$1,300 Repair on a 2010 Mazda3

nj01

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Mazda 3
For more than a month now, the ABS and Traction Control lights have been coming on and off on my 2010 Mazda3 hatch. They might stay off for a week or so but then they will come back on again for several days. The car has just under 60k and is in very good condition.

Today, I had the dealership check it out and they say it needs to have the ABS control unit replaced, which will cost $1,300.

Have any other Mazda3 owners encountered anything like this?

Right now I'm just driving it knowing that I don't have ABS or traction control, but I'm not sure what to do next. $1,300 is a lot for a car that's under 60k miles....
 
You should check other sites and see if it's the actual mechanism failing or if it's a.. Software problem. If it's failing due to normal usage and age then you'll have to shell out the 1300. If it's a common failure for many people, due to defective assembly, or something Mazda did/didnt do, you may be able to the cost reduced or waived. See if there are any recalls from 2010.

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My EBCM in my 01 Corvette failed, back in 2010. I removed it and sent it to absfixer.com
They repaired it for $150. The dealership would've charged me $1200.
 
The ABS unit failed on my 06 Mazda 5 and I just got a salvage unit for 75 bucks. Could have installed it myself probably but just let my mechanic do it for couple hours labor charge. It's been 7 months and all is well. Seems like far too many people run straight to the dealer for ever little problem and then complain about the high cost. What about salvage units? What about independent shops? What about doing a little DIY/research?
 
The potential problem with using a unit from the same generation car as yours is that the chances of it failing sooner than would a brand new unit, are fairly high. This was not the case with the EBCM in my corvette, which contained a failure-prone component that was replaced by a more robust version by ABSfixer.

Similarly, many MX5 Miata owners (third generation) replace failed wheel bearings with beefier RX8 wheel bearings. I expect the one I had done to last longer than the factory one.
 
1) Don't go to a stealership for repairs. That same repair would probably cost you $3-600 LESS at an independent.

2) ABS modules can be rebuilt for a fraction of the cost, especially if you have a few tools and some time to take it out yourself.

I don't know about the Mazda3, but for my saabs that had this problem It was <an hour of work to get the old one out, put a rag in place while it was out (car was still driveable, just had no ABS and the light was on all the time), a few days to ship it to the place that rebuilds them, and to get it back, then less than an hour to get it back into place. I spend as others have said about $150 for the rebuild. Dealer wanted $2000+. Call around to local shops and see what they will quote you for the work if you do not want to mess with it yourself.
 
#1 is not always best. For example, how many mechanics are experienced with super capacitors, radar cruise, and torque vectoring? If the repair is to assemblies/components that are generally the same and have been around for years in most vehicles, most independent shops can tackle the job, but there are lots of high-tech changes that are beyond the average mechanic's experience level. It may not be that they can't figure it out eventually, it's that you probably don't want them to do something for the first time on your vehicle - kinda like having an average mechanic at a local auto shop replace battery packs in a hybrid Toyota. I'd be a bit concerned.
 
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