I own a Mazda 3 5 door hatchback. I love the car. I do have an issue with the rear camber of the car. I had to put a new set of tires on the car after 24,000 miles. I rotated my tires every other oil change and the road noise was unbearable because the rear camber is too extreme and wears the inner treads too fast.so when you rotate the rear tires to the front they make very loud noise. I put a new set of tires on at 24,000 miles at the dealer and when I rotated them at 27,000 miles I have extreme road noise again. The dealership said the only way to fix the rear camber issue is to purchase a camber kit. I shouldn't have to pay for a factory defect. I've read on the forums and most other Mazda 3 owners are having the same issues with rear tires wearing down too fast. Please fix my problem. This could be a safety issue as well, being that the tires wear down very fast.

- Orlando, FL, USA

2008 Mazda3, alignment within manufacturer specs, but there is uneven wear on the rear driverside tire. As generally a tire as 4 parts of tread, the 3 outer treads are exactly the same side and the 1 inner tread is excessively worn. There is no angled wear on the tire toward the excessive wear, 3 high treads and 1 low tread. Mazda apparently has a rear camber defect on 2008 models which they are unable to fix.

- Washington, DC, USA

In early August 2009 at approx. 21K miles when I performed my 7500 mile tire rotation I noticed that all the 4 oe good year rsa tires were very worn on the inside, not the thread area but the area where the sidewall starts. I had noticed this before but had not thought much of it as it wasn't too bad. I drove on a 500 mile trip shortly after this and became more concerned. I had the alignment checked at the destination and it was within mfg. Spec. The alignment people said the cause was probably due to the negative camber on the rear wheels which at -2.3 and -1.7 was probably the reason for the wear and that I should replace the tires. Mazda does not provide for adjusting the rear camber. Not having the resources at the time, thinking maybe it was a overzealous sales effort, and to me the tires still looked usable I didn't replace them. Now at 27K miles I have the resources to replace them and the area on the inside corner in much more worn. Mazda gives no explanation, one said should rotate @ 5K miles, another says they put crappy tires on the vehicle. On the internet, people who replace the tires say they continue to have the problem and that it is caused by the excessive negative camber that cannot be adjusted. This is a safety issue in that, with a sour economy many people may not be able to afford replacement tires, many people may not be able to or pay to rotate tires and many people may not check them at all. At the minimum Mazda should provide for adjustment of the rear camber.

- Eustis, FL, USA

Rear camber is out of adjustment causing premature tire wear.

- Carver, MN, USA

I purchased a new 2008 Mazda 3S in October 07 with toyo tires. At 12,000 miles my tires were down to safety bar...had to purchase new tires. The toyo tire dealer told me that the rear camber on the car was the problem. Mazda says camber cannot be adjusted. Toyo tire people say the problem is the aggressive rear camber and that is the way Mazda built it. I only got 17,000 miles on new set of tires. After many attempts trying to get Mazda to fix the problem, and them always saying the camber was within specs. The dealer finally admitted there is a problem with the car. But there is no way to fix the problem. If this is their design flaw, they should put a disclaimer with the car at time of purchase that you will have to purchase tires every 15,000 miles. After reviewing on line, I came across several blogs of Mazda owners that have experienced the same problem. Mazda needs to provide the part to fix the car. Who expects to have to purchase tires every 15,000 miles when they are rated for 40-60,000 miles. At this time, my car will not pass state inspection because of the tires and I will have to purchase new ones. This is wrong....and Mazda needs to accept responsibility for its poor engineering/design and inform new buyers of this potential problem with their car. Mazda acts like this is normal tire wear because the Mazda 3S has "spirited handling".

- Lindale, TX, USA