Mazda2 reliability discussion. How is your Mazda2 holding up?

Model Year - 2014 Mazda2 Sport AT
Mileage - just under 4000
Daily Driver - yes- about 80% highway
Race - No, but I drive it pretty rough
Long road trips - not yet
Mods - completely stock. Dipped hubcaps if that counts.
Minor Issues - none.
Major Issues - none*
Were the Issues covered under warranty? N/A
I absolutely love driving the 2! Its quick(not fast), agile, and so small it fits everywhere. I used to drive a huge explorer, so the fuel economy is a dream for me. My only complaint is that I wish it had some more GO power from a stand still.
 
Model Year - 2014 Mazda2 Sport AT
Mileage - just under 4000
Daily Driver - yes- about 80% highway
Race - No, but I drive it pretty rough
Long road trips - not yet
Mods - completely stock. Dipped hubcaps if that counts.
Minor Issues - none.
Major Issues - none*
Were the Issues covered under warranty? N/A
I absolutely love driving the 2! Its quick(not fast), agile, and so small it fits everywhere. I used to drive a huge explorer, so the fuel economy is a dream for me. My only complaint is that I wish it had some more GO power from a stand still.

I share your pain with regard to the lack of oomph, but if you're willing to drop a bit of money into it, the lack of go power can be rectified (at least to an extent) :)
 
Model Year - 2013 5mt Sport
Mileage - 6900
Daily Driver - Yes, 70%hwy, and carpool 3-4 times a week
Race - Yes, autocrossed once
Long road trips - Yes, did one 400 mile round-trip.
Mods - Yes, 15x8 +38 wheels, 205-50-15 summer dunlops@34psi, GM rear torsion beam reinforcement
Minor Issues - Yes: 1-snow tires rubbed front inner fender on below 0 degrees F days. 2-on days above 90 degrees F, the clutch pedal has some lateral play and makes a minor clunking noise
Major Issues - No
Were the Issues covered under warranty? N/A-the tire rub was partially my fault, and I haven't brought it in for the clutch pedal yet.

Overall, I'm still very happy with the car, and plan to keep mods fairly restrained (under $2k total)
 
updated july 29/14
2011 gx w/convenience pkg

65,000 km
daily driver
no race
at least two 1,500 km roadtrips, and some minor
mods: No mechanical. Hitch, roof rack, armrest, antenna

minor issues: Airbag light had come on a few times, but not recently. Rear shocks were creaking when going over bumps, occasional rattle under dash, oil leaks (unbeknownst to me)
major issues: None update: Rotors are severely warped, even though i'm still on the original brake pads with 7mm depth (of 10mm). Causes vibration when braking at higher speeds, binds the brake pads when parking/moving at slow speeds, emitting a creak-like noise.
warranty - shocks were (i'm guessing) re-greased under warranty. While down there, they found some oil leaks around the pan. All replaced under warranty. update: Steering rack parts replaced under warranty (thankfully) due to a lot of play.
 
Model Year - 2013 Touring 5spd
Mileage - 9997
Daily Driver - Yes, mostly suburban, some highway.
Race - AutoX 2-3 times a year
Long road trips - Once, ~1000mi
Mods - Corksport short shift plate, Satin black Konig Helium, Bridgestone Potenza RE-11a 195/50-15, AWR 70 duro rear dogbone, DT tune, Audio and Appearance mods
Minor Issues - Rear drums rust easy, hit with a rattlecan of Rustoleum satin black. Stupid 5000mi OCI for warranty purposes(I know my oil can make it to at least 12k!)
Major Issues - Driver side doors backed into with 167mi on car - replaced by dealer/insurance. Shattered primary shift cable attempting to get car into 2nd.**
Were the Issues covered under warranty? (EDIT) Dealership covered the cable as a "goodwill" but warned that the AWR mount will cause future denial of drivetrain warranty claims.

** Difficulty getting into 2nd has been around for about a year. This time trying to get the car into 2nd from 1st in DD traffic caused the cable to shatter the plastic jacketing under the rubber boot after the transmission cable mount. Now the car only has 2nd, 4th, and Reverse unless I remove the CS short shifter and use the stock ball position. During forward shifts (1-3-5) the new angle on the plate caused excess stress on the plastic cable jacketing and allowed the cable to break free internally. Interestingly it's not my first Mazda to do this, seems like a weak point in engineering.
 
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My 2

Model Year - 2012 Mazda2 GS (touring) 5 speed
Mileage - 44,656km (27,747 miles)
Daily Driver - Ho yeah
Race - No yet but I will when I can in the future
Long road trips - 16hrs round trip
Mods - Look at signature
Minor Issues - Rear drums exterior already all rusted out, it's only a appearance thing but I got to brush it clean and paint them back to black next spring.
Major Issues - had the rack and pinion changed under warranty, premature wear to the front brake rotors and pads. Replacing with better aftermarket performance stuff soon.

Wife's 2

Model Year - 2011 Mazda2 GS (Touring) 5 speed
Mileage - 40,100km (24,916 miles)
Daily Driver - yes, mostly country roads, rarely on the highway
Race - Nope but she drives it like she stole it :)
Long road trips - yes a few 16hrs to 30hrs roadtrips (it's our assigned roadtrip Mazda2 since 2013 )
Mods - Mostly some plasti-dip, 12v power outlets added to the rear passengers to keep the kids happy for roadtrips.
Minor Issues - door hinges need to be re-greased, same thing as mine for the rust on the drums ( I will clean that up next spring) The front seats get a bit uncomfortable in long roadtrips, I will buy a set of seat heated pads to cushion our backs.
Major Issues - Rack and pinion changed under warranty, hard time to get into reverse ( I may have to change the link cable or buy the Corksport SSP to fix the issue), front rotors and pads needs also to be changed.



Other than that both cars are great and we love them.
 
Hi,

First of all, great initiative by Tom_Mazda2. I have been researching the Mazda2 and the information presented in this thread has been very helpful coming from actual users of this vehicle. Thank you to everyone for diligently posting replies to this thread.

I am contemplating test driving a 2011 Mazda2 GS but I have a concern. The 2011 appears to be a generation refresh; I purchased a brand-new 2009 Mazda6 years ago (a generation refresh I believe) and now know of problems that seem to have been because it was a generation refresh. For example, the front fenders popping out and never going back in place despite taking the car to several body-shops and a TSB for a clicking noise in the rear that only appears during the summer.

Has anyone experienced something stubborn on 2011 that just didn't go away and had to come to grips with it being a design flaw or something?

Thank you.
 
Aside from any appearance changes Mazda made when bringing the car to North America, the 2's mechanically the same from 2008 until 2014. There certainly aren't any problems on our 2011 that haven't also cropped up on our 2013 (mostly noisy suspension when it's really cold outside).
 
Update:
2011 Mz2 Touring Manual
Approx 115k miles
Daily Driven: Yes 100+ miles a day
Race: No, just normally hit 100 mph+ when I feel like it lol
Maintenance: Replaced all filters/oil on schedule. Changed the serpentine belt and spark plugs at 100k, not needed but did as preventive.
Minor Issues: I go through brake pads/rotors like a fat kid goes through Twinkies. The normal noises these cars make is annoying but so far no issue.
Major Issues: None to date! (knocks on wood)
Mods: HR Springs, Racing Beat exhaust, KN Filter.
 
Model Year -- 2014
Mileage -- 21k km
Daily Driven -- yes, usually 5 - 6 days a week, but the normal daily work commute is only a mere ~15km one way
Race -- yes, the car has been irregularly autox-ed and tracked on numerous occassions -- probably 30+ times combined
Long road trips -- a few 400-ish km trips, at least 2 of which involved a lot of highway hill climbing. Another 1000km+ round trip from the city into the Canadian Rockies.
mods -- camber bolts, AWR 70 durometer engine mount, Dynotronics ECU tune

Issues:

Not sure whether I should consider this to be a major or minor issue. But recently after coming back from a track day, I was cruising at a leisurely pace on the highway when the CEL came up. An OBD2 scan returned a P0300 code, which was engine misfire. The car still seemed to drive no different than usual, but during idle, the revs did feel a bit lumpy. I cleared the code and kept driving the car like I normally do for another 2 days, and the CEL never came back. It was within 1000 km of my regular oil change anyway, so I brought the car back to my usual shop, and had them look into any potential issues in addition to the oil change.

My well-trusted mechanic friend came back with the following report:

- 1 single misfire in cylinder #1
- Compression and leak down test returned a clean bill of health -- 180 compression across all cylinders, and leakdown was minimal (He told me the percentage but I forgot)
- Replaced the factory FoMoCo plugs with some NGK 5464 iridium plugs. I wouldn't say the FoMoCo plugs look particularly good or bad. With such low mileage on the plugs, the porcelain still looks white; the gap size look consistent and reasonable. But the tip and electrode seem to have a thin coat of deposits on them, and I am not sure if that's the norm for this car or not.

BbujN_8HIBpyCJjlmhTAKWQyOl5wtAeUGsAG0J90oZwvayipc24HS7elLyW6PxM5cU2qRKh4UsWNIS_btVcgxvMBqmYVZQXbJ3rSbFdp7uOO-7QAdWnZmTIQ6SmUtz7wZji4engWdoXtD0HwULZ0Pd_U1i1y-uDwp6YU2bSEBB6hd_rv0BoANIIkL5y6Am20q3slBhRPlmECffnWnNUq4PmcS3-g8pBz1FXX0JxvaYygqRYIqTvySzRnl1lmWLgYEr9g_DX_Nndpp5_Ad69eB6HjxLnK6Y2XXEFptJyEbDMbDhN7ywO2GTGWqOsI6mx7l5G7cukvzbd0XU64R02YNQI06SYYzxYTDRSTtGoY_e8JUozW9mr8yHYvhjAT2Ng5WazkN_gPK5HsMgZp02QCfvYm-V_0N0agxwPnxJs9b-C1jlDppjWiVCxm6rMkCQXSH2FdDF1OvH4e1mMnYSNZgUGEigtKfPjXCD0WwrZvrflFjtCQcprwyZ6oXECtlpJrPdVRt8LIWzn3IM7nKIBaTzfMVyYEldQHIDuU447BGsIG0BVBZdMey5wC2k32ieGM28kx1PoervvfaKDNFRVtckMEzh3OQ_5ZB-rpfNPWyDeDGP6N_w=w363-h645-no


My mechanic friend has mentioned to me that he generally doesn't like FoMoCo branded plugs too much, and he has had much better experience with Denso or NGK plugs instead. Since replacing the spark plugs, the engine has become smoother, but I am not entirely certain whether that is really due to the spark plugs, or was it because of a fresh oil change. Granted, the engine wasn't coarse prior to the service either, but I definitely noticed the extra smoothness.

For the time being, I will continue to monitor how the engine is doing. Without any indicative hints of why the misfire happened, I can only chalk it up to the general abuse I have subjected the engine to. I use high octane good fuel with the car (usually Chevron Ultra 94 or Shell V-Power whatever, but always some sort of Top Tier fuel brand); I service the car on a regular basis. Hopefully, it was really a matter of the factory FoMoCo plugs not being able to keep up with the abuse, and have just started to give up.
 
Model Year - 2013 5mt Sport
Mileage - 6900
Daily Driver - Yes, 70%hwy, and carpool 3-4 times a week
Race - Yes, autocrossed once
Long road trips - Yes, did one 400 mile round-trip.
Mods - Yes, 15x8 +38 wheels, 205-50-15 summer dunlops@34psi, GM rear torsion beam reinforcement
Minor Issues - Yes: 1-snow tires rubbed front inner fender on below 0 degrees F days. 2-on days above 90 degrees F, the clutch pedal has some lateral play and makes a minor clunking noise
Major Issues - No
Were the Issues covered under warranty? N/A-the tire rub was partially my fault, and I haven't brought it in for the clutch pedal yet.

Overall, I'm still very happy with the car, and plan to keep mods fairly restrained (under $2k total)

Update:
Mileage - ~30,000
Daily Driver - Yes, 70%hwy, 6 days a week
Race - Yes, autocrossed one full season in SCCA/FSP, 1 track weekend.
Long road trips - Yes, did one 400 mile round-trip.
Mods - Yes, 15x8 +38 wheels, 205-50-15 summer dunlops DZ102@34psi, GM rear torsion beam reinforcement
Minor Issues - Yes: 1-snow tires rubbed front inner fender on below 0 degrees F days. I put appropriately sized snows on the car and get less rub, but still get it occasionally, especially when a cold snap lasts more than a couple of days. 2-on days above 90 degrees F, the clutch pedal has some lateral play and makes a minor clunking noise. 3-The Radio Aerial leaked during moderate-heavy rainstorms when sitting.
Major Issues - No
Were the Issues covered under warranty? No-The Service Coordinator at the dealer did not return my call to set up an appointment the week before the 3-year mark on the warranty. I made an appointment in person for what would be 10 days after the expiration, when I was told that it would not even be considered covered. I got a FSM and did the work myself using epoxy. N/A-the tire rub was partially my fault, and I haven't brought it in for the clutch pedal yet.

Overall, I'm still very happy with the car. The plan was to keep mods fairly restrained (under $2k total). I'm a little over that now, around $2,300. There's only a couple of mods I'm considering left to do: ECU Reflash for 93/CAI/Cat-back, moving to a 225 tire (and buying a fender roller), building a DIY front slitter, maybe a small rear spoiler, and replacing the scraped-up rear bumper.
 
121 (Demio) reliability

OK if anyone's still checking this out, specs on my 2001 121/Demio (predecessor):

Model Year - 2001 Mazda 121 Shades Metro 5sp manual (Demio)
Mileage - 260,025km (161,572 miles)
Daily Driver - Daily commuting
Race - No
Long road trips - No
Mods - K&N filter, alloys, after market stereo
Minor Issues - Interior panel wear
Major Issues - Air con not good
Were the Issues covered under warranty? N/A


Got the 121 from a relative who had mistreated it, used it as a gardening SUV basically, drove it hard...the owner before him lived near the beach and probably didn't wash the salt water off enough hence rust. Don't think much servicing has been done at all. Have hated the car for ages but after realising it wasn't that bad and putting mags on it I was converted. The engine runs smooth as anything, everything else seems to be OK given its age and abuse. The inside is falling apart due to me trying to turn it into some weird JDM car, but otherwise am gonna keep pushing this monster. Plus am getting a 2009 2 soon.
 
Model Year - 2012 GX Man5
Mileage - 80k KM
Daily Driver - Yes, about 90% highway
Race - No
Long road trips - A few 1k KM trips
Mods - Rewired for front and rear speakers
Minor Issues - Rear gear is hard to shift. Heat shielding failed at around 70k KM (we do have rough winters). Mirror switch failed at about 10k KM.
Major Issues - Front oem rotors warped 2 times in the first 3 years. Problem was fixed by using 3rd party rotors. OEM windshield was getting tiny tiny chips every time something touched it. Enough to affect visibility after a while. Windshield was replace when it cracked during the night with no visible chip big enough to explain it. Gas consumption almost doubled at 70k KM (still haven't fixed this one). Body will dent with any minor bump and paint will chip off easily.
Were the Issues covered under warranty? Rotors, but kept on failing. Mirror switch was replaced.
 
Model Year - 2012
Mileage - 83000 miles
Daily Driver - Yes, 80% highway
Race - Yes, autocross and track, 6-8 times a year
Long road trips - Yes, three trips, 1 trip is 1300 miles in total, the other 2 are 600 miles there and back.
Mods - Bilstein coilovers since 2015 put in 35000 miles on the coilover, DDM short intake
Minor Issues - Steering clunk
Major Issues - None
Were the Issues covered under warranty? N/A

With a bit over 83k miles and the only issue I have is the steering clunk....this is my most reliable car ever, not really a fair comparison since before this was 3 rx7s....But other then 2 hit and runs and a side collision, car is healthy
 
Model Year - 2012
Mileage - 68XXX
Daily Driver - Yes, 42-60 miles per day (80% highway)
Race - Yes, SCCA Autocross about 10 events a year.
Long road trips - Yes several trips as far as 4 hours, 200 miles one way.
Mods - K&N Filter, DDM Works Short Shift Kit, DDM Works Rear Sway Bar, O.Z. Racing MSW Wheels with performance tires, AWR dogbone engine mount.
Minor Issues - Radio does not always work. The solution is to hit the dashboard really hard to tighten the loose wire connection. Wrench Logo warning light comes on from time to time. Mazda does not know what is wrong. Car drives fine. Arm rest squeaks.
Major Issues - None.
Were the Issues covered under warranty? The arm rest was replaced under warranty and was quiet for about 6 month before it started to squeak again.
 
Hi all, Been a while since I've logged on here

Here are my experiences


Model Year - 2008 Mazda 2 1.5 Dynamic
Mileage - 170200kms
Daily Driver - Yes
Race - Never race, Drive the car hard every odd day though
Long road trips - N/A
Mods - None
Minor Issues - Faulty keyfob, Boot release button stopped working, Noisy loose suspension, Weak materials interior wise
Major Issues - None
Were the Issues covered under warranty? N/A
 
Model Year - 2008 Mazda 2 sport 1.5
Mileage - 152200kms
Daily Driver - Yes
Race - 1 track day
Long road trips - 1200km
Mods - full stereo , ac controls ,factory cruise addon, 2011 Genki front bar and sideskirts
Minor Issues - drivers seat is loose , washer motor leaks
Major Issues - none
Were the Issues covered under warranty? Airbag
 
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