all vehicles · every Mazda3 year · method

Mazda Mazda3 2008

Safety complaints filed by owners in the first three years, per 1,000 sold.

1.12 per 1,000

2.6 times this nameplate’s own median · from 123 complaints filed in the first three years, of 303 ever. 95% lower bound 0.92.

Against its own model years

The model year carries far more information than the badge, so this is the comparison that matters.

Model year	Per 1,000	Complaints
2008	1.12	123
2009	0.54	56
2010	0.82	83
2011	0.25	26
2012	0.60	68
2013	0.21	24
2014	0.30	31
2015	0.42	45
2016	0.27	27
2017	0.21	18
2018	0.27	19
2019	0.81	47
2020	0.40	17
2021	0.87	31

What owners describe

Phrases over-represented in these complaints compared with the same component on every other vehicle. Counts are complaints containing the phrase.

Steering 117 complaints

power	100	85%
power steering	95	81%
steering pump	19	17%
steering light	13	11%

Tires 42 complaints

valve	29	48%
stem	25	42%
corroded	15	25%
sensors	11	19%

When it breaks

33% of reported failures happened before 30,000 miles (median 40,092 miles, from 256 complaints that recorded one).

No clear early or late pattern.

What NHTSA did

1 investigation covering this model year, 1 of which list a recall campaign. Owners had filed 34 complaints about this component over roughly 12 months before an investigation opened.

Loss of Electric Power Steering Assist

What owners and forums say

Not built yet. This panel is meant to carry community sentiment beside the filed-complaint data, so the two can be compared. Showing something weaker here would defeat its purpose.

Check this yourself

Example records behind this page:

10208232 · 10210785 · 10220273 · 10224401 · 10224702 · 10224858

Limits of this figure. It counts safety complaints filed with the federal government, which is a floor on failures and not a census: problems that only cost money are under-reported. Complaint rates also reflect how likely a brand’s owners are to file, which cannot be separated from how often the car fails. Sales are calendar-year and the denominator for this nameplate is automated checks only, not verified against an external source.