My windshield wipers on my 2008 mazda 3 stopped working on the highway during heavy rain. Not only was this dangerous but also scary and I feared for my safety as I tried to make my way from the far left lane of 285 in atlanta to the closest exit. I took it to the dealership only to be told that the wiper motor needs to be replaced for $340. I had my last mazda for 9 years and never had to replace the windshield wiper motor. The windshield wipers stall or just stop working altogether when its raining, which is really defeating the purpose. Clearly there is a problem that needs to be investigated and these nonfuctining wiper motors with less than a 3 year life span needs to be recalled!!!!!! I am very disappointed and I am not sure if the next car I purchase will be a mazda.
2008 Mazda MAZDA3 visibility complaints
Page 2 of 2: complaints 11 to 15 of 15, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Windshield wipers failed again. Refer to original complaint # 10343804 14jul10 wiper motor failed, $337.00 second complaint # 10356107 17sep10 high speed operation of wipers failed. This second complaint was resolved on 01oct10, $880.00. This time the cause was a bad relay on what they (dealer) called a fuse block assy. Relay is not replaceable you have to replace the entire assembly! I have the old fuse block assembly although they bent some of the connector pins on it! Funny I can not find any fuses on it! I no longer feel safe driving this vehicle what with steering complaints, excessive rear tire inner edge wear I have seen on your web sight among other things and the fog light lenses cracking on both sides (app $125.00 ea to get a inspection sticker)on my car. My wind shield had to be replaced after a crack developed from a very minor impact that left a pit you would not have been able to see if it were not for the crack radatinf from it in two directions, I never heard the impact. But wipers failing on a 2 year old car is unacceptable! Loss of visibility is instant in heavy rain!
Refer to previous complaint 14 july 10, # 10343804. Windshield wipers fail again after motor replacement in middle ofjuly 2010, this morning 17sep10. This failure was not a complete failure at this time but the loss of the high speed function of the wipers during a heavy rain storm. Again I consider wipers a safety item on a car. There seems to be a on going problem of the wipers on mazda 3 around 2008 year as I have had other people tell of troubles they had or heard of since my first failure. At this time I do not know what will be the out come of repair as I have not been to the dealer. I am very concerned every time I drive in the rain!
On august 6th, 2010 while driving in heavy rain and traffic at high way speed the windshield wipers stopped. Working. Vision through windshield was severely impaired and I had to stop. I checked the fuses and the windshield wiper fuse was fine. A repair shop said that the wiper motor needs to be replaced. Very dangerous this should be a recall.
On 14jul10 while driving in heavy rain and traffic at high way speed the windshield wipers slowed noticeably then stopped. Visual sight of traffic in front of me was impossible. After managing to pull over into the break down lane with out a collision I proceeded to check out the problem. The fuse for the windshield wipers was not blown nor could I find any other problem that would have accounted to this problem. After the rain let up I proceeded to continue my commute home having to pull over and stop numerous times when the rain started again. This was a nerve racking experience! The next day I took my vehicle to the dealer where I bought it to be checked out. I was told that the wind shield wiper motor was burned out and it would cost about $330.00 to repair it and they would overnight express a new one as they did not have any in stock. The repair was complete on16jul10 and I picked the vehicle at app 3pm, total cost $337.00. Mileage was app. 42900 so it was not under warranty. I consider wind shield wipers important safety equipment and believe that they should be held to a higher standard. This vehicle is a 2008 that I bought new! Wiper motors burning out in two years??? I have a 1994 ford ranger with 213000+ miles on it with the original wiper motor still in it!!! I believe mazda should make good on this type of premature failure on safety equipment. I all so have excessive tire ware on the inside edges of my tires, worn down smooth and scalloping but due to rotating often I have managed to get better life out of them and will replace them soon. I have a noise that sounds to me like a wheel bearing or other rotating part wearing out and shimmy/vibration through the steering wheel that the dealer claims is related to the worn/scalloped tires. I will soon see if this goes away when I replace the tires.
VIN decoder
See the problems and recalls for an exact car
Buying a used 2008 Mazda MAZDA3?
Check the exact car before you pay: accidents, salvage or flood titles, odometer readings and previous owners.
Check its history