Mazda MAZDA3 grinding brakes problems

Filed Sep 28, 2026 · Brakes · 45,946 miles · OR

Car made grinding sound with notable vibration when starting to move after shifting into drive. Felt like brakes weren't releasing. Had car towed to dealership where they diagnosed that the front left brake shim was damaged and making contact with the rotor, had to pay to fix it out of pocket.

Filed Sep 28, 2026 · Transmission · OR

Making sharp right turn out of parking lot under hard acceleration, car suddenly made terrible grinding sound that shook the whole car. Continued driving, within another quarter mile the whole car started shaking again with loud noise. Had car towed to Mazda where they discovered that the rear differential had failed. Rear differential replaced under warranty. Noticed faint high pitched sound coming from rear in months leading up to incident. Had differential and transfer case fluid changed less than 1000 miles and 1 month before incident making me wonder if fluid was underfilled/wrong fluid used or the diff was just bad.

Filed Jan 2, 2023 · Body, Engine · RI

Car emits a very audible squeak when shifting right above 30mph and 40mph, car surges at lower and constant speeds, tach will slowly drop when applying throttle, surge slightly, then function as normal again

Filed Mar 5, 2022 · Driver assistance, Steering · NE

I can be turning left from a full stop and a few times almost went up onto the median seperating traffic. The car doesn't keep straight in it's own lane unless i put a lot of pressure with both hands on steering wheel and that doesn't always keep it straight, it veers left and right going down the road. Tire pressure light keeps coming on. when backing up hear like a grinding sound in passenger front tire. I bought this used at a Ford car dealership in June 2021. thats all i can think of right now. This has happened more than once no just one time.

Filed Dec 2, 2020 · Transmission · 60,000 miles · KY

My mazda 3 sedan with a 6 mt has an issue while coasting in 4th gear between 25-40 MPH and accelerating up hill that the gear will jump into neutral without depression of the clutch. There is no grinding or other odd noises other than the shifter snapping out of gear. This happens often enough that I have begun to skip the gear entirely.

Filed Oct 7, 2020 · Suspension · TN

When driving on city streets on uneven pavement, the car emits popping and squeaks from the suspension. When getting in into a parking lot, the car produces a clunking noise that emanates from the front of the car. Also when winding and unwinding the steering while parking the car or moving slowly, again the vehicle emits clunking noises from the suspension. Today is 10/7/2020, I have purchased the vehicle from my next door neighbor who was the first owner of this car. The vehicle has been maintained regularly at the local mazda dealership and has no outstanding recalls. I took the car to the mazda dealership, they informed that there is a tsb since 2016 on this specific issue and will cost $600 to repair.

Filed Aug 5, 2020 · Brakes · 80,000 miles · MI

My rear brakes always seem to be dragging. They make a loud grinding noise as I exit my neighborhood. After driving a while, the noise is quieter but still noticeable. I am afraid of it locking up while driving and causing me to lose control.

Filed Apr 12, 2020 · Suspension · 67,000 miles · FL

During initial movement of vehicle after starting, suspension makes squeaking noise, specially when wheels are turned completely left or right. And you can hear the rubbing squeaky noise more when going on bump with wheels turn. Noise goes away after driving and warmed up. More than likely upper suspension strut bearing going bad prematurely. This causes wheel alignment problems.

Filed Sep 29, 2019 · Brakes · 24,900 miles · NY

I started noticing a squeal from my rear brakes that would occur at the beginning of driving (not while braking) then go away after 1 or 2 stops. About a week and a half later, the day I used my handbrake to park, after my 25 minute commute home I noticed a hot metal smell. I put my hand up to my driver side rear wheel and felt intense heat from the brakes. Saw the rotors were dug in. I bought rear brakes and rotors and changed them out myself. The parking brake actuator shaft was stuck, binding the brakes on both rear calipers. The metal around the boot of both shafts on the caliper look wet. The piston of the caliper was easily rotated back in after unbinding the parking brake actuator shaft. Parking brake now is unhooked due to it being unsafe. This happened on both parking brake actuator shafts on the rear calipers after only 24,900 miles.

Filed Aug 22, 2019 · Brakes · 56,000 miles · CA

My 2014 mazda3 with VIN [xxx] is experiencing squeaking and binding of the manual parking brake while driving. The 2014 mazda3 has already had a recall for this issue under the federal safety agency campaign number: 17v393000. They say my car is not covered by this recall, but this car is a manual transmission with a manual parking brake and is less of these are made and less may have been reported. Additionally, this website for mechanics (https://mazda.oemdtc.com/528/squeakinggrinding-noise-from-rear-brakes-2014-2016-mazda3) says that this is a recurring issue caused by: "squeaking/grinding noise from the rear brake even after the brake pedal is released. Upon inspection, the caliper mounting support is corroded and one of the disc pad is abnormally worn out (a). This is caused by vehicle usage in an area using road salt. The surface of the mounting support may swell from corrosion causing premature disc pad wear and brake noise. Disc pad is abnormally worn out (a) to correct the problem, an improved caliper mounting support has been newly established as a service part. The anti-corrosion surface treatment has been changed from zn to zn-ni plating." the website says this problem affects:"2014-2016 mazda3 vehicles with vins starting with jm1" which my vehicle is as I live in california central valley and have no road salt, I believe this may be a systemic issue. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6).