Emissions Recall

[leftoverture]

Our 3 turned 20k miles yesterday. Hasn't been back to the dealer even once. Completely problem free. But came home to an emission recall notice. Bummer. The trouble free streak is over.

 

[ceric]

I personally don't see recalls as problems.
They are just inconvenience. Even that is a stretch.
You just have them taken care of at next oil change.

The '05 Prius we owned had FOUR recalls during our 7 yrs of ownership.
Other than those, 0 problem.

 

[stjohans]

I got that recall done last week. According to my dealership its just an ECU reflash. Something about a possibility of not starting in extremely cold temperatures due to problems with the ECU getting confused with the engine temperature reading.

I should note that I have not had a single issue with the car starting and I live in Canada and park outside. Coldest start has been in -35C (-30F), without plugging in the block heater.

 

[concept]

Our 10.7 year old Lexus RX400h has had 3 recalls that were nothing more than minor inconveniences. The only "issue" we've experienced is an intermittent error message when attempting to play CDs. Other than that (which I fix by turning the ignition switch on and off while pressing the eject button), the vehicle, like my Mazda3, has been flawless.

Recalls are proactive actions to prevent premature "issues".

 

[leftoverture]

I have to disagree. Anything that necessitates a trip to the dealer is a problem. I do my own oil changes and routine maintenance precisely because I hate spending time at auto repair facilities. This recall is a 15 minutes software reflash for which I now have to schedule an appointment and, in all likelihood, have to leave my car with the dealer for a whole day to get done. (Though I certainly hope they will do it while I wait.) The real upside is that this is our second 3 but our first recall. My daughter's Saturn, by comparison, has had six recalls.....or is it seven now?

 

[kms1990]

I have to disagree. Anything that necessitates a trip to the dealer is a problem. I do my own oil changes and routine maintenance precisely because I hate spending time at auto repair facilities. This recall is a 15 minutes software reflash for which I now have to schedule an appointment and, in all likelihood, have to leave my car with the dealer for a whole day to get done. (Though I certainly hope they will do it while I wait.) The real upside is that this is our second 3 but our first recall. My daughter's Saturn, by comparison, has had six recalls.....or is it seven now?

or would you rather mazda not recall your car and it screw up on you? i do all my own work as well but seriously dude a recall is the manufacturer saying we see a problem lets fix it so it wont get dangerous

 

[ceric]

Cannot agree more.
My '98 BMW 540iA had tons of issues, and 0 recall.
(entire cooling system was replaced - one part after another - before 70k)
BMW does not care. There are many people waiting in line to get one. Current owners be scr8wed.

or would you rather mazda not recall your car and it screw up on you? i do all my own work as well but seriously dude a recall is the manufacturer saying we see a problem lets fix it so it wont get dangerous

 

[leftoverture]

or would you rather mazda not recall your car and it screw up on you? i do all my own work as well but seriously dude a recall is the manufacturer saying we see a problem lets fix it so it wont get dangerous

You missed my point entirely. Of course they need to recall, but a recall is still a problem and an inconvenience to the owner. But Mazda has fewer recalls than most.

 

[concept]

It certainly is possible to expect/demand perfection without being "perfect", yourself. However, if you in fact, never make any mistakes, you are truly blessed.(drinks)

 

[stjohans]

I would be pissed if I had to book an appointment with my dealer and leave the car all day for a simple software update... I went in for an oil change with no appointment, was notified of the recall, and had my car back with oil change, recall, and washed in about an hour.

 

[YelPro03]

Although I do agree that a recall is an inconvenience but I have no problems with it. Voluntary recalls to me are a way for car makers to be pro-active, as mentioned, to prevent any possible future issues. This tells me that the car maker cares enough about their customers to own up to a possible issue and fix it now (which will be cheaper, easier, and takes less time) than let the problem materialize and cause some damage and result in greater inconvenience. Too bad they can't be like Tesla and do the software updates over the air. BTW, how come I didn't get a recall notice. What model 3 do you have and which transmission? Is it an "I" or "s"? Auto or manual?

 

[leftoverture]

I don't have the recall sheet with me at the moment, but mine is a 2014 Touring 2.0 auto.

Some of you seem to be mistaking my post as whining. As I have said before, my post is intended to highlight how few problems Mazda had compared to other makes.

But a recall is a recall and therefore the streak of 20,000 miles without returning to the dealer is now over.

 

[concept]

I dis receive a recall notice a while back but will not have it done (considering its non-critical nature) until I have some other reason to visit the dealership. I do my own oil and engine/cabin air filter changes, so that may not be for a while.

 

[stjohans]

Although I do agree that a recall is an inconvenience but I have no problems with it. Voluntary recalls to me are a way for car makers to be pro-active, as mentioned, to prevent any possible future issues. This tells me that the car maker cares enough about their customers to own up to a possible issue and fix it now (which will be cheaper, easier, and takes less time) than let the problem materialize and cause some damage and result in greater inconvenience. Too bad they can't be like Tesla and do the software updates over the air. BTW, how come I didn't get a recall notice. What model 3 do you have and which transmission? Is it an "I" or "s"? Auto or manual?

Looks like OP has a 2014, same as myself and the other person who got the recall notice, perhaps it only affects 2014 models, not 2015?

 

[YelPro03]

Looks like OP has a 2014, same as myself and the other person who got the recall notice, perhaps it only affects 2014 models, not 2015?

I think the 2014 and 2015 are essentially unchanged. Same for 2016 other than options and equipment changes. Engines and transmissions are the same.

 

[YelPro03]

I don't have the recall sheet with me at the moment, but mine is a 2014 Touring 2.0 auto.

Some of you seem to be mistaking my post as whining. As I have said before, my post is intended to highlight how few problems Mazda had compared to other makes.

But a recall is a recall and therefore the streak of 20,000 miles without returning to the dealer is now over.

OK. So maybe it's just for the 2.0L engine.

 

[stjohans]

I think the 2014 and 2015 are essentially unchanged. Same for 2016 other than options and equipment changes. Engines and transmissions are the same.

Yeah, its possible they noticed the issue and any mazda3 made after a certain date got the new software installed at the factory?

 

[YelPro03]

Yeah, its possible they noticed the issue and any mazda3 made after a certain date got the new software installed at the factory?

Very possible but if they realized the potential problem early enough to fix it for the 2015 models then I would imagine the recall notice would have gone out to 2014 owners at least a year ago.

 

[kms1990]

Very possible but if they realized the potential problem early enough to fix it for the 2015 models then I would imagine the recall notice would have gone out to 2014 owners at least a year ago.

maybe its an issue that just came up. you never know. or maybe it only affects the 2014s and not the 15s

 

[YelPro03]

It's looking more like it's just the 2.0L engine and not the 2.5L.