NHTSA Complaint #10744117 — 2008 MAZDA MAZDA3

IN THE SUMMER OF 2014, I WAS TRAVELING ON A MAJOR HIGHWAY GOING APPROXIMATELY 60-65 MPH. MY TIRE SENSOR LIGHT CAME ON AND, WITHIN JUST A FEW MILES, MY FRONT DRIVER'S SIDE TIRE BLEW OUT. I WAS ABLE TO SAFELY GUIDE MY CAR TO THE SHOULDER WITHOUT HAVING AN ACCIDENT. UPON EXITING MY CAR AND LOOKING AT MY TIRE, I NOTICED THE AREA AROUND MY VALVE STEM WAS COMPLETELY CORRODED. HOW I DID NOT HAVE AN ACCIDENT IS AN ABSOLUTE MIRACLE. ON WEDNESDAY, JULY 22, 2015, MY TIRE SENSOR LIGHT CAME ON. KNOWING I WOULD BE TRAVELING APPROXIMATELY 150 ON THAT SATURDAY, I CHECKED MY TIRE PRESSURE TO SEE MY FRONT PASSENGERS SIDE WAS DOWN APPROXIMATELY 5 PSI FROM THE RECOMMENDED 32 PSI. I PUT AIR IN MY TIRE FRIDAY NIGHT AND WENT AWAY ON SATURDAY. ON MY MORE THAN 1 HOUR DRIVE, MY TIRE SENSOR CAME BACK ON. I STOPPED AT A GAS STATION TO FIND MY TIRE PSI WAS IN THE TEENS. I FELT ALL AROUND MY TIRE BUT FOUND NOTHING WRONG. I FILLED MY TIRE BACK UP TO 32 PSI AND CONTINUED ON MY WAY. SHORTLY AFTER, MY TIRE SENSOR LIGHT CAME ON YET AGAIN. WHEN I STOPPED AT THE NEXT GAS STATION TO PUT MORE AIR IN IT, I NOTICED THE AREA AROUND MY VALVE STEM WAS COMPLETELY CORRODED. IT WAS SO CORRODED I COULD MOVE THE VALVE STEM AND ALLOW LARGE AMOUNTS OF AIR TO COME OUT. I ULTIMATELY WAS ABLE TO PUT ON MY SPARE TIRE BUT AM NOW LOOKING AT A MORE THAN $200 VALVE STEM/SENSOR REPLACEMENT PER A PHONE QUOTE FROM MY LOCAL MAZDA DEALERSHIP. AS I SPOKE TO DIFFERENT MECHANICS, THEY ALL SEEM TO BE WELL AWARE OF THE PROBLEM SO IT'S A BIT FRIGHTENING THERE HAS NOT BEEN A RECALL.