Hey-ho. Time to join the swelling ranks of the unhappy Mazda 5 Sport owners.

My heavily pregnant wife nearly died last year on her way home from work when her front tyre blew out in wet weather on the motorway. Crazy wear on insides of front two tyres (original Dunlops that came with the car from new). Hadn't been picked up in first service. Because of the mileage (20000) weren't able to make a convincing case for unreasonable wear, but I have been rigorous about maintaining tyre pressures etc since then. Now reading this forum, I'm thinking we were wrong. Here I am 6500 miles later and again I'm seeing wear on the front tyres. Have been told that this was only identified as an issue with older models due to wrong Toe measurements. So now I need to pay £80+VAT for a total wheel geometry check. If that shows nothing wrong (and it shouldn't) then the "only" thing according to the Mazda service engineer I can do is to get the tyres sent to the manufacturers (the new tyres were Continentals because the Dunlops were unavailable everywhere - probably due to all the Mazda 5 owners having to replace them so frequently)

Fortunately there is a load of forum posts to back up the fact that the 2008 models still have the same problem. I certainly plan on following this to the end (not least because I can't afford a new car/annual sets of tyres!)

Please post on Watchdog website because they'll only action things with enough complaints. I've seen too many posts of "I'll support you if you get Watchdog involved". Well If you don't get clicking on their website to post your complaints, nothing will be done and you'll continue to pour money into your lemon of a car.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/watchdog/gotastory/

Select Category Transport
Subcategory Cars

Ideally also reference http://www.mazda-campaign.co.uk/ and this forum thread too.

Thing is that it looks like the 2009 and later models may not be seeing this issue. I'd be happy with another Mazda 5 cos I do love the car and its features. All that is except for the tyre eating!

 

Hi Chris.

I have a 2008 Oct purchased Sport. 20k and our front blew out on M5. Have Conti Sport Contacts now, 5.5 k on them and with tyres inflated to 38psi I'm keeping a close eye on the wear. The moment I spot excessive wear I’ll post on site. The main reason for my reply. I've had two geometry tests now and both garages said you only pay if we have to do any work. Only those charitable people at the Mazda dealerships tried to fleece me with a charge upfront.

 

Sorry to hear even more people are still getting the tyre problem and the poor service response from Mazda.
To follow on from ChrisPy's point, while we can and should each take personal action against Mazda, we stand a much better chance if we all work together to make things right. To that end we have set up a Campaign website, not a discussion website, to
1. Capture as many peoples' Mazda problems (mainly 5 tyre wear and 6 diesel issues) in one central site
2. Use the weight of information to act as a pressure group to the likes of Watchdog, the press and Mazda
3. Have the basis of a legal action group of the UK version of a "class action" if it comes to that
4. Share tips and info on how to get Mazda to acknowledge and pay for remedies and repairs. Just this week one member has had Mazda agree to pay for his DPF to be replaced (£1800) after using information from the site, when previously he had been stonewalled by them.
The site can be found at
http://www.mazda-campaign.co.uk/#
and we ask all that visit and join, to complete the "poll" so that the Campaign can capture some basic statistics on numbers, problems, issues etc. We are keen to have some quantitative data to confront Mazda with, not just the qualitative stories each of us has.

Please visit http://www.mazda-campaign.co.uk/# and register you Mazda problem and complete the poll.

Thanks - very much appreciated.

 

Hi

Velocityblade is correct, we both founded the mazda-campaign site and since it began we have helped as many people as we can & are trying to build up what is similar to a case file - when we have everyones letters, complaints etc to Mazda we can put this in together as one whole problem and put each individual one into a category.

With my case (engine over-run) my aim is to go to court, so when it does all of you unhappy and angry customers that have paid out for a fix that should be covered under warranty or for those of you who have been mis-sold the car then at least we will be heard.

Also, i strongly suggest you sign up-to the campaign and upload a letter on their or email us at contact@mazda-campaign.co.uk as i have recentely been down to Watchdog and made a direct contact with one of the team - if i have all of your letters together hopefully in the hundreds then i will make another visit and email them as one.

Please visit us: www.mazda-campaign.co.uk and show us your support so we can all get heard as a team.

You can contact my self or velocityblade on here if you have any questions or just give us an email.

With this Mazda 5 Tyre wear, as GSX said in the previous posts, he got a result and got Mazda to take his car back and now is extremely happy with his Nissan. The rules cannot change when Mazda want them too, its just not right.

Mazda need to listen.

 

Ok, just checked my inside fronts and they're bald after 10k (had them replaced after 8k before, but I accepted the dealer saying that it was due to underinflation, I wasn't aware of this website at the time).

I'm making my first complaint to Mazda now and have booked the car into my local dealer (it's still under warranty), they said on the phone that they would need to confirm it was a 'warranty issue' before they would agree to fix it. Now I suspect it's possible they will try to fob me off like last time, and I'm not particularly good at thinking on my feet in these situations, so I'm working on a list of repostes to everything they might throw at me.

Can anyone here give suggestions on the likely excuses they will give and the best answers to them?

E.G.
Dealer: This is normal tyre wear, 10k is good enough
Me: So every Mazda 5 Diesel has its fronts replaced after < 10k?

Dealer: They were underinflated
Me: No, I check this every week
...
...

Also, I'm recording every phone call and conversation with them, so any other advice on the best way to leave a paper trail would be appreciated. I will approach watchdog and/or the courts if they don't fix this problem, but I want to have the right evidence from the start.

 

Hi - I doubt you will get very far with Mazda UK unless your dealer is particularly willing to push them.

Mazda UK customer service is appalling in dealing with these issues.

You could try pointing them to the webpage below where a mazda "spokesman" is quoted as saying:

"“Feedback from customers shows us that the front tyres on a Mazda5 generally require replacement between about 14,000 and 18,000 miles.

Obviously, some customers will achieve more miles than that, some won’t get that many, so 16,000 miles out of a set of front tyres on a car like a Mazda5 is, we believe, normal and acceptable."

http://www.sundaysun.co.uk/news/mr-j...9310-25980458/

I got 8000 out of my 1st set and 9000 out of the second !!

 

Hey Ianiso,

I wonder when this will stop! this thread is huge and yet Mazda are still not accepting any fault. Jesus, what does it take to make them or governing agencys see there is a defect somewhere.

Ianiso, if you email me on contact@mazda-campaign.co.uk we can discuss this further as i have a wealth of information to provide to you. I am in a huge legal battle at the moment regarding my Mazda 6 so i have good advise to give.

I'll wait for your email.

Mehdi - www.mazda-campaign.co.uk

 

Hi,
Concerning your message I have a few comments.

1. Low tyre inflation alone would not cause tyre wear on one side - it would be on both sides. So something else must be wrong - i.e. suspension/ tracking issues.
2. In a reply from Robert Hancock (Mazda UK) to one of my letters of complaint he indicated 15000miles was typical for a low profile tyre.
3. A good way to regularly check front tyre wear is to routinely park with full lock. (Suggested previously by GXFman). This way you do not have to get on the ground to check what is happening.
4. Tyre wear can happen very quickly. I had my rear tyres go from totally normal to being in shreds in 3 weeks and less than 1000miles. Rear shocks going appears to be the cause.

I had similar problems to you with my first set of fronts - changed at 6300miles but since having the alignment reset have currently done over 17000 on the 2nd set. There is not too much life left in them but the wear pattern is totally normal.

I would echo the comments made in the other replies.
Good luck.

2008 Mazda 5 2.0D Sport.

 

The first set of (Dunlop) front tyres on my 2008 Sport 2.0D did 16,750 miles. The wear on the inside wall was only picked up by me having noticed stress cracking on the outside edge of the tyre (between the treads) and getting them checked before a long journey. They were down to the wires.

The second set, Michelin Primacy, took the car up to 42k - so 25,000 miles, and the last original Dunlop on the back was changed at about 38k.

After a change of tyre provider to the leasing company my car is sourced through, I have been fitted with two Pirellis and a Goodyear. Not particularly impressed with this, given the good life the Primacy had given.

I too had a rear shock fail and Mazda refused to change them as a pair - again, even when pointed out (and acknowledged by) the service manager at Coventry Mazda that if I was a private paying customer rather than someone getting work done on warranty, they would always recommend changing shocks in pairs.

I have an option to buy the car after 3 years but won't go near it with a bargepole.

Interestingly, the monthly lease charges (which include tyre costs and of course depreciation) for a Mazda 5 have gone up by £80-odd per month between 2008 and now. A car dealer friend has told me that residual values on cars generally are firm at the moment because of a lack of supply, so I wonder if this higher lease charge is down to tyre wear and higher depreciation now being experienced on the "5"?

 

Well, I got the answer from my local dealer that my alignment was fine and that the Mazda 5 is just a heavy wearer of tyres. The only advice they could offer me was trying a different brand of tyre.

Apparently my toein-out settings are: -0.25
Tracking tolerance +1 +-3 total toe-in (I've no idea what this means).

I will have a look at your settings Rhodri to compare, and will email you Mehdi soon.