Good people of /r/Mazda, hear my tale. I’ve had a frustrating morning but this is more of a “Mazda, take pity and think this through” than a flat-out complaint.
It’s 15 degrees in Chicago this morning. Got out to my 2022 Mazda3 sedan (which I do drive regularly, and has not had any trouble lately) and found the battery was flat dead - doors won’t unlock electronically, and when unlocked manually, no indicators lit inside at all. Dead as can be. This is the second battery problem I’ve had this year, but hey, it’s 15 degrees and these things happen, right? That’s why I have a jump starter in the trunk - and this is where things get dumb.
The trunk, like the locks, has an electronic lock. Normally, very handy. Today, I need the manual release. Where is that? Well, it’s in the trunk, so I need to lower the rear seats… Whose releases are also _in the trunk._ In daily use, this can be inconvenient - open the trunk, pull the releases, lower the seats, fight the headrest off in the few inches where it can clear the roof - and I’d really prefer to have releases in the cab… But today, it’s a little more trouble - today, I have to pop off a cover behind the seat, unscrew an “anti-theft tab” (fortunately, I’ve passed a background check and own a Phillips head screwdriver), and release the smaller back seat that way.
But here’s where the real fun begins. The manual trunk release I mentioned earlier? It’s all the way _through_ the trunk, on the inside of the hatch itself. Lucky for me, today I didn’t have much in the trunk, and I had some maneuvering room. And, also lucky for me, I’m an able bodied person of reasonably modest stature – because someone with a bad back, a big middle, or anything stored in their trunk would, at this point, be SOL until a neighbor with jumper cables took pity or AAA showed up.
As it was, I crawled in far enough to pull that inconvenient release for the second seat so that I could then reach the other, yet-more-inconvenient release for the trunk and get at my jump starter.
tl;dr: The seat and trunk release situation could use some improvement. I think in normal operation, we’d all like to be able to lower the seats from inside, but in an emergency, needing a screwdriver to do it is just stupid. And similarly, the trunk should have a release closer to the seat-backs, so it can be opened from the cab when the seats are down.
Final PSA: If you have jumper cables or an emergency starter battery, keep them in the cab and not the trunk.
One of my basic bits of advice for buyers of new Mazdas who (like me) live where it gets cold: take out your OEM battery and replace it with something good. Mazda OEM batteries are typically shit. On my 2014 3, I replaced my original battery twice under warranty in the first two years. Both times it just failed in cold weather. I was not running it down. They just quit. The second time, even though Mazda offered me a third warranty replacement battery, I said stuff it and bought a Bosch AGM battery for $150 that – I kid you not – was absolutely trouble free for the next 7 winters, and I live in rural New England where it gets very cold. Plenty of winter mornings close to zero farenheit.
I tested that Bosch just a month ago as I was winterizing the car and it showed one weak cell. It was still working absolutely fine and starting the car on the first go in 40 degree weather. I’d never once had to jump it or charge it. I could leave the radio on for two hours and it wouldn’t matter.
But I decided nearly 8 years was long enough to have gotten my money’s worth. So I just put a new battery in, although the Bosch I bought 7.5 years ago was no longer available. So we will see how it does as winter proceeds but it’s done just fine on a few 20 degree mornings so far.
We see SO MANY dead batteries on this sub, often on 2-4 year old vehicles. My conclusion is that Mazda batteries (which I think are actually Panasonic) may be fine in Georgia or California, but they don’t cut it in Minnesota or Vermont.
That damn Bosch lasted longer and was more trouble free than any other car battery I’ve owned in 40 years of driving. I’ll bet I would have been fine for an 8th winter.
I love the car. 152k and runs like a top, only a few minor repairs in almost a decade (wheel bearing, brake caliper, tensioner pulley), burns not a single drop of oil between changes, still gets 40mpg highway, still scoots when you step on it, does great in snow on Blizzaks, and pretty minimal surface underside rust for a New England car that’s lived outdoors on gravel its whole life. She’s become old faithful now and more than earned her keep, but she has years to go. Easy to work on too. But for some reason ($$$) Mazda cheaps out on OEM batteries and tires too. Cheap first mods I recommend to anyone who asks: get a good quality battery and non-LRR tires (I like Pirelli P7s) and the car is significantly better than when brand new.
Definitely feel that on the tires. You get a lot for your money with a 3 these days but you can also see where they cut corners.
got an Optima yellow top AGM for mine good till -25c (-13 in FREEDOM Units) then I have to plug my car in and drive it every day otherwise the battery dies
also good if you have accessories like dash cam, radar detector
Thank you for this. I was suspicious of the Mazda batteries - car wasn’t a year old when it was struggling to start in hot weather, shop said “Bad cell, luck of the draw, we replaced the battery,” and now this 6 months later. Car runs great, no mechanical complaints at all… just the battery.
I’m scheduled for service next week and I’m sure they’ll offer to swap it again. If they don’t find anything except a bad battery, I’ll drop in my own - Bosch, if I can find one :)
Thanks for the advice!