I am in the process of taking Mazda to court over this tyre wear problem. This is my second Mazda. I originally had an 05 model and went through 6 sets of tyres. After many long phone calls and letters with Mazda and the dealer (none of which rectified the problem). We traded it in for a 08 model after being guaranteed by the dealership that the problems with the design have been rectified after 07 models. Our car went in for its 12k service and the garage called to say (surprise,surprise) that both front tyres had worn down to the metal on the inside edge. I have now had an independent report carried out by a member of the Association of Automotive Engineers and Assessors, which states that in his opinion "there is an inherent design fault in the vehicle''

I am having a meeting tomorrow with the car dealer as part of the pre action protocol, but in a letter from them to my solicitor they state that they, and Mazda have no knowledge of any faults with the Mazda 5!

I am going to go all the way to court with this now, so if anyone would like to send me their details with a short history of the problems that have had, and copies of any correspondence to Mazda along with photographic evidence, I would be MORE THAN happy to take it along to court with me. I am incensed at Mazda for the total lack of responsibility to their customers, and amazed that as of yet, there have been no deaths as a result of this, although I am sure it will only be a matter of time.

I will keep you posted on the outcome of the legal proceedings, and hope to hear from lots of you regarding your own dealings with this.

 

I will send you my letters to them and Mazda's 1 reply (though sent twice) and copies of SMMT's pathetic work. All in electronic format (.doc or .txt). PM (Private Message) me your e-mail. I am in the UK with a 2008 Mazda 5 Sport. My descriptions and pictures will be helpful to you I believe. Do let us know how it goes. Others too should give you their case or reference number to prove that there is a safety issue with front geometry causing excessive premature inner edge wear on the front (again) and they are ignoring and deceitful about it.
As for extra information I just had the fronts (the rears are excellent tread still) replaced with 205/50ZR17 Continental ContiSport3. I spent many hours looking up suitable replacements. I didn't want the Dunlops and found nothing good about the TOYO tyres which I think they fit in the USA. Only done 4 miles so far, so it will be a month or so before I can give an initial opinion.

 

Does anyone with a TS or TS2 have this tyre wear problem or is it exclusive to the Sports model?

I take it you can't just put 16" tyres on a Sport model to solve the problem?

 

Only Sports. Putting 16" wheels will, I believe, cure the problem, but it will affect your speedo reading. As the car would have been assembled expecting 17" wheels with the appropriate speedo drive gear (or circuit multiplier or whatever). You can see results of differences by going to tyre sizing web sites and comparing our 205/50 17 tyres with 205/50 16 tyres. The link is somewhere earlier in this thread or similar (I sure I put one in).

 

I have sent you a private message with my contact details. I can send you copies of my correpondence and photos with both Mazda and SMMT.

My Mazda5 is a 2008 2.0D Sport. The front tyres were changed at 6300miles due to wear on inner edges. Tracking was also checked at this time and needed adjustment front and rear. Car has done about another 6400 miles and front tyres look good(6mm at centre). The original rear tyres are still good.(5mm at centre).
Further details were originally posted on the UK2008 Tyre Wear Thread that seems to have disappeared.

At this time the wear problem appears to have been sorted by getting the tracking set up correctly.

 

This is a recognised problem and was discussed about a year ago in one of the many threads on this forum which disappeared!

I mentioned it to my dealer when the car was in for a service, and a few days later I had 4 nice new shiny wheels under warranty. If only it was that simple with tyres!!

 

Thanks for that information. I assume warranty is 3 years and not 1, (15 month old now). Back on subject though, the Continental Conti Sport 3 (extra load) are fine. Only, so far, a little slip while giving 'big power' while pulling off on wet roundabout, but controllable and grippy. I'm happy with choice so far, 200miles on front.
Again Mazd ahave sent a letter via my MP yet again with the same old **** about the Furano etc from 2007 which was cured by the time of my cars manufacture. '...produced May 2008; therefore has already had the above enhancements carried out at the point of manufacture at our factory.'.....' ....we are not aware of abnormal front tyre wear on the frMazda 5.'.... Signed by Robert Hancock.
For the chap doing the court thing.... call Robert hancock as a witness and ask the question, 'Have you heard of abnormal front tyre inner edge wear on any other 2008+ Mazda 5?' Make him lie in court.
I really do despair. Still no answer from SMMT, about how rubbish they are at accepting such utter bull reterick

 

Just wanted to give a positive perspective.

I have a Mazda 5 Sport, 57 plate but 2008 model. Currently at 18k miles with even, and not considerable, wear on both rear tyres. N/S front tyre appeared to be 'scrubbed' on outer edge but when I had to have this replaced discovered 2 nails had been causing the problem. O/S front has some deterioration on outer edge but nothing for concern.

The local tyre centre where I had them all checked were surprised at how well the tyres were doing. Even repaired a rear tyre that also had a nail in.

So, it is possible to be lucky. And in all honesty, the car is so great it was worth the gamble for us. I realise this is one positive of many many bad stories.

 

Ours is coming up for 22000 miles now and the tyres are still ok. The outer edges are worn but there's still a tread pattern. I think we'll need to replace all four in around 3-4000 miles...not too bad!! I have rotated the tyres twice.

 

I recently had 4 new wheels under warranty due to paint blisters. there was no problem getting them replaced. The rear tyres (Bridgestone)I had fitted about 3000 miles ago (12 tyres in total of 29000 miles)are still looking good. My dealer sent the car for a full digital alignment at a specialist. When it came back the handling and steering response was vastly improved to the extent that it felt like a different car. Time will tell, but it looks like after 2.5 years of tyres and dealer alignment, my car MAY be fixed at last.

2007 Furano