Complaint Review: Mazda

In December of 2006, I hit a deer with my beloved Acura Integra and the insurance company totaled it.  I was in a dire situation to purchase a car.  I had seen many Mazda 3's on the road and thought it would be a good choice for my needs.  I went to Hamilton Mazda, now Kenny Ross to look at the car.  I thought it rode ok, a hard ride when hitting bumps, sewer grates or potholes but other than that did not notice anything unusual.  Other than replacing tires that wore very quickly after purchase, I had no problems until the clutch died at 40,000 miles. There was always a burning smell with the car but nothing ever was diagnosed upon inspection.  When I had the car towed to the dealership, they told me it had been a hard winter and that probably was why the clutch died.  I laughed and told them that I have driven manual transmissions for over 30 years and never replaced a clutch in any of my cars.  I wished I would have traded the car at that point.  Mazda refused to take any reponsibility for the clutch and replace it.  I was left with an $1,100 bill.  

The second issue that ended my relationship with this car was when the engine started to make a banging noise from the engine.  It was discovered that there was no oil in the engine.   So why didn't the oil light come in in my car????   My mechanic told me it was probably a bearing and I would need a new engine.  The car had 82,000 miles on it at this point and it was no longer under any of the warranties.   The Mazda 3 5-door was the worst car purchase I have ever made.  I was driving it to buy a new car and the engine blew up.  I had to be towed.  I traded the car, took a huge loss and purchased a new Hyundai Elantra Coupe.  I can't help but want Mazda to take responsibility for these lemons that they are selling to unsuspecting consumers.  Shame on Mazda, now owned by Ford.  Fix these problems or get the cars off the road!!!