Mazda 3

"The cars paint on the back bumper started chipping almost immediately"

"Paint peeling everywhere on the car"

"Paint is badly fading and chalking on the roof and hood. various areas of paint are chipping."

"Paint is easily chipped and leads to rust"

"Paint was peeling of the hood and left front quarter panel. $1500 to do bodywork and repaint"

"The paint on the outside mirrors has wrinkled, apparently from temperature changes when the car was being used by my son in Virginia rather than its usual home in southern California"

"I had rust repaired on the window frame by Mazda and the problem reoccurred in the same area plus other parts of the door, which were not covered by Mazda. Very poor!"

"rust around all wheel wells, side door panels, trunk"

"Car was recalled for rear wheel well rust, but I was not notified in time to have repair done for free. Very upsetting to miss by 3 weeks!"

"Rusting more than similar (foreign) cars of same age. User forums confirm paint fauilure. Rocker panels rusted the length, w/paint peeling in sheets. Fender wells, rear light in trunk lid, spare tire well, undercarriage. Also, clearcoat is very thin"

"paint around the rear third brake light was starting to discolor and rust, and streak onto trunk"

"Myterious rust in one wheelwell and fading paint on doors"

"Rust on the right rear door and right rear wheel are both known issues with this car"

"Rust so bad hood requires replacement. I bought extended rust warranty (10 yrs) but dealer balked at covering cost"

"Rust gradually becoming worse around wheel wells, windows, trunk"

"Rusted in areas where no parking lot type damage. Requested earlier than other cars I have owned"

"Several areas have experienced paint failure and/or rust break through. Wheel wells, hood and rear hatch in particular"

"ROTTEN ROCKER PANELS, WON'T PASS INSPECTION fRAME ROT. sUSPENSION MOUNTING BRACKETS RUSTED OFF"

"Rusting started at 4 years old, by centre brake light.Repaired under warranty but still rusting"

"Rust is mostly around the wheel wells which is apparently a common problem with Mazda's"

"Premature rust in the rear quarter panels and on the rear hatch despite regular washes. There was a recall for the condition but Mazda did not send letters out informing owners"

"The 2 C-pillars are almost rusted through. They require annual attention. It seems that Mazda didn't rust-proof this model year appropriately as I read a lot of people complaining about excessive rust on 2006 Mazda 3. I contacted Mazda about this too"

"Surface rust, mainly around rear wheelwells"

"hatch door rust . rust between windows between front and back doors"

"I keep my cars in very good mechanical condition. I really like this car, but the rust is something hard to keep ahead of (even considering my location in my rust-prone northern state of Wisconsin). Every door rusting around the edges on all sides. The rocker panels lost all of their paint. Rust spots developed in various other spots around the car. And the undercarriage has rust developing at most seems. I've done what I can to touch up spots are partially repainted some areas myself, since the cost to have it done professionally is very high (I got quotes in the past for even just some of this that came in at thousands of dollars, well more than the book value of the car, and that doesn't factor in the undercarriage). So while the car is currently in excellent mechanical condition, quite reliable, and with lots of good miles remaining, the appearance is definitely compromised and I'm sure that structural rust will be the life-limiting issue for this car. I have lots of experience maintaining my cars over the decades (performing all mechanical work myself). I've observed similar patterns of rust on other cars of his model, and seen significantly less rust on other makes/models of similar age and market position. This leads me to believe that this is a design/manufacturing characteristic of this model generally."

"The body continues rusting at accelerated pace. Started on C-pillars very early on, now it's the rocker pannel, wheel wells, trunk lid and hood."

"Both rear quarter panel above and to the front of the wheels are rusting through. The car has always been kept in a garage, but we do have lots of road salt here in the winter."

"Severe rust problems on both rear wheel wells/panels. Have had to spend a lot of time and money to repair or prevent the rust from spreading. We joke that we'll have to get rid of the car because the body will fall apart from rust long before the mechanics give out. It's been a great car, except for the rust."

"Dealer declined to fix rust underwarranty because car was 3 weeks past deadline. This last year rust has spread on both rear fenders and other panels. Too expensive to fix."

"Rust has now appeared in three places"

"This particular production year is notorious for rusting like crazy. I have rocker pannels rusted through and wheel wells, doors, hood cover and trunk lid are rusting too. The metal is very thin and poorly protected."

"The car rusts very quickly. C-pillars and wheel wells rust faster than expected. The quality of the steel and rust proofing is very poor"

"The trunk and seams of the car are covered in rust"

"Rusted around the wheel wels and trunk lock"

"Rusty in several spots on the car"

"Window frame of rear door Body panel in front of rear tire"

"extensive rust all over. Even if I've paid for an anti corrosion treatment made by the dealer before the new car left the garage"

"Both sides rear wheel areas are rusting heavily. This car did spend a lot of time in Wisconsin, so maybe a salt issue, but it is unusually bad on Mazda vs other vehicles I've owned"

"The window columns between the driver and passenger side rusted. These were previously fixed by Mazda under warranty but it rusted again. This 2006 Mazda 3 is very bad for rusting. There is also rust near the rear bottom panels and the rear stop light"

"After rust proofing , rust still bad especialy under wheel wells"

"Significant rust on the body panels around the rear wheelwells. I have seen a few other Mazda 3's parked at my office that have rust in the same place, in some cases much worse than mine. I think it's a manufacturer's defect that it is so susceptible to rust in this area."

"This car is rusting faster than other cars on the road. I have treated/repainted the rust along door seams, rocker panels, and wheel wells to retard it, but it's still advancing, and the undercarriage is showing rust along most seams, etc. I/family members have other cars of similar or older vintage that aren't rusting as much."

"The body rusts at excessive rate, the C pillars are rusted through, now the rocker pannel and wheel wells are going"

"Rust is a well known problem"

"Paint near trim would begin peeling then bubble up and turn into rust once exposed. It is not significant but it is visible."

"cracked ball joints"

"Had to replace no. 4 engine mount and right control arm because bushings were leaking fluid"

"FRONT/REAR CONTROL ARM BUSHINGS FAILED WITH UNDER 100,000 KM ON THE CAR. aS DID THE TRAILING ARM BUSHINGS"

"The rear bushings have been replaced 3 times since the car was purchased."

"Front lower control arm rear bushing is "fluid-filled" design. Like many have experienced with this car (Internet forums), one of mine deteriorated and lost the internal fluid, resulting in excessive play. By design this isn't a life-threatening failure, but was manifest by noise, deteriorated handling, and uneven tire wear due to misalignment (camber and to some extent toe). While the other side was still functioning, it was apparent that it would suffer a similar fate in the not-too-distan"

"There was a minor leak of a power steering hose that required replacement"

"Rear shocks replaced"

"Both struts were replaced due to one of them leaking"

"Car was jittery when going over bumps or uneven roads. Dealer said struts need to be repaired"

"I had to have third set of rear struts and second set of front struts put on this car. I do only unremarkable city and some highway driving which should does not include any rough off road demands on the car"

"The car is ten years old. Normal wear and tear"

"tires were wearing unevenly, rear swing arms and struts were replaced"

"they were just wore out - replaced all 4"

"replaced due to wear"

"Strut leakage"

"Went through a construction zone and was forced (due to traffic) to drive into a pit. Broke rear shock"

"Had to replace twice within 6 months because the shocks broke. First from a pothole, then from who knows what"

"Front shocks failed causing "roller coaster" bouncing"

"Strut came loose when driving over pothole"

"LEAKED OUT THEIR INTERNAL OIL WHICH CAUSED THEM NOT TO DAMPEN BUMPS IN THE ROAD. THE NEW STRUTS CORRECTED ALL THE GOOD HANDLING CHARACTERICS THAT THE CAR POSSESSED WHEN NEW"

"Due mainly to an excessively rough winter with innumerable potholes, ruts and ice blocks many vehicles in Halifax suffered suspension problems. Mine were caused by a collection of unavoidable potholes complicated by a rapidly narrowing street due to"

"They are going bad"

"Major rumbling and bounce from front end suspension"

"premature wear"

"One of the shock started to leak. The car is 14 years old so I replaced both shocks and both struts as preventative maintenance."

"Replaced struts last in 2019. Will replace rear shocks later this summer. Worn out. Effects ride and tires."

"2 front seals burst. Rear left upper mount broke"

"cracked or worn shocks"

"the Shock mounting bracket broke, requiring replacment"

"Struts needed to be replaced in front and shocks and sway bar need replacing in rear."

"rear spring became detached from frame"

"replaced both lower front suspension control arms with ball joint, as well as trailing link bushing on rear suspension"

"recently discovered squeeks when driving over uneven roads, likely to be faulty stabilizer links and/or struts"

"This car has a slight steering vibration problem that nobody can cure. I've tried alignments, wheel rotation, new tires, but it's been a recurring problem since the car was new. It's slight, and it comes and goes, but never goes away entirely"

"Premature bushing failure"

"Actually a control arm. Caught before failure during a routine inspection"

"The whole frontend caused bad tire wear that made an already noisy rooad noise condition, become a constanr "roar""

"tires on this car are difficult to maintain. constantly replacing them because of damage - every mechanic has noted uneven wear as being a contributor. this is despite having alignments and rotations"

"Wheel bearing failed. Very expensive to replace at about $500. Really dumb design as a wheel bearing should not cost anything near that much to replace"

"Left front wheel bearing failed in the typical manner, replaced at 115,000 miles. Especially given the roads I drive on, I would ordinarily expect the passenger side to fail first, but on close inspection, the other three wheels' bearings appear to be in good condition."

"Very awkward replacement as only the bearing was available which has to pressed out then in by a machine shop"

"Intermittent noise. Dealer unable to replicate. Not repaired"

"$2000 to repair the compressor and evaporator is more than the car is worth"

"A/C does not come on all the time"

"Disappointed to have my compressor fail. The cost was over $1,200 for repairs"

"ThoUSnds to repair. My daughter drives this car and cannot afford it. Repair shop said completely rusted out. Need an entirely new A/C unit. Entire A/C system taken out. A/C died several years ago but off warranty"

"A/C stopped working w/o warning, no sign of decline before cessation of A/C"

"at 55000 miles an A/C compressor bearings should not fail - a $1000+ repair ...mazda sux! It is apparently a common failure mode with Mazda 3 & 6 cars from this era 2004-2009"

"A/C compressor seized and failed at approx. 100,000 miles while driving in stop and go traffic in Atlanta in July"

"At some point, my air conditioner would not always work on fan speed 2. At times, it would not work even on fan speed 1. The green light to indicate that the AC was on would simply turn off on its own and it would just be the fan."

"Just gave up the ghost after 12 years. Quoted repairs were just too high to deal with: thank heaven we live on Vancouver Island BC."

"The compressor needs to be replaced which is a very expensive repair"

"Tried everything, took 3 visits to different repair facilities, compressor was replaced, then coolant was overfilled, still suspect I'm going to be hot on the hottest summer days. Not ice cold"

"Replaced"

"Compressor petered out; caught it before bearing shattered & spread though-out system. Had to replace compressor and refrigerant. ~$1K"

"Compressor failed and needed to be replaced"

"Had issues on interstate trips, where power was diverted away from a/c to help engine go 7080 mph. Made for a very uncomfortable trip in the summer heat"

"blower motor died. Because of the configuration behind the dashboard, extremely cumbersome and expensive to fix"

"would shut off, have to fiddle with switches to get it back on"

"leaked out over the winter"

"Leaking refrigerant lines"

"Lost cooling capacity"

"The cooler line leaked where it connects to condenser. The line was replaced"