Home · 2021 Mazda Mazda3 Sedan · Complaints

What 49 owners told NHTSA about the 2021 Mazda Mazda3 Sedan

These are the actual owner complaints behind this car’s reliability verdict, filed with the federal government, unedited. They’re unverified reports, not confirmed defects: read them as leads for your pre-purchase inspection, not a diagnosis.

All (49)Crash / fire / injury (4)Engine (18)Driver assistance (7)Electrical system (6)Airbags (4)Brakes (4)Lane Departure (3)Transmission & drivetrain (3)Body & structure (2)Fuel system (2)Speed control (2)

18 of 49 complaints match · Engine · clear filters

Apr 23, 2025Engine

Spontaneous loss of power while driving on highway. Check engine light came on. Speed limited by car. Continues to vibrate especially at idle from cold start. Code P0304 intermittently popping up.

NHTSA ODI 11656416

Feb 21, 2025Engine

The thermostat malfunctioned on this vehicle, resulting in the thermostat remaining open and providing excess coolant to the engine, which in turn damaged internal components of the engine (compromises safety), decreased fuel economy, increased emissions (compromised safety), and decreased the life of the engine within the vehicle. It is available for inspection upon request. The vehicle has been inspected by an independent mechanic and will be inspected by the Mazda dealership in 7 days. There were no prior warnings until the engine malfunction notice appeared, the vehicle began to make jolts and stuttering sounds, and the temperature gauge within the vehicle failed to rise to optimal range. As this occurred while the vehicle was in use (safety concern), though I was pushing the gas there would be delayed response due to improper temperature, which increased the risk for an accident to occur.

NHTSA ODI 11644041

Dec 16, 2024Engine

The contact owns a 2021 Mazda Mazda3. The contact received notification of an unknown Class Action Lawsuit Number however, the part to do the repair was unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution disconnect.

NHTSA ODI 11631026

Sep 21, 2024Engine

Low oil light - car is burning oil and only has 11,400 miles. Approx 3/4 to 1 quart missing...

NHTSA ODI 11615747

Jun 19, 2024Engine

Driving on a remote highway in northern WI and low oil light illuminated, 1000 miles before oil change was due with less than 10k miles on the vehicle. Made it to a gas station and oil was a quart low. Vehicle burns over a quart every oil change interval, since this has been occurring since day 1 it is likely going to cause premature engine failure which would be a safety issue.

NHTSA ODI 11595336

Apr 6, 2023Engine

Received Low Oil Level warning ... checked engine oil and it is under the minimum level on the dip stick. Car has only 11,725 miles

NHTSA ODI 11515727

Apr 2, 2023Engine

Experiencing a known excessive oil consumption issue. Low engine oil warning light came on and upon checking, oil was low. This occured at 4000 to 4200 miles. It occured again about 4000 miles later and again at a similar interval. I notified the dealer and scheduled a repair date but I am concerned of other possible damage that may have already occured due to this issue. An oxygen sensor needs to be replaced and is most likely due to the engine malfunction. The cause of the consumption is said to be damage to the valve seals on the exhaust side.

NHTSA ODI 11515069

Jan 2, 2023Body & structureEngineFuel system

Car emits a very audible squeak when shifting right above 30mph and 40mph, car surges at lower and constant speeds, tach will slowly drop when applying throttle, surge slightly, then function as normal again

NHTSA ODI 11499817

Nov 13, 2022Engine

Purchased car in January 2020 and within a month/few thousand miles the low engine oil light came on. Almost two years later car continues to burn excessive oil triggering low engine oil light. Dealer doesn’t acknowledge an issue, Mazda still doesn’t have a repair. Owners required to pay for excess servicing until a repair is issued. This is a widespread problem impacting the engine.

NHTSA ODI 11493335

Nov 5, 2022Engine

Turbo using/burning oil- Consumption issue.

NHTSA ODI 11492425

Oct 11, 2022Engine

Oil light has come one twice within 17,000 miles of owner ship. The first time at 4,800 miles and the second at 17,529 miles, the most recent was only 3,500 miles since the last oil change.

NHTSA ODI 11488875

Sep 19, 2022Engine

After roughly 2,000 miles of driving, the low oil light comes on. The engine is burning oil. Mazda has issued a TSB on it, but they have taken no action to fix the issue. Right now they just top off the oil.

NHTSA ODI 11485224

Aug 22, 2022Engine

The engine is burning oil. Oil and filter were changed at 5000 miles. At about 9000 miles, the engine oil level light came on. Topped off with oil and took to dealer, they confirmed no oil leaks and changed the oil.

NHTSA ODI 11480568

Aug 2, 2022Engine

At around 3600 Miles my Mazda which I had for only a couple of months displayed a low engine oil light which required a visit to the dealership.This was under normal driving conditions.

NHTSA ODI 11477241

Jul 1, 2022Engine

My Mazda 3 2.5T has been burning oil in excess. The car has a total of 24,000 miles and has been serviced 3 times. I have had to add oil in between every service. The oil has been completely burned off by 4,000-5,000 miles. I have noticed that other people have been posting about the same issues online. When talking to the dealership they state that they have noticed this issue with the 2.5T’s but offer no fix and seem to overfill the engine oil to try and compensate.

NHTSA ODI 11472002

Jun 29, 2022Engine

Excess oil consumption in engine. Low light came on around 5,000 miles and dipstick showed engine oil was at the minimum mark.

NHTSA ODI 11471507

Jun 27, 2022Engine

Engine is consuming excessive oil. Dealership states there is a TSB out but the fix is to keep topping the oil off. I would like an investigation to determine the root cause of the oil consumption on a new engine.

NHTSA ODI 11471263

May 29, 2022Engine

Low engine oil warning between oil changes. Burned 3+ quarts between 5000 mile and 10,000 mile service.

NHTSA ODI 11466576

Working with the data? Download all 49 complaints as CSV · fetched from NHTSA July 18, 2026

How to use these: a complaint is one owner’s report, filed voluntarily and published unverified. Patterns matter more than any single story. If several owners describe the same failure at similar mileage, put that system at the top of your pre-purchase inspection list. Back to the full 2021 Mazda Mazda3 Sedan verdict →