Mazda Problems

If this is a new phenomenon, then it’s almost certainly down to the condition of your tyres. As tyres wear, they become less able to clear the water between themselves and the road surface, allowing the car to almost 'float' over the bitumen, leading to the loss of traction you’re experiencing. But even a tyre that is simply old (as opposed to worn out) can cause the same problem as the rubber hardens and loses its ability to grip the road. This will also be most noticeable in wet conditions, which is when you’ve experienced it.

Another possibility is that the car has sprung an oil or coolant leak which is spraying from the engine bay, under the car and on to the rear tyres, causing them to slip. But that’s a lot more of a long shot and a close inspection of the tyres would be the first step to curing what is a potentially very dangerous situation.

The advice to always idle a hot turbocharged engine down was based on a period in time when turbochargers didn’t have the water-cooled bearings they do now. With modern turbos such as the one in your Mazda, the bearing shouldn’t get hot enough to need idling down (cooling gradually while the engine idles, pumping oil through the turbo bearing).

That said, I would imagine that the Mazda’s engine management software incorporates a line of code that will not allow the stop/start function to operate if the engine was at a high enough temperature that anything (turbo included) might be damaged by shutting the engine down suddenly. That same logic also ensures that the stop/start is disabled if the battery is low on charge, if the air-conditioner is running flat out or any other condition exists that requires the engine to be running. If you’re still concerned, you could always disable the stop/start function manually when you come to a stop after a drive and manually idle the engine for a minute or two before shutting it off. I appreciate mechanical sympathy, and so, obviously, do you, Steven.

There are still plenty of great small cars around within your budget, Agnes, and they all have good safety packages (or we wouldn’t recommend them). Look at offerings such as the Suzuki Swift Navigator (with the optional autonomous emergency braking) for around $17,000 (plus on-road costs) or the Kia Rio S at around $19,000 or Kia Picanto S (one size smaller than the Rio) at closer to $16,000. Both the Kias also feature the brand’s excellent seven-year warranty, capped-price servicing and free roadside assistance which is great peace of mind.

The Volkswagen Polo is a classy drive but a little more expensive at closer to $21,000 for the 85TSi Comfortline. Actually, to be honest, you’ve missed the boat on bargain small cars by a couple of years. Firm favourites such as the Toyota Yaris and Mazda 2 have both been updated relatively recently and have recorded big price jumps in the process. The cheapest Yaris with an automatic transmission is now around $23,000 (it was less than $17,000 back in 2018) while the Mazda 2 Maxx went from being a sub-$17,000 proposition in 2018 to a $23,000 car by the time you add an automatic transmission in 2020.

I’m not in a position to guide you around the financial aspects of this problem, Joseph, but it remains that the transfer-case in this model Mazda has, indeed, earned a very patchy reputation. It seems that Mazda never specified an oil-change interval for the transfer-case and, over time, the oil can break down and lead to high operating temperatures and internal wear of the mechanical parts. This can include metal fragments breaking off and damaging other components, as well as the high temperatures causing fusing (damage) to the metal parts. In some cases, that can also damage the spline shaft that joins the transmission to the transfer-case and, if that happens, the transmission will also be severely damaged. This has been known to occur in cars with as little as 70,000km on board.

The reason the transfer-case oil wasn’t changed when you had the car serviced is simply because that task is not listed as a service item for this car. Which was, remember, the problem in the first place. Most workshops now agree that the CX-9’s transfer-case oil be changed every 60,000km or so, but sadly, it seems that’s all a bit too late for you. There was a Special Service Bulletin issued for this problem in the USA, but don’t assume that this will also apply to Australian Mazdas. That said, I’d still be having a chat with Mazda Australia’s customer service department.

This is a known problem in the Mazda turbo-diesel, and many owners have suffered similar failures. The problem begins with the formation of hard, carbon deposits in the top end of the engine which eventually find their way into the engine’s sump and block the oil pick-up. When that happens, the engine can’t pump oil efficiently and some parts of the engine become oil-starved. That’s when a build-up of friction and, therefore, heat, will cause a catastrophic failure with the attendant metal shavings that were subsequently discovered in your engine.

So why was the problem missed? An enthusiastic mechanic will always have a look at the oil that comes out of an engine, looking for just the symptoms you’ve noted. A really keen technician will sometimes even cut the old oil filter open to check for anything that shouldn’t be there. Unfortunately, in the context of a busy workshop with price-conscious customers, this doesn’t always happen. In the Mazda’s engine, the normal practice should be to check the strainer that covers the oil pick-up, but, again, that may not have been the case with your engine. If the workshop you used was a Mazda dealership, I’d be asking management why that process wasn’t followed. Even then, it’s difficult to say whether this check would have saved your engine, as the damage may already have been done.

It’s nice to see somebody taking the long view when it comes to vehicle ownership. Cars have become an increasingly throw-away commodity, and it seems a shame that all that engineering and development doesn’t get a longer lifespan.

The BT-50 and Ranger you’ve nominated are, fundamentally, the same vehicles under the skin, so the choice will come down to the options fitted and the trim level that combines the features you want in one package. As a rule of thumb, the five-cylinder engine option will do a better job of hauling a slide-on camper into a headwind and will always be worth more as a trade-in (although that’s clearly not a concern for you).

If you’re planning to keep the vehicle up to 300,000km, there’s a very good chance you’ll need to spend some money on the vehicle’s direct injection system at some point. A set of injectors and filters as well as an injector pump are all likely to need replacement over the distance you’ve nominated. That said, all modern common rail diesels seem to be in the same boat here, but if you’re prepared to service the vehicle religiously, then those expenses should be kept to a minimum. Take it as read, though, that a modern turbo-diesel will not appreciate neglect in this area.

The other thing to watch out for is a vehicle that has already had a hard working life, as these dual-cabs often have. The tray-back you want also means the vehicle is likely to have been a work truck rather than a lifestyle accessory, so have any prospect checked independently before handing over the money.

The short answer is no, as the Mazda6 has never sold to expectations and all the action in the luxury sphere is in SUVs or crossovers.

However, with Mazda heading into the premium space and in model-sharing activities with arch-rival Toyota, a 6-style sedan based on the mooted coming, rear-drive and inline six-cylinder powered CX-5 replacement is expected, possibly to be shared with a Toyota or Lexus model. These are pure rumours right now, but a possible scenario as Mazda attempts to amortise the development and engineering costs of its next-generation architectures.

But we don't believe a sedan or wagon larger than a Mazda6 would be part of these future plans – not in the foreseeable future, anyway.

You can probably rule out anything like a split turbo hose as this would cause the vehicle to lose power all the time, not just after prolonged use. Modern turbo-diesels like the one in your car use a range of electronic sensors and controls to keep everything running properly. It could easily be that a sensor is sending erroneous messages to the computer. An electronic scan of the vehicle should offer some answers.

The other possibility is that the fuel system is not keeping up with the engine over time. This could be due to a blocked filter, a blocked fuel line or return line or even a fuel pump overheating. A check of the fuel system would also be in order.

Mazda introduced this version of the CX-9 in mid-2016. There have been a couple of facelifts since then (including some specification and model shuffling, as recently as late last year) but there probably won’t be an all-new CX-9 for at least another few years. Based on the previous model’s eight-year lifespan, you could figure on 2024 or so for an all-new CX-9 and you might be getting close.

To connect your phone via Bluetooth to the Mazda 2, there’s a simple procedure to follow. The first thing to do is to make sure your phone has Bluetooth enabled and is switched to Visible/Discoverable. The second is to make sure that the car is stationary.

The pairing procedure then goes as follows: Select the Settings icon on the info-screen in the car. Then select the Devices tab. Then select Bluetooth and turn the Bluetooth to On. Select Add Device and switch to the device operation.

Using your phone, search for the car’s signal which should show as `Mazda’ from the list of devices on your phone’s screen. Depending on your phone, you then need to input the four-digit code (devices with Bluetooth 2.0) or a six-digit code displayed on the car’s screen (Bluetooth 2.1 or higher). That should complete the pairing process and form there you can add functions such as downloading your contact book to the car’s system by following the prompts.

For more instructions on how to play music through the system, more setup options, and troubleshooting problems, refer to the vehicle’s owner’s manual.