2009 Mazda Mazda3
This year drew an ordinary 119 complaints for a Mazda Mazda3 — the model's median is 103. What they were about is the unusual part: 37.8% of them mention stems, against 14.9% across the other years of this generation.
Last year of its generation. This Mazda Mazda3 ran from 2004 to 2009, so it had the whole run for its faults to be found and fixed. Last years are usually the most sorted of a generation.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 119 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 103 |
| Involving a crash | 11 |
| Involving a fire | 1 |
| Recalls | 4 |
| EPA combined | 25 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- stems — 37.8% of this year's complaints, against 14.9% across the other years of this generation (2.5×). Owners wrote it as: stems, valve stems, four, might.
- ground — 8.4% of this year's complaints, against 3.2% across the other years of this generation (2.6×). Owners wrote it as: ground, fact, solid, totally.
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.
What owners wrote
THE CONTACT WAS DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 65 MPH WHEN THE TIRE PRESSURE MONITORING LIGHT ILLUMINATED ON THE INSTRUMENT PANEL. THE VEHICLE WAS PULLED OVER AND THE CONTACT NOTICED THE FRONT PASSENGER SIDE TIRE WAS COMPLETELY FLAT. THE CONTACT ALSO STATED THAT THE VA…
I HAVE TAKEN MY MAZDA 3 TO BE CHECKED OUT 2 TIMES DUE TO THE ENGINE LIGHT COMING ON. BOTH TIMES I WAS TOLD IT WAS THE GAS CAP. I AM TOLD THIS HAS BEEN A RECALL FOR OTHER MAZDA VEHICLE BUT NOT MINE. I HAVE OWNED MY VEHICLE FOR 4 YEARS AND IT HAS HAPPENED 2 TIME…
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.
- 09V187000 ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC) 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 2009 Mazda Mazda3? What happened to yours?
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