I pulled out of a parking lot after having the vehicle parked there for about 2 hours- the vehicle is brand new with 725 miles on it and has been driven on city streets only since I've had it. I pulled out of the parking lot, drove 1 block in no traffic, and when parked at the stoplight, noticed a bit of smoke/steam coming from under the hood. Not a lot and the car wasn't overheating. Since the car was so new, I didn't know what to think of it but thought maybe it was a fluke. Drove it for 2 more errand stops on 30mph streets and then home. The next day I pulled out of my driveway and noticed the A/C isn't cooling. I took it to the Mazda dealership that week assuming whatever is wrong would be under warranty. They showed me a small pinhole in my A/C compressor and informed me that a rock must've flown through my grill area and left a hole in the compressor, causing the freon to leak. It would cost around $1500 to fix and isn't covered because considered "road debris." The biggest issue I have is that the design of the grill is so open, I can fit my arm in there. What's to prevent this from happening again? every time it happens, the passengers breathe in freon and it's released into the environment. Clearly the grill is designed far too open to prevent from large debris, let alone a pebble, damaging the A/C condenser. Something needs to be done to retrofit the opening and prevent this from happening time and time again. I did research and discovered it's not uncommon for this vehicle and one person reported it happening on the 2nd day of her ownership and then again a year later.

- Jupiter, FL, USA