Reliability of Mazdas

[ronbo]

Whatever brand of car I buy next in the rust belt, I'm in New York, I have it rust proofed yearly at Krown or Carwell.

Like that Mazda's are built in Japan with their attention to detail. Mazda build fun into the driving experience with there handling. Zoom, zoom.

Honda and Toyota are slipping in reliability and owner satisfaction and Mazada's is getting higher, the newer models getting excellent ratings.

I'm a proud reader of Consumer Reports.

 

[Falken]

They have major rust issues but are mechanically sound.

I have a 2010 Honda Fit, ZERO rust. Even bolt heads in the rear wheel well are SILVER without a speck of rust.

My ex has a 2010 Mazda 3. Under the car it looks like a 10 year old vehicle.

They cheaped out big on the grade of steel in Mazdas. Even the brake rotors are crazy junk. Every morning, you hear the pads grinding off a layer of rust that you'd find on value rotors.

On the Honda Fit, I just did the brakes a little over a month ago. Very little rust.

 

[KrisZ]

I can only share my own experience with my gen 1 2006 Mazda 3, which was bought brand new.

Overall I like this car very much, even better than my 95 Accord 5spd manual, which was an excellent car. It driver very nice and is quite responsive, also the 4spd slushbox is programmed surprisingly well and does not hesitate to downshift without flooring that car.

I have the 2.0L engine and it has almost 130k miles. There is a minor weep from the timing chain cover, but despite this the oil level doesn't change between 5k mile OCIs.

Over the years it needed the top strut bearing twice, both covered by the warranty. The second one failed within a year of the first replacement, so I suspect either a bad part or sloppy installation. The second replacement is doing great to this day.

For some strange reason, the serpentine belt tensioner pulley kept making noise and I replaced it several time already, but I think the tensioner itself is not aligned properly with the rest of the pullies so I will change the whole thing.

Other than that, only this year I had to spend a more substantial amount on the car. I replaced the struts and the front wheel bearings (only one failed but I decided to change both as the car will be kept for few more years).


Regarding rust, well it is not good and although my car is clean because I was very diligent about rust proofing, however despite all my efforts, the area around the third brake light, which is located on the trunk, is starting to rust and I think the window frames on the doors also start to bubble up. I can handle this of course, but it should not be happening on a car that is not yet 10 years old.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

Originally Posted By: KrisZ


For some strange reason, the serpentine belt tensioner pulley kept making noise and I replaced it several time already, but I think the tensioner itself is not aligned properly with the rest of the pullies so I will change the whole thing.


I went through a bunch of tensioner pulleys on my Taurus. Same thing. They would squeak after 2 or 3 months.

 

[Hokiefyd]

I don't think you can make a blanket statement about any manufacturer -- there are so many variables. I think it's safe to say that MOST of Mazda's powertrains are good, but they certainly all aren't. Mazda has finally purged the CX-7 from its portfolio, but that vehicle was plagued with problems -- many of them, powertrain-related.

Given the context, though (the Mazda3), I think it's as good as anything else out there. You just have to find the right fit for you.

(I'd also wager that premature rusting issues are probably not of big concern to someone in California...if that's the biggest negative about the Mazda3, then I'd say it's probably a good vehicle for your situation, given you fit in it well, like the driving position, etc.)

 

[doublebase]

Four years ago I worked for a fleet that had various cars and we had just gotten three Mazda 6's. Nice looking car...felt good to drive, etc. Two year later, two of the three had blown transmissions.

I know Honda and Toyota has "slipped" a little bit, but they are still ahead of Mazda.

And as far as consumer reports are concerned, I wouldn't buy into that [censored] at all. I own a 07 LS460 and they gave my engine a black spot for reliability, when it was because of a valve spring recall. A 100k miles later and the car has ZERO issues. And let me tell you this engine/drive train is flawless...burns ZERO oil...loads of power...smooth....great performance and gas mileage. And it received a black dot?

 

[horse123]

I have another thing to add. One of my friends got a Mazda speed 6 around the time they stopped making them (2008?). A [censored] seatbelt was installed backwards to the car. When you sat in the back seat, you always had an annoying twist over your chest because you had to flip the buckle over. Shows you how excellent their QC is.

 

[Jetronic]

we had a 2014 sonata with a backwards seatbelt.

didn't warranty cover that?

 

[ExMachina]

Mazda is the current star of the automotive world. They are riding high, on great looks, performance, reliability. Check Consumer Reports reliability ratings and see that they are right up there with Toyota-Honda. Since CR rates using survey results from thousands of users, they know.

 

[Vikas]

Only Mazda I want is the Miata. Surprisingly, they do not seem to rust as much as the other models.

 

[skyactiv]

Originally Posted By: Vikas
Only Mazda I want is the Miata. Surprisingly, they do not seem to rust as much as the other models.


Probabbly because it's a secondary pleasure vehicle for most and they aren't typically driven in the snow or on salty roads.

 

[GMFan]

My 2011 Mazda6 has had no issues in 67k miles (although it likes to eat headlight bulbs).

My advice - don't buy first or second model year cars. Wait for the kinks to be fixed.

 

[MCompact]

You can read about my experience with my Mazda here: 2007 Mazdaspeed3 at 150,000 miles.
Three months and 3,000 miles later it is still running great. I did replace a disintegrating rear bump stop on each rear shock at 151,500 miles, upgrading to FEBI bump stops and installing new Moog mounts while I was at it. And the car is still entirely rust free.

The only thing keeping me from buying another Mazda is the fact that I want my next car to be a relatively high powered(@350 hp or better) coupe or hatch with either RWD or AWD. The rumored AWD MS3 looks like it won't arive here until 2017- if it arrives at all.

 

[HTSS_TR]

According 2015 J.D. Power's Vehicle Dependability Study just released few days ago, Mazda is slightly above average while Honda and Toyota are much better than average, they are in top 6 of all brands. The question is can you trust J.D. Power ?

http://www.fool.com/investing/general/20...ogyholnk0000001

 

[Vikas]

Quote:
The question is can you trust J.D. Power ?
On;ly when their results match what I am looking for! Otherwise, JDP is garbage!!

 

[panthermike]

I would say that Mazda's are generally reliable. My brother owns a '14 Mazda 6 and I own a '10 Mazda 6.

The '14 needed a new trans at 29K (warrantied), but from my reading this is uncommon. He likes the car a lot minus one thing; the mpg isn't near advertised. His configuration is rated at 26/38, driving 60/40 he averages just 26, best of 29. Not a Mazda 3 though, just sharing his overall experiences.

I'm at 42K now on ours, and the drivetrain has been solid. There's been minor issues such as: rear right speaker, squeak in cupholder area, back of driver seat has a little play. Also, I've had a TSB performed twice for this minor squeak near the manifold. All pretty minor stuff IMO and covered under warranty with the exception of the seat back play( I can live with it).

 

[Vuflanovsky]

I think you have to define "reliability" to some extent. To me, reliability is not leaving me stranded when the car has over 100K miles on it and not necessarily how long the car will start for me with $2000 of repairs to it. On that count, I don't think even current Mazdas are to the Toyota / Honda benchmark.

I owned a well-maintained 2009 Mazda 3 that I bought new. Unfortunately, the tensioner pulley assembly had to be replaced at 65K miles and then the VVT actuator failed less than 5K miles later. I got rid of the car shortly thereafter. Personally, I've driven the Skyactiv era Mazdas too and, although they drive fine, I'm not particularly enamored with their level of quality.

 

[CharBaby]

The 2006 Mazda3 in my signature(purchased used in '09 w/50K), has been one of the more reliable vehicles in our family over the years. No real issues to report(now w/124K miles). With the exception of the lack of quality of some aftermarket parts such as strut mounts. But, that's it!

 

[rjundi]

Near equals Subaru/Mazda. Buy what you like.

 

[simple_gifts]

Ford not only labelled most of the parts on my b2300, but also had the courtesy of assembling it in St. Paul for Mazda.

Approaching 100K with only a bad alignment problem I needed to fix.