NHTSA Complaint #10892307 — 2012 MAZDA MAZDA3

ABOUT A YEAR AGO, I HAD TO REPLACE MY TIRES AT JUST UNDER 30,000 MI BECAUSE THE TREADS WORE IMPROPERLY. FAST FORWARD A FEW MONTHS, MY AXLE WORE OUT AND HAD TO BE REPLACED. HOWEVER, THE REAL PROBLEM COMES WHEN ABOUT 3 WEEKS AGO, I WAS DRIVING AT ABOUT 75 MILES AN HOUR ON A MAJOR HIGHWAY, FOUR LANES OF TRAFFIC, AND THE ENGINE STARTS JUMPING. THE RPMS GO UP AND DOWN, BUT THE CAR WON'T ACCELERATE. I GET THE CAR TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD ON PURE MOMENTUM. THE CAR THEN TURNS COMPLETELY OFF WITH THE KEY IN THE ON POSITION, BUT NOT LIGHTS COME ON. I REMOVE THE KEY, WAIT 5 MINUTES AND THE CAR TURNS BACK ON. IT DIED AGAIN A FEW MIN LATER SO I HAVE IT TOWED TO A MECHANIC, WHO CAN'T FIND ANYTHING WRONG. 5 MIN AFTER LEAVING THE MECHANIC'S SHOP, MY CAR STARTS JUMPING AGAIN; I BARELY MADE IT BACK. THE MECHANIC IS AT A LOSS AND RECOMMENDS THE DEALERSHIP SINCE THERE ARE NO CODES. THE DEALER GETS IT AND WORKS WITH IT FOR A FEW DAYS AND SAYS THAT THE MASS AIR FLOW SENSOR (MAFS) WAS CLOGGED, WHICH WAS TURNING OFF THE CAR, AND THE BEARINGS WERE ALSO CAUSING PROBLEMS BECAUSE THEY WERE WORN OUT (FROM THE AXLE BEING IMPROPERLY INSTALLED). THEY REPLACED THE BEARINGS, CLEANED THE MAFS, AND RESET THE COMPUTER, UNDER THE WARRANTY, AND TOLD ME MY CAR WAS OK. 2 DAYS LATER, I'M DRIVING ON A MAJOR HIGHWAY AGAIN AND THE CAR STARTS JUMPING AGAIN. I WAS ABLE TO BARELY MAKE IT OUT OF TRAFFIC BEFORE THE CAR DIED AGAIN. THE CAR STARTS UP AGAIN 5 MIN LATER AND I TAKE ABOUT 10 MIN TO GET TO SAFETY AS THIS REPEATS. THE DEALER HAS MY CAR FOR ALMOST 3 WKS, MAZDA'S FIELD ENGINEERS GET INVOLVED, THEY-CHECKED THE FUEL COMPONENTS, THE COMPUTER, FILTERS ETC, AND THEN MAZDA RECOMMENDS CHECKING THE WIRING HARNESS. A CLIP HAD BROKEN ABOVE THE AXLE ON THE ENGINE THAT ALLOWED THE WIRING TO WEAR OUT. THEY HAD TO REDO THE WIRING IN A DIFFERENT WAY SO IT WOULDN'T WEAR--THIS SEEMS LIKE IT HAS HAPPEN TO OTHERS W/O RESOLUTION.