Front Seat Head Restraint Problems of Mazda MAZDA3

Headrests tip too far forward. They cause great pain to the neck, shoulders and back. People have resulted in removing the headrests altogether. If the vehicle causes a person pain, then the vehicle is not safe.

See all problems of the 2018 Mazda MAZDA3 🔎.

The head rest pushes my head forward when I sit upright with good posture no matter what the height adjustment I use. The angle of the headrest is not adjustable and is way to far forward for me. I understand this is a new regulation, and I believe the standard is not appropriate for everyone.

See all problems of the 2015 Mazda MAZDA3 🔎.

The headrest is angled too far forward. I am a small framed individual 5'6", 115 lbs. I have good posture. This seat and head rest does not allow me to rest my shoulders against the seat, rather I have to roll my shoulders forward to keep my head away from the headrest causing shoulders and pain so extreme that I feel like vomiting each time I drive; my commute is only 20-30 minutes. I have tried multiple seat positions with the limited 2 adjustments I have to no avail. I have read that the seats are made for larger people with broader shoulders-they will fill the seat and don't sink back into it as smaller individuals do. Such pain is a distraction to driving, my head should not be forced downward.

See all problems of the 2013 Mazda MAZDA3 🔎.

Headrest unusable in safe driving position. Forces head to floor or prevents proper back placement on seat, sometimes both. The only way to sit in the seat comfortably is to have the seat leaning too far back where I cannot reach the steering wheel comfortably. Wheels would vibrate at speeds above 55, sometimes as low as 40. Recently fixed by dealership. Brakes were improperly adjusted and scraped against the inside of the brake assembly. Made a loud scratch sound. Took two visits to the dealership to be fixed. All events required individual visits to the repair shop, and I am uncertain of the long-term viability of the vehicle. Any small issue raises extra concerns. Vehicle has only 2k miles after a year of ownership because of either driving discomfort or the vehicle being in the shop to be worked on.

The driver seat began to wobble back and forth while driving the car. The problem is due to a sheet metal piece (approximately 1/8 inch thick) that holds the seat bottom to the seat slide adjustment. The spring retainer had popped off the locating pin allowing the sheet metal to bend and the pin to come out of its retaining hole. I attempted to replace the spring retainer, but the sheet metal snapped due to work hardening. The failure mechanism appears to occur because the sheet metal is stamped during manufacture and a hole approximately 1/2 the width of the sheet metal is punched through the the sheet metal drastically reducing its strength. I purchased a new slide mechanism because Mazda does not have a recall or special service program for this failure. However, when I examined the new slide mechanism, I discovered that Mazda has significantly redesigned this part to prevent the type of failure that I experienced. The new piece does not have the punched hole, but instead has a reinforced boss as well as significant amounts of welding to ensure the piece cannot bend or break. My guess is that the new design is at least 100 times more durable than the original design. Obviously, Mazda considered the old design to be substandard. I believe that this should be the subject of a recall to verify that the seat retention has not failed. This is a safety issue because the failure results in only 3 points of retention for the seat and the driver can possibly lose control due to improper restraint in the seat. I can supply pictures of the new design and defective design if you need them. There are two such pieces per seat so the possibility exists for both to fail in sequence creating a more serious safety issue.

See all problems of the 2010 Mazda MAZDA3 🔎.