2015 Mazda Mazda3
This year drew an ordinary 129 complaints for a Mazda Mazda3 — the model's median is 103. What they were about is the unusual part: 15.5% of them mention button, against 4.8% across the other years of this generation.
Generation 3 of the Mazda Mazda3, which began in 2014 and ran to 2018. 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 | 129 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 103 |
| Involving a crash | 8 |
| Involving a fire | 2 |
| Recalls | 4 |
| NHTSA crash rating | 5/5 |
| EPA combined | 32 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- button — 15.5% of this year's complaints, against 4.8% across the other years of this generation (3.2×). Owners wrote it as: button, lights car, lights came, miles car.
- properly — 14.7% of this year's complaints, against 5.3% across the other years of this generation (2.8×). Owners wrote it as: properly, corrosion, pads, recall year.
- glass — 9.3% of this year's complaints, against 2.6% across the other years of this generation (3.6×). Owners wrote it as: glass, sunroof, heard loud, exploded.
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
I WAS DRIVING DOWN A HIGHWAY LEAVING WORK WHEN I HEARD A LOUD BANG, THEN NOTICED MY SUNROOF HAD A LARGE HOLE IN IT. I PULLED OVER TO INSPECT THE DAMAGE AND TO SEE WHAT COULD HAVE HIT ME, THERE WAS NO EVIDENCE OF ANY IMPACT- WITH BARELY ANY GLASS INSIDE THE CAR…
I'VE HAD TO REPLACE BACK BRAKES TWICE IN 4 YEARS. NOW CALIPERS HAVE GONE OUT WHICH RUINED ROTORS AND PADS. IT LOOKS LIKE OTHERS HAVE HAD THE SAME ISSUE WITH CALIPERS NOT WORKING PROPERLY AND WEARING THE BRAKES [VIN].
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 16V684000 FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE Fixed free of charge.
- 17V393000 PARKING BRAKE Fixed free of charge.
- 15V621000 FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE Fixed free of charge.
- 23V487000 BACK OVER PREVENTION 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 2015 Mazda Mazda3? What happened to yours?
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