2019 Mazda3 recalled in USA over risk of wheels falling off
Mazda says 75 UK-bound cars were affected, but fixed
A FAULT that could lead to the wheels falling off Mazda3 cars during driving may not result in a recall for the issue in the UK, Mazda has said.
The Japanese car maker is recalling 25,003 Mazda3 vehicles built between September 25, 2018 and May 3, 2019 at its Japanese and Mexican factories, which were discovered to have loose wheel nuts. Iin a worst case scenario the nuts could fall off completely during driving, leading to the loss of the wheel. The problem can affect all four wheels.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in the US, 24,865 of the cars identified are in the United States. Of the affected cars, 16,555 are still on dealer forecourts, and all dealers have been told to halt deliveries until the recall has been completed.
In a statement the Japanese car maker said the nuts were not tightened properly at the factories in Japan and Mexico due to a manufacturing defect. They added that there have been no reported cases of any incidents where a Mazda3 has lost a wheel or been involved in an accident as a result of the problem.
According to the NHTSA, retightening the original wheel nuts is all that’s needed to get rid of the gap and “ensure proper wheel tightness is maintained”, meaning Mazda3 owners won’t need to have brand new parts fitted to their family cars in order to sort out the problem.
Anyone who bought a brand new Mazda3 five-door hatchback or four-door sedan (saloon) recently shouldn’t need to send their family car back to the dealership to have the problem fixed. Mazda says it has been retightening the bolts at the firm’s Yamaguchi factory since April 19, 2019 and since May 3, 2019 at the company’s Salamanca plant.
A Mazda representative told Driving.co.uk that 75 Mazda3 cars arriving in the UK were found to have improperly-tightened wheel nuts, but all vehicles were checked at the port or by the dealership before delivery to customers and as a result, a similar recall may not be necessary in the UK.
However, they added that Mazda would be carrying out further checks to ensure no more Mazda3s in Britain are affected by the issue.
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