Complaint volume
49 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
2021 Mazda Mazda3 Complaints
49 consumer-submitted complaints on record for the 2021 Mazda Mazda3, grouped by component category.
49 Total complaints
2 Crash reports
2 Fire reports
1 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 engine, air bags, unknown or other. Use those categories as a test-drive checklist instead of judging the vehicle from the total count alone.
Severity flags
Enriched records include 2 crash reports, 2 fire reports, 1 injury report, and 0 fatality reports. These fields come from complaint records and should be read in context.
Mileage clue
Mileage is available on 3 complaints, with an average reported failure mileage of 1,903 miles. Compare that with the mileage on the listing.
Questions to ask the seller
- Have you had any problems related to engine, air bags, unknown or other?
- 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 2021 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.
2021 Mazda Mazda3
Build buyer checklist Compare with other years Sends year, make, and model to pre-fill your checklist.
How severe are the 2021 Mazda Mazda3 complaints?
2 Crash
2 Fire
1 Injury
0 Fatality
4 Towed
0 Medical attention
What are the most common 2021 Mazda Mazda3 complaint categories?
ENGINE 16
AIR BAGS 4
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 4
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 3
POWER TRAIN 3
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 2
SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 2
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,LANE DEPARTURE 1
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 1
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 1
49 total complaints on record
Latest complaints
| Date | Component | Summary | Severity | Mileage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 2022 | ENGINE | Turbo using/burning oil- Consumption issue. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2022 | ENGINE | Oil light has come one twice within 17,000 miles of owner ship. The first time at 4,800 miles and the second at 17,529 miles, the most recent was only 3,500 miles since the last oil change. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2022 | SERVICE BRAKES,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | Strong unburnt fuel smell had just started at 6700 miles. Mazda Dealership stated that they would not be looking at my car and that gas smells are normal... After this encounter, I had 2 mechanics look at my car. Both had concluded that the smell predominantly comes from near the rear driver wheel, under the body, and that it is an extremely dangerous situation. I am a full time student and do not feel safe driving this car to class but I have no choice since Mazda is neglecting this issue. I also reported to the dealer that my brakes seem to be defective since they are causing excessive shaking when applied. Dealer informed me that they do not warranty the OEM brakes that came on my car, however Mazda Corporate informed me that they do. I do not feel safe driving this car knowing the car may combust and harm me and others on the road. The brakes also do not inspire confidence. A complaint has been filed with Mazda Corporate. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2022 | ENGINE | After roughly 2,000 miles of driving, the low oil light comes on. The engine is burning oil. Mazda has issued a TSB on it, but they have taken no action to fix the issue. Right now they just top off the oil. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2022 | AIR BAGS | Air bag malfunction light comes on a and goes off multiple times while driving | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2022 | ENGINE | The engine is burning oil. Oil and filter were changed at 5000 miles. At about 9000 miles, the engine oil level light came on. Topped off with oil and took to dealer, they confirmed no oil leaks and changed the oil. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2022 | WHEELS | This new car has less than 8000 miles on it and suddenly 3 of 4 BRIDGESTONE TIRES Turanza el440 215/45R18 89 have sidewall bubbles. Interesting that there are a ton of issues w sidewall Bridgestone tires on line yet the dealership keeps claiming the car must have been run over a median? Without any damage anywhere on the car? Come on.. it is clearly a manufacturer defect. They have history with sidewall bubbling. Consumers getting shafted at best and maimed at worst. Do something please! | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Vehicle detects cars in other lane as an impeding collision in turns, activates emergency braking when no collision is imminent. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2022 | ENGINE | At around 3600 Miles my Mazda which I had for only a couple of months displayed a low engine oil light which required a visit to the dealership.This was under normal driving conditions. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2022 | ENGINE | My Mazda 3 2.5T has been burning oil in excess. The car has a total of 24,000 miles and has been serviced 3 times. I have had to add oil in between every service. The oil has been completely burned off by 4,000-5,000 miles. I have noticed that other people have been posting about the same issues online. When talking to the dealership they state that they have noticed this issue with the 2.5T’s but offer no fix and seem to overfill the engine oil to try and compensate. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2022 | ENGINE | Excess oil consumption in engine. Low light came on around 5,000 miles and dipstick showed engine oil was at the minimum mark. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2022 | ENGINE | Engine is consuming excessive oil. Dealership states there is a TSB out but the fix is to keep topping the oil off. I would like an investigation to determine the root cause of the oil consumption on a new engine. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2022 | AIR BAGS | The vehicle was badly rear ended and the airbags didn't deploy. The dashboard indicated an "airbag malfunction" after the collision happened. The failure of the airbags put myself and my passengers at serious risk; if we weren't wearing our seatbelts, which we were, we would have been gravely injured. The vehicle is less than a year old and still under warranty. | Crash: Yes Fire: No Injuries: 1 Towed | Unknown |
| May 2022 | ENGINE | Low engine oil warning between oil changes. Burned 3+ quarts between 5000 mile and 10,000 mile service. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2022 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | A have a new 2021 Mazda 3 Hatchback with 3,500 miles. As I was driving and approaching a traffic light to stop, my car shut down completely while in traffic. I turned on my hazard lights, put the car in the park position, and restarted the vehicle. As I proceed with driving, when I made a right turn onto the blvd, a minute after turning when I came to another stop, the vehicle shut down again. I called Romano Mazda in Syracuse, NY. They set me up with an appointment for the following week and gave me a rental. They kept my vehicle for 3 days. Per the technician, there were no codes found or pending codes. said they contacted the Mazda tech line and was told there was no history of the fault within the ODR date and released my vehicle back to me. My vehicle only has 3,500 miles on it. ITs a huge safety hazard. I transport my mother who is 93 years of age. I don't feel confident driving it. especially on the highways. In 2019 over 262,000 Mazdas, including the Mazda 3 hatchback were recalled for problems with vehicles stalling out. Sound like the same issue with the 2021's | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2022 | AIR BAGS | My car started to show a warning on the dashboard that the airbag system is malfunctioning. The alarm would come on for a few seconds, then turn off, then repeat like that multiple times every drive. At the time it started, my car had less than 500 miles on it, and it continued after that until I got it fixed. I took it to the Mazda dealership where I bought it, and they said it was a short circuit to the driver's side airbags. They told me that could have caused the airbags to deploy prematurely or not at all in an accident. I am also a part of a Mazda 3 community and am active on the forums, and in the last month I have seen at least 30-40 other 2021 Mazda 3 owners also report the same exact error code, with the same short circuit issue being cited as the problem by the dealership. Parts are on backorder for weeks for most of these owners, and some of them were told by the dealership to keep their car while they waited for the part, whereas my own dealership told me it was unsafe to drive the car and to have it towed to the dealership instead. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL | Context: ADAS was not on. Lane keep assist is disabled in system settings entirely as it is dangerous. Blinkers were on, I was pulling out from parallel parking into left turn lane onto a straight road with slight incline. Car is of the Turbo trim on stock tires. Upon finishing pulling out of parallel parking spot and gassing the car, torque vectoring or some underlying collision avoidance may have phantom activated. I felt torque shift to the wrong tires, unsettling the car, and the wheel -- with no human input -- jerked to the left to force me into the lane left of intended. I applied throttle and steered right back into the correct lane, but the car was applying torque to the wrong tires and applying a left bias to the steering. Only after I got above 25mph and held straight did the car settle. Almost caused an accident if the lane was not empty due to car unsettling itself into the left lane. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2022 | SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | I had two incidents during a short 25 min drive. Incident 1: I was in right side of the road, there were 2 lanes on this side. I was in the far left lane driving at below 30 mph, there was no vehicle directly behind me, and no vehicle directly in front of me. There was no vehicle in the oncoming side of traffic. There was 1 vehicle in the right lane next to me, about 20 feet behind. This vehicle slowed down to turn right into a parking lot. I did not have my foot on the brake at all, the vehicle behind me was in no way veering into my lane or doing anything abnormal. At this point, all of a sudden my car hard braked automatically. I had not touched the brake and I was driving straight and not veering. It was very sudden, and very hard braking, and it jerked me in my seat because of how hard the brake had suddenly turned on. Incident 2: After that first incident, there was a second time when this happened on the same trip. Once again, this time I was driving at about 35 mph. It was again where there were two lanes on my side of the road and I was in the left lane. No vehicles were in front or behind me. In the right lane next me to, there was 3 vehicles in a row about 25 feet behind me, and the front vehicle of them stopped to turn right into another parking lot area. The same thing happened, I did not have my foot on the brake at all, and had not veered at all and was driving straight. The brakes automatically came on suddenly in a very hard brake, resulting again in a sudden complete stop, even though there were no cars in directly in front or behind me. The vehicle was brought brand new at the dealership , so I had no cause to have the brakes inspected by the dealership, police, or insurance company. There was a warning that the safety features had been disabled due to obstruction of the front sensor, but there was no warning lamps that the emergency automatic brake was going to be used, it just happened. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2021 | AIR BAGS | Instrument panel display shows a warrning message: Air Bag System Malfunction. Have the Vehicle inspected. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2021 | LANE DEPARTURE,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | The error code "B14FO-76 FORWARD SENSING CAMERA DEVIATION - WRONG MOUNTING POSITION" was discovered, and verified, by a Safelite Auto Glass service center when the 2021 Mazda 3 was in for a repair (stone chip) to the windshield on September 21, 2021. There were no warning messages nor lights to alert the driver as to the improper installation/mounting of this device. There has been no known modification to nor obstruction of the FSC -- its condition is now as it was received new from the dealer. Improper mounting ("Wrong Mounting Position") of the Forward Sensing Camera affects multiple safety systems of this vehicle, which affects the safety of the vehicle's passengers as well as everyone's safety around the vehicle every time it is driven -- there's no telling what injury and damage may occur from an errant un-commanded driving tasks such as emergency braking and faulty lane departure corrections. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2021 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | The contact owns a 2021 Mazda Mazda3. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds the passenger front side tire was flat which caused the contact to veer to the shoulder. The contact towed the vehicle to the dealer where the tire was inspected as the technician informed the contact that the tire was on backorder and no replacement tire was available. The vehicle then was towed back to the contact resident however was informed by the towing company that the vehicle abrupted in flames on the flatbed. The fire department was contacted and extinguished the flames. No police report was made. no injuries were sustained. The contact is awaiting approval from the insurance adjustor on adjustments needed to be made for the vehicle. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximate 2,509. | Crash: No Fire: Yes Towed | 2,509 |
| Apr 2021 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | 2021 MAZDA 3. CONSUMER WRITES REGARDING FAILED SBS SYSTEM. *LD THE CONSUMER STATED THE SMART BRAKE SYSTEM SLAMS ON THE BRAKES UNNECESSARILY, WHILE DRIVING. THE CONSUMER WAS ADVISED BY THE DEALER THAT FEATURE COULD NOT BE DISABLED. *JS | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2021 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2021 MAZDA MAZDA3. THE CONTACT STATED WHILE THE VEHICLE WAS AT A STAND STILL AT A PARKING LOT, WHEN IT CAUGHT FIRE. THE FIRE DEPARTMENT WAS ABLE TO EXTINGUISHED THE FIRE AND FILED A REPORT. THE POLICE WAS AT THE LOCATION BUT DID NOT FILE A REPORT. THE VEHICLE WAS DRIVABLE BUT WAS TOWED AT A TOW LOT. THE CONTACT CALLED LOCAL DEALER MORONG FALMOUTH MAZDA (187 US-1 #1311, FALMOUTH, ME 04105: (207) 781-4020) AND WAS MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. THE VEHICLE HAD NOT BEEN DIAGNOSED OR REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER HAD BEEN INFORMED OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS APPROXIMATELY 1,500.*DT*JB | Crash: No Fire: Yes Towed | 1,500 |
| Feb 2021 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,LANE DEPARTURE | PASSENGER SIDE BLIND SPOT WARNING FUNCTIONS SPORADICALLY. IT SOMETIMES DETECTS VEHICLES AND SOMETIMES DOES NOT WHILE DRIVING AT THE SAME SPEED. | Crash: No Fire: No | 1,700 |