Complaint volume
31 consumer-submitted complaints are matched to this model year. Treat the count as a research signal, then read the actual summaries for repeated symptoms.
Complaint records
2020 Mazda Mazda3 Complaints
31 consumer-submitted complaints on record for the 2020 Mazda Mazda3, grouped by component category.
31 Total complaints
0 Crash reports
0 Fire reports
0 Injury reports
Complaint data reflects consumer-submitted reports. A complaint is not proof
of a defect, recall, or manufacturer fault. Enriched severity fields come
from official bulk records when the complaint can be matched by ODI number.
Buyer interpretation
How to use these complaints before buying
Complaint records are most useful when they turn into inspection points, seller questions, and comparison checks against nearby model years.
Pattern to inspect
The most common categories are forward collision avoidance, service brakes,forward collision avoidance, electrical system. Use those categories as a test-drive checklist instead of judging the vehicle from the total count alone.
Severity context
The enriched records we matched do not show crash, fire, injury, or fatality flags. Still check complaint summaries for repeated drivability, braking, electrical, or visibility symptoms.
Mileage clue
Mileage is available on 6 complaints, with an average reported failure mileage of 4,247 miles. Compare that with the mileage on the listing.
Questions to ask the seller
- Have you had any problems related to forward collision avoidance, service brakes,forward collision avoidance, electrical system?
- Can I see recent maintenance and repair records?
- Has the vehicle ever been towed, involved in a crash, or repaired for the same issue twice?
- Can we also check the recall record for this 2020 Mazda Mazda3?
Used-car checklist
Use these complaints before the test drive.
Build a buyer checklist to turn these issues into questions and inspection points.
2020 Mazda Mazda3
Build buyer checklist Compare with other years Sends year, make, and model to pre-fill your checklist.
How severe are the 2020 Mazda Mazda3 complaints?
0 Crash
0 Fire
0 Injury
0 Fatality
0 Towed
0 Medical attention
What are the most common 2020 Mazda Mazda3 complaint categories?
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 12
SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 2
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 1
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE 1
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,EXTERIOR LIGHTING,LANE DEPARTURE 1
EQUIPMENT 1
FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 1
POWER TRAIN 1
SEAT BELTS 1
SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC 1
31 total complaints on record
Latest complaints
| Date | Component | Summary | Severity | Mileage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | TIRES | size 21545ZR18 93Y. replaced these oem tires with these from costco on feb 27 2025. in dec 5 2025 the tire developed a large bubble. miles bought was 27790. current miles 31212. per tire center steal belting was broken no signs of road hazard or other damage. the belt broke and rubber was stressed with " maybe a 1000 miles regaining before catastrophic failure." wear instrument showed they were literally showing new tires. states they were the 3rd michellin tires with dude wall bubbling that week. states could have caused severe accident. no warnings damage leaks or idicators. all maintenance and pressure follwed per manufacturing specs. tires are a danger to drivers even low miles to failure to cause accident. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2026 | POWER TRAIN | My Mazda3 began producing a chirp when shifting from 3rd to 4th gear (automatic transmission). The dealer stated that the car needed a new torque converter. At the time the car only 37,000 miles on it, quite low mileage for a torque converter to fail. Mazda has previously admitted to producing cars with faulty torque converters, as specified in Mazda TXXXXXX] ). While my car fit the description of both the problem and proposed fix, and also fell within the applicable models/VINs listed on the TSB, Mazda corporate HQ stated that my specific VIN was not covered by the TSB, and therefore the repair cost was my responsibility. Since the problem, solution, and general vehicle type are entirely as described in the TSB, it appears possible that the TSB was too narrowly scoped and omitted impacted vehicles, to the detriment of owners. This would also cause potential safety concerns, since an unrepaired torque converter could produce unexpected shifting problems. Therefore I suggest that NHTSA investigate to determine if additional vehicles are impacted by Mazda's faulty torque converters. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6) | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2025 | SUSPENSION | I pulled into the driveway (at about 5 mph) of my passenger's home, when a very loud, metallic pop occurred somewhere inside my vehicle. I could not discern the problem by visually inspecting the car. Upon returning to my home, I arranged for the dealership to inspect the car's suspension. They found that both rear springs had snapped off from their lower vehicle attachment points. At the time of the incident, my car was less than 6 years old and had approximately 62500 total miles. I had the dealership replace both rear springs and associated attachment hardware. Prior to this failure, the dealership had routinely inspected the suspension of my vehicle as part of PA annual inspections. I experienced NO warning symptoms prior to the suspension failure. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2025 | STEERING,SUSPENSION | TSB 02-003/24 Car front suspension bolts corroded and making metal on metal sounds during turning and braking | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2025 | EQUIPMENT | See attached document for complaint. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2024 | SEAT BELTS | Passenger seat belt won’t retract and remains in a locked state. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2024 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,EXTERIOR LIGHTING,LANE DEPARTURE | Google search shows Mazda has common problem with their front sensing camera, people are reporting the issue for different Mazda models across the board for the last few years including newer models as well. My car display shows few malfunction warning messages. Following captured from MyMazda app. 1. Forward sensing camera malfunction. i-ACTIVESENSE advanced safety and driver support systems may not operate correctly. 2. High Beam Control System is disabled. Automatic switching between high and low beams is unavailable. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2023 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | While driving on a residential street the automatic emergency braking system activated and brought the car to a very abrupt stop but there was nothing in the front of the car to activate the system. There were no cars in the on-coming lane and no cars in the lane beside my car. When the car stopped the Brake warning appeared in the windshield and a warning tone sounded. It was in the early evening and it was raining. Fortunately there were no cars behind me so there were no injuries. I took the car to the Mazda dealership and upon inspection they noted that the radar system associated with the automatic emergency braking system was malfunctioning and not correctly calculating the distance between the car and other objects. They are in the process of replacing the radar. If this had happened on the highway at higher speeds or if there had been a car behind me I would have been injured. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2023 | SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | My car's automatic emergency brake is deploying without warning, during driving, when there are no other cars in my forward proximity. I took it to the dealership to have it fixed, and on the drive home, it did it again. There is a recall for similar makes and models for this year, but my car has not been included. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2023 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | on 3 occasions may 2023, June 2023 and July 2023 the forward Collison camera activated. in May and June it showed the vehicle to near stop like radar cruise control in rush hour speed traffic. in July 2023 it sounded the alarm and came to a full stop in heavy traffic. it occurs on bright hot days going straight no turns no oncoming traffic no traffic around and no obstacles hold or dips. this can cause the car to stop immediately and cause an accident. App detects problem with system but dealer cannot find problem and blame camera or GPS or satellite radio factory equipped. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2023 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER,VISIBILITY/WIPER | in May 2023 the visors of the vehicle hinge melted causing the visors to hang down to eye level and would not hold up causing visibly issues for driver and passenger. dealer said it is a common issue in heat but it blocks forward visibility and won't hold up and if there were and accident, forward movement of passenger or driver can cause the head to hit the visor causing injury. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2023 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | Automatic safety notification censoring system for the brakes engaged when a stop was not applicable or necessary causing the car to brake on its own in traffic. Luckily no one else was on the road. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2023 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | I was driving down 2nd Avenue in Manhattan, traffic was crowded but flowing with an estimated speed of 20mph between lights. I believe the distance between my front bumper and the car ahead was only slightly under 2 car lengths in motion. Coming to a stop light, the car in front of me slowed and I followed, applying pressure to the brake gradually. Roughly 2-3 seconds into my braking, the forward collision warning activated (fast beep) followed by a hard brake causing myself and one passenger to lurch forward. The car behind me managed to hard brake before hitting me by a very small margin. As my car came to a near stop the space in front opened to several car lengths, that is a continuous application of gradual braking would have been totally sufficient to stop. Weather conditions were good. A similar situation had occurred to me before on the highway (unnecessary forward collision warning, but thankfully no auto brake) and so after this I decided to check the front for any obstruction of sensors and could not find any. I have heard from at least one other owner of a similar model Mazda that they have experienced the same during city/Manhattan driving. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2023 | STEERING,LANE DEPARTURE | Lane departure warning activated and attempted to correct during a gentle curve. The location had shifted lanes due to construction, so clear lines were visible but not the actual lane to follow which is a frequent occurrence in New York City. The system came close to steering me into the adjacent lane occupied by another vehicle forcing me to fight the correction. There was a lane departure warning on the dash and I believe the blind spot indicator was on (i.e. the adjacent vehicle was detected in some capacity). I considered this especially dangerous as in this zone also had very tight lanes so my physical correction could have also caused an accident. There was no malfunction of the physical components. No dealer or service center has reproduced the issue however I have discussed with other drivers of the same line (2020-23 Mazdas) who have had similar experiences leading to a decision to disable these "safety" features. Mazda provides a reasonable description of scenarios where lane departure and assistance will disable itself due to poor conditions or low confidence. I would recommend at a minimum requiring the system to detect and potentially differentiate lane widths, as city driving sometimes has extremely tight lanes (for example, the inner roadway of the Williamsburg Bridge where two adjacent lanes are perhaps 8-9ft with less than 2ft on either side to the wall). In these scenarios, any steering correction at all is more dangerous than if it were off. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | •The first incident I had with the SBS was about a month on the highway, I was approaching a vehicle that was braking due to upcoming traffic. I had plenty of time to stop, upwards of 8-10 car lengths. Yet my SBS kicked in and slammed the brakes, jarring me forward. Luckily no one was directly behind me at that time because I have no doubt it would have caused an accident. At that time, it was the only time it had occurred, so I wrote it off as the sensor being a bit too sensitive. •The second incident I have had was recent, 11/23. I was pulling into a parking spot at work, that has a concrete wall to section off parking spots. I was low speed, turned into the spot and the SBS activated, slamming the brakes, resulting in me being propelled into my steering wheel. I was roughly 5-6 feet away from the wall | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2022 | FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | Fuel pump, car dying out, can't turn off brake release from when it dies. Shaking when accelerating. Fuel gas issue. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| May 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | I was traveling 25mph with no obstruction in front of me, when the collision warning sounded. The braking system did not activate. No collision was imminent. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| May 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | I was traveling approximately 5 mph with approximately 15 feet from the car in front of me, maintaining a constant following distance. The collision warning sounded, followed by emergency braking within 1 second. No collision was imminent. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Was letting car slow down for red light. No cars in front of me. Suddenly the car braked and the brake warning came on. I was pretty far back from the light. I took the car to the dealer and he said the occurrence did not show on the computer. There was a recall for this problem but not for my car. If someone had been behind me or if this happens on a busy street, I would be rear ended. There have been other computer problems with this car but they never happen when the dealer checks for them. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2021 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE | EL VEHICULO TIENE PROBLEMAS DE ENCENDIDO, DESPUES DE ESTAR EN REPOSO DOS DIAS NO ENCIENDE SE TIENE QUE PASAR CORRIENTE, INCLUSIVE EN MANEJOS CORTOS AL VOLVER A ENCENDER EL VEHICULO PRESENTA EL MISMO PROBLEMA, ESTE ES UN PROBLEMA EN LA MAYORIA DE ESTE TIPO DE VEHICULOS, MISMOS QUE SON ENCONTRADOS MUCHOS COMENTARIOS EN INTERNET, EL VEHICULO ESTA EN LA CDMX MEXICO. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2021 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | While driving the vehicle decided to suddenly brake ....... thinking it was dangerous ..... lucky no one was behind me ..... that was really scarry and could have caused an accident for no reason. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2021 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | I was on the Queensboro Bridge headed from Queens, NY into Manhattan on the afternoon of August 29. Weather was partly cloudy and dry conditions. Traffic was bumper to bumper and moving anywhere from 0mph to maybe 5mph. I was in the middle of the bridge driving approximately 5mph and my 2020 Mazda 3 beeped (collision warning) and applied brakes. I was almost rear ended and my two passengers were jolted forward. I maintained a safe following distance the entire time. I believe a van on my left triggered my car’s actions as it passed. I was in no danger of getting into an accident although I was quite shaken up since this is the first time my car applied its brakes. I have an appointment to bring my car in and would like the automatic braking system disabled. Previously, the car from time to time has alerted of a collision always under 40mph and a previous inspection of my vehicle (after I reported collision warning activation) revealed everything was working properly. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2021 | SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC | The contact owns a 2020 Mazda Mazda3. The contact stated while driving 35 MPH, the ABS warning light illuminated, and the brakes locked up and caused the vehicle to stall. The contact was able to restart the vehicle however, the failure persisted. The contact had taken the vehicle to a local dealer to be diagnosed however, the dealer was not able to duplicate the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 2,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 2,000 |
| Aug 2021 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | The Mazda Radar Cruise Control (MRCC) system performs poorly (it does not hold a set speed well up and down hill; compared to our 2006 Mazda3), but the safety concern is the forceful, sudden, and not-always-predictable braking the vehicle does even if there is not another vehicle in front of us. It brakes, sometimes, for a vehicle in the right lane (we, in the left), and continues to brake unless we override the system. No problem--except if there may be someone following too closely, it could cause a collision. It seems to be related to the MRCC, as no "Brake!" warning accompanies the unwanted brake application. I've contacted Mazda numerous times; they recommended taking it to the dealer. I have--they can find nothing wrong. All of this seems related to a MRCC update (SSP C5) that was done to smooth the MRCC's operation. It did fix the sudden deceleration and acceleration when following other vehicles, but now is worse in other aspects. I may be wrong, but it all seems to be a software issue, so it's not surprising that the dealer can find "no concerns". As to the date of this incident, it happens nearly every time we take the car on a highway or interstate. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2021 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | The front radar sensor failed and doesn’t work anymore rendering the FCW and ACC useless. There is a TSB out about water damage getting into the sensor. There are 2 warning lights on. They first appeared when I turned on my car one day. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |