Take out a little time to read some of these below: Look out! The Mazda 626 and Protege are becoming notorious for disastrous transmission problems which the company steadfastly refuses to address. It appears the transmissions are made by Ford, a master at turning a blind eye to its defects. Many Mazda owners with faulty transmission have asked about filing a class action suit against the company. Unfortunately, such suits are almost never successful. The auto manufacturer will spare no expense defending itself in court and it is seldom possible for consumers or their lawyers to match the company's resources. Best solution: consumers should sue the company in Small Claims Court. Their chances of winning are much higher and the cost of litigation is tiny. Here are a few of the more recent complaints: robin of east sparta, OH April 2, 2010
breaking problem with 2002 Madza Tribute - they state that nothing is wrong with my car. Several times now I have taken it in and told them I am having problems with the ABS brking system. It is making extreme noise when you apply the brakes and shakes the care all over the road. I believe I am goint to be killed. I can not get anyone to fix this car, most people I cantact will not even look at it and the local Mazda dealer states nothing is wrong with this vehile. Jesse of Huntsville, AR March 29, 2010
My Friend, a single mother of three girls, bought a 2001 Mazda Tribute. They had it for about a year or two. One night while they were in the house relaxing this vehicle just caught on fire and burned to the ground. I checked and found all kinds of information on this so I am trying to help her re-coup some money or get a replacement vehicle. She is still making payments on this vehicle by the way. Jill of Birmingham, AL March 18, 2010
I purchased a 2003 Mazda Protege 5 in June of 2003. I am the only owner and the car only has about 53,000 miles on it. Several months ago the transmission failed, and I as unable to shift out of first gear. My mechanic repaired the transmission with parts ordered from Mazda, but was unable to resolve the problem. Finally, he replaced the transmission with another one from Mazda. After several weeks it failed again. Again, my mechanic could not get the problem resolved and started over with yet another transmission. But, it still won't work! He has contacted Mazda and has been told that there are three different transmissions for this vehicle and that the first two were not the correct ones. So, we are now waiting on the third transmission from Mazda. I have spent over 2000 for the replacement transmission, that shouldn't need replacing at 53,000 miles only after 6.5 years!!! I am fortunate enough that I could drive my mother's V8 truck that uses very much gasoline! Jeff of Orlando, FL March 1, 2010
I own a 2004 Mazda Rx-8, a car that is notorious for recalls and engine failure. About two weeks ago, my car stalled in a parking lot and would not start again. After having the car towed to the local Mazda dealership (for 75 out of pocket, an expense which should be covered under warranty), I was informed the motor, which has only 58k miles, needed to be replaced. Due to reliability issues with this motor, Mazda "covers" it under warranty up to 8 years or 100k miles. I've been denied coverage under the warranty with over 40k miles left on that warranty. Mazda justified the situation due to oil change invoices that did not have odometer readings, a problem that is neither my fault nor should it matter anyway, as it only takes a minute of simple math to determine (on average) I've had the required number of oil changes. In my attempts to contact someone, anyone, who is willing to help me at Mazda, I've received nothing but voicemails and "requests" to have someone contact me. I've gotten no help or answers from anyone but my contact at the dealership. There is no reason this shouldn't be covered under warranty and no acceptable reason why it took Mazda two weeks to tell me they weren't going to cover the repairs. Tiffany of Andover, MA February 23, 2010
My 2004 Mazda RX-8 has had countless issues with it. Everythign from recalls on the starter to over 20 service bulletins. I hace recently filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau becasue Mazda should not be allowed to sell a vehicle that has so many issues. Furthermore, they should own up to their mistake and take resonsibility for the current owners who are dishing out thousands of dollars on repairs. Countless numbers of websites are filled with owners complaining about issues they have experienced or currently are experienceing with their 2004 Rx-8's. This is unacceptable, unethical and horrible business practice on Mazda's behalf. Matthew of Poolesville, MD February 18, 2010
I purchased a 2005 Mazda RX-8 in 2005. After reaching 30,000 miles, the car is in the shop more than the driveway. It is my feeling and many other RX-8 owners, that the engine is defective in these cars and should be recalled. There has been much talk about getting Mazda to recall these rotary engines but to this day, they have not. Many RX-8 owners have had their engines replaced sometimes two or three times already. After spending nearly 30,000 for a car, this is unacceptable. The engines lose compression, stall, flood, and will not restart. At 30,000 miles my car started to run rough, became impossible to start, and flooded constantly. The engine light would come on as well. I took it to my local dealership and they told me that there was carbon in the engine and put it through a compression test. It barely passed the test and I was told by the mechanic that there were a lot of defects in the Mazda RX-8 engine and that I would probably need to get a new engine in the very near future. Now I am no expert, but I feel that this expensive car should last longer than 30,000 miles! They replaced the battery, decarbed the engine and presented me an invoice of 600.00, and told me to come back if I had any more problems. Even after driving it off the lot, I could tell it would be much sooner than later that I would be returning. This car has continued to idle roughly, has a loss of compression, stall and flood since the first visit to the dealership. Now, six months later, I went to get in my car, started it up to warm up to operating temperature and the engine lights started blinking wildly and the engine cut off in a plume of noxious vapor. Mazda sent Road Side Assistance to tow the car (after two days). They took the car back to the dealership and informed me that the engine would need to be decarbed again and that the coils would need to be replaced. Again, another 700.00. After complaining, they accused me of not driving the car correctly. After many phone calls to Mazda HQ in California, I got the same treatment. I have followed the owner's manual exactly. I was told that "this is not the kind of car you drive short distances." I blew a gasket. When I purchased this car, there wasn't anything written on the sticker on the window that this car must be driven only long distance driving. The only information given to me was to let the car warm up to operating temperature before moving. That has been done each and every time. To date, I continue to get the run around from the dealership, from Mazda HQ in California, and to say I am terribly unhappy would be the understatement of the year. I have been to all the Mazda forums on the internet and it appears that I am not the only one having these problems. There are pages and pages of complaints and people wanting a lawsuit against Mazda. People time and time again have had their engines replaced early on in the cars years and frankly, there are some truly pissed off Mazda RX-8 owners who are tired of getting the run around with no results except to drain their wallets. Mazda RX-8 owners deserve better treatment than what we are getting. Mazda came out with an extended warranty for the engine which was a kind gesture but that gesture is for nothing if the engine is defective and causing other parts that are not under warranty to die an early death. Am I to look forward to every 6 months taking my car in and spending 700 to replace some other part not engine related? Or am I doomed to having my car spend more time in the shop than in my own driveway? I ask for you to look into this matter and to offer us RX-8 owners some assistance. Force a recall of the engine if that is what it takes. Fernando of FORT SMITH, AR February 17, 2010
This is not the first second or third time that we had this problem, we been ordering some parts for our Mazda Protege 5 and all the time tell us one specific day for arriving the parts and is never that day, I dont have another week or two like on the previous orders we place you guys need to pay attention on what you doing or replace all personal. One time we make mixtekes two is a second chance but more than 3 times is ridicules, I will think twice in the future befure buying a Mazda car. kannon of sheldon, IA February 13, 2010
My transmission slips and will not shift past 2nd gear. My car just made the 100,000 mile mark so obviously no warranty anymore. I have heard this problem is Very common. The cost of repair is not much less than the book value of the car. The dealership quoted 2500 or so to replace the transmission, I can't really justify spending that on something that has a good chance of failing again. Janet of Las Vegas, NV February 1, 2010
I took my 2004 Mazda RX-8 to the Mazda dealership because I kept smelling Gasoline in side my vehicle. I was told there was no leaks and that they could not smell it when they test drove it. Well I am sorry but it still smells like gasoline and I have had numerous complaints from friends who also smell it and are concerned there may be dangerous consequences if not fixed. Ryan of Limpopo Province, South Africa January 28, 2010
I bought a brand new BT50 3CRDI. In 2 yrs i have had a new passenger seat put in or so they say. The immobiliser has been changed and at 45000km i had to get a new gearbox put in. According to a Mazda Mechanic i have a 2.5 gearbox in a 3ltr vehicle, what happens if it breaks again? Door plugs for the inner cover broke i had to pay for it. The latest is i reported a engine problem to mazda and twice they did nothing" there is no sound now so we cant find the problem" Both times when i delivered the vehicle they stood by and said that they could hear the noise and that it was"not a good sound at all." now almost 3mths down the line the noise got worse. i took it in again. Now the fault has been found. the tension pulley is very loose and needs to be replaced. I believe that if they had checked properly this could have been avoided. Now i must pay almost R3000 to fix it. When the first problem started i was told by a manager that i had bought a dud and thats the way it is. I pay a lot of money for this vehicle only to find that as time goes by so more an more faults are starting to occur. Should i have to take this? Loss of income and mental stress wondering when this is going to happen again. What happens when the warrenty is over. how much will it cost me.
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