PiCASSO
10-15-2005, 08:23 AM
Well, my car\'s 3-day (October 11th through 13th) stay at Avante Mazda was to fix a number of issues, including:
1. the fuel economy complaint I\'ve made: Link (http://torontomazda3.com/forum/read.php?TID=1395)
2. the noise from the right wheel: Link (http://torontomazda3.com/forum/read.php?TID=3863)
3. rusting windshield wiper arms (at the pivot point): No Link
4. glove box rattle: No Link
I\'m happy to say that issues #2 and #3 were addressed. Unfortunately, my complaint about the glove box rattle has escalated to something much more.
Ever since I picked up my Mazda3 in October of 2004, I remember driving it back to Windsor (at the time where I lived) on the 401 and even on smooth paved highway, the glove box made a ticking sound. I discovered that if I pressed onto it, the noise would be contained... or simply open the glove box and the noise would also go away.
It was obviously an issue with the glove box\'s latch and strikers (on either side) that is poorly designed, so when these mate, they cause some vertical movement, which causes the \"ticking\" rattle sound.
After many attempts on my end trying to solve this with some foam tape between the door and the I/P, nothing really helped, except for opening the glove box and slamming it back into position. When I say slamming, I don\'t mean with all my capable force, only good push to get the mechanism going. I then resorted to going to Avante Mazda in January 2005 for them to fix the glove box issue.
They replaced the glove box unit and the issue did go away. Until a few months later when it reappeared again. And the noise continued from time to time, but was rather temperamental than continuous. So I lived with it.
September/October 2005: I began hearing some new noise in the vehicle, which reminded me of the sunroof rattle I experienced in my 2002 Honda Civic Si. Yet, when I slightly opened the roof, the noise was still there. Pressing on the roof didn\'t help either, so it was coming from somewhere else. I assumed it was from the glove box, because if I opened the box up, the noise would go away.
The noise is very unique... kind of like two plastic pieces rubbing against each other. Just imagine carrying a 36-pack case of water from Costco. Those bottles are held together with the plastic wrap, yet any slight shock to the whole system, the rubbing against each other causes the noise.
Well, Avante Mazda worked on the glove box, and they have disassembled the unit and put it back together, using the same new (now old) that went in the car in January. They also added some foam or something between the interface, yet looking at my glove box, I see no evidence of that.
I drive the car for only a few kilometers and that odd noise appears. Rather than just being a rattle here and there... it was a SYMPHONY OF NOISE... that would appear even on smooth pavement. This continuous symphony of noise was so bad, that I had to call back Avante and let them know just how disappointed I was. It is now SO bad, that I\'m trying to rood cause what the issue is. I removed all items from my car that could possibly make that noise, yet it\'s evident from the front right side of the vehicle.
It\'s really disappointing to know that your car has only 20,000km and it sounds like something that has crossed 300,000km. I can\'t blame Avante Mazda, because I do know that once you start messing around with I/P (Instrument Panel) for BSR (Buzz/Squeak/Rattle), it can only go two ways: better or worse. Unfortunately for me, it went worse.
But I will not accept this noise and will have to leave it with them for another day. Perhaps next door to Avante Mazda, the Mazda of Canada building in Richmond Hill, ON might have a few engineers that could help Avante out with this problem.
Seriously, this is making my experience with Mazda very unpleasant, and makes me realize that regardless of the Japanese engineering and building of the 3, the BEAN COUNTERS at Mazda have provided the business to the LOWEST PRICED SUPPLIER for majority of the components. Which is why the Mazda3 is such a good value at the beginning, compared to all the others. Where you have all these unique features here and there, they have skimmed out on standard stuff elsewhere. In the end, it will drive away customers because they expect more for their 24,000-hard earned dollars.
Monday after work I have a quick test drive appointment with Ted to show him what I\'m talking about. I do hope for Avante and Mazda of Canada\'s sake that this issue is resolved. Because there nothing worse than having a continuous symphony of rattles coming through your year old car.
1. the fuel economy complaint I\'ve made: Link (http://torontomazda3.com/forum/read.php?TID=1395)
2. the noise from the right wheel: Link (http://torontomazda3.com/forum/read.php?TID=3863)
3. rusting windshield wiper arms (at the pivot point): No Link
4. glove box rattle: No Link
I\'m happy to say that issues #2 and #3 were addressed. Unfortunately, my complaint about the glove box rattle has escalated to something much more.
Ever since I picked up my Mazda3 in October of 2004, I remember driving it back to Windsor (at the time where I lived) on the 401 and even on smooth paved highway, the glove box made a ticking sound. I discovered that if I pressed onto it, the noise would be contained... or simply open the glove box and the noise would also go away.
It was obviously an issue with the glove box\'s latch and strikers (on either side) that is poorly designed, so when these mate, they cause some vertical movement, which causes the \"ticking\" rattle sound.
After many attempts on my end trying to solve this with some foam tape between the door and the I/P, nothing really helped, except for opening the glove box and slamming it back into position. When I say slamming, I don\'t mean with all my capable force, only good push to get the mechanism going. I then resorted to going to Avante Mazda in January 2005 for them to fix the glove box issue.
They replaced the glove box unit and the issue did go away. Until a few months later when it reappeared again. And the noise continued from time to time, but was rather temperamental than continuous. So I lived with it.
September/October 2005: I began hearing some new noise in the vehicle, which reminded me of the sunroof rattle I experienced in my 2002 Honda Civic Si. Yet, when I slightly opened the roof, the noise was still there. Pressing on the roof didn\'t help either, so it was coming from somewhere else. I assumed it was from the glove box, because if I opened the box up, the noise would go away.
The noise is very unique... kind of like two plastic pieces rubbing against each other. Just imagine carrying a 36-pack case of water from Costco. Those bottles are held together with the plastic wrap, yet any slight shock to the whole system, the rubbing against each other causes the noise.
Well, Avante Mazda worked on the glove box, and they have disassembled the unit and put it back together, using the same new (now old) that went in the car in January. They also added some foam or something between the interface, yet looking at my glove box, I see no evidence of that.
I drive the car for only a few kilometers and that odd noise appears. Rather than just being a rattle here and there... it was a SYMPHONY OF NOISE... that would appear even on smooth pavement. This continuous symphony of noise was so bad, that I had to call back Avante and let them know just how disappointed I was. It is now SO bad, that I\'m trying to rood cause what the issue is. I removed all items from my car that could possibly make that noise, yet it\'s evident from the front right side of the vehicle.
It\'s really disappointing to know that your car has only 20,000km and it sounds like something that has crossed 300,000km. I can\'t blame Avante Mazda, because I do know that once you start messing around with I/P (Instrument Panel) for BSR (Buzz/Squeak/Rattle), it can only go two ways: better or worse. Unfortunately for me, it went worse.
But I will not accept this noise and will have to leave it with them for another day. Perhaps next door to Avante Mazda, the Mazda of Canada building in Richmond Hill, ON might have a few engineers that could help Avante out with this problem.
Seriously, this is making my experience with Mazda very unpleasant, and makes me realize that regardless of the Japanese engineering and building of the 3, the BEAN COUNTERS at Mazda have provided the business to the LOWEST PRICED SUPPLIER for majority of the components. Which is why the Mazda3 is such a good value at the beginning, compared to all the others. Where you have all these unique features here and there, they have skimmed out on standard stuff elsewhere. In the end, it will drive away customers because they expect more for their 24,000-hard earned dollars.
Monday after work I have a quick test drive appointment with Ted to show him what I\'m talking about. I do hope for Avante and Mazda of Canada\'s sake that this issue is resolved. Because there nothing worse than having a continuous symphony of rattles coming through your year old car.