MazdaSpeed3 reliability

Results were updated. The 2007 and 2008 Mazda3 and MS3 continue to have low repair rates. The 2008.5 appears to have a high repair rate, entirely thanks to a revised audio head unit that often needs to be replaced.

If we're to provide separate results for the MS3 in the future, we need more owners to participate.

Vehicle reliability research
 
Woah, 70 trips/year out of 25 vehicles for the '09 Mazda/speed 3? Is that accurate? Makes me a bit skeptic about buying an '09...or any for that matter. Someone, please, tell me it ain't true!
 
Woah, 70 trips/year out of 25 vehicles for the '09 Mazda/speed 3? Is that accurate? Makes me a bit skeptic about buying an '09...or any for that matter. Someone, please, tell me it ain't true!

i think you're reading it wrong (or im interpretting it incorrectly myself), and im pretty sure there's a lot of bias there as well.

first of all it says 70 trips/year per 100 vehicles for a 2009....but there were only 25 vehicles reporting in the first place. so that really means that there were only 18 trips total. that and those trips are each "successful" in their diagnosis and repairs, so is it really that bad?

plus...look how biased this is. do you really think that ppl join this site just to say that their car doesn't have any problems? no. i bet when someone has a problem they join the site and just say they had a problem. it's like the age-old saying the auto tech industry says "do somehting good and the own doesn't say anything, do something bad and the owner tells everyone they know"
 
i think you're reading it wrong (or im interpretting it incorrectly myself), and im pretty sure there's a lot of bias there as well.

first of all it says 70 trips/year per 100 vehicles for a 2009....but there were only 25 vehicles reporting in the first place. so that really means that there were only 18 trips total. that and those trips are each "successful" in their diagnosis and repairs, so is it really that bad?

plus...look how biased this is. do you really think that ppl join this site just to say that their car doesn't have any problems? no. i bet when someone has a problem they join the site and just say they had a problem. it's like the age-old saying the auto tech industry says "do somehting good and the own doesn't say anything, do something bad and the owner tells everyone they know"

Your numbers make more sense, I think they should have used 'Percent' instead of 'per 100', but that's just my preference :) Thanks for the insight
 
We don't have a full year of data for all cars. These are extrpolated figures. Formula is pretty simple: number of reported repair trips times 100 (to get rid of decimals--too many people can't handle them) times the number of months reported on, divided by 12 to annualize.

That said, the reason for the 2008.5-2009 result is clear: the revised audio system has a common problem where the bass cuts out. Solution is to replace the head unit. This is noted in a comment on the results. It might only affect the 2008.5s.

Someone here can probably provide further details on this problem. Unless Mazda is really slow on the uptake it shouldn't affect recently produced cars.

In about a month we'll start previewing the next set of results to participants. More participants needed for the MS3.

Car reliability research
 
Motor mount and idle control value is all I have had for problems. I have 38K bought in Dec 2006. No other problems.
 
Thanks. I've heard from a few people with motor mount problems, some of them serious.

Updated results in May. It might be necessary this time to separate out the MS3 results--if so the number of MS3 owners participating will be critical.

If you're not already signed up, you can do so here:

Car reliability research
 
We have updated results for the Mazda3 to include owner experiences through March 2009. In terms of successful repair trips per 100 cars per year:

2008.5-2009: 68, about average, common problem with the audio system

2008: 47, about average, might have some 2008.5s with the troublesome audio system in this sample

These figures include some MS3s. So far few reported repairs have been powertrain-related, so there is no need to post results separately for the Mazda3 and MS3.

A big thanks to everyone who has been helping. We'll have further updates in August and November. With more participants, we could provide separate results for the MS3 if this proves necessary.

Mazda Mazda3 reliability comparisons
 
The way 2007 MS3 like to break motor mounts, I'll post separate results for it next month. We're about half a dozen responses short of the minimum for a full result, so additional participants for the MS3 would be very helpful.

Car reliability research
 
Close to those separate results. We only have enough MS3 owners participating to provide partial results for it. With more participants, we could provide full results in November.

For the details, and to sign up to help:

Car reliability research
 
Great news for all the folk with blown turbos

Forums can make problems seem more common than they actually are--or not.

We have updated results for the Mazda3 to include owner experiences through June 2009. Results are now posted separately for the MazdaSpeed3. In terms of successful repair trips per 100 cars per year:

2008.5-
2009 Mazda3: 72, about average, common problem with the audio system

2008.5-
2009 MS3: 65, see note above

2008 Mazda3: 54, about average, might have some 2008.5s with the troublesome audio system in this sample

2008 MS3: 56, again see note above

2007 Mazda 3: 29, better than average

2007 MS3: 73, about average

Sample sizes range from small to nearly adequate for the MS3, so these results are not as precise as those for the regular Mazda3. That said, only with the 2007 does the MS3 appear to require more repairs.

A big thanks, once again, to Antoine, this forum, and everyone who has been helping. We'll have further updates in November and February. With more participants, we could provide more precise information.

Mazda Mazda3 reliability comparisons
 
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