Mazda is still a Ford!!!

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WalksInDarkness

Member
(argh) Well, I guess even though it is built in Japan it still has has bad Ford quality. After only 2k miles, my 3 is in for it's first repair. Something called the "purge valve solenoid" (emissions equipment they say) needs to be replaced. I know it is under warranty, but it is still a hassle as it has to stay overnight as they don't have the part.

I have had many cars that have gone ~100k miles, with NO problems: Toyota Tacoma, Toyota Corolla, Honda Civic, Nissan Maxima, Hyundai Elantra (yes even a POS Hyundai had no issues).

I was always wary of the Mazda name, but I bought it because I definitely needed a HatchBack. And combined with excellent magazine reviews, I decided to take a chance.

I am hoping this is just a fluke. But if this becomes a monthly thing like my: Dodge, Chevy, Kia were, I will trade this thing in for a Camry.

One more thing: Does anyone have the Mazda factory "extended" warranty? Isn't part of it supposed to cover a "rental" car? I asked for a loner car, and of course they were all out. I will have to read the extended warranty when I get home.
 
The purge solenoid is a common, known problem. It's unfortunate but at least it's not unexpected. I don't think you'll have it in on any kind of regular basis, much less monthly. I've had my car 15 months and it's only been in for service twice and one of them was to replace a known faulty air bag sensor (recall).

My regular warranty has covered any rental cars I've needed. It might just be something that my dealer offers but there's never been a problem with transportation for either of the times I had my car in for service. Even the time they didn't warranty the work, they still provided a vehicle.
 
Your warranty does cover a rental car... Seems like they tried to dodge giving you one by telling you they were out. When I worked at a dealer.. if the rental place was closed we just slapped a Dealer Plate on the back of a used car and sent the customer on their way. Can't let the dealer push you around man.. and I've been driving mazda's since I was 16... never had any major issues I didn't incur myself.


and btw.. trade in for a camry.. how friggin boring is that....

:p
 
You also have to realize that the 2.3 liter motor and the 3 itself are fairly new. New cars almost always have problems. I have had two Mazdas one was a 94' 626 V-6 5speed with 120k and have never had any reliability issues. Don't worry, you bought a great car. You could of had worse, think about what would happen if you bought a Jetta or GTI. You would be driving a rental so often, you would think it was your own car.
 
Well, its only one thing thats gone wrong, hopefully you won't have too much of anything else go wrong anytime soon. I wouldn't start complaining just yet.

I had a 2000 VW GTI and that thing was in the shop more times than I can count, I had about 25K miles on it and it started to become nothing but problems, All kinds of interior pieces broke like the glovebox and the armrest and a few other small things, the car went through 3 transmissions, (it was an auto) it went through several sensors, went through a few window regulators and the list goes on. I was so pissed about that car, I babied it and all it seemed to do was fall apart on me.

So at 50K I decided to trade it in for a 99 Audi A4. Audi's have thier share of issues as well, my A4 was good to me but damn expensive for maintenance and what few repairs I had done, but the miles were getting high and I ended up trading it for my Mazda 3 5-door.
I bought it with a little over 2K miles and it has 3500 on it now and its been great so far, I hope it stays that way. It reminds me a lot of my GTI.
 
I have had 2 modded FORD ZX2's, both ran strong 75K +, I traded them in for a Protege 5 and Civic. There was nothing wrong with them, I just wanted to move up. I still don't understand why Ford gets all this sh*t from people, they are not bad cars if you take care of them, like any other car. I have a WRX now, I have had it serviced under warranty twice in the last 4 months. Sometimes sh*T happens.
 
i want a camry like everyone else.......(not!)

you can't compare mazda with ford....they are a much better built car than ford's are.

sorry to hear about your small problem but it was fixed....enjoy your mazda like I do....!
 
Last edited:
WalksInDarkness said:
(argh) Well, I guess even though it is built in Japan it still has has bad Ford quality.............

................I was always wary of the Mazda name, but I bought it because I definitely needed a HatchBack. And combined with excellent magazine reviews, I decided to take a chance.
QUOTE]
Built on a Volvo platform.......

If you were wary, why? The Mazda3 is not the only HB on the market. My brother has a Mini that he has had to the dealer many times for nagging problems and he has to drive 2.5 hours to get to his dealer without complaint. As stated by a previous poster, the problem you experienced is due to growing pains of a new model. It's not major and the repair is free. Considering the relibility of cars thirty years ago, you are doing preety good.
Click to expand...
 
OMG ITZ A PIECE OF JUNK YOU NEVER SHOULD HAVE BOUGHT IT. YOU SHOULD TRADE IT IN IMMEDIATELY FOR A CAMRY BECASUE ITS THE MOST BORING CAR EVER BUILT. OMG HAXOR TRADE THAT FORZDA IN FOR A HEMI....

...whatever.....
 
protejay5 said:
OMG ITZ A PIECE OF JUNK YOU NEVER SHOULD HAVE BOUGHT IT. YOU SHOULD TRADE IT IN IMMEDIATELY FOR A CAMRY BECASUE ITS THE MOST BORING CAR EVER BUILT. OMG HAXOR TRADE THAT FORZDA IN FOR A HEMI....

...whatever.....
Click to expand...

Lighten up, Francis.

No need to get bent out of shape about it.
 
well not every car is perfect, mines i have been with it for a year and a half and nothing has happend, in fact i can be happier with my car
 
Flame Bait!

Hah, I knew my post would cause some flame like replies. (flame) I was just ranting, I still think the 3 is the best "bang for the buck performance" car out there. I have just never had issues pop up so quickly before. It just seems weird to me, in this day and age of strict quality control. I guess $H!T happens, it just usually doesn't happen to me. But I do love the car, I just hope this doesn't become part of my routine.

As for the extended warranty rental: I called them back about it and she was like all annoyed "well yes, if you do have the warranty it's covered, but we have to wait until 2pm to see if the part comes in first". Seeing as they have all my info in the database, and it is a Mazda warranty, shouldn't she have looked up the info before she called to tell me my car was going to be there overnight? And if no that, when she tells me they are out of loaner cars, shouldn't she have asked me if I had the warranty? I guess I just expect too much customer service, seeing as I work in a business that deals with customers on a daily basis.
 
Here's some perspective:

Recalls
Results : 2 | All records displayed
Make : TOYOTA Model : CAMRY Year : 2004
Manufacturer : TOYOTA MOTOR NORTH AMERICA, INC.
NHTSA CAMPAIGN ID Number : 04V346000 Recall Date : JUL 08, 2004
Component: AIR BAGS:SIDE/WINDOW
Potential Number Of Units Affected : 128316

Check to Request Research. Submit below. Get Summary

Make : TOYOTA Model : CAMRY Year : 2004
Manufacturer : TOYOTA MOTOR NORTH AMERICA, INC.
NHTSA CAMPAIGN ID Number : 04V595000 Recall Date : DEC 13, 2004
Component: SEAT BELTS:FRONT:BUCKLE ASSEMBLY
Potential Number Of Units Affected : 150061

Check to Request Research. Submit below. Get Summary
Click to expand...

Plus there are 27 TSBs that I won't reprint here.

And this is on a car line that is... what... at least 20 years old.

The 2004 Mazda3 has 40 TSBs and only 1 recall. And that's a first year car.

I think we're doing pretty good, actually.
 
yo but complain tell them i dont care if you out of loaners car i need a freaking car to fgo arround and this is your fault for making a crappy car too if there is no loaners give me one of those new car cause i need somethign to go to work with and some more crap like that call the manager and everything and theyll give you something
 
ok,ok, I've calmed down...

Well the dealer came through in the end. Since this is an admittedly common problem, my dealer has the part on automatic re-order and the part showed up today. So my car was in-and-out the same day, no-harm-no-foul (other tham me getting stressed out about my new car).

And I understand Goldwing's point about the recall. And I admit ALL cars have some problems, I understand this as a mechanical engineer. But to me a recall is different. From my perspective, a recall is the company admitting there is a problem and notifying the customer. Therefore, the customer can fix the problem on his own schedule. Also, with a recall the time in the shop is minimal, as the dealer knows what the problem is and likely has the part in stock. Anyhow, this is not a crazed rant (like my earlier posts) I am just expressing my opinion.

I am still a bit annoyed about the service lady giving me the hassle about the rental/loaner car issue though. Live and learn, hopefully I will remember the extended warranty policy next time.
 
to the comment about the volvo platform...it's not built on that. the mazda3 is an original mazda chassis, but ford decided to save money and reuse it on its new focus, and on volvo's newest small car
 
goldwing2000 said:
Lighten up, Francis.

No need to get bent out of shape about it.
Click to expand...


i made that post with one part humor, one part sarcasm, two parts irritation, and one part WTF.............
 
jflo said:
to the comment about the volvo platform...it's not built on that. the mazda3 is an original mazda chassis, but ford decided to save money and reuse it on its new focus, and on volvo's newest small car
Click to expand...


apperntly u dont have a clue, it is built on a volvo chassis and also has a bmw 3 supension, u need to do some research homey
 
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