Was driving on the street and all of the sudden white smoke started to come out of the engine that smelled like rubber. The air conditioner was also making a loud noise. I pulled over and shut everything off. Called the dealer who walked me through and we verified it was the air conditioner clutch that broke off. No warning lights on the dash or anything. Ac is now unusable until its fixed. Glad it didn't catch on fire, we pulled over immediately when it happened. Now I have to get it fixed, $1200+.

- San Diego, 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

This is the 2nd time this car has refused to start. The "fix" was done by Mazda over the past summer due to a corrosion problem with the positive battery cable where it attaches to the starter. This time it is not under warranty. My concern is myself or anyone else getting stuck in freezing weather, icy conditions, or a bad part of town in the middle of the night. Mazda is aware of this problem and outlines it in a service bulletin 01-037/08. Should women or children, or anyone else be stranded and harmed in any way by this known defect, I hope Mazda is liable for not addressing this issue.

- Millersburg, OH, USA

Motor will not crank and engine does not start, intermittently.

- Auburn Hills, MI, USA

My daughter was driving a 2006 Mazda 3 hatchback on willow street, long beach, ca yesterday afternoon around 4 pm, the engine suddenly stopped and she turned the car into a parking lot. She opened the hood and found out the engine was leant toward front about 45 degree. She did not go through any bumps on the road, just driving on normal streets. We checked on google and discovered the broken engine mounts have been the major cause of such kind of prolbems. Lots of complaints came from the owners who drove less than 20,000 miles. The cars with the broken engine mounts could stop at the middle of driving on the roads and cause rear-ended accidents. NHTSA should investigate the design of the engine mounts and inform the manufacturer to replace the parts to ensure tje safety of the vehicles and the drivers.

- Hacienda Heights, CA, USA

2006 Mazda 2I. Passenger side engine mount bracket failure.

- Carmel, CA, USA

Upper passenger side engine shock mount on Mazda 3 at 37K miles. Shock mount tore leaking oil and causing vibration.

- Valdosta, GA, USA

2006 Mazda 3 was leaving a driveway and got stuck in the snow. The car was able to get unstuck and proceeded down the street. The car stopped in back of another car that was stopped, and briefly got stuck again. The car started going again, and smoke was seen coming out from under the hood. When the hood was opened there were flames, and the entire engine department ended up going up in flames. The car is a total loss. The car ended up (later in January 2009) at the local Mazda dealer, and all they can say is they don't know why the car caught on fire. The car is all stock. I'm concerned that the car caught on fire, as it is a 2006 model. This doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. Also, I am most concerned that this may be a safety problem, and I believe Mazda should look into the incident a little more. Overheating, possibly, but not an out and out fire that burned and melted almost the entire engine compartment. This is brief synopsis of what happened and where we are at now.

- Portland, OR, USA

The contact owns a 2006 Mazda 3. at 5,000 miles, the engine failed because the factory failed to place oil in the engine. The contact was informed that the vehicle would not need an oil change until approximately 5,000 miles. The manufacturer replaced the engine under the warranty. However, while driving approximately 70 mph, the engine failed again and the vehicle was towed to a dealer. The manufacturer would not replace the engine again under warranty; therefore, the contact would have to pay for the $7,500 repair cost. The current mileage was approximately 43,600 and failure mileage was approximately 5,000.

- Miami, FL, USA

I am writing in regards to my Mazda3 that I have taken to your certified Mazda repair center 5 (five) times with no success of repair. The failure of a successful repair substantially impairs the safety and value of my vehicle. I would like to get this situation resolved at once so that I can go on with my life without the worry of paying for a lemon car and stop having to drive around in a rental car that is less fuel efficient and less comfortable than my car. There are three major reasons I requested service for my car: 1. the service engine light has been coming on randomly. 2. on one occasion the vehicle has stalled on an oncoming ramp of rt. 202 traveling at approximately 35 miles per hour. I could hardly pull the car over because the steering wheel was too heavy to operate. Fortunately there was no traffic accident. 3. another major reason for my safety worries is that the side airbag off light started to come on constantly. After an expert visit, I was told that I will be getting a new car. 2 weeks after that the paperwork processes was completed a new car was ready for me to pick up, so I went to the dealership to pick up my car only to find out that I had to pay $2,300 in order to take the new car. Then the next day I was told by you on the phone that the deal was cancelled by Mazda because I didn't want to pay for this unfair resolution. Then the owner of the dealership personally explained to me that they needed to purchase my car, sell it to another consumer and then sell me a new car. There are two things unethical about this: 1. you cannot sell a car with safety defects to another consumer. 2. you cannot leave me with no option but to trade in my car and purchase a new car when this car is a lemon. Based on the Pennsylvania attorney general description my car is a lemon car. I feel that I have done all that is humanly possible in this matter and have yet to see any results.

- Chesterbrook, PA, USA

2006 Mazda 3I touring stalled while at a traffic light. The dealer was unable to determine the cause of the stalling. The power steering made strange noises when the consumer made a U-turn or pulled into a parking lot.

- Woodbridge, VA, USA

In the month of March, I started to notice that in the first morning the car would hesitate to start. Contacted my local Mazda dealer in reno and notified them of the problem. Their response was that the problem had to do with Nevada gas. On June 17th, while visiting las vegas, the cars engine stalled while in gear on the freeway, it took two attempts to restart the car. I returned to reno, and contacted an attorney and found that there were three major componets, that were all linked to the fuel system of the car. I contacted the Mazda dealership and still have no answers or solutions.

- Reno, NV, USA