2012 Mazda Mazda3 — reported problems

What owners report: issue areas

Owner complaints are classified by the system they concern: 328 classifications in all. One complaint can concern several systems, so these add up to more than the number of complaints.

• Powertrain (transmission & drivetrain)40 (12.2%)Official recall records for this system: 1, covering model years 2019.
• Engine35 (10.7%)Official recall records for this system: 3, covering model years 2019.
• Lights31 (9.5%)Official recall records for this system: 3, covering model years 2010–2024.
• Electrical system25 (7.6%)Official recall records for this system: 5, covering model years 2010–2019.
• Fuel system22 (6.7%)Official recall records for this system: 9, covering model years 2014–2018.
• Speed control & accelerator20 (6.1%)

Other / uncategorized: 18 classifications (5.5%) were not assigned to a specific system by the source. They are counted but not treated as an issue area.

These are counts of records held by CarFaultIQ, not a failure rate. More records can simply mean more vehicles were sold or more owners reported. No vehicles-in-service figure exists in this data, so no reliability or risk score can be derived from it.

What the records are about, by source

Each source is kept separate: owner complaints, recalls, manufacturer communications and investigations are different kinds of record and are never added together. All model years.

• Owner complaints (5,964 records, model years 2004–2026) are most frequently classified under: steering, electrical system and tires & wheels.
• Safety recalls (88 records, model years 2004–2025) are most frequently classified under: air bags (restraint system), fuel system and driver-assistance systems.
• Transport Canada recalls (76 records, model years 2004–2025) are most frequently classified under: visibility (glass, wipers, mirrors), air bags (restraint system) and fuel system.
• Manufacturer communications (11,589 records, model years 2004–2026) are most frequently classified under: equipment & accessories, electrical system and engine.

"Most frequently classified under" reports how the records are filed by the source. It is not a finding about causes, and a record can be filed under more than one system. Read the individual records

Mileage reported when the issue occurred

• 171reports included a mileage
• 51,875average of those mileages

This is the mileage owners recorded at the time they reported, not an expected failure mileage and not a prediction for any individual vehicle. The lowest and highest figures on record are not shown: they are unverified odometer entries that include zeros and implausibly high readings, so they would not describe a real range. A median is not shown either, because the stored figures are group totals and a median cannot be recovered from them.

Evidence by model year

Records held per model year. Select a year to narrow this page to it.

1. 2004 398 records for 2004 398
2. 2005 312 records for 2005 312
3. 2006 359 records for 2006 359
4. 2007 451 records for 2007 451
5. 2008 532 records for 2008 532
6. 2009 346 records for 2009 346
7. 2010 983 records for 2010 983
8. 2011 419 records for 2011 419
9. 2012 673 records for 2012 673
10. 2013 623 records for 2013 623
11. 2014 1,027 records for 2014 1,027
12. 2015 881 records for 2015 881
13. 2016 781 records for 2016 781
14. 2017 596 records for 2017 596
15. 2018 575 records for 2018 575
16. 2019 904 records for 2019 904
17. 2020 753 records for 2020 753
18. 2021 675 records for 2021 675
19. 2022 453 records for 2022 453
20. 2023 333 records for 2023 333
21. 2024 261 records for 2024 261
22. 2025 150 records for 2025 150
23. 2026 66 records for 2026 66

Counts are not adjusted for how many vehicles were sold in each year, so a taller year is not necessarily a worse year.

Reports mentioning outcomes

• 9mention a crash
• 1mention a fire
• 5mention an injury

These are counts of records whose report mentioned the outcome. They are not a severity rating and not a safety assessment of this vehicle.

Official records held

• Safety recalls NHTSA 1
• Manufacturer communications NHTSA 444
• Investigations NHTSA 1
• Transport Canada recalls Transport Canada 1
• Owner complaints NHTSA 226

Explore the underlying evidence records

Diagnostic codes found in evidence for this vehicle

These codes appear by explicit identifier in official records matched to this exact model and year.

• P0015 in 17 records
• P0524 in 17 records
• P0780 in 12 records
• P0191 in 6 records
• P0300 in 5 records
• P0722 in 5 records
• P0842 in 5 records
• P0847 in 5 records
• P0872 in 5 records
• P0456 in 4 records
• P0128 in 3 records
• P0116 in 2 records

A code appearing in a record means the code was named in that document. It is not a diagnosis of this vehicle, not a fault this vehicle has, and not an indication of urgency. Diagnosis requires reading live data from the vehicle.