Mazda No. 1 in Consumer Reports 2020 auto reliability survey

[xBa380]

Girlfriend had a 2005 Mazda 3 and currently a 2010 Mazda 3.

2005 rusted out excessively. Horrible materials. Drove nicely, though.

2010 has had the AC compressor fail and the air bag harness go due to a short. Not covered under warranty. It currently still needs both (at 80K miles...) at a cost of over $2,000. Lots of rust all over, working on it is always an issue due to corrosion. My older Toyota was miles and miles better than both material wise.

Mediocre at best. Not bad cars, but far better options.

 

[PimTac]

Girlfriend had a 2005 Mazda 3 and currently a 2010 Mazda 3.

2005 rusted out excessively. Horrible materials. Drove nicely, though.

2010 has had the AC compressor fail and the air bag harness go due to a short. Not covered under warranty. It currently still needs both (at 80K miles...) at a cost of over $2,000. Lots of rust all over, working on it is always an issue due to corrosion. My older Toyota was miles and miles better than both material wise.

Mediocre at best. Not bad cars, but far better options.

Both of those examples have no bearing on today’s Mazda.

 

[xBa380]

Both of those examples have no bearing on today’s Mazda.

Correct. But it still has turned me off from the brand regardless. Plus, their vehicle selection at the moment is atrocious styling wise. Can't say any of the vehicles are appealing to me, ignoring past experiences.

 

[Ws6]

When's the last time you drove one? I suspect you didn't drive an Atlas before buying the CX-9.

Referencing my post, it must have been a '15-'16 Mazda6. 2012 was too long ago and she still had her C350 back then.

Correct. But it still has turned me off from the brand regardless. Plus, their vehicle selection at the moment is atrocious styling wise. Can't say any of the vehicles are appealing to me, ignoring past experiences.

I can relate, as my Jeep was similar but worse. That said, I've seen Lexus do what you're saying, as well. FWIW, I think the current mazda line up is pretty awesome, but if style is the issue, then there is no debating it. If you dont like how it looks, that's that.

 

[grampi]

Correct. But it still has turned me off from the brand regardless. Plus, their vehicle selection at the moment is atrocious styling wise. Can't say any of the vehicles are appealing to me, ignoring past experiences.

I can't blame you for this. A bad experience with a brand is difficult to put behind you. I had a bad ownership experience before that was so bad, I won't consider ANY vehicle from that company even today...

 

[wdn]

The jury is out on whether or not corrosion protection on Mazda is any better now than it was 10 or 15 years ago. I bet if you went back to 10 years ago in this and other car forums, in 2010 you could have found people claiming that Mazda's don't rust like they did in 2000. A car that is just 10 years old and already having severe rusting issues is telling.

 

[xBa380]

The jury is out on whether or not corrosion protection on Mazda is any better now than it was 10 or 15 years ago. I bet if you went back to 10 years ago in this and other car forums, in 2010 you could have found people claiming that Mazda's don't rust like they did in 2000. A car that is just 10 years old and already having severe rusting issues is telling.

This is true. Time will tell! Hopefully it's better these days.

The corrosion on my Scion xB (I bought in 2007) and before it got smashed/totaled in 2018, had actually very minor undercarriage rust all things considering. Engine bay was clean and zero body panel rust anywhere. It really was suprising just how clean it was after 11 years in rust belt and with 150K miles on it. My dad's Prius was the same after just as much time and mileage. Toyota has their corrosion protection down, that's for sure! My xB no doubt I could have easily put another 5-10 years on it with no worry on materials failing out.

Compared to those Mazda's... Sheesh. Body panel rust around the rear emblems and other areas that had zero rock or other damage to initiate such rust. The 2005 was worse, obviously. Around the fenders, emblems, hood, etc... That car was only 5 years old by the time she got rid of it and it looke worse than the 2010 does with double the mileage/time on it. So that's hopeful at least, but it's still pretty iffy comparing to the Prius/xB at the time.

 

[Number_35]

The jury is out on whether or not corrosion protection on Mazda is any better now than it was 10 or 15 years ago. I bet if you went back to 10 years ago in this and other car forums, in 2010 you could have found people claiming that Mazda's don't rust like they did in 2000. A car that is just 10 years old and already having severe rusting issues is telling.

In my experience here, which is not as bad as the milder but still snowy parts of Canada and the US, Mazdas rusted very badly c. 2001 - 2004, moderately c. 2005 - 2010, and not much if at all since. I have not seen a rusty Mazda 2 (2011 - 2014), 2nd-gen Mazda 5 (MY 2012 - 2016), or CX-5 yet.

 

[corster]

Big fan of Mazda. Good chance my next car is either a CX-5 or Mazda 6, once my Ford Fusion (itself built on a shared platform with Mazda) bites the dust.

 

[GMFan]

The jury is out on whether or not corrosion protection on Mazda is any better now than it was 10 or 15 years ago. I bet if you went back to 10 years ago in this and other car forums, in 2010 you could have found people claiming that Mazda's don't rust like they did in 2000. A car that is just 10 years old and already having severe rusting issues is telling.

This 100%. But lo-and-behold my 2011 Mazda6 has had both front and rear subframes replaced due to excessive corrosion and holes in them. I looked at a new on the lot 2020 Mazda6 and it appears they are still using cheap stamped metal for their rear subframe...buyer beware.

 

[PimTac]

This 100%. But lo-and-behold my 2011 Mazda6 has had both front and rear subframes replaced due to excessive corrosion and holes in them. I looked at a new on the lot 2020 Mazda6 and it appears they are still using cheap stamped metal for their rear subframe...buyer beware.

How can you tell it’s cheap just by looking at it?

 

[dishdude]

How can you tell it’s cheap just by looking at it?

He can tell it's stamped steel which is....cheap.

 

[thastinger]

We bought an 09 Mazda5 when the second kid came along. Totally issue free for the 5 years we drove it and got 30MPG doing it. We went to an Armada in 14 but kept the Mazda in the garage for my Daughter to drive when she turns 16. Only down side is that it came with ZR speed rated tires, no shop will install anything else so the tires don't last that long on it.

 

[KrisZ]

If you live in a salt belt I would definitely, 100% rust proof a Mazda. Personally I would rust proof any vehicle I'd buy, but Mazdas are quite special when it comes to rust.

When I was buying my first gen Mazda 3, I saw all the same comments about rust as were posted here. People were sure that Mazda had fixed rust issues that plagued the previous Protege models. Well guess what? They did not. I rust proofed my 2006 from day one and it still developed a bit of rust on the B-pillars. Everything else is solid fortunately thanks to my efforts.

I still read Mazda 3 forums from time to time and especially on TrorontoMazda3 forums, there are rust issues being reported even with the latest gen Mazda 3s.

I have no reasons to believe Mazda had improved anything in regards to rust.

 

[grampi]

He can tell it's stamped steel which is....cheap.

This doesn't have anything to do with how quickly it rusts. That has to do with Mazda's rust proofing process...

 

[PimTac]

He can tell it's stamped steel which is....cheap.

Pretty much all car manufacturers use stamped steel.

 

[Blinker]

How can you tell it’s cheap just by looking at it?

You can tell a lot of things are cheap just by looking at it.

 

[Ws6]

He can tell it's stamped steel which is....cheap

He can tell it's stamped steel which is....cheap.

Like this one?

 

[pbm]

I had 2 Mazdas in the 1980s that I purchased new....really liked both....didn't have either long enough to find out if rust was an issue. The manual transmissions and clutch's were excellent. The only negative I can recall was that the AC system wasn't the strongest. I'd buy another Mazda in a heartbeat.

 

[BMWTurboDzl]

When it comes out I plan on taking the Mazda with the I6 for a test drive to see if it'll work as a 4-series replacement.