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.
There is a white bushing that breaks and is not replaceable. The whole steering column has to be replaced. The fact that this car was made with this flaw is beyond my comprehension. The steering wheel becomes very loose and unsafe to drive.
I'm writing to state on my RX8 shinka 2006 Mazda has a steering wheel problem most concerning. I have owned it and maintained it. As I was leaving my bank I noticed a white gasket of kind on the floor of the drivers side. I went to drive my car and there was a lot of play in moving the steering wheel. At first I tried unlocking and locking the steering column. This was no good. There was still play in the steering wheel. Meaning you can move the steering wheel column up and down with outside unlocking the column. This should not be an issue. It's just like the air bag recall. I shouldn't have to worry that my steering wheel will fail while driving my awesome car!
I was going to pull out of the parking lot when the clutch pedal bent over to the side (brake side). Because of the bent, I can not put my car into gear or turn it on.
The electronic assist steering on our RX8 completely failed in 2007/2008 (approx 25,000 miles) the steering rack, steering module, and steering wire harness were replaced by Mazda under warranty. Within a year, the steering failed again. According to Mazda, it was the wire harness which was then replaced or serviced to correct the problem. It has now been 4 years and still the car only has a total of 60,000 miles on it and the steering has failed again. This time though, failure has been intermittent. The assist will turn off and back on as you are driving. This produces very treacherous driving conditions including sudden veering or potential loss of control. Driving 10 miles to the dealership, the steering assist turned off & on twice. When this happened the first time, I barely avoided colliding with a vehicle in the next lane after a sudden veer. I was muscling the steering and the assist came back on. A driver not aware of any issue who experiences the problem for the first time could easily make a sudden steering change and it could be fatal. Mazda is now saying it is the steering control module yet they will not cover the repair ($1,400) because it is out of warranty. Upon searching online, there are 100's of reports of this exact issue of multiple steering failures being reported by other individual RX8 owners as well as other Mazda vehicles. Mazda continues to ignore the problem for the RX8 yet they have issued a voluntary recall of all 2007-2009 Mazda 3 & Mazda 5 steering systems. We don't have a choice but to get our car fixed and pay the bill. Mazda refused to do anything about it even after I called their corporate office. They filed my complaint then basically said tough luck. This is my daughter's car and she cannot afford to buy another car. I am literally scared to let her drive it. It is an accident waiting to happen.
I am having an issue with power steering. It went out while I was driving and became very hard to steer. I pulled over, shut my car off, turned it back on and the power steering was back. Then later that day it went out again but this time it never came back on. I took it to Mazda and they told me it was the control module. They are wanting to charge me $1400 for a box half the size of a poptart box (couldn't think of anything else haha). I contacted corporate and they refuse to see this as a safety issue. I definitely think there needs to be a recall. I have read all over the internet and forums about other people with the same model and year having this same exact problem. If there is nothing done about this asap I guarantee there will be several accidents down the road. Please do something about this.
- Estero, FL, USA
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I went over to my friends house to swim around 1400 and, at that time, everything was normal. After we were done swimming and I got in the car to leave, I turned the care on and the power steering light came on in the dash. I proceeded to the manual which says it is due to a power steering failure. I've read in many forums that this is a common occurrence with this car model. It has been reported that it is usually the power steering harness or the rack (motor or torque sensor).
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Visalia, CA, USA