2010 Mazda Mazda3
Complaints about this year name melting far more often than the other years of this generation — 26% of them, about 59× the usual rate of 0.4%.
First year of a new generation. The Mazda Mazda3 was redesigned for 2010. A first year carries problems nobody has found yet, and they are found by the people who buy it — which is worth knowing before you become one of them.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 686 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 103 |
| Involving a crash | 18 |
| Involving a fire | 5 |
| Recalls | 3 |
| EPA combined | 26 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- melting — 27.8% of this year's complaints, against 3.5% across the other years of this generation (7.9×). Owners wrote it as: melting, dashboard melting, melting dashboard, touch.
- glare — 32.4% of this year's complaints, against 7.7% across the other years of this generation (4.2×). Owners wrote it as: glare, windshield, melted, causes.
- dashboard — 34.8% of this year's complaints, against 9.7% across the other years of this generation (3.6×).
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
- glare — 23% of complaints, 31× usual
- sticky — 19% of complaints, 22× usual
- dashboard — 35% of complaints, 4× usual
What owners wrote
STICKY DASH ISSUE, THE DASHBOARD OF MY 2010 MAZDA3 HAS BEEN MELTING FOR AGES. IT CAUSES GLARE WHEN DRIVING OBSTRUCTING THE DRIVER'S VIEW.
THE DASHBOARD, PARTICULARLY THE PART OVER THE STEERING WHEEL IS MELTING. IT IS STICKY AND SHINY, AND IT CREATES A HORRIBLE GLARE ON THE WINDSHIELD AT CERTAIN TIMES OF THE DAY.
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 17V082000 SEATS Fixed free of charge.
- 16V644000 STRUCTURE Fixed free of charge.
- 09V126000 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 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 2010 Mazda Mazda3? What happened to yours?
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