This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
Noticed sidewall cracks ranging from one to five inches on three of four tires (the remaining one tire was a replacement for a previous tire with sidewall failure. One tire has consistently been a problem with losing air. Tire was reset with bead seal previously, still seemed to be losing air, and this is the tire with the longest sidewall crack.
The contact owns a 2007 Mazda, Mazda5 equipped with yokohama avid envigor tires, tire size P205/50/17. While driving approximately 65 mph, the contact encountered a pothole and heard a loud banging sounded outside the vehicle. The steering wheel began to vibrate and the contact maneuvered the vehicle to the side of the road. The vehicle was towed to an authorized dealer who stated that the front and rear passenger side tires exhibited substantial tread separation and caused the tires to completely deflate. As a result, the failure caused excessive damage to both rims. The technician replaced the rear and passenger side tires and both rims. The manufacturer was not made aware of the defect. The approximate failure mileage was 43,684. The dot number and VIN were unavailable. Updated 07/20/11 updated 3/13/12
After just 24,000 miles, I had to replace the tires on my 2007 Mazda5 due to "cupping." With just 5,000 miles on the new tires, the same thing is happening again. When I contacted Mazda regarding this, I was told it was a "design flaw", and that if I didn't like the noise and the vibration from the tires, then I would just have to replace them frequently. This is not acceptable, due to the safety issues of driving on bad tires. I also can't afford $700+ a year for new tires. If it is a "design flaw", then Mazda should be responsible for fixing this issue. When my car was in for service at the dealer last week, I was told it had a vibration at about 60 miles/hour, and that I should get it aligned. Took it to a local garage, and was told it was not out of alignment. Vibration was not there before they worked on the car at the dealer. I have also had the car to the dealer 3 times for a noise in the back end, and they could never find anything wrong. This last time, they did find I had a leaky shock. (I actually had to tell them to look for it after having the car in a neighborhood garage, and they found it." Have been told by the same neighborhood garage that my rotors are bad and need replaced, but Mazda felt they only needed to be "machined".
Mazda5 sport wagon equipped with toyo 205 50 R17 tires. Left front tire delaminated at approximately 40,000 miles. Thought this was an anomaly. Left rear tire delaminated at 40,900 miles. Both occurred at about 55 -60 miles an hour on paved highways. One delamination was at the juncture of the side wall and surface the other approximately 2 inches on the right surface. Delamination was about a 1/2 inch wide, entire circumference of the tire and was down to the wire reinforcement. Both tires had sufficient tread to meet safety requirements and were properly inflated. I have sent an email to Mazda customer service suggesting that they do a recall. I have the left rear tire in my possession.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Menomonie, WI, USA