2016 Mazda MAZDA3 - Ratings, Complaints and Recalls

The 2016 Mazda Mazda3 receives a top overall safety rating of 5 out of 5, indicating excellent safety features and crash test results. This car is equipped with standard electronic stability control, which enhances vehicle stability and helps prevent skidding or loss of control. However, it does not have forward collision warning or lane departure warning systems. In terms of crash test ratings, the Mazda3 excels with high scores in front and side crash tests, as well as rollover and side pole crash scenarios. It is worth noting that this vehicle has had a total of 72 complaints reported, as well as 6 recalls throughout its lifetime, which is something potential buyers may want to consider and investigate further. Overall, the 2016 Mazda Mazda3 provides a high level of safety for occupants, although buyers should stay informed about any reported issues.

Top stats at a glance

Complaint Count

72

Recall Count

6

Investigation Count

0

Safety Rating

5/5

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Safety Features

2016 Mazda Mazda3 4 DR FWD Safety Features

Here are the safety features that come as standard on the 2016 Mazda Mazda3 4 DR FWD

Electronic Stability Control (ESC)

ESC is an advanced safety feature in vehicles designed to help drivers maintain control during challenging driving conditions. By continuously monitoring various factors such as steering angle, vehicle speed, and individual wheel speeds, ESC can detect and reduce the risk of skidding or loss of control. It achieves this by automatically applying brakes to specific wheels to stabilize the vehicle.

Standard
Forward Collision Warning (FCW)

Forward Collision Warning (FCW) is a safety feature in vehicles that helps prevent frontal collisions by alerting the driver of an imminent collision with a vehicle or obstacle ahead. Using sensors such as radar or cameras, FCW monitors the distance and speed of vehicles in front, and if it detects a potential collision, it provides visual and/or auditory warnings to prompt the driver to take evasive action.

No
Lane Departure Warning (LDW)

Lane Departure Warning (LDW) is a safety feature in vehicles that alerts drivers when their vehicle unintentionally drifts out of its lane without signaling. Utilizing cameras or sensors to monitor lane markings on the road, LDW detects when the vehicle crosses these lines and triggers visual, auditory, or haptic alerts to notify the driver of potential lane departure.

No

2016 Mazda Mazda3 4 DR FWD Safety Ratings

Here we have the crash and rollover ratings for the 2016 Mazda Mazda3 4 DR FWD Where possible we've included the ratings for the oldest and latest models of this car so you can compare how the safety ratings have changed over time.

Frontal Crash Ratings

Combines Driver and Passenger star ratings into a single frontal rating. The frontal barrier test simulates a head-on collision between two similar vehicles, each moving at 35 mph.

Test 2005 Score 2016 Score 2024 Score
Overall Front Crash Rating Not Rated 5 5
Front Crash Driver Side Rating 4 5 5
Front Crash Passenger Side Rating 4 4 5

Side Crash Ratings

Combines Side Barrier and Side Pole Star Ratings into a single side rating.

Test 2005 Score 2016 Score 2024 Score
Overall Side Crash Rating Not Rated 5 5
Side Crash Drivers Side Rating 3 4 5
Side Crash Passenger Side Rating 3 5 5
Combined Side Barrier Pole Rating - Front Not Rated 5 5
Combined Side Barrier Pole Rating - Rear Not Rated 5 5
Overall Side Barrier Rating Not Rated 5 5

Rollover Ratings

The Rollover Resistance test measures the risk of rollover in a single-vehicle, loss-of-control scenario.

Test 2005 Score 2016 Score 2024 Score
Rollover Rating Not Rated 4 5
Rollover Possibility % 0% 0% 0%
Dynamic Tip Result No Tip No Tip
Side Pole Crash Rating Not Rated 5 5

Complaints for the 2016 Mazda MAZDA3

This chart show the number of complaints for each car component. A Higher number of complaints could indicate that this car might have a common fault. Something to look out for when purchasing one.

Component Complaints

Choose a component to see what complaints people have made about them.

Complaint:
"parking brake does not fully disengage. this causes the rear brakes to wear prematurely and also has the potential to generate excessive heat."
Components Involved: SERVICE BRAKES
Date of incident: 2022-08-10

Complaint:
"power break booster failure. making it difficult to stop."
Components Involved: SERVICE BRAKES
Date of incident: 2020-02-10

Complaint:
"my passenger rear caliper froze causing the pad on the outboard side to wear down to metal while the inboard pad still had half of its life left. this is behavior similar to nhtsa recall 17v393000 but my vin does not fall within the parameters of the recall. the vehicle has 58,000 miles on it and is driven mainly on the highway."
Components Involved: SERVICE BRAKES
Date of incident: 2018-01-11

Complaint:
"car serviced per recall, nhtsa camp. no. 17v393000, mar. 2018. dealer stated no corrosion on ramp shaft found, so boots installed w/out caliper replacement. car brought to dealer jun. 2018 b/c rear brake indicator squealing. dealer found that piston (post-recall) had bound for unknown reason. dealer replaced caliper. owner tested parking brake lever on old caliper and verified it was not binding. (but owner could not remove nut to check for rust at 1.6mm area of ramp shaft.) owner reporting to nhtsa b/c concerned that mazda3 caliper-binding issue may extend not just to ramp shaft but also to other parts of caliper, including piston."
Components Involved: SERVICE BRAKES
Date of incident: 2018-11-06

Complaint:
"parking brake safety recall on the mechanical (cable) type parking brake, water may enter the brake caliper due to inappropriate sealing performance of the rear brake caliper protective boot, particularly under low temperature conditions, and the parking brake actuator shaft, which is the component of rear brake caliper, may be rusted."
Components Involved: SERVICE BRAKES
Date of incident: 2018-10-06

Complaint:
"tl* the contact owns a 2016 mazda mazda3. the contact stated that while driving at approximately 40 mph, there was a flapping noise coming from both rear wheels then the vehicle would start to vibrate violently. there were no warning indicators illuminated. the vehicle was taken to borman autoplex (470 w boutz rd, las cruces, nm 88005 (575) 525-4500) where it was not diagnosed or repaired. the contact received notification of nhtsa campaign number: 17v393000 (parking brake) however, the part needed for the repair was not available. the contact stated that the manufacturer exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. the manufacturer was not contacted and made aware of the failure. the approximate failure mileage was 8,238. part distribution disconnect."
Components Involved: SERVICE BRAKES
Date of incident: 2018-03-06

Complaint:
"parking brake safety recall"
Components Involved: SERVICE BRAKES
Date of incident: 2018-10-06

Complaint:
"in august i received notice of a safety recall because of a brake problem. the letter instructed us to wait for notification that parts are available. it has been nearly two months since i got the notification. i have called the company, and they tell me that the parts are still not available. because the brakes are an important part of safety, it seems to me that mazda has not performed the repairs in a timely manner."
Components Involved: SERVICE BRAKES
Date of incident: 2018-07-08

Recalls for the 2016 Mazda MAZDA3

Component Recalls

Choose a component to see what recalls people have made about them.

Recall:
"mazda motors north american operations (mazda) is recalling certain model year 2014-2016 mazda3 vehicles manufactured january 4, 2014, to september 18, 2015. the fuel tank of the affected vehicles may have been improperly handled during manufacturing and, as a result, the welded attachment of the inlet check valve (icv) may fail and allow fuel to leak."
Consequence:
A fuel leak in the presence of an ignition source increases the risk of a fire.
Remedy:

Mazda will notify owners, and depending on the tank lot number, dealers will inspect the ICV weld, replacing the fuel tank, as necessary, free of charge. The recall began November 1, 2016. Owners may contact Mazda customer service at 1-800-222-5500. Mazda's number for this recall is 0116I.

Component(s) Involved: FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE > STORAGE > TANK ASSEMBLY
Date of incident: 2016-09-22

Recall:
"mazda north american operations (mazda) is recalling certain model year 2015-2016 mazda3 vehicles manufactured may 21, 2015, to august 25, 2015. the affected vehicles are equipped with a fuel tank with a shut-off valve that can allow fuel to enter into the fuel tank emissions systems. if enough fuel enters the emission system it may leak out onto the ground or result in an engine stall."
Consequence:
A fuel leak in the presence of an ignition source increases the risk of a fire. An engine that stalls increases the risk of a crash.
Remedy:

Mazda will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the vehicle's fuel shut-off valve. As needed, the fuel shut-off valve and the affected fuel tank emissions system components will be replaced, free of charge. The recall began on October 20, 2015. Owners are advised not to drive their vehicle until the repairs have been completed. Mazda will provide rental cars until that time. Owners may contact the Mazda Customer Experience Center at 1-800- 222-5500, option #6. Mazda's number for this recall is 8615J.

Component(s) Involved: FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE > STORAGE > TANK ASSEMBLY
Date of incident: 2015-10-02

MAZDA Overall Complaint Ranking

This table shows the ranking of car manufacturers when it comes to most complaints and recalls. The manufacturer with the most complaints is at the top. However this doesn't necassarily mean they should be avoided. Some manufacturers might just have more popular or affordable cars which a lot of people have bought. Which means there's more scope for a complaint to be made. Use the ranking table below as a part your wider research into buying a car.

MAZDA ranks 16 out of 44 in the complaints ranking table.

Manufacturer Complaint Count Recall Count Ranking
FORD 208,358 3,259 1
CHEVROLET 111,306 2,082 2
TOYOTA 81,019 1,852 3
HONDA 61,937 1,268 4
NISSAN 56,226 930 5
DODGE 45,756 827 6
HYUNDAI 44,150 649 7
GMC 34,441 1,410 8
KIA 29,832 501 9
CHRYSLER 27,698 254 10
TESLA 26,230 730 11
BMW 24,890 1,877 12
VOLKSWAGEN 23,125 829 13
MERCEDES-BENZ 19,066 2,925 14
SUBARU 18,513 703 15
MAZDA 10,599 364 16
PONTIAC 10,430 138 17
CADILLAC 9,434 444 18
AUDI 7,865 1,093 19
BUICK 7,851 279 20
SATURN 7,672 84 21
MERCURY 7,374 135 22
LEXUS 6,373 408 23
LINCOLN 5,897 423 24
ACURA 5,722 382 25
MINI 5,585 366 26
INFINITI 4,000 187 27
MITSUBISHI 3,912 397 28
VOLVO 3,875 727 29
PORSCHE 2,646 1,231 30
SUZUKI 2,272 123 31
FIAT 2,205 80 32
SAAB 1,536 76 33
JAGUAR 1,195 198 34
SMART 528 17 35
GENESIS 436 42 36
ISUZU 249 37 37
ALFA ROMEO 161 37 38
MASERATI 76 46 39
BENTLEY 46 159 40
POLESTAR 42 2 41
LUCID 14 6 42
CODA 4 2 43
MAYBACH 0 0 44

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