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.
Was driving on large blvd thru town at approx. 45+ mpg, the car all of a sudden quit accelerating, the wrench light came on, all power to car was essentially loss and it began convulsing abruptly as a I maneuvered it off the road to a safe stopping spot. I called aaa and had it towed to dealer. Dealer had the car for 3 days, could never find anything or get it to reproduce what I experienced, so I was charged the $120 diagnostic fee without it being fixed and sent home with my fingers crossed. The car behaved for awhile, but then it started doing it again on and off over the next 6 months. Because of the $120 fee for nothing I had been hesitant to go back until recently when I was on the freeway (a couple of times) and the car did the same thing! luckily I was in the slow lane and could pull over quickly, turn off the car, count to 10 and then start it up again and go. These last few times it was several times a day, so I took it back to the dealer (car is supposedly certified) as of this writing they have had the car again for 3 days, and just now, at the end of the work day have decided it is the throttle body that needs replacing. It is "conveniently" not listed in the "covered components" of the certified warranty. Its going to cost $500+ to get my car back + the cost of the rental car I've had to get because they don't have loaners, just a shuttle, which does me no good on a daily basis.
First occurrence was while backing out of a parking spot and put the vehicle into drive. I accelerated and the car hesitated, chugged, the wrench light on dash illuminated with very slow forward momentum. Turned vehicle off and back on with no problem until the end of the parking row when I stopped for traffic, it chugged and wouldn't accelerate, wrench indicator on again. Turned vehicle off and coasted to a parking spot. Restarted a few minutes later with no problems for almost a week. Next time it happened I accelerated from a stop sign and only had crawling speed no matter what I did with the gas pedal. The wrench light was again on with the vehicle chugging and hesitating. Due to parked vehicles I had to drive almost the length of the block in this condition before having a place to pull over and move out of the long line of traffic I had created. Once again after a brief waiting period I restarted the vehicle, the wrench light went out and it has been driving okay.
While stopped at a traffic light the vehicle began to surge as if the accelerator was being pressed and released, the car started running rough and the engine light came on. After driving through the intersection the car ran normally for several weeks. The car has repeatedly had this symptom along with failure to respond to the accelerator and shutting off. The last incident happened on March 9th of 2014 while turning right in an intersection the car failed to respond to the accelerator and just quit. I allowed the car to drift to a center area of the road and was able to restart it. The dealer has once told us we were probably over filling (topping off) the tank, we have made sure that we let the pump stop after if clicks off the first time yet the incidents continue and at an increased rate. The car has been taken to the dealer a second time to attempt to diagnose this issue.
I was driving with my family on highway at 70 mph when I lost power to my accelerator. I was able to coast to the side of the highway, then the SUV shook with the wrench light on dash illuminated. I turned the car off and then back on again. The wrench light was off and I resumed driving. The next day, during city driving my SUV did exactly the same thing at 40mph. I brought the Mazda to my mechanic and they are having difficulty diagnosing the problem. Along with the other consumers with this issue, I am afraid of this continuing and resulting in a serious injury or casualty.
While driving on freeway during peak traffic (stop and go) all of a sudden my car would not go when pressing on gas pedal and wrench light came on. Because I was on a slight decline my car very slowly crossed two lanes of oncoming traffic and finally made it on the side of the freeway. Car started to shake really bad before turning off ignition. Got car towed to dealer and they couldn't fine anything wrong after keeping car for one week. Picked up car on 12/12/13 and same exact problem happen again on 1/8/14, had car towed to dealer and they couldn't find anything wrong after keeping car for one week. Picked up car on 1/18/14. They said they can't do anything unless the wrench comes out. My concern is when I'm driving on the freeway and cars are going 45 - 60 mph, I'll get hit from the back and probably get badly injured or may even die!
- Waipahu, HI, USA
Search CarComplaints.com for these popular complaint phrases...
Driving on the interstate at 70 mph for the holidays when I lost all acceleration. Pulled over to the side of the road and a wrench light was displayed on the dash board. Engine was idling very ruff and vehicle would not move in forward or reverse like the power train was broken. Put the car in park, turn off engine, wait a few seconds and restarted engine. When the engine restarted, wrench light was off and finished driving home. Since them the same thing has happened to me on three more different occasions and seems to be happening more often. The car was brought in for repair but the mechanics could not find anything wrong as no engine light or wrench light were displayed. I feel this car is unsafe to drive and an accident just waiting to happen yet no one knows how to correct problem. I believe that Mazda should take ownership, be made to recall these defective vehicles and make them safe to drive again.
Driving normally, wrench light came on and lost the ability to accelerate with the gas pedal. Pulled to the shoulder, placed vehicle in park. By this time the vehicle was shaking hard. Turned the vehicle off, then restarted. Vehicle was fine, driving perfectly. This started happening intermittently about once a week but then grew more frequent to once a day.
Driving normally, wrench light came on and lost the ability to accelerate with the gas pedal. Pulled to the shoulder, placed vehicle in park. By this time the vehicle was shaking hard. Turned the vehicle off, then restarted. Vehicle was fine, driving perfectly. This started happening intermittently about once a week but then grew more frequent to once a day. Throttle body had to be replaced.
As I was driving on the interstate at 70mph I suddenly felt a tug and the speedometer began going down and I was not able to accelerate. The wrench came on. I pulled over and waited to be towed. I just called Mazda, the throttle body needs to be replaced. I was told this is not part of the power train warranty. The biggest issue, the part is on back order for a month. This indicates to me there are numerous issues with the throttle body. I am now down a car for a month, unacceptable. In researching online I have found others to have the same problem. I plan to contact Mazda as I feel this is something they can pay to replace.
Vehicle lurched forward even though I was applying the brake on the highway. Transmission is slipping in drive and the vehicle lurches forward with the brake applied moving from park or reverse to drive. I'm worried about driving the vehicle as the lurching occurs frequently when coming to a stop. I only own one vehicle and have to drive to work.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Costa Mesa, CA, USA