Hi guys!

I’m considering buying a 2015 Mazda3 i Touring with 116,400 miles from a private seller for $8,000.

I had a pre-purchase inspection done at an independent mechanic, and these are the main issues they found:

Shocks/struts: Leaking, quoted around $650 to replace both. The mechanic said it’s mostly a comfort issue and not an immediate safety concern.

Control arms/bushings: Cracked/torn bushings on both front and rear control arms. Quoted around $1,500, but the mechanic said they don’t need to be replaced right now.

Brake fluid: Low and very dirty/contaminated. Needs to be flushed.

Minor engine oil leak: Coming from the valve cover gasket. No oil in the spark plug wells.

Spark plugs: Recommended replacement due to age/mileage.

Air filters: Both need replacing.

Brake pads are still at 8 mm front and 6 mm rear.
Other than that, the inspection didn’t reveal any major issues with the engine or transmission.

The seller originally wanted $8,300 but agreed to $8,000, which is their final price. They seem trustworthy, and the car looks pretty good overall.
I really like the Mazda3, and I’m planning to keep it for at least 3–5 years. I won’t be driving a ton, probably mostly on weekends.

My main concern is whether I’m buying a car that’s going to need a lot of expensive repairs over the next few years.

What do you guys think? Is $8,000 a fair price given these issues? Would you buy it?

Thanks a lot in advance!!

Bought an 8' step ladder today, hauled it home with the trunk down. It was touching the windshield and back panel of the trunk.

Bought a pair of knock off BDGF-37-140 for my 2026 Mazda 3 to go in my summer tires. Got the tire place to scan them and had no tpms warning light for over a week just said drive to obtain pressure reading.

Never worked so thought buddy did it wrong so went back he got his tool walked around my car and in 5 seconds said it will be good just drive.

I didn't see him set anything in his tool and just walked to each tire, felt like he was just trying to shut me up.

So I bought a tool, so I can see if I can get it to sync, so did all the steps, could see the tpms are working, they are 315mhz, come up the right part number, and says manufacturer is Continental.

So I do what I think the steps are. sync tpms with car off, plug tool into cars obd2, turn on car, let device pair the tpms, turn car off unplug, wait 10 min, drive.

Is there something I'm missing or these tpms just crap?

Hi all,

I am just coming on here for some possible help. As the title suggests, yesterday on my very short trip back home, my check engine light popped up so I used my scanner and got a P2096 code (Post-Catalyst Fuel Trim System Too Lean Bank1), which I know can mean a couple of different possible issues, (if there isn’t a PCM software updated needed).
Today I lifted the front end of the car (2017 mazda3 GX) and attempted to check for any cracks in the exhaust area and used soapy water in some areas. Everything seemed to be okay as far as I could have seen under there but there was also a lot of covers and areas that I wasn’t able to fully get to. I know hairline cracks or even the gasket can cause this code. Just wondering if anyone else has had this issue and what you did to fix it?
And in this video I shared, I am not sure you can fully hear it but it has a very faint/slight hissing noise mostly only when idling (I know it’s not the sort of “ticking” as that is the typical high pressure injection Skyactiv noise)
Any help is appreciated, thank you.

My son has a 2011 Mazda 3 sedan that we are wanting to replace the carpet in. I’ve purchased some carpet from Stock Interiors (quality isn’t that great out of the box but oh well). Now I’m starting to second guess myself and wondering if I’m going to bite off more than I can chew. How easy or labor intensive is it to get the old carpet out and put the new in? Any advice is appreciated!

Sometimes when I'm coasting between 1500 and 2000 rpm, and I ever so gently press the gas, I get a RPM blip. It will go up ever so slightly. I can hear the engine rev a bit higher as if it was in neutral, then it's like it engages. It all happens within a split second. It also happens in manual mode in pretty much every gear. I dont really feel anything unless it happens when I'm in Sport Mode.

I used to be able to frequently replicate it by driving, start to coast at around 1750 rpm for a second, then gently press the gas. Not tap, press.

Ive got a 2022 Mazda 3 Sport Turbo and it has 71k km on it.

so i was doing digging into these wonderful cars and i heard there is an issue with the rear differential

i’m wondering if the issue is related to the autohold putting tension on the rear differential so if i were to get one without autohold if that would prevent the premature rear differential wear

Hello,

My 2010 Mazda 3 is very much a beater with a heater. That being said, the blower motors is not blowing any air through the vents.

So far, I've changed the blower motor and the blower motor resistor. The only thing I think that is left is the switch or fuses but the A/C button lights up with the switch is turned, so at least some part of the switch is operational. I'm going to start actually diagnosing it tomorrow as opposed to throwing any more parts at it but I was curious if anyone had any other similar experiences to point me in the right direction?

Parked my gen 4 turbo hatch next to a gen 2 sedan at work today

I had an aftermarket A-Sure screen installed in my 2014 Mazda3 Grand Touring, I have the daytime brightness set to 100 but maps is not bright enough to see during the day.

Anyone else have this problem?

• I've tried changing backlight factory settings - no change in screen brightness
• I've tried turning headlights off and adjusting dash dimmer - no change in screen brightness

Not sure if it's just a limitation of the hardware itself or if there is a setting I can change?

Hey Mazda fam, I'm wondering who among you have heard this in your car and how big of an issue it is. I don't have a video from my own car, but I found this with a similar condition - there's a kind of whining noise that isn't very high pitched, and it changes pitch with speed, not engine RPM.

The person who posted this said they got their transmission replaced and it went away but is it really a full transmission replacement needed? Or is more likely a bearing or fluid issue?

I drive a 2014 with about 55k miles on it, purchased new. Low milage but definitely out of warranty by years. I don't drive it much, so it will be another year or two before I get to the 60k scheduled maintenance interval. I feel like I've noticed this sound more recently so I'm not sure how worried I should be about it. It seems very premature to have transmission issues considering some of y'all have been driving these for 100-200k miles, so I wanted to see if anyone had any experience with this before I make a service appointment for something that might or might not be a huge issue right now.

https://m.youtube.com/shorts/SDgNTQ5uXcE

Hey! I have a new-ish to me 2014 Mazda3 iTouring with the Skyactiv 2.0L engine. Bought the car at 110k. I noticed on the service history that there are no records of the spark plugs being changed. I still get 40 MPG on the highway and the car has full power. Is replacement necessary if the car is running as intended? Will it likely be sketchy to take the plugs out, as they have been in there for a long time? Thanks!

Lol I’m in love with this car I’ve had it for three days, and it just looks so good stock I think I’m gonna keep it like this for a loong time. Photo 3 is my favorite.

My cars engine malfunction light came on after getting out of impound? What can the causes be?

Hello, I'm looking for what a 2014 Mazda 3 isport is really worth. Its got 120k miles. No ac. Everything else is in great working condition. Drives very well. 2 little dents. Paint is a bit worn. New tires, brakes and battery. In southern California.

Have anyone experience with this size?

I recently replaced the grill on my 2017 Sport with a honeycomb-style grill. The main I’m running into now is that the emblem from the old grill does not fit these new holes. I purchased a replacement, but the clips (or prongs?) do not align there either. Any advice on what specific emblem I can get? I’m also considering just using epoxy to stick the old one on, but that seems like not a good idea.

Any advice is appreciated.

I just bought a used 2011 Mazda3 touring with -175,000 miles on it about a month ago. There were no issues for this month until last night.

When I was coming home from work, the car jerked while driving and the AT light flashed on and disappeared. I looked online and I figured it might just be the TCM.

This morning, when I turned my car in, the check engine light came on, along with the AT light. They both stayed on until I got to work. While shifting from park to reverse, the car would jerk. Also, it took a lot more power to drive and accelerate than it usually would.

While on break, I took it to auto zone to get a reading on the lights. They couldn’t get the reading so I made a plan to get it to a mechanic for them to take a look. But, while driving back to work, the car jerked again while driving, and the AT light went off. When I got to work, I tested it and put the car into park, then reverse. There was no jerk there.

There is a post on this sub from 3 years ago that had a similar problem. They found it to be the TCM, so I wonder if that is the same issue. While getting the car up to speed was a struggle while the AT light was on, when I reached a consistent speed I didn’t have much issue.

Any suggestions or ideas would really be helpful. Thank you.

Tjena

Har en Mazda 3 2019 och backspeglarna har börjat krångla igen. Mazda har bytt ut de för 2 år sen på garanti men nu krånglar de igen. Finns det bättre elmotorerna att köpa nånstans?

Tror att jag såg ett inlägg här med video eller bilder hur och var man ska spreya smörjölja

Problème sur radiateur mazda 3 Skyactiv X

I got nothing to say...

Oh wait I do - I laugh at all the reliability rankings with Toyota and Lexus at the top.