The driver side rear upper shock mount broke allowing the shock to bounce around destroying the shock. The mount is aluminum and it appeared to have badly oxidized. There were no major pothole strikes or anything to cause it.

The passenger side rear upper shock mount broke. The driver side had broken the previous year after what looked like the aluminum had oxidized. This time it was the same, but on the passenger side. It allowed the shock to bounce around in the tower destroying the shock.

The car always felt like it was not stable when making a curve (at speeds greater than 45 mph) and passing on some bumps (e.g. bridge/road junction). The back of the car usually skids towards the outside.

At around 70000, a mechanic noticed the back tires were worn on the inside and told the suspension (or shocks... not sure) was cupping. Had to replace the shocks and tires. It seems like a poor quality check after the car was built.

The opposite side blew a year ago. At that time they did not replace both sides.

Was repaired under warranty. One side blew, dealer replaced only that side.

This was the third blown shock. Originally replaced under warranty twice. Warranty since expired, and had to pay myself.

Dealer wanted $500+ to replace both rear shocks. Because it was on my dime they offered to upgrade shocks. Said that they were the only repair option.

I took it to Canadian Tire instead, they replaced both rear shocks and offered lifetime warranty. Cost was half the dealer quote.

Have not had any issues with my rear shocks since.

How can rear shocks fail at 42k miles, someone can say that the slide rule wasn't working that week. Sounds like a defect since I've read the blog many, many times....MAZDA, don't make the same mistake GM made with customer satisfaction............enough said.