While driving the transmission shifts from a high gear to a low gear and shakes violently

- Detroit, MI, USA

Typically but not only when travelling at high speed, the automatic transmission of my 2003 Mazda 3 shifts down from the 4th to the 3rd gear. This causes the car to jerk violently and the controls to illuminate including check engine, no traction and at. My mechanic could not find a cause of this, and he serviced the transmission by changing the filter and transmission fluid but the problem persists. He suggested that the transmission needs to be rebuilt. Has anyone experienced a similar issue and if so, did you figure out what caused it and how to fix it.

- Coral Springs, FL, USA

The contact owns a 2006 Mazda 3. while driving, the vehicle downshifted into third gear and the transmission indicator illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure recurred. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 163,000.

- Fortuna, CA, USA

My car idles really rough. Once I get close to freeway speed my car constantly shifts gears from 3 to 4 to 3, so on. This causes my car to jerk, it revs from 3,000 to 1,000 and eveything in between. During this my brakes become practically useless, I have to completely press the brake pedal to make it decelerate. And braking distances are drastically increased. It further worries me that I dont have any dash lights on such as check engine, transmission, ABS, etc.

- Los Angeles, CA, USA

The engine was cold. I entered the car, started the engine, shifted into reverse and the engine accelerated uncontrollably, screaming. I could not stop the car with full braking and shut off engine. I restarted and it worked normally. This also happen about a year ago and the dealer could find nothing wrong. Help!!!!

- Lancaster, PA, USA

During normal vehicle operation, without warning or indication, the vehicle master clutch cylinder plunger connecting from the clutch pedal to the master cylinder in the interior of the vehicle broke and disconnected the linkage between the clutch pedal and the clutch master cylinder thereby rendering the clutch system inoperable. This caused the inability to disengage the transmission from the drive gears and into neutral, which therefore caused the engine to stall once I safely braked to a stop. In my situation I was able to safely stop the vehicle, but this issue may cause a safety issue if I were at high speeds.

- Dearborn, MI, USA

The contact owns a 2006 Mazda 3. while driving at an unknown speed, the vehicle would shift independently into third gear. The failure occurred intermittently. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 155,000.

- Norwich, CT, USA

Car stalled while driving, lost power cant turn the wheel.

- Celebration , FL, USA

I was driving along and suddenly a loud noise, the check engine light came on and the car shifted from 4th to 3rd without losing speed (except from me taking my foot off of the gas when hearing the noise) all at the same time. My mechanic said the diagnostic machine pointed to the "turbine speed sensor", so this was replaced within 2 days. The same day I got the car back, I drove it about 30 miles and it did the same thing again. Now my mechanic is checking into the transmission, possibly causing the problem.

- Anoka, MN, USA

Car was in park and would not start. Placed in neutral and it started right up. Happened one other time too. That time I repositioned the car to park(took it out of park and put it back in park) and it started right up. Upon talking to a mechanic I was told it was the "neutral safety switch" that is faulty and should be replaced as this problem will only get worse with time. I purchased this car used 2 yrs ago from a dealer.

- Durham, NC, USA

I have a 2006 Mazda 3I touring sedan. I was driving to pick up a cake for my anniversary when I parked the car got out got the cake and left the parking spot just a few feet down the road I heard some noise thought it was my engine under body plastic that protects the under part of my engine. Well went home took it off driven it around still the same noise grinding the dealer said transmission and 3others said powertrain problems I would love to know if it has a recall on the powertrain/ carrier and pinion because I would love to drive my car.

- Tualatin, OR, USA

The contact owns a 2006 Mazda Mazda3. The contact stated when the engine was started, the automatic transmission light, and engine light illuminated simultaneously. The vehicle was taken to the transmission mechanic for diagnostic testing who confirmed the failure was within the transmission control module. The transmission control module was replaced. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure and current mileage was 110,000.

- Englewood, NJ, USA

While cruising on the freeway at 70mph, car downshifted into third gear causing the car to jolt and slow down. At and check engine light turned on. The car is not communicating with the transmission correctly causing it to downshift into 3rd randomly and also idle in 3rd. The entire shifting is random and dangerous, sometimes working and sometime throwing your rpms up to 6000. While driving it causes major safety issues when it randomly changed gears without warning. When plugged in I get error code U0101. The computer is failing and with recent google searches I realize this is a common problem but Mazda will not take any responsibility for me personally.

- Castaic, CA, USA

I first noticed that my clutch was not coming back all the way after changing gears. I was able to use the top of my foot to lift the clutch up without difficulty and it would pop back up. I immediately called the Mazda dealership which, I was currently about 2 miles from. I explained what happened and they said to make an appointment in the morning. I drove home about 3 miles. The next day I called to make an appointment. No one returned my phone call, so I started to drive my car to the dealership and it became more difficult to shift into gear, than I broke down completely after only driving about 3 miles and only about 3 traffic lights. After that, I could put the stick shift into gear but when I lifted the clutch up it would not engage. I bought my car brand new at Mazda and had all my regular maintenance and inspections at the Mazda dealership aside from regular oil changes which, I got done at a local shop. I have always driven a stick shift and never had any problems with clutches. I was also the sole driver of my car. When I got home I did a little research and someone recommended filling out a complaint at this website. If I had not stumbled across that I would be none the wiser. While looking over the site, I noticed that there was a recent investigation of Mazda RX8. It stated that after the investigation, Mazda has informed ODI that it conducted an owner notification of an extended warranty coverage program increasing the clutch pedal assembly warranty to 8 years and limited at 100K miles for model years 2004 through 2009 RX8 vehicles. My question is, how can a clutch have a lifetime of 100,000 miles in an RX8 which is a sportier car and probably receives more abuse than other models and only good for 12,000 in a 2006 Mazda 3/hatchback? could you look into all models. Thank you for your time.

- Hershey, PA, USA

As I was driving on the freeway in bumper-to-bumper traffic, traffic came to a standstill. I went to accelerate as the cars moved and then I realized my engine had shut off. The check engine light had come on and my car was dead. I put it in park, turned the key again and it started up again. But I noticed as I was crawling along, my car had a rough idle. The whole car would shake and RPM seemed a little lower than usual at idle. I found out my motor mount had gone. Dealer replaced it, had an extended warranty so it was covered. Gave out pretty quick if you ask me - at around 55,000 miles.

- Walnut, CA, USA