Mazda 3 Strut; 3 year life?

Is three years all that can be expected from Mazda 3 struts? Car is under 40k on the clock. Five days past warranty.

I am about to buy one of these Mazda 3s for the wife unit, and my niece calls me to say that the Firestone dealer told her the car needs 4 struts. On top of that, the "Bad" struts have destroyed all four tires that they put on a week ago.

If this is acceptable lifespan for Mazda struts, I will have to reconsider the purchase. None of the other Mazdas we have owned have had this kind of issue?

Anyone have any experience with the 3?

My wife's 3 had to have the tires replaced last year with only about 25,000 miles on them. Seemed to be a bit premature, but after reading on the Mazda forums this seems about normal for the original tires. No other problems, but I'll keep a sharp eye out for the strut issue. If it's a known issue the forums should have a bunch of threads on it. Have you looked there yet?

In reply to NOHOME:

My friends 2006 Mazda3 needed its front struts replaced last winter with about 70k kms on them. One was completely blown and the other was weak. We simply swaped them out for some reasonably priced KYB GR-2's and he is very happy. From my research, it seems like the 3's like to eat up the struts (they got that Zoom-Zoom DNA from the early Miata's which eat stock shocks like skittles).

The struts/shocks from the factory are junk on these. Swap in Konis and call it a day.

Methinks Mazda has just ended a 20 ear relationship with our clan...$1800 for struts on a 3 year old car does not sound like something I want to live through.

No guarantees anyone else will be better, but...

NOHOME wrote: Methinks Mazda has just ended a 20 ear relationship with our clan...$1800 for struts on a 3 year old car does not sound like something I want to live through. No guarantees anyone else will be better, but...

$1800? Are they slathered in Bald Eagle E36 M3?

And ending a 20 year 'relationship' over one issue with one car seems a little.... reactionary.

I used KYB GR-2's on my 2006 3 after it broke the valving on a front strut. They were great and didn't cost much.

NOHOME wrote: Methinks Mazda has just ended a 20 ear relationship with our clan...$1800 for struts on a 3 year old car does not sound like something I want to live through. No guarantees anyone else will be better, but...

OEM struts have no reputation for longevity.

If the price-quote came from the stealer-ship, you need to make the effort to find a good indepent shop.

If the price quote came from an independent shop, start shopping around for another source - that price comes from someone who is more interested in gouging you than wanting to keep a long-term customer.

Can people not accept that sometimes things just fail?

However, trashing 4 tires in a week? Did the car happen to be driven 10,000 miles in that week? The alignment/suspension being bad enough to wreck tires that quickly would surely barely drive.

I think you may be dealing with a less than honest shop.

Or they sold you some absolutely bogus tires.... but yeah, sounds like whatever shop you're on is full of crap. Only way to really destroy a DD tire like that is to drive on it completely flat. Ask my wife how that works.

This is from a Firestone dealer and the car is my niece's. The price includes installation and tax.

I am not surprised that the struts are "worn" however, I would accept that the ride would degrade to some extent, not that it would trash four new tires. The alignment on the car was deemed fine by the same tech.

Pete

Hmm.. well, i just sold a 2004 mazda3 back in the spring with ~130k on the original dampers and they were just then starting to feel like they needed to be replaced. However, if id kept it i might have driven it another 30k before doing it because they didnt feel that bad. I drove the car from 64k to 130k and only began to feel the dampers were going out right towards the end.

So.. unless they changed to crap strats from 2005-on, id say the mazda3 struts in my experience have been pretty long-lasting!

NOHOME wrote: This is from a Firestone dealer and the car is my niece's. The price includes installation and tax. I am not surprised that the struts are "worn" however, I would accept that the ride would degrade to some extent, not that it would trash four new tires. The alignment on the car was deemed fine by the same tech. Pete

Get a second opinion, because it really sounds like you're dealing with an unscrupulous shop. A good alignment tech should be very capable of diagnosing tire-wear issues due to worn shocks.

The stink around this situation gets worse with each of your posts.

She is going to take it to the dealer for a second opinion. Can't wait to hear how that works out. The car is actually a 2007, not 2006 as I thought. The bad news is that I checked KYB for shocks and they are available and quite reasonable for the 2006, but not for the 2007!

For what the dealer wants, I figure I can do this in a day for a case of Stella Artois and still save her some $$$!

NOHOME wrote: She is going to take it to the dealer for a second opinion. Can't wait to hear how that works out. The car is actually a 2007, not 2006 as I thought. The bad news is that I checked KYB for shocks and they are available and quite reasonable for the 2006, but not for the 2007! For what the dealer wants, I figure I can do this in a day for a case of Stella Artois and still save her some $$$!

The MazdaSpeed parts list includes all 3's from '04-'08 as using the same shocks. Either KYB, Mazda, or both (!) are wrong; it's worth a few phone calls to cull the herd of crooks.

http://www.mazdausa.com/MusaWeb/speedDisplayAccessoryDetail.action?endModelYear=2008&speedAccessoryId=58&carLineCode=MZ3&categoryId=4&startModelYear=2004

According to MAP standards struts are recommended after 50K across the board, different makes vary in how bad they are by that point.

Tires ruined? I'm in the same business and unless you have mountain and valley sized cupping going on the tires I never say they're "ruined." Usually I tell people "it won't gt any worse, could get better after you fix the suspension." On week old tires, I'm highly suspect.

That said different places run different promos. I know Monroe/NAPA has a mail in rebate for Buy 3 Get 1 Free right now.

Call 800-222-5500, that's Mazda Customer Assistance. Don't tell them i called, they are already mad at me this week. (Three days on the job and I pissed off a major manufacturer already)

My girlfriend's 07 Mazda3 now has 72k miles on it, and is just barely showing signs that it will need shocks, mostly when heavily loaded or on a bump on a high speed sweeper. Most people wouldn't notice, but like most GRMers, my butt dyno feels the reduction in dampening. Fortunetely, Konis usually go on sale sometime in the winter, so for less than $1000 I can get and install a set of Koni FSDs and some lowering springs and perhaps a rear sway bar. Yay

And yes, the stock tires on the car suck. Hers were done in 30k, and they were crappy for that 30k. Most OEM tires suck, unfortunetely.

No reason at all that 4 shocks should cost $1800....wow, break out the lube.

$1800 for 4 shocks/struts whatever and tires that are wrecked in a week from bad shocks? Hope they give you a kiss with that screwing...

Seriously, don't ever darken the door of that shop again. Freakin thieves.

Maybe my 3 was babied? 145k miles on original struts. They're worn, but not intolerable. To a cheap person like me, they are far from broken.

If you're worried that the struts are a sign of poor workmanship, here is what my experience has been with my 2004 hatchback after 145k miles:

Accessory belt pulley exploded @ 100k miles An 02 sensor needed to be replaced

... and that's it. Car is still very tight and fun to drive. Maybe the car you're looking at has been abused and that will change your experience, but I love my Mazda3.

My Astra is feeling a bit underdamped these days. Still under warranty, but I consider dampers to be like tires, a long term maintenance item.

Sonic wrote: Fortunetely, Konis usually go on sale sometime in the winter, so for less than $1000 I can get and install a set of Koni FSDs and some lowering springs and perhaps a rear sway bar. Yay

That's exactly what I'd like to do to my 2010 Speed3, however, Koni doesn't list any applications for it but have both the FSDs and Yellows for the 2010 non-Speed3.

I'm horribly disappointed at the aftermarket with this car. It didn't change THAT much from 2009

To update (finish) the thread:

Mazda says there is nothing wrong with the struts. They would not have been warrantied regardless since they are classified as a wear item. Firestone has replaced the tires but claims "No Warranty" since the customer has been advised of a strut issue.

Firestone had predicted from the start that Mazda would OK the struts regardless of their condition. I would love to know how Firestone evaluates struts?

At this point, my niece pretty much hates everything and everyone associated with the automotive trade!

z31maniac wrote:

Sonic wrote: Fortunetely, Konis usually go on sale sometime in the winter, so for less than $1000 I can get and install a set of Koni FSDs and some lowering springs and perhaps a rear sway bar. Yay

That's exactly what I'd like to do to my 2010 Speed3, however, Koni doesn't list any applications for it but have both the FSDs and Yellows for the 2010 non-Speed3. I'm horribly disappointed at the aftermarket with this car. It didn't change THAT much from 2009

I'm surprised... I was fairly certain most of the upright suspension components were dimensionally identical to the 1g cars. I do know that the suspension in the 2010 is WAY squishier than the 2007-09 ones, and mine is too squishy for me.

On that note, I've got a set of Konis for a Mazda3, 10K miles on them and no noticeable change in damping since new. If anyone wants them, shoot an offer to ryandavies@gmail.com