So, as the title states, I have a couple of questions.

1.) Has anyone changed the serpentine belt on our cars before? If so a walk through would be nice. It seems easy. Almost too easy just looking at it because the tensioner pulley sits pretty much right in front of your face.

2.) as most of the nation is feeling the ridiculous heat wave has anyone had a problem with the A/C just cutting in and out randomly? This only seems to be happening when its insanely hot out I'll turn on the car and the A/C button just wont work at all (I.e. light won't turn on and compressor won't "click" on). That or it will be on and it would just randomly cut out for a few seconds and then turn back on.

3.) Last problem is that I think my combination switch might be going bad? If I turn on the lights a night the headlights come on but my interior dash lights don't come on. Sometimes if I turn them on and off really fast they will eventually turn on or if jiggle the switch forwards backwards up and down eventually they will come on? Short in the wiring?

 

1. Get socket, attach to ratchet, put on tension bolt, push away from you, slip off belt. have to take off a/c belt first.

2. light dont come on, compressor constantly kicking on and off quickly, sounds like wiring issues

3. sounds like a loose wire more than a short tbh.

your car is starting to fall apart just like my 06

 

Tracker, your 06 is starting to have issues?

 

starting? its been having issues. a/c hasent worked in months (electrical problem) passenger axle is bad, interior panels falling off, inside lights not working, engine performance has been on a steady decline, its just awful. To the point where i had already bought another car for reliability. My friends 08 3 and 6 are even in worse shape, and they have no mods and take care of there car better than i do

 

So you feel Mazda is not as reliable as their well known for?

 

they wasent known for reliability in the first place

 

My car is like trackers... Headlights don't like to work all the time because of the wiring. I can't stand the "retaining clips" the headlights sit in. I've actually resorted to using small project liquid nail to hold them in. Funny as it sounds it actually works really well. When they go out, just wiggle it around a little bit it will crack loose and the bulb comes right out. The door carpeting on all four doors has come loose. driver and passenger seats are fraying pretty bad. Driver seat bracket broke or came loose on the left side so my seat doesn't want to slide and sits on a left slope. carpet cut on the passenger seat which oddly enough hardly gets used. Windows start rattling pretty bad now but i'm pretty sure that's because of my exhaust. Interior dash lights as posted before are intermittently failing

Mechanically, I haven't really noticed a decrease in performance or gas mileage, I still get about 25-28 mpg which has been consistent since I got the car. Still have the original water pump, alternator, belts and, sensors at 137,xxx miles AND my car sits out side in St Louis weather 24/7/365

 

I must take issue w/this statement because actually they were/are.
Both CU, Edmonds and JDPower rate the Japanese built cars 4/5 stars for reliability, and the American built cars 3.5/5 stars.
Except for the two annoyances I had with mine several years ago now, and paint chips I ave had no problems with mine. I take care of the car. I usually don't beat it, but I don't baby it either.

Why you guys are having such problems w/your 3i's is beyond me. And some of the issues you are describing sound like "customer abuse's" to me.
Cuts in the carpet and broken seat sliders are not the car's/manufacturer's fault.
With a 3i (2.0L) you should also be seeing better mileage and 25-28. I get that driving my 2.3L in a spirited way (can't help myself some weeks and my mileage will drop to the high 25's/ low 26's) in 105* weather with the A/C running at full tilt AND running E10, always good for a 2mpg drop on its own!!

 

While I cannot speak to how reliable early Mazda3s are, I can say that my 2009 Mazda3 i Touring Value Edition 5-Speed with about 50,000 miles on it has yet to have its first squawk since I drove it off the showroom floor. Sounds pretty reliable to me.

 

Virg, when I bought my car used off the guy he gave me the original window sticker for my 2.0 auto and the sticker shows that I supposed to get 26 city. As well all know the sticker numbers are always bumped up a little bit for selling appeal. However ironically enough I get just about 26mpg. 80%+ of my driving is "city" and when I do commute to work ~21mi. A lot of it is very much stop and go traffic on the interstate. I'm actually surprised my MPG isn't lower.

I really wouldn't call my seat brackets a "customer fault issue as well" more like "wear and tear" if you can call it that. Its not like I play with it every time I get in the car and slide it back and forth just for fun. The plastic trimming just snapped off one day literally just cut the plastic right down the middle and sheered off. I'm a 6'0", 220lb guy I'm not obese by any means. I don't just fall down into the seat. I'm pretty easy going getting in and out of the car.

It seems my driving style is just about the same as yours. I don't baby it but I don't drive it into the ground either.

As far as the carpet goes, I'm not sure how the hell it got there. I don't keep random sharp objects laying around on my passenger side floor. The cut is about 3-4 inches long side to side right where the carpet meets the raised lip where the seat brackets are attached to.

Mechanically for the most part this car has been great to me. Cosmetics have been a nightmare for me lol.