2020 MAZDA Mazda3 Problems

Complaints Reported

Complaints by Component

FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE

12 complaints

While driving on a residential street the automatic emergency braking system activated and brought the car to a very abrupt stop but there was nothing in the front of the car to activate the system. There were no cars in the on-coming lane and no cars in the lane beside my car. When the car stopped the Brake warning appeared in the windshield and a warning tone sounded. It was in the early evening and it was raining. Fortunately there were no cars behind me so there were no injuries. I took the car to the Mazda dealership and upon inspection they noted that the radar system associated with the automatic emergency braking system was malfunctioning and not correctly calculating the distance between the car and other objects. They are in the process of replacing the radar. If this had happened on the highway at higher speeds or if there had been a car behind me I would have been injured.

Sep 26, 2023

on 3 occasions may 2023, June 2023 and July 2023 the forward Collison camera activated. in May and June it showed the vehicle to near stop like radar cruise control in rush hour speed traffic. in July 2023 it sounded the alarm and came to a full stop in heavy traffic. it occurs on bright hot days going straight no turns no oncoming traffic no traffic around and no obstacles hold or dips. this can cause the car to stop immediately and cause an accident. App detects problem with system but dealer cannot find problem and blame camera or GPS or satellite radio factory equipped.

Jul 21, 2023

•The first incident I had with the SBS was about a month on the highway, I was approaching a vehicle that was braking due to upcoming traffic. I had plenty of time to stop, upwards of 8-10 car lengths. Yet my SBS kicked in and slammed the brakes, jarring me forward. Luckily no one was directly behind me at that time because I have no doubt it would have caused an accident. At that time, it was the only time it had occurred, so I wrote it off as the sensor being a bit too sensitive. •The second incident I have had was recent, 11/23. I was pulling into a parking spot at work, that has a concrete wall to section off parking spots. I was low speed, turned into the spot and the SBS activated, slamming the brakes, resulting in me being propelled into my steering wheel. I was roughly 5-6 feet away from the wall

Nov 28, 2022

I was traveling approximately 5 mph with approximately 15 feet from the car in front of me, maintaining a constant following distance. The collision warning sounded, followed by emergency braking within 1 second. No collision was imminent.

May 16, 2022

I was traveling 25mph with no obstruction in front of me, when the collision warning sounded. The braking system did not activate. No collision was imminent.

May 16, 2022

+ 7 more complaints for this component

SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE

2 complaints

My car's automatic emergency brake is deploying without warning, during driving, when there are no other cars in my forward proximity. I took it to the dealership to have it fixed, and on the drive home, it did it again. There is a recall for similar makes and models for this year, but my car has not been included.

Aug 18, 2023

I WAS DRIVING MY VEHICLE STRAIGHT AHEAD ON A TWO-WAY CITY STREET WITH NO OTHER VEHICLES IN FRONT OR ON MY SIDES. I WAS TRAVELING AT A SPEED OF 40 MPH. THE TWO-WAY STREET IS SEPARATED BY A CONCRETE DIVIDER AND TROLLY TRACKS. A "BRAKE!" ALERT APPEARED ON THE DISPLAY SCREEN FOLLOWED BY BEEPS. SUDDENLY THE BRAKES WERE ENGAGED BRINGING THE VEHICLE TO A COMPLETE STOP CAUSING THE VEHICLE BEHIND TO COME TO A SCREECHING HALT. IN A FEW SECONDS I WAS ABLE TO DRIVE OFF.

Mar 13, 2021

SUSPENSION

1 complaint

I pulled into the driveway (at about 5 mph) of my passenger's home, when a very loud, metallic pop occurred somewhere inside my vehicle. I could not discern the problem by visually inspecting the car. Upon returning to my home, I arranged for the dealership to inspect the car's suspension. They found that both rear springs had snapped off from their lower vehicle attachment points. At the time of the incident, my car was less than 6 years old and had approximately 62500 total miles. I had the dealership replace both rear springs and associated attachment hardware. Prior to this failure, the dealership had routinely inspected the suspension of my vehicle as part of PA annual inspections. I experienced NO warning symptoms prior to the suspension failure.

Nov 18, 2025

STEERING,SUSPENSION

1 complaint

TSB 02-003/24 Car front suspension bolts corroded and making metal on metal sounds during turning and braking

Nov 16, 2025

EQUIPMENT

1 complaint

See attached document for complaint.

Jul 08, 2025

SEAT BELTS

1 complaint

Passenger seat belt won’t retract and remains in a locked state.

Jul 17, 2024

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,EXTERIOR LIGHTING,LANE DEPARTURE

1 complaint

Google search shows Mazda has common problem with their front sensing camera, people are reporting the issue for different Mazda models across the board for the last few years including newer models as well. My car display shows few malfunction warning messages. Following captured from MyMazda app. 1. Forward sensing camera malfunction. i-ACTIVESENSE advanced safety and driver support systems may not operate correctly. 2. High Beam Control System is disabled. Automatic switching between high and low beams is unavailable.

Jun 16, 2024

UNKNOWN OR OTHER,VISIBILITY/WIPER

1 complaint

in May 2023 the visors of the vehicle hinge melted causing the visors to hang down to eye level and would not hold up causing visibly issues for driver and passenger. dealer said it is a common issue in heat but it blocks forward visibility and won't hold up and if there were and accident, forward movement of passenger or driver can cause the head to hit the visor causing injury.

Jul 21, 2023

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

1 complaint

Automatic safety notification censoring system for the brakes engaged when a stop was not applicable or necessary causing the car to brake on its own in traffic. Luckily no one else was on the road.

Jun 12, 2023

STEERING,LANE DEPARTURE

1 complaint

Lane departure warning activated and attempted to correct during a gentle curve. The location had shifted lanes due to construction, so clear lines were visible but not the actual lane to follow which is a frequent occurrence in New York City. The system came close to steering me into the adjacent lane occupied by another vehicle forcing me to fight the correction. There was a lane departure warning on the dash and I believe the blind spot indicator was on (i.e. the adjacent vehicle was detected in some capacity). I considered this especially dangerous as in this zone also had very tight lanes so my physical correction could have also caused an accident. There was no malfunction of the physical components. No dealer or service center has reproduced the issue however I have discussed with other drivers of the same line (2020-23 Mazdas) who have had similar experiences leading to a decision to disable these "safety" features. Mazda provides a reasonable description of scenarios where lane departure and assistance will disable itself due to poor conditions or low confidence. I would recommend at a minimum requiring the system to detect and potentially differentiate lane widths, as city driving sometimes has extremely tight lanes (for example, the inner roadway of the Williamsburg Bridge where two adjacent lanes are perhaps 8-9ft with less than 2ft on either side to the wall). In these scenarios, any steering correction at all is more dangerous than if it were off.

Jun 12, 2023

UNKNOWN OR OTHER,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE

1 complaint

I was driving down 2nd Avenue in Manhattan, traffic was crowded but flowing with an estimated speed of 20mph between lights. I believe the distance between my front bumper and the car ahead was only slightly under 2 car lengths in motion. Coming to a stop light, the car in front of me slowed and I followed, applying pressure to the brake gradually. Roughly 2-3 seconds into my braking, the forward collision warning activated (fast beep) followed by a hard brake causing myself and one passenger to lurch forward. The car behind me managed to hard brake before hitting me by a very small margin. As my car came to a near stop the space in front opened to several car lengths, that is a continuous application of gradual braking would have been totally sufficient to stop. Weather conditions were good. A similar situation had occurred to me before on the highway (unnecessary forward collision warning, but thankfully no auto brake) and so after this I decided to check the front for any obstruction of sensors and could not find any. I have heard from at least one other owner of a similar model Mazda that they have experienced the same during city/Manhattan driving.

Jun 12, 2023

FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM

1 complaint

Fuel pump, car dying out, can't turn off brake release from when it dies. Shaking when accelerating. Fuel gas issue.

Aug 13, 2022

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE

1 complaint

EL VEHICULO TIENE PROBLEMAS DE ENCENDIDO, DESPUES DE ESTAR EN REPOSO DOS DIAS NO ENCIENDE SE TIENE QUE PASAR CORRIENTE, INCLUSIVE EN MANEJOS CORTOS AL VOLVER A ENCENDER EL VEHICULO PRESENTA EL MISMO PROBLEMA, ESTE ES UN PROBLEMA EN LA MAYORIA DE ESTE TIPO DE VEHICULOS, MISMOS QUE SON ENCONTRADOS MUCHOS COMENTARIOS EN INTERNET, EL VEHICULO ESTA EN LA CDMX MEXICO.

Dec 22, 2021

SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC

1 complaint

The contact owns a 2020 Mazda Mazda3. The contact stated while driving 35 MPH, the ABS warning light illuminated, and the brakes locked up and caused the vehicle to stall. The contact was able to restart the vehicle however, the failure persisted. The contact had taken the vehicle to a local dealer to be diagnosed however, the dealer was not able to duplicate the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 2,000.

Sep 09, 2021

UNKNOWN OR OTHER

1 complaint

MY VEHICLE IS LESS THEN A YEAR OLD AND HAS LESS THAN 10000 MILES ON IT. THE PAINT IS CHIPPING EXTREMELY EASILY. WITHIN THE FIRST MONTH I HAD 3 CHIPS IN THE PAINT ALL THE WAY DOWN TO BARE METAL ON THE DOORS. I BOUGHT A PAINT TOUCH UP PEN FROM MAZDA AND FILLED THEN IN. NOW, A FEW MONTHS LATER I FILLED IN 17, YES 17 MORE ON MY HOOD. I DIDNT EVEN COUNT THE CHIPS IN THE PAINT ON MY BUMPER. THIS IS ABSURD, MY OTHER VEHILCE THAT IS 17 YEARS ON AND HAS OVER 150K MIELS HAS 2 HOOD CHIPS!! AND IT'S DRIVEN THE SAME AMOUNT.

Mar 06, 2021

STRUCTURE

1 complaint

WATER COMING INTO CABIN FROM DRIVER DOOR WINDOW. BROUGHT IT TO MAZDA SERVICE CENTER THREE TIMES AND THEY CANNOT FIGURE OUT WHERE WATER IS COMING FROM. WATER POOLS IN THE DOOR WHEN IT RAINS AND SEEPS INTO THE CABIN.

Jan 08, 2021

STEERING

1 complaint

MY NEW 2020 MAZDA 3 PREMIUM WITH 1,177 MILES SUDDENLY TOOK COMPLETE CONTROL OF STEERING MY CAR. DRIVING 65-70 MPH ON A 3 LANE STRAIGHT HIGHWAY ON A CLEAR DAY, WITH LIGHT TRAFFIC, I MOVED ONE LANE TO MY LEFT, AND THE CAR TOOK OVER THE STEERING, PULLING MY CAR OUT OF THE LEFT LANE NEARLY MISSING THE CENTER CEMENT DIVIDER, THEN DARTING BACK ACROSS MY LANE AND HALFWAY INTO THE LANE TO MY RIGHT,THEN DASHING BACK TO THE CEMENT MEDIAN. I AM UNAWARE OF HOW MANY TIMES THE BACK AND FORTH OCCURRED, I TRIED TO SLOW THE CAR DOWN TO NO AVAIL. THE CAR WAS MOVING FAST, AND THE PATTERN THE CAR MOVED IN WAS VERY PRECISE, AS IF THE CAR KNEW NOT TO HIT THE MEDIAN AND GO FURTHER INTO THE LANE TO MY RIGHT. FINALLY THE CAR STOPPED STEERING ITSELF, AND I WAS ABLE TO EXIT THE HIGHWAY. MY CAR WAS NOT DAMAGED. I HIT MY HEAD TWICE ON THE DRIVES SIDE DOOR. I DID NOT REQUIRE MEDICAL ASSISTANCE.

Sep 29, 2020

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4.4/5.0

79 reviews

Frequently Asked Questions

How many problems does the 2020 MAZDA Mazda3 have?

The 2020 MAZDA Mazda3 currently has 29 owner-reported complaints according to NHTSA database. These complaints are organized by component to help identify common issues.

What are the most common problems with 2020 MAZDA Mazda3?

The most common problems reported for the 2020 MAZDA Mazda3 are organized by component above. Each component section shows owner-reported issues, crash reports, and fire incidents to help identify patterns and problem areas.

Where does this 2020 MAZDA Mazda3 problem data come from?

All problem and complaint data for the 2020 MAZDA Mazda3 comes directly from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) database. These are real complaints submitted by actual vehicle owners.