2008 Mazda Mazda3
Complaints about this year name valve stem far more often than the other years of this generation — 8% of them, about 9× the usual rate of 0.9%.
Generation 1 of the Mazda Mazda3, which began in 2004 and ran to 2009. Everything below compares this year against the others in that generation, not against a different car wearing the same name.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 303 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 103 |
| Involving a crash | 29 |
| Involving a fire | 1 |
| Recalls | 3 |
| EPA combined | 25.5 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- looked — 6.9% of this year's complaints, against 2.4% across the other years of this generation (2.9×). Owners wrote it as: looked, realized.
Words owners used for the same problem are counted together, so a fault written four different ways is measured once. Grouped by which complaints they appear in, not by a list anyone wrote in advance.
Also unusual this year
- tpms — 7% of complaints, 17× usual
- pressure — 11% of complaints, 3× usual
- flat — 7% of complaints, 5× usual
What owners wrote
AT 71,XXX MILES 2 OUT OF 4 THE TIRE PRESSURE MONITOR SENSOR VALVE STEMS HAVE FAILED. THE VALVE STEM CAPS WERE OEM GRAY PLASTIC CAPS. ALL PARTS OF THIS SYSTEM ON THIS CAR ARE OEM. THE VALVE STEMS CORRODE BELOW WHERE THE SCHRADER VALVE SEAL SO THE TIRES GOES FLA…
WHILE DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 50 MPH, THE VEHICLE VEERED OUT OF CONTROL AND THE STEERING WHEEL BECAME DIFFICULT TO MANEUVER. THE TIRE PRESSURE MONITOR WARNING LIGHT ILLUMINATED. THE CONTACT DISCOVERED THAT THE FRONT PASSENGER SIDE TIRE VALVE STEM FAILED AND CAUS…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 11V329000 VISIBILITY Fixed free of charge.
- 10V374000 STEERING Fixed free of charge.
- 09E011000 EQUIPMENT Fixed free of charge.
How this was worked out
Every year of the Mazda Mazda3 was compared against its own history rather than against other cars, which removes popularity and age from the answer — a common car draws more complaints at equal reliability, and an older one has had longer to accumulate them. A year is flagged when it drew at least 2.5× this model's median and at least 50 complaints.
This is a fault record, not a review. Nobody files a federal complaint to say the car was fine, so it shows what tends to go wrong — not whether owners liked it, and not whether it is a good car.
Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls and investigations, retrieved . Look this vehicle up directly on NHTSA's site to check anything here.
Own a 2008 Mazda Mazda3? What happened to yours?
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