NHTSA Complaint #10519771 — 2003 MAZDA MAZDA6

I HADN'T HAD THE CAR TOO LONG AND WAS TAKING OFF FROM A TRAFFIC LIGHT WHEN THE HARD SHIFT FIRST OCCURRED. I REALLY THOUGHT I'D BEEN HIT FROM BEHIND BY ANOTHER CAR, BUT THIS WAS NOT THE CASE. IT DIDN'T HAPPEN TOO OFTEN FOR AWHILE, THEN IT STARTED HAPPENING MORE FREQUENTLY SO I TOOK IT IN. I TOOK IT TO MULTIPLE MAZDA DEALERS, WHERE I WOULD LEAVE IT OVERNIGHT FOR THEM TO TRY AND REPRODUCE THE PROBLEM. THEY ALWAYS INSISTED THAT THEY COULD NOT SO I GAVE UP FOR AWHILE. IT GOT WORSE AND THEN I SAW A TSB ONLINE ABOUT THE ISSUE. THE SUPPOSED FIX IS TO FLASH THE COMPUTER CHIP. EVERY DEALER I CONTACTED ABOUT IT SAID THEY'D CHARGE AN HOUR LABOR TO DO THIS, AND MY PRIVATE MECHANIC COULDN'T DO IT AS IT'S SOME MAGICAL THING ONLY THE DEALERS CAN DO. ANYWAY I HAVE NOT HAD IT FLASHED YET, THE CAR IS COMING UP ON 147K AND THE PROBLEM IS NOW SO BAD THAT IT'S DANGEROUS. I WILL HAVE THE FLASH DONE IN THE NEXT COUPLE DAYS BUT I DON'T THINK IT WILL HELP. I ALSO HAD TO HAVE THE THROTTLE BODY REPLACED A YEAR AGO AS I WAS NEARLY HIT BY A BIG RIG WHEN THE CAR SHUT DOWN IN THE FAST LANE. SO MANY PEOPLE HAVE HAD THIS AND SIMILAR REALLY DANGEROUS PROBLEMS, THIS CAR SHOULD HAVE BEEN RECALLED YEARS AGO. *TR