I continued with the purchase and now 2 years in I’ve had so many issues with the infotainment screen acting insane, known as “ghost touching”. When coming to a stop the screen will start clicking around to different screen settings on the monitor. It’s incredibly frustrating and unsafe trying to resolve this issue in the middle of Dallas traffic. Earlier this year I had to make 6 hour trip up north and cruise control caused an issue the entire ride there. When cruise control was turned on the vehicle would start to accelerate on its own. I’m familiar with cruise control and how to use it. No button to increase speed or gas were used to increase the speed at that time, and when I tried to decrease speed from the steering wheel, the button would not work, only working when the break was pressed. Last I checked, cruise control is no longer working in the vehicle. I am terrified to learn of the other issues that could come of the electrical issue I’m having with the car. The electrical issues reported from myself and others need to be a cause for a concern and a recall NEEDS to happen!! I have also noticed the collision avoidance light will turn on and off, I’m not sure if this is related to the above issues but am certain that the key fob light that stays on, never shutting off is related. Please help!!

My "infotainment" system was experiencing ghost touching. In other words, the touch screen in the car that controls everything from radio to bluetooth to settings for safety features such as braking assist and automatic sensor wipers would completely go crazy and select/unselect features in the touchscreen. Sometimes it was one touch at a time (ie, change the radio station). Over time, and the more humid it was outside, I would have drives where every time the car was under 10mph, the touchscreen would go berserk. The car does have a feature where you cannot change settings when the car is going faster than 10mph, so thankfully this could not happen continuously. I had many instances where I would be braking to stop at a red light and the volume of the radio would go up so high that you would immediately cover your ears. (I keep radio at volume 10-15 and go to 30 when I want it really loud, it would go to 50 or more by itself). Obviously this is not good when you are at 10mph and still coming to a stop with a car in front of you. The first time it happened, I was so unaware that I immediately slammed on the brakes to a complete stop and the car behind me barely missed hitting me. Other instances involved the ghost touching turning off the "brake assist" option in the settings and turning off the "rain sensing wipers" feature all while driving. I would have to wait until my destination, then turn off the car and then turn back on to turn these safety features back on for the next drive. Obviously this is not good safety, when these safety features turn off during a drive. It got to the point I would not drive my kids in the car anymore. The Mazda dealer did not understand what was happening, but a quick Google search shows this issue for 2017 Mazda 6 and 2014-2016 Mazda3. Thats alot of cars and the only fix is to replace the touchscreen. I replaced mine in the summer of 2021 and paid well over $900. This needs to be recalled to prevent future issues for owners.