2009 Mazda 6: Add This to the Repair List

Same issue is extremely common on the Envoy/Trailblazer/Bravada/9-7/Rainier.

The only reason the list is growing is because of lazyness on both the dealer and Edmunds part.

WTF does a broken latch, and a line down the screen of the navi have to do with reliability anyhow? This is why I don't trust consumer reports. One broken latch and the transmission is going to explode.

THIS is unreliable.

"3. The Pilot's timing belt snapped in a remote section of Utah in May 2003, stranding an editor and his family. The breakdown was the result of a misaligned tensioner pulley on the water pump, which was covered by a recall notice issued shortly after we purchased the vehicle. Unfortunately, we never received a letter from Honda, nor did Goudy Honda of Alhambra, Calif., address it during our 7,500-mile service visit."

If I was waiting this long for a new navi I would go to another dealer, Galpin Mazda is way better.

You know, Mazda and Volkswagen's reliability in Europe is legendary.
Americans and Europeans must have different concepts of "reliability".

I would assume Europeans use the word "reliability" specifically for drivetrain components.

Do we know the Accord was treated in the same manner, or just assume it? If it was, then yes, it is clearly a better choice for a rental car or commercial fleet. If I were going to pick one to drive in a private setting, I know which it would be.

I had a Mazda 6 too. The issue of the steering wheel, that sound, my car have it. And my glove compartment is getting stuck. Finally, the paint was defective from the factory, mazda didnt want to accept the car back, they only accept to repaint the car free, but, if you know, a factory paint is not the same to painting again in a body shop.All my life bought only Nissan, an zero problems, now with Mazda, I need a pill.

Not impressive reliability at all. It may not be something that leave syou stranded on the side of the road, but stuff that doesn't work the way you expect it to - the way you RELY upon it to - requiring a trip to the dealer to remedy is a royal PITA that seriously undermines owner enjoyment.

But do you really RELY upon the latch? Or is it more of a convenience. I only rely upon my car to transport me from A to B, its core job. Everything else is icing.

In the Mazda's defense, 1/3 of the list is due to juvenile antics from the editors. Not that I have anything at all against juvenile antics. Far from it. You just can't blame it on the car.

Seems to me like these are minor quality niggles rather than an indicator of overall reliability, but it's still a PITA, and the nav screen (which granted isn't something Mazda actually engineers) is bad as well. But if I owned this car I'd be WAY more upset with the fact that I had to look at a busted nav screen for MONTHS in my shiny new car and would likely sour my Mazda buying experience.

But I don't believe the Edmunds long-term Nissan Altima had ANY unscheduled dealer visits.

It's kind of hard to tell for sure from the pic, but it looks like there's some mangulation going on there. I'd hazard a guess that the latch did not die of natural causes but that someone broke it by accident.

7driver....wow, you can tell how it broke just by looking at the pic? You are GOOD!

My 2003 6 had some initial issues: warped rotors on 2 occasions within 12K miles, really awful brake dust from sub par factory pads, jerky transmission (the only Japanese component of the car) that was reflashed 2 times to no avail, and a faulty fan control module that was replaced once under recall and then the replacement module was defective so I needed to get it replaced again; that was 3 modules to get it right.

Mazda headquarters' response to my complaints about these ongoing issues was to ignore me...and I live about 5 miles from corporate in Irvine, CA.

I still have the car. It's never left me stranded (something GM cars did to me all the time), but having to visit the dealership often and argue about these issues did put a damper on my Zoom Zoom experience.

Wouldn't be surprised if it failed on the CX7 as well. Poorly built, very sad.

I love my CX-9. We had to have the sat radio replaced, the sole problem in nearly 20k miles. Despite that, the dealer service experience is so unacceptably bad that I will likely not buy another Mazda vehicle. They will never be a Tier One player until they address the horrible way they treat their customers.

How exactly is brake dust a reason for sub par pads? Warped rotors twice is an driver error. The jerky transmission and fan control module are legit problems.

The 2003-2008 6, I never liked it.

CX-7 doesn't use the same latch halfwit.

LOL this happened to my Civic 06 and it was such a pain having the centre console fly up. It was replaced under the new car warranty as those things are not normal wear and tear items. Either that or the dealer was just being nice.

zim65

I know Mazda dealership service is either ok(25%), horrible(70%) or great(5%). But once it's out of the warranty you really don't need the service department for much of anything, go somewhere else.

I personally can't say enough great things about my Mazda Dealer or my Mazdas. Class act operation. Knowing people I think half the coplaints you hear are triggered by consumers treating dealers like their second class citizens. I've seen such antics first-hand many times where the consumer acts like the dealer owes them something. No one likes to be treated like that. The other half, well, they probably should contact Mazda NAO directly.

Having driven the new 6 and the new three I can venture a guess as to what happened. The new armrest design has a button and a lever. the button is meant to slide the armrest forward while the latch, whihc is directly below the button is for opening the cubby. More than once I tried to access the cubby witht he button and not the latch. The only sin here is an awkward user interface. No doubt one of the Edmunds staff made the same mistake but instead lifted the cover with enough force to snap the latch.

I expect Mazda will look to redesign this particular design once the failure rate of those latches goes through the roof.

Re. "But do you really RELY upon the latch? Or is it more of a convenience. I only rely upon my car to transport me from A to B, its core job. Everything else is icing."

Rubbish.

So if the a/c craps out, the stereo fizzles, the nav screen goes blank, the power windows won't close, the glove box won't open and the door handle falls off, you're okay with that because it's just "icing" and your oh so very "reliable" car got you from A to B and it's all good?

Puhleeeeeze.

Power windows, A/C dying, door handles falling off all fall under unreliable, a broken armrest latch is just annoying. A broken HOOD latch is unreliable. Apparently, 2342343241312 warning lights in a $50000 Infiniti just sparks up conversation on what color the dials actually are.

If I purchase a new car, I'm going to be upset about ANYTHING that is broke. I don't care if its a tab on an armrest, or a transmission. I'm paying my hard-earned money for something brand new, with the idea that there will be no problems. Initial quality is very important to me.

this is not a reliability problem. Its funny that people are jumping in talking about Honda after reading about a broken latch. If Honda's reliability reputation is built on the fact that minor pieces in the cockpit never break I will have to say I'm unimpressed. This is an annoyance, not a reliability problem.

Doug, dont buy the 750 since a piece of the interior came off in someone's hands. As you said, its the same thing as a tranny failure. To suggest that ALL problems are of equal importance is ridiculous. YOu should subsribe to CR with that kind of logic. I can guarantee that the primary reason why brands other than Honda and Toyota don't rank highly consistently is because of minor issues like this. Meanwhile Camrys can have tranny problems and it barely shows up in their results.

"Doug, dont buy the 750 since a piece of the interior came off in someone's hands. As you said, its the same thing as a tranny failure. To suggest that ALL problems are of equal importance is ridiculous. YOu should subsribe to CR with that kind of logic."

1487, I can't understand how you would be satisfied with a NEW vehicle that has parts breaking as long as it drives forward. When you buy a NEW tv, would you care if it was all sctrached up and dented, as long as an image showed up on the screen? Of course you wouldn't. What about a brand new kitchen table that is all scratched up like a cutting board, but its will still hold your plates?

Maybe I'm missing something here, but if I'm spending money to drive a NEW vehicle, I would expect it to stay in the new condition for some time. Obviously a broken latch doesn't affect how the vehicle drives, but thats not the point.

Furthermore, getting something fixed, like a latch or a rattle or whatever, takes time out of my day to go to the dealer.

"Of course you wouldn't."

Should say, "of course you would".....gah edit.

"1487, I can't understand how you would be satisfied with a NEW vehicle that has parts breaking as long as it drives forward. "

When did I use the word "satisfied"? Oh wait, I never did. I merely said that ANY warranty repair is not reason enough for mass panic and frustration. I would consider a mechanical failure to be far more upsetting than a broken latch.

Why would I use a TV or table that came from the factory severely damaged? That is totally different. If you want a perfect new car than perhaps you shouldn't buy a new car. Few of them are 100% flawless for 3 years/36k miles.

Why would you or anyone else with a shred of common sense run to the dealer to get this fixed? 90% of the warranty fixes I've gotten happened during a service visit. Cars today are so reliable that most issues can be resolved when you go in for an oil change.

"That is totally different. If you want a perfect new car than perhaps you shouldn't buy a new car."

For many people, the attraction of buying a new car is the fact that it will be worry free, maintenance (other then routine) free for a reasonable term. Otherwise, buy a used car and don't worry about minor damage.

I don't except a car to be perfect for 3 years, but I expect it for longer then Edmunds had the Mazda6.

"Why would you or anyone else with a shred of common sense run to the dealer to get this fixed?"

You just had your oil changed and don't want to wait another 10,000kms or upwards of a year depending on what new car you have? Maybe you talk to the dealer and they have to order a part and they need you to come back? There are many situations where you may have to go back. Of course, it depends on the severity of the problem. For this latch, I would likely deal with it at a service. What about a damaged factory nav system? I paid for that and I would want it working now, not in 10,000kms.

Anytime I have to go to a dealer to fix something is an issue.

Who wants to waste time fixing their car?

"So if the a/c craps out, the stereo fizzles, the nav screen goes blank, the power windows won't close, the glove box won't open and the door handle falls off, you're okay with that because it's just "icing" and your oh so very "reliable" car got you from A to B and it's all good?"

Not at all. What I'm saying is the only thing my car must absolutely do to meet my needs is to transport me. If my car no longer did that much of my life would be upended, since there would be no way to get to work, get groceries, etc. That is my definition of the word "rely". Now all the other things, I would be sorely disappointed if they happened, and would not consider it a good car. My whole point in this is we need to define what we mean by "quality" "reliability" and "durability" because they mean different things to different people.

Anytime I have to go to a dealer to fix something is an issue.

Who wants to waste time fixing their car?

You know a logical person would say I'll live with it until I HAVE to take it in for service, which is exactly what Edmunds is doing, only complaining in the process.

The under trim - LTF problem

Navi - Supplier issue, wait to get a replacement, dealer, waiting to force the DEALER to get your replacement - Owner/LTF problem

Latch - who knows? They should be able to pinpoint who did it but no one really seems to care or know what the other person is doing.

Steering noise - ? It's there and it isn't.

Buying a new car is not a guarantee of having no problems. This is hardly a major issue and it can be resolved at a service visit. The nav issue is a little more annoying and may warranty an unscheduled visit.

As Stov said, none of these are reliability issues. They are quality issues and they can be resolved. If the car starts and stops safely and all key safety and comfort systems are operational every day its reliable. Period.

@cx7lover.

I don't disagree with you.
However, I avoid the dealer unless I have to go for warranty repairs.

Routine maintenance I always do at my trusty (less expensive, and faster) local shop.

This is may be something that would be counted in those initial quality surveys of number of problems per 100 vehicles.

cx7lover --

There you go again. Why so abrasive?

"How exactly is brake dust a reason for sub par pads? Warped rotors twice is an driver error. The jerky transmission and fan control module are legit problems."

Since you won't take MY word for it, there was a TSB about the pads AND warped rotors. Dude, this was after only 12K miles in a BRAND NEW CAR. The dealership told me that the pads were being discontinued because they caused excessive brake dust, leading not only to ugly rims but excessive noise when applying the brakes. I also know how to drive without causing warped rotors. What a jerky thing to say. How the heck does my driving contribute to 2 sets of warped rotors when the TSB went out about this? It was obviously a problem with the first model year of a new car. Actually, you sound a lot like the dealership. It makes me wonder about your line of work...hmmm....

My whole point was that the customer service experience was a downer and that I would have expected more from Mazda, particularly when corporate acknowledged problems with these parts at a later time.

Why is cx7lover still allowed to post here?

dougtheeng...agreed. It's a brand new car and if there are issues, I'd expect them to be covered under warranty without argument.

There was a TSB released for brake moaning and juddering, HOWEVER most of the Mazda6 owners I've talked to will agree the problem was WAY over blown by people that warped them on their own or the dealer did from over torquing, but replaced twice(that means 3 sets of rotors)? Someone else is to blame there, dealer or owner, pick one.

Lets look at who was abrasive.. not to mention I'm aware that the brake system was redesigned in 2006. -- Stop getting so upset over what someone said on the internet.. I'll be able to push your buttons whenever, all I will have to do is tell you that you don't know what you're talking about.

cx7 - the corn cob, take it out of your arse and relax.

The only thing upsetting is that you constantly rant about Mazda being great and you don't know what you are talking about. You've been called on your misinformed commentary by other posters more than a few times.

I don't care what was changed in 2006. I was discussing my experiences with service re: the 2003 model. Nobody asked you to chime in on my post in the first place. It was never directed at you.

Why is cx7 still allowed to post here :)