RE: Tyre wear on UK Mazda 5
 

I was in my dealers the other day and noticed a few new Mazda 5's waiting to be collected or sold, I had a look at the tyres fitted and noticed 2 cars had 'Toyo Tranpath J4' tyres fitted all round, the other one car had 'Goodyear Eagle NCT5' tyres fitted all round. I assume they have finally decided to ditch the Dunlops.
I would advise anyone with alignment issues to go to an independant garage with state of the art equipment, to have it checked properly and by that I don't mean Kwik-Fit type High Street tyre & exhaust fitting places, as I said before since 2003 Mazda cars are leaving the factory with horrendous alignment settings and the dealers don't seem to be able to put it right, only last week I witnessed one of our Mx-5 Members have to put his car off the road after the dealer struggled for two days trying to set up the alignment, they claimed to have the best equipment yet he was scared stiff driving his car home because of the strange steering and pull, which wasn't there before.

I have a friend in England (I live in Scotland) whoused towork for Mazda he managed to get me the following settings for the Mazda 5, Idon't know how accurate they will be but perhaps you could ask your independant garage tolook at them......

Mazda 5 geometry settings

Total toe-in (Front & Rear)
2 +/- 4mm {L8,LF & MZR-CD}

Front

Maximum Steering Angle {L8,LF & MZR-CD}
Inner 40*05' +/- 3*
Outer 33*07' +/- 3*

Castor {L8,LF}
3*14' +/- 1*
Camber {L8,LF}
-0*42' +/- 1*
SAI {L8,LF}
13*59'

Castor {MZR-CD}
3*12' +/- 1*
Camber {MZR-CD}
-0*44' +/- 1*
SAI
14*04'

Rear
Camber {L8,LF & MZR-CD}
-1*29' +/- 1*
Thrust angle {L8,LF & MZR-CD}
0* +/- 48'

(* indicates degree)
{MZR-CD - Diesel Engine}
{L8,LF - 1800 & 2000 petrol engine}

RE: Tyre wear on UK Mazda 5
 

Thanks for the info Douglas, I will see what my local tyre place of repute makes of it.
Ihave noticed that they appear to be using Toyo's and Michelin's on cars I have seen at the dealers.

Nig

5 Sport just had it's first service at 12,000 miles. Had to get the tyres changed urgently last week so took the old ones along to the dealer. They've told me the following:
* There is a service notice out on the rear wheel alignment. They have adjusted the alignment from the max. tolerance across to the minimum (2 deg in). This is important because if you have a 3rd party check alignment they will just say it is in tolerance - but it needs this correction.
* Amazingly there is no service notice on the front wheels. Dealer checked the alignment and these were good. You should have seen the tyres after 12k. Outer 75% was fine (impressively good) but inner 25% was down to the thread. Dealer offered nothing in the way of explanation.

In case you're thinking I did well to get to 12k, I think the tyres were worse than they looked and from 6-7k they were showing serious inner wear. My mistake not to take action earlier.

I've now fitted Pirelli P6000 XL which were the cheapest premium brand on BlackCircles. The dealer recommended Bridgestone Pretenza for hard wear. Or amazingly (almost as though he was conceding that the wear was here to stay) - Yokohama or Kumho for cost saving.

My advice to new Mazda 5 owners - get the tyres checked before 5k. If they show any sign of excess wear get back to your dealer and give them hell. Leave it too long like me and they don't want to know.
To those of us with 2006 Mazda 5 (esp.. Sport) I think we need to keep going back and giving the dealers a headache. They'll soon shout at Mazda when they start getting lots of customers coming back. I suspect too many M5 owners are currently running through to the first service blissfully unaware of the tyre wear problem - but by then Mazda just claim mileage has done the damage.





Sorry I did mean Toyo (as seen by Douglas) not Yokohama.

RE: Tyre wear on UK Mazda 5
 

You are absoulutely right Darren.
This is a serious safety implication in my opinion and Mazda should be doing more to sort the root of the problem out rather than messing around changing tyre manufacturers. I really cannot believe that one quality tyre manufacturer can make a tyre that will wear so badly whilst another won't. The reason the tyres wear is surely down to how the tyre addresses the road surface?

I wonder if anyone has had an accident or even a prosecution because of the state of the tyres.

Two reports of alignment problems leading to severe prematgure tyre wear. Best to get a "four way alignment check" at http://www.alignmycar.co.uk
Quote taken from http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/carbycar...p_model=%20893


Nig

RE: Tyre wear on UK Mazda 5
 

hmm looks like i be popin down the dealer this week:eek:

btw hello all

RE: Tyre wear on UK Mazda 5
 

Greetings all...
I have just been to the dealer and whilst waiting there another chap was bemoaning the fact his car was eating tyres. I asked him if it was a 5 and to my surprise he said not, it was a 2. Exactly the same problem.
Sounds like Mazda have a mother of all problems on their hands.......

RE: Tyre wear on UK Mazda 5
 

Hi Guys,
Looks like I am joining your wee club! Took my Mazda 5 Sport into local components shop for new wipers and the owner who was lying on the ground fixing another car said " you want to be getting some new tyres on the back son..have you seen them?" I couldnt believe it. My car is nearly 2 years old and the inside of the rear tyres are almost through to the cloth while the other 80% of the tyre is almost as new. The front ones are wearing just slightly on the inside.

Today i phoned my Mazda dealer, (30min ferry trip plus 1 hour drive away), i live in the west of Scotland. I have booked it in for a 4 wheel alignment check (at my cost, maybe to be recovered from Mazda once they get the results). There was no questioning from the dealer. He obviously knew about the problem and what he was going to say to me. Will they replace the tyres? Maybe they will also be able to cure the horrendous noise from the front suspensionwhen going over a speed bump or similar.

What else should i be doing? Is it worth contacting Mazda? What about the Warranty? How about an independant 3rd party to examine the problem before the car goes off to the dealer? Any suggestions will be greatfully received.
This is my first Mazda and I did really like the 5's practicality, but now I am wondering!

Cheers, Toggie

RE: Tyre wear on UK Mazda 5
 

Greetings Toggie.
If I were you I would log a formal complaint with MMUK telephone 08456013147 The more people that officially complain might make them move quicker!
If you can get to speak to Nicole all the better, she is up to speed on this matter.
I would stick out on paying anything to anyone. Tell the dealer that it is a serious safety issue and they have a duty of care to ensure that the product they sold you is safe in general use....
My dealer has been really good and is slowly getting through my list of problems with the car.
I have not paid anything towards the repairs since MMUK refunded the cost of the first set of tyres last year.
Good luck and keep us posted.
P.S. They should be able to sort out your squeaky suspension. It is another known problem and usually sorted by replacing the bushes....

Might I suggest that we all e-mail the Honest John column as mentioned in CharlottenEddiesdad's posting on March 19th? Getting the press to put some pressure on Mazda UK can't harm our cause. Has anyone approached any of the newspaper motoring columns? There was an item on BBC Watchdog tonight regarding Renault bonnets popping open, and pressure from the programme has helped convince Renault to recall the model (think it was a Clio).
It's worth a try.
Dave


Sorry, this link escaped my last posting!!....

http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/carbycar...p_model=%20893

RE: Tyre wear on UK Mazda 5
 

Thanks for your help and advice. I will try to get hold of Nicole tomorrow and keep you posted.

Toggie

RE: Tyre wear on UK Mazda 5
 

Hi Toggie,My fellow Mx-5 Club Member went initially to a dealer in the West Of Scotland, as mentioned in my previous post. Normally they are a pretty good dealer andwhere we got our Mazda 5 from. If you could takeyour car to Callander I can reccommend the Dreadnought TVR Garage, this is where I get my own cars 4 wheel alignment done, excellent Garage and cheaper than Dealers. My friend took his Mx-5 to themand the mechanic checking the alignment was shocked at the settings, he had to adjust the alignment bolts quite a bit before they would even register on the state of the art machine. Good luck.

edited to remove names.DouglasH

RE: Tyre wear on UK Mazda 5
 

Thanks DouglasH. Im afraid I did plan to go to Linwood to get my wheel alignment checked but not until the middle of next month. Am i wrong to assume that it has to be a Mazda dealer who looks at my problem, so as to keep the car warranty up and running?

Great idea, and is definitely worth a punt.
Here is the email address to do so..
letters@honestjohn.co.uk
I have just sent a missive his way.


Greetings Toggie!
I don't think it would harm your warranty to get an independant garage to look at it. Where you may hit stony ground is if they actually change anything.....
I took my car to an independant speciallist, who claimed that the rear "thrust" was 2mm out. Makes no sense to me, but when I took the car to my dealer they said and have always said that the settings were within the tolerances.... I said then and continue to say that is a cop out.
Also you never know when they have said that if they have actually changed the settigns and just not told you......
I suspect that is what has happened to me, because my dealer has had a change of service manager, and the new manager said almost as much as the settings they changed when they rotated the tyres seem to have slowed the wear down.....
The last service manager said very strongly that no settings had been changed on my car......
I do not suppose I will ever know the truth......

Good luck anyway, it must be an even bigger pain having to travel so far to get this sorted. My wife has just about had enough of the car........ (Shedrives it most.... I have a MX5..... far more sensible)

RE: Tyre wear on UK Mazda 5
 

Whatever you do make sure you obtain a before and after print out, if the car is having the work done under warranty you could always have it checked by an independant alignment placeafterwards or show them the print out for advice.Other than that it may just be worth getting the trusted independant to carry out the work for peace of mind.

RE: Tyre wear on UK Mazda 5
 

I sent a missive to Honest John this morning I have had a reply saying that if I replied with the missing link to this thread and the others I know of. He will look into the problem..

;)

RE: Tyre wear on UK Mazda 5
 

Hi All,
after visiting my dealer and getting a stiff ignoring to ("never heard of this problem before"), I spoke to John Smith (honest) at Mazda UK ( he's the one dealing with my front tyre wear concerns). Have now been given an appointment with another dealer ,closer to home, ("never heard of this problem before") to have "readings" taken. With a little probing I found out that they are doing tyre wear readings and an optiline and will "adjust settings if necessary or set new if new settings are given".
Car is due in on 30 March, if I get the brush off again I am quite up for a little publicity!
Saw a German5 today on the work's car park and it was fitted with some chunky Toyo winter tyres, don't think it was a sport though, no badges and looked like 16" wheels.
I am disappointed to see the size of this problem and how it is growing,think it would be good for all if we keep our progress posted.

I'm Spartacus too.

RE: Tyre wear on UK Mazda 5
 

Just had a reply from Honest John.
He is probing MMUK PR as we speak.....

RE: Tyre wear on UK Mazda 5
 

Jon Smith is looking at my worn front tyre case too. Just out of interest, did he say anything about having had other cases? He denied having any other cases when I asked him if it was a common problem.

I have an appointment tomorrow for the car to go on a John Bean four wheel alignment jig, at a tyre specialist that the Bolton Mazda dealer has referred me to. I await the results with baited breath. The idea posted above to request a print-out for before and after figures is a bloomin good idea, I will most definitely do that. I'll report back tomorrow.
Dave.

RE: Tyre wear on UK Mazda 5
 

It seems the Mazda Mantra is invariably "never heard of that one before". had it from Service Managers (2), Customer Services (3) and from John Smith! See you've found another victim (mrsimbob?) are they aware of this thead (I may have missed something so if it's a daft question, just ignore me!)
Might be an idea if we pooled our Mazda complaint numbers and let them know, that we know, that they know! Then perhaps they could let everyone else know!:)

RE: Tyre wear on UK Mazda 5
 

After telling you about the couple of new cars I saw last weekfitted with Toyo and Goodyear Tyres as standard, I was in the dealers again today and spotted a brand new 5 just off the transporter, complete with plastic Alloy Wheel covers, guess what tyres were on it....DUNLOP SPORT .....................what on earth is going on.

RE: Tyre wear on UK Mazda 5
 

I'm really frustrated now......
Had the car on a 4-wheel alignment jig today, at a tyre specialist I wassent to by the Mazda dealership in Bolton,and the verdict was that the front left wheel was TEN MINUTES out of specification. For the non-mathematicians out there, that's one-sixth of a degree.

The remaining 3 wheels were spot on (give or take a minute or two)

The technician is adamant that the front tyre wear is not a function of mis-aligned wheels (well, wheels that are aligned to the Mazda specifications) so I took this information back to the dealer, and the advice I received was to change the tyres at my own expense and wait to see what happens. Er, I think I know what will happen, they will wear on the inner edge, surely? The dealer has promised to let Mazda UK know the situation.

I attempted to contact Jon Smith at Mazda UK myself several times this afternoon, but he was never available.

I'll keep you all posted.

Dave.

RE: Tyre wear on UK Mazda 5
 

Anyone that frustated that they are thinking of selling?. Iam, but after looking at the opposition ie Ford S-max, new citroen picasso, it seems they have theirown problems

RE: Tyre wear on UK Mazda 5
 

Hi Minty, did you ever get in touch with BBC Watchdog? I have a couple of colleagues who work as technicianson the programme every weekand I was going to ask them to get mecontact detailsfor any researcher that shows any inclination to investigate our problems. If you have already established contact with Watchdog, did you have any joy?
Dave.

RE: Tyre wear on UK Mazda 5
 

Hi folks,

Just found this forum, thread and problem on my own Sept '06 2.0 TD Sport. I have the standard Dunlop SP sport 205/50/17.My rears are wearing, approx 2mm left on the inner edge, but my fronts are goosed at 10k! Wearing in inner (slick) and outer (tread visible but only just)edges, but fine in the middle on the front, inner only at the rear. I took the car to my supplying dealer this am and the technician thatI spoke to commented that this was a known fault and that he thought Mazda replaced the tyres and claimed the money back from the tyre company. A more senior tech then came out, gave me the customer service number for MMUK and said that, again, itwas a known issue and that it was because the tyre's compound was too soft!I've never heard such rubbish. Looking at my own car, it's clear by the naked eye that the camber on all wheels is set to have the wheels away from vertical at rest. Wish me luck. I'll post again on Monday when I have called the lovely Nicole!:(Attachment 7307

RE: Tyre wear on UK Mazda 5
 

Any chance of resizing the photo - it makes the thread very difficult to read due to the width.

RE: Tyre wear on UK Mazda 5
 

Sorry abut the photo-I thought I had- now sorted.

RE: Tyre wear on UK Mazda 5
 

Just spoken to Inte at MMUK who didnt need any help in understanding the tyre wear problem. She was quite aware that there had been many complaints about it and that Mazda were looking into the problem. She did say that there was no standard Madza solution to the problem. Some folk were getting new tyres, others a percentage towards replacements.
She fully understood the safety issue of driving with dodgy tyres and kids in the back.
Anyway lodged an official complaint, got a ref number and now waiting for standard letter and a call from my dealer to let me know what next.
Will keep you posted.

PS Hi Inte, glad you found our thread, please pass on our regards(???) to all at MMUK

Hi folks,
Latest udate, having spoken to the service manager at the dealer is thatI have to take the car in this pm to be checked. He reckons that Mazda will only pay for a proportion of the tyres, which seems to be in line with what most people have experienced thus far. He did say though that there is now a Mazda Technical bulletin out with regard to this issue. He stated that this was very recent and he wasn't sure if the fix that it contained had been tried out on many vehicles. Next installment later!

STOP PRESS!

I'm just back from the dealer. The service manager had in his hot little hand a Mazda TSB which he was kind enough leave in my eyeshot! It came to the dealers via email today and details a fix for the REAR tyre wear issue, ie, excessive wear on the inner sode of both rear tyres. The fix involves resetting the rear toe in by 2mm and replacing the tyres, with the usual cost to the owner and the % of the tyre left from new being covered by Mazda, but based on the new tread depth at new asbelow,with a new variant of the OEM Dunlop SP sport which has a different compound and now starts out with 8.3 mm of tread- standard high performance low profiles tend to have 7mm at new. This doesn't solve any of my problems- my fronts are both worn on inner and outer edges- he suspects a tracking issue, but expects them to be replaced asa "courtesy, and my rears have about 2.5mm left on the inside edge and as such aren't bad enough to be replaced yet (his suspision, no info from Mazda yet, but given their usual tack...). It is important to note though that the fix is available up to and including 25000 miles- this is stated clearly in the TSB.

I hope this helps some of you out there to get these issues sorted once and for all with the minimum of further hassle!

I'll post again when I know more about my own situation

Cheers for now

RE: Tyre wear on UK Mazda 5
 

Ooh, just for a minute you had be quite excited there Iain, until I read REAR tyres. Doh !

I have spoken to Jon Smith at Mazda UK again, and he has arranged for the Bolton dealer to take a set of tread depth readings later this week, I think that it is finally recognised that there is a genuine problem with front tyre wear too.

Iain,as I said further up the thread, my dealer was positive that the front tyre wear was down to tracking, but the fancy machine proved them wrong. I'll be interested to hear how your tracking checks out.

More soon......

Dave.

RE: Tyre wear on UK Mazda 5
 

Sorry Dave,

I just read your reply to my post, read it again and realised, after a bit of thought that I've given you a bum steer here. The reason that my fronts aren't covered by this TSB is that they are worn onBOTH edges. WhenI spoke to the chap at the Dealer, he said that they would not be covered by a waranty claim, but he would look ata good will or courtesy replacement andhave the tracking checked. He did seem to indicate the same regime for the rears would apply if the wear was on the inside edge only at the front, ie, 2mm toe in adjustment and replace the tyres with the new spec dunlops. I also thought that i was almost the only one with front tyre issues. I feel better now i'm not alone! I would speak to your dealer in the morning and tell him you know about the TSB and see what transpires! What canI say, it was late in the day and I'm easily confused!

RE: Tyre wear on UK Mazda 5
 

just to let people know i have just written an e-mail to watchdog and asked them to look at this site to see the size of the
problem with the mazda 5 and try to help out and get this problem with the tyres sorted by contacting mmuk because i am now miffed with the response from my dealer and mmuk i will keep you posted as to if i get a reply and how i get on with mmuk

RE: Tyre wear on UK Mazda 5
 

Have been back to the dealer today just for tyre tread depth readings to be taken, which they reckon will probably be used by Mazda UK to calculate any contribution to cost of replacement tyres. I await the phone call!

However, when I asked about any known cure for the problem, and mentioned that we forum users had heard of a recent bulletin from Mazda, the technician disappeared to his computer for quite a while and denied that a bulletin has been issued. He has promised to pursue this though.

I then took great delight in telling them that the Mazda 5 Sport in the car park that was obviously another customer's car, had totally wrecked front tyres. The look on their faces was great. I don't know who it belonged to but the front tyres were lethal, and worth a few points on anyone's licence! They were fine on the outside edge though!

More as it happens....

Dave

RE: Tyre wear on UK Mazda 5
 

I've just got my mazda 5 diesel sport back after 2 weeks in dealers - only expected 1 day for servicing and recall work(until phone call received warning me about my tyres).I ended up havingto buy 2 new front tyres as they were totally worn on inside edge, and the dealer couldnt takealignmentreadings until new tyres were fitted(- opted for Maxxis tyres as they were half the price of dunlops and only slightly inferior- according to autoexpress tyre survey 2006). Dealer e-mailed tyre tread depths and photos of worn tyres to Mazda today and hopefully they will reimberse me some of my costs. Back tyres were worn on inside but no where near as bad as front and are still legal. Dealer stated that all four wheels required adjusting and mine is the fifth Mazda5 with similar tyre wear problems. Will keep hassling Mazda until they recognise the front tyre wear issue and reimburse me some much owed money.

RE: Tyre wear on UK Mazda 5
 

Dont hold your breath re front tyre wear - We did the correct thing and had all 4 replaced - front at our expense and rear - dealer 20% and MMUK 80%.
Wrote to complain to MMUK about fronts + pics and not herd a thing in 10 days.

Now running tyre depth guage recordings - ever month or 1k, which ever is teh sooner so tat we can see if the wear profile has changed since 'being sorted'
Would anyone with a tech mind like to suggets a regime and format so that we are all consistant, unless below makes sense:
I have gone for three readings across the tyre, one in the inside edge tread next to the side grove, depth at middle grove and same at outside edge tread next to outside edge grove. Two test per tyre - one at valve and one opp valve.
Recording on new tyres and then each month.

If we get consistancy in 8 - 12 mnths time - even better proof that MMUK have either fixed or not fixed the problem - as if I did not have enough to do with 3 children under 5 and a full time job - reason why we bought a brand new car with sliding doors!!

RE: Tyre wear on UK Mazda 5
 

Had call from garage last week to inform me that they are having problems with sourcing the original tyres for the 5. They offered an alternative of Continental, which i agreed to, but advised them to contact my companies service agents, Fleet Support! Have heard nothing since from, either garage or Fleet Support. On the subject raise earlier in this forum. Does anyone know the wear rating of the Dunlop SP sport tyre (had some Pirelli P6000 on an XR2 that went after 3000 miles..!). Although alignment is the major tyre wear issue here, the compound & wear rating my also be a contributing factor & affect the choice of tyre used in the future..!

RE: Tyre wear on UK Mazda 5
 

Car went in on Friday for tyre wear and laser alignment readings. Service Manager couldn't contact John Smith before close of play, so do not yet know what the result is.
Seems to be a few people who haven't posted for a while! Has MMUK slipped you a bung to buy your silence? Or are they supporting a motorway flyover somewhere?
Seriously though, if any of you originators have had some success that you can share, please don't be shy.
Crafty look at my alignment showed all was OK, should we be looking elsewhere for the culprit? I'm running out of ideas.

Regards,
Dave

"....but they will be back, and in greater numbers"

RE: Tyre wear on UK Mazda 5
 

I don't really have anything to add to the tyre wear and suspension issues detailed here - I have had exactly the same issues and responces. My only addition is that I have also had the front discs skimmed on 2 separate occations and the pads 'conditioned', the uneven wear on the discs obviously down to the same root cause as the tyres.
This weekend, before having read any of these similar tales of woe I sent a very strongly worded letter to Mazda UK.
Having read the above threads, I will now telephone tomorrow and try, like another poster to get a replacement vehicle out of Mazda.
As yet I have not contacted watchdog/which? etc believing that I was giving Mazda a chance to come up with a solution to my problem - it now appears that this was niaive on my behalf.
please leave a message if it would be of any benefit if i was to cut and paste my letter on here.

RE: Tyre wear on UK Mazda 5
 

Spoke to Dealer today.
He explained that my tyres would be replaced with a formula that Mazda have worked out based on the "normal" wear in the middle of the tyres. This sounds ok. He highlighted that the Dunlop tyres were at fault and he recommends that I put on a set of extra load rating Avons. Never heard of Avons, but he said they are a good option. Any opions on this?

It is odd that the tires are to blame here. Is the dealer just replacing tires, or are they implementing a fix? I will keep a very close eye on my Yokohama 520s. They are a hard compound. Maybe I should switch to my original wheels and tires, and document what happens.

BTW: I have a 2007 Sport w/ a 5-speed.[X(]

Were any adjustments to alignment made between sets of tires?

RE: Tyre wear on UK Mazda 5
 

Regarding Avon tyres as the recommended replacement: maybe it's my cynical nature, but when I've been pricing replacement tyres, the Avons were the cheapest brand name, so maybe they are the recommended brand because Mazda's financial contribution will be reduced if you agree to cheaper tyres??

I may be wrong, but I remember being extremely disappointed with a set of front tyres on my Espace a few years ago, which were worn to the limit in about 10,000 miles, and I have a suspicion that they were Avons. Unfortunately all my service records for the Espace went with the car so I can't check up on that.

I will be pestering Mazda again soon, not heard anything since last Friday when my tread depth readings were taken. As the last poster, AIMWO4, says, we need to know if any adjustments are made to the wheel alignment when the tyres are changed. I'm no motor mechanic, but it seems obvious to me that the current alignment spec is incorrect for our cars. Just changing to a different brand of tyres doesn't seem likely to be the solution to me.

More as it happens........

Dave.