Faults:

WHY I WILL NEVER BUY A MAZDA AGAIN...!!

Under 200,000km...closer to 170,000 and now I will be lucky if a wrecker offers me 500 for my 2000Mazda MPV.

I just had my Mazda MPV serviced about 3-4 weeks ago... told the service manager at my dealership (not Mazda) to make sure everything was tip-top as I was going to be out of town and on the highway a lot!! So I didn't want anything to happen. I didn't want to end up standing at the side of the highway with a broken-down vehicle. We have always had the vehicle serviced regularly.

But yesterday the plastic tube carrying coolant to the back of the vehicle "apparently" rotted out and the coolant leaked out. The "check" engine light came on when I was on the highway about 5 kilometres from a service station. I thought I could pull in there to find out about it. About 2 kilometres from the station the check engine light started to blink...so I pulled over immediately!. Smoke poured from the engine and there was a puddle of coolant on the ground behind the rear right tire.

So there I was standing at the side of a major highway - my worst fear... hoping for help. After about 15 minutes, a kind person gave me a lift to the service station. I then had the van towed to a Mazda dealer...$150. Then the service man at the dealership arranged for a rental car for me... another $25/day plus they want another $16/day for insurance on top of that.

The Mazda service man called me at the end of the day to tell me the engine is completely ruined! I can get a new engine for at least 5,000. He said it's not worth it... but a wrecker "might" give me 500 dollars for the body. He told me also that in spite of my previous servicing of the vehicle... no service technician would have spotted this problem. So tough luck for me and gee whiz I only still owe $6,000 for the vehicle. And I still have to get the bill from the Mazda dealership for their "diagnosis".

Less than 200,000 kilometres...!!! What a piece of junk!

So now you know WHY I WILL NEVER BUY A MAZDA AGAIN... AND WHY I WILL WARN EVERYONE THAT I CAN ABOUT IT - IN PERSON - ON BLOGS - WHEREVER...ALL BECAUSE OF A CHEAP PIECE OF PLASTIC TUBING...

BEWARE OF MAZDA!!

Elaine McEwen

Ontario.

General Comments:

We loved it when we bought it. We loved it for taking stuff to and from our cottage. We thought it was a good van... other than having your leg go numb when you were the driver. We had it regularly serviced/maintained. But, service always seemed to be expensive.. there was always something that had to be done, so you rarely got away with less than $6-700 for regular maintenance.

Faults:

Air flow sensor failed about 80,000 miles.

Alternator failed at 108,000 miles.

General Comments:

I purchased a van because of my rapidly expanding family and trusted the quality of Mazda because of another vehicle of theirs I owned (1993 Protégé). Generally speaking, the mechanicals of the van are exceptional and it has performed well in the six years I have owned it. The one major complaint I have is the corrosion issue that seems to plague this model from 2000 to 2004, so far. The corrosion is extensive: the first place I noticed it was on the hood where it has now perforated. Investigating the hood further revealed the entire front edge is corroding and the underside has a large piece missing. A seal is attached to the front edge and because of the corrosion is no longer sealing water from entering the engine compartment; therefore, exposing electrical and other components to the damaging effects of water. The other places corrosion has shown up are the door edges primarily at the bottom, but also around the windows, the rear lift hatch along the bottom edge and hydraulic pistons that hold the rear door open. I would caution anyone looking to purchase this van to look in these areas for corrosion.