Mazda 3 just reached 300,000 miles

[Nav45]

Hello fine gentleman, hope you're all doing great. I was hoping to use your expertise to keep my car running well. Any inputs or advice would be appreciated.

My Mazda 3 now has over 300,000 miles and I'm just wondering what can I do to keep it going. I honestly did not think about reaching this much mileage but here it is. It's a 2008 model with the 2.0 and it's doing really well. It hardly burns any oil, though the previous oil change I had to add about .5 quart during the end of the OCI. I've changed the various fluids and try to keep it running well.

Right now, I'm using full synthetic oils and changing it every 6,000 miles or so, sometimes more sometimes less. I see there are plenty of high mileage oils so I'm curious if they are any useful given that not much if any oil is being used.

There is a slight suspension issue with the rear control arm I think, the TPMS monitors are not working right, the airbag light is on for the second time. Other than that, so far so good. The paint is fading on the horizontal panels and the front headlight assembly probably needs to be changed (too foggy and worn). Very slight rust in some areas - the trunk has some spots where rust has formed but thankfully it doesn't seem to be growing from what I can tell.

I want to keep this car for a while still.

Thank you for any input.

 

[HyundaiAbuser]

If its burning half a quart over 6k i wouldn't worry about itand keep using whatever oil you are. How does it shift? is it a manual or automatic and if so have those fluids been changed at any point? If you want to keep it for a while still the suspension issue would be the first thing i look into since you wont want to keep it if you lose control while driving. Along with the faulty airbags thats not a recipe for success. Value wise you dont have much to gain from fixing paint at this point with 300k on the clock, nor would i worry about the tpms system. I would say the suspension is top priority and airbags second if that is something that concerns you.

 

[JohnnyJohnson]

300,000 and burns no oil? How many people does it take to push that thing 20 MPH in town! Keep on keeping on with what you are doing
TPMS one of the most useless things ever put on a car?

 

[Nav45]

If its burning half a quart over 6k i wouldn't worry about itand keep using whatever oil you are. How does it shift? is it a manual or automatic and if so have those fluids been changed at any point? If you want to keep it for a while still the suspension issue would be the first thing i look into since you wont want to keep it if you lose control while driving. Along with the faulty airbags thats not a recipe for success. Value wise you dont have much to gain from fixing paint at this point with 300k on the clock, nor would i worry about the tpms system. I would say the suspension is top priority and airbags second if that is something that concerns you.

All fair and helpful points. It's a auto and is shifting very well, no issues from me. The suspension makes some clunks in the rear occasionally but I think it might be the sway bar and the end links. Still solid. The airbag light is something I have thought about. I think you might be right and I just have to get it done. And yes, I don't like the paint fading and peeling but a good paint job might not be worth it for the car. Thanks.

 

[TmanP]

You've obviously done well with this 3 and could make a strong argument that "if it ain't broke..." At any rate, you could try a high-mileage oil to see if that stops the slight consumption, but 1/2 a quart per 6k is nothing to worry about on something with any mileage, much less over a quarter million miles. Other than that, have you done anything with coolant or ATF? Those would be two places to focus some attention. I'd also want to figure out why the airbag light was on (most likely, the light being on for any reason means that your airbags are disabled in any crash, for many cars at least) and take a look at the suspension issue, in addition to touching up the paint (I assume that you aren't anywhere that gets much snow/road salt, since these 3s of this generation rotted out more than about anything else; that's in your favor here). If you haven't tried buffing out the headlights, that'd be worth a try before replacing them; Sam's Club does a restoration service for about $35 dollars and it has a five year guarantee, if I remember correctly. The TPMS isn't likely to be an issue presuming you check the pressures, but it might just be a cheap sensor that has a dead battery; that might be worth checking up on too (TPMS gave me ~20 seconds warning of an impending blowout once, so I see some value). Other than that, nothing really comes to mind - if it were mine, I'd give it a detail, fix the easier cosmetic issues (cheap touchup paint after sanding the rusty spots, plus clean up/replace the headlights), and throw some Techron or similar in the gas.

 

[Nav45]

300,000 and burns no oil? How many people does it take to push that thing 20 MPH in town! Keep on keeping on with what you are doing
TPMS one of the most useless things ever put on a car?

That's right LOL. Yes, I might look into the TPMS down the road if feel compelled. I feel thankful for the car to still be running this well.

 

[JohnnyJohnson]

All fair and helpful points. It's a auto and is shifting very well, no issues from me. The suspension makes some clunks in the rear occasionally but I think it might be the sway bar and the end links. Still solid. The airbag light is something I have thought about. I think you might be right and I just have to get it done. And yes, I don't like the paint fading and peeling but a good paint job might not be worth it for the car. Thanks.

The paint now that's an important one a nice new shinny paint job would add to greatly to the arrow dynamics of the 3 I'd bet you'd gain at least .001 MPG out the door.

 

[Just a civilian pilot]

If it was my car I would definitely do something about those headlights ( new assembly or touch up with one of those kits ).

My car ( Honda Civic with over 300 miles ) doesn‘t burn any oil but if it did , I would be trying a HM oil and moving up a grade ( I already went one grade higher so maybe that’s why I do not notice any oil consumption ). I use 0w30 versus 0w20. Engine hasn’t blown up or worn out yet due to deviating from spec’d oil.

 

[Averroes]

Just keep doing what you're doing honestly. Keep up the good work.

 

[AutoMechanic]

Sounds like you are doing good for that many miles.

 

[ssspencerjr]

I can only hope my 2017 Malibu makes it to 300k. Congrats.

 

[daves87rs]

Wouldn’t change much...just keep updating it....

 

[JohnnyG]

How many times have you changed the brake fluid?

 

[OilReport99]

Impressive. Keep your routine.

 

[JeffKeryk]

300K right ON!

 

[Nav45]

You've obviously done well with this 3 and could make a strong argument that "if it ain't broke..." At any rate, you could try a high-mileage oil to see if that stops the slight consumption, but 1/2 a quart per 6k is nothing to worry about on something with any mileage, much less over a quarter million miles. Other than that, have you done anything with coolant or ATF? Those would be two places to focus some attention. I'd also want to figure out why the airbag light was on (most likely, the light being on for any reason means that your airbags are disabled in any crash, for many cars at least) and take a look at the suspension issue, in addition to touching up the paint (I assume that you aren't anywhere that gets much snow/road salt, since these 3s of this generation rotted out more than about anything else; that's in your favor here). If you haven't tried buffing out the headlights, that'd be worth a try before replacing them; Sam's Club does a restoration service for about $35 dollars and it has a five year guarantee, if I remember correctly. The TPMS isn't likely to be an issue presuming you check the pressures, but it might just be a cheap sensor that has a dead battery; that might be worth checking up on too (TPMS gave me ~20 seconds warning of an impending blowout once, so I see some value). Other than that, nothing really comes to mind - if it were mine, I'd give it a detail, fix the easier cosmetic issues (cheap touchup paint after sanding the rusty spots, plus clean up/replace the headlights), and throw some Techron or similar in the gas.

The ATF has been changed not too long ago and is shifting just fine. Thanks for the tips. I will have to get the airbag light looked at and hopefully fixed.

 

[Nav45]

I can only hope my 2017 Malibu makes it to 300k. Congrats.

Sure you can, just treat it right and look after it. Wish you the best.

 

[Nav45]

How many times have you changed the brake fluid?

I just changed it very recently but it had been a while before that though. The brakes get changed every few years or so.

 

[Nav45]

If it was my car I would definitely do something about those headlights ( new assembly or touch up with one of those kits ).

My car ( Honda Civic with over 300 miles ) doesn‘t burn any oil but if it did , I would be trying a HM oil and moving up a grade ( I already went one grade higher so maybe that’s why I do not notice any oil consumption ). I use 0w30 versus 0w20. Engine hasn’t blown up or worn out yet due to deviating from spec’d oil.

Yeah I am eventually going to do something to the headlights, just been putting it off. And the car generally doesn't use oil most of the time but maybe some oils are different. Like the previous oil I used, it used it a tiny bit. Maybe .5 quart or even less in 6,000+ miles.

 

[Nav45]

Appreciate it everyone, I think I will hold off on the HM oil since I don't see a need. I just wish I had took care of the paint in the car's early years. I only started getting into paint care after it was already 6 years old.