Crack in the dash?

[PeteyBoy3K]

Greetings,

I bought my 2004 Maz3 5-door in March of '04... and after two Hotlanta summers, it appears that the constant heat-cool of black plastic has caused a longitudinal stress-crack right around that nipple in the center of the dashboard right next to the windshield.

Over the months, the crack/line has since stretched forward to meet the windshield, and backwards to meet the defroster vent. I'd say it is only a millimeter wide at it's thickest, and it hasn't even fully penetrated the plastic... it's just an unsightly white line.

Right now, my car is at 55,000 miles, so I doubt I will be able to replace it for free, and it's not particularly annoying...

I guess I was seeing whether anyone else has gotten this "stress line"... and to check and make sure the dash is about to fall apart so I can continue ingoring it. Maybe I should just get a sharpie...

 

[Antonio DiMarco]

Greetings,

I bought my 2004 Maz3 5-door in March of '04... and after two Hotlanta summers, it appears that the constant heat-cool of black plastic has caused a longitudinal stress-crack right around that nipple in the center of the dashboard right next to the windshield.

Over the months, the crack/line has since stretched forward to meet the windshield, and backwards to meet the defroster vent. I'd say it is only a millimeter wide at it's thickest, and it hasn't even fully penetrated the plastic... it's just an unsightly white line.

Right now, my car is at 55,000 miles, so I doubt I will be able to replace it for free, and it's not particularly annoying...

I guess I was seeing whether anyone else has gotten this "stress line"... and to check and make sure the dash is about to fall apart so I can continue ingoring it. Maybe I should just get a sharpie...

I also have a 2004 with just over 30K and have not experienced any cracks. I live in MA.

What do you use to clean your dash? Some cleaners dry out the material, which leads to cracking. I use a cloth dampened with warm water or Armor All cleaning wipes (not the protectant).

You may want to bring it by your dealer and discuss it with them. Since your only 5K above the warranty Mazda may help you out if they find that the crack is a defect with the material. It all depends on the dealership and how anxious they are to satisfy you. I know my dealership would bend over backwards for me. But as you can probably tell by certain threads, there are many who won't.

Good luck, personally the crack would drive me nuts.

 

[jhowey]

I work at a Mazda dealer and have seen this before, If you have a good relationship w/ your dealer you never know. It goes a long way, cause when we call mazda and tell them we have a customer here that gets all their work done here and has records on the car you have a much better chance of help then if you never serviced it at the dealer and only came im for warrenty concerns.

 

[Antonio DiMarco]

I work at a Mazda dealer and have seen this before, If you have a good relationship w/ your dealer you never know. It goes a long way, cause when we call mazda and tell them we have a customer here that gets all their work done here and has records on the car you have a much better chance of help then if you never serviced it at the dealer and only came im for warrenty concerns.

Exactly! Loyalty goes both ways.

 

[PeteyBoy3K]

Thanks for all the replies everyone!

Antonio: I do use Armor All protectant a lot. I'm figuring the main cause of the cracking is a mild warping occuring when I leave the car out in the Atlanta summer sun and forget the window-screen. I figure that coating the plastic dash in some sort of petroleum derived protectant might not have aided the plastic in its durability or heat resistance. My roomate actually bought a 3 sedan and since he barely ever washes his car and to my knowledge has never cleaned out the inside... I realized how non-glossy the dash of a mazda3 is when you don't slather it in shiny, shiny goo.

Otherwise, I'm not sure I'm that desperate to repair/replace the dash. I have gone to Mazda for every service but I don't like the idea of trying their patience to replace what is essentially a trim bit. Not to mention if I replaced that I would want to replace the slightly scratched glove compartment door... and get them to fix that peice of carpet... and generally go back to that "oh my god what if something touches and wrecks the beautiful perfect ______" panicky mode that I was finally able to get over after the first few dings, skuffs, and rock chips.

I'd only really get concerned if the crack was about to make it all the way through the dash and was gonna start rattling.

 

[TheMAN]

armor all killed your dashboard, the end.

 

[Antonio DiMarco]

armor all killed your dashboard, the end.

Yeah I would have to agree. About a year ago the dealer (who was only doing what they thought was right) appled armor all to my dashboard after cleaning my 3's interior. What was once a squeak and rattle-free interior (one of the things I love about the 3) turned into a squeak-fest. I took it back and politely asked the dealer if they could remove the armor all. They used a mild detergent and the squeaks went away as well as that shiny coat (ick).

I've been into cars for the better part of 20 years and never liked armor all. I never thought it added much to an interior except a sticky surface to attract dust .

Now I only use warm water (two towels- one damp one dry) or cleaning wipes. You'll also notice that armor all kills the soft-touch surface on the area about the instrument cluster and glovebox. The reason- it dries out the plastic.

 

[heman]

i had the same problem with crack and i bought new dash but my car was stolen so i have no need.
I am new here so cut me slack.

 

[chimmike]

i had the same problem with crack and i bought new dash but my car was stolen so i have no need.
I am new here so cut me slack.

New? you registered in 2008.

Why did you revive a 5 year old thread?

:lame:

 

[MSP1714]

^ what info that the guy cracked his dash by using armor all?