NEW 2014 Mazda 3

[Juderic]

Now on our 14th Mazda 15  when wife gets cx3 had my 2015  soul red Mazda 3 2.0 sel nav about 3 wks absolutely love it only 2 negatives view when reversing total guess work hoped I might get better than 38 mpg might change when run in

[Willpower]

Welcome to the forum. That's a lot of Mazda's.   What have you had ?

[Juderic]

Me 626/6/3 all petrol, mazda 2 petrol mazda 2 diesel 2 venture 2 venture mk 2 new Mazda 3
Wife 2x premacys 1x 3/3x mazda 2 inc old & new venture edition s she's waiting for cx3 June or July time
Only problem was Mazda 2 diesel with regen filling sump with diesel & clunk on steering

[gknight9]

Hi All,

We have 2, very late 2014 M3 sport nav’s that are identical.  Both have had problems with the Infocentre’s rebooting. Both have been investigated by the dealers and both have been reported to Mazda. Both have finally had the Infocentre’s replaced, both are running the same versions of software; Os Version: 33.00.500, Music Database Version: 00.02.000 and Fail Safe Version 33.00.500.

Both are still rebooting. Anybody else had this issue with the infocentre’s rebooting? Having spoken to other Mazda dealers it’s a known problem, and that rebooting the units (by disconnecting the battery) seems to be the initial, but unsuccessful, first route in fault diagnosis, as directed by Mazda that the dealers take.

Our units are still rebooting, despite being replaced, but we now believe we may have an idea where the problem may be.

So, does your unit reboot? If so do you have any idea what may be causing your problems?

[gknight9]

Nobody else use a paired bluetooth mobile in ther M3's?

[73henny]

I picked up a pre-reg Sport Nav 2.2d with leather yesterday (Mrs car)
Generally quite pleased so far, but disappointed that it won't charge or connect via USB to my iPhone 6? Any thoughts? Website says it should work - it better as the Skoda I traded in for it worked perfectly.

Bit worried its an old software version I have?

Thanks

[gknight9]

Update: After all the problems experienced with the Connect system freezing, rebooting, tethering problems, traffic not able to work due to tethering problems (despite paying for the connected services!),  and a verging on dangerous i-stop system, I had a little word with Mazda due to the perceived lack of attention from my dealer.

Mazda had previously agreed to a warranty replacement of the CMU system.

Mazda advised that the car was to be taken into the dealer again. The dealer tested the car (again) and was unable to replicate the problems, they wanted to hold on to my car for a week and put some miles on it to identify the problems. This was politely declined; I can ‘test’ and agreed to document what was happening in the car at the time.  After more reboots, supplying fault reports and moaning, Mazda then agreed to another CMU replacement with the latest firmware installed.

Car was taken in and the new CMU was installed. On the test drive by the Mazda Technician after the CMU had been replaced the i-stop system failed on him, result! (I was so happy at this point!).

The fault was traced to a sensor, which was then replaced.

I now have a second CMU replacement, this one appears to be stable, I have a CMU with the latest version of the firmware and the system software has been updated to beyond the ‘current’ standard of version 33.

The unit is yet to freeze or reboot, tethering works all the time (so far), and for the first time since purchasing the vehicle it connected to my home Wi-Fi and I can update traffic info etc. before starting on my journey or before enabling tethering on my mobile.

The  i-stop functions too, it’s so different from what I had been experiencing, and does not just leave you stranded at a junction either. After 7 months of ownership, it finally feels like I have the car I was hoping to purchase. Love the zoom zoom, and now hope I get to enjoy the full ownership experience. Just a shame it took 7 months, and 4 months wasted subscription to the connect services.

Need to get the other one in and get the upgrades on that too.

[gknight9]

Handy resource to hold.


https://mega.co.nz/#!DcxFwKoa!IyRZoyXvbLLtp7Fplj07hTk_aF0pFIUM1YYuoK4Q2z4

[gorgerak]

There's a lot of negativity in this thread about the 3's infotainment system and I kind of feel obliged to stand up in it's defence because I dont think its that bad.

We are so used to reliable and stable technology in this day and age. After all Apple and Microsoft have been doing it for decades. Whilst Google, Sony and Samsung have got so much money  that they can spend Mazda's annual income on QA alone. Phones, tablets, PC's and TV's are all very solid bits of kit (mostly) and rightly we expect them to be.

But infotainment systems in cars are relatively new tech and the vast majority of them are designed and built by software houses whose biggest aspirations still flail in comparism to google's lost pocket change. Software glitches are inevitable and it's gratifying to see Mazda are trying to address these with regular patches and are clearly still developing it. I think I read a version 33 earlier in this thread which shows progress at least. It would be all to easy for Mazda to not bother.

The other thing about the system as it stands is that it still only 2 1/2 years old at this point so its not really had time to address all niggles, improve performance, increase functionality, update sat nav maps completely.

I have experienced the the system freezing that others have mentioned and I agree that there is definitely room for improvement.  I also believe that Mazda should continue working hard to resolve the reported issues. I would just like to put into perspective that you cant expect a brand new piece of software to work out of the box.  All other car infotainment systems have got issues, you wont find a perfect system out there.

[gknight9]

Hi gorgerak an interesting post.

The infotainment system is not really that special. I will grant you that it has to work in a more hostile environment with the variations of cold and heat in a car than a domestic unit would likely experience, but at the end of the day it is just a 7” android based tablet, stuck on the dashboard with the software interface rewritten and security tightened to meet the Mazda spec, it then has a sat-nav app loaded (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.here.app.maps) with maps on the SD card.

If you purchased a tablet that continued to freeze, reboot, did not tether and connect to networks and all the other problems that owners have experienced would you not take it back to the store? But because it’s installed in a car we should be expected to put up with the problems until the manufacturer advise that there is a new release of the software that we can have, or by chance when the car is in being serviced the dealer might install an updated version of the software?

My car has had 2 replacement infotainment centres installed; it has been in a number of times while the dealer tried to locate the problems. With each reset or replacement I lost my infotainment settings, together with all my favourites; radio stations, phone contacts and sat-nav locations, there is no option to backup the user data and then reinstall later (pretty basic for an IT product). It was clear (to me) that the issues being experienced were software related, not once was I offered a software update until my complaint was taken up by Mazda. Yes all software has bugs and issues; the current version of the software  I have installed (above the original version 33 supplied) is 4 or 5 versions behind what the American owners are currently posting about, but it is light years away from what the car was originally supplied with, it’s stable and works. I’m really pleased that the unit is stable, and I’m no longer having frequent trips to or telephone conversations with, the dealer. With the product being installed across the Mazda range, Mazda really did not have too much choice but to sort the problems out.

Mazda and the dealers knew there are issues; it was the denial that got my goat.

It’s poor that the installed sat-nav software only has 2 updates per year; no ability to load your own POI’s and traffic is a separate subscription, with possible data charges dependant on your mobile contract, because Mazda did not purchase the TMC license. I’d like to be able to backup my settings, maybe this will become available in future software releases, as I said my unit is now stable it will be interesting to see how it is developed, it has lots of potential, exciting...

[gorgerak]

I don't really have a whole lot to reply with as I agree with you. The software is lacking in some noodle areas cough DAB radio cough. But I wouldn't advise anyone to not buy the car as a result. As far as you point about denial goes. I'm not hugely surprised, the majority of the time of a customer data the tech don't work - it's up to them to prove it as the people that built it won't believe it until they see it. But that's just IT for you.

As a non Mazda experience: My wife has a 2012 nexus 7 tablet, earlier this year it was upgraded to Android 5. She was not given an option about this. However the tablet is not capable of running Android 5, it just doesn't have the resources. The newer nexus 7 had upgraded hardware and runs the new OS no problem. Google have agreed that this has rendered the tablet unusable but refused to do anything about until yesterday when they said it was no longer supported and they couldn't do anything. The only fix is a £120 new tablet.... ? not impressed Google! Dodgy software can come from anywhere.

[9swampy]

As a non Mazda experience: My wife has a 2012 nexus 7 tablet, earlier this year it was upgraded to Android 5...

As a non Mazda response you know you can downgrade the tablet relatively easily to the old OS. There's loads of instructions out there, e.g. https://www.androidpit.com/how-to-downgrade-a-nexus. If you're not so tech confident if you brick it, you've lost nothing

That said I've 2 2012 7's; one's still on 4.4.4 and it's fine, the other is on the latest bar 1 5 and it's still usable... but I agree with the spirit of your post, hence not having upgraded the second at all. HTH, good luck.

[StevenRB45]

Still not been in a moving gen 3 so no idea, I think the rattles are more associated with it being the cheaper model. I looked at buying a 59 plate Mazda 2 sport when it was 6 months old and had 3k miles on it. I backed out due to the rattles in it, but my 3 of the same generation has barely any, well none now as they fixed the one it had at the service.

It's the difference between a super mini and a family car they may have the same equipment but everything some how feels a little cheaper and little less robust.

That's not to say it was unacceptable far from it but the old 3 is still a more robust feeling and comfortable place to travel. Although I do like the digital radio

[9swampy]

Still not been in a moving gen 3 so no idea...

Well even though they wouldn't give you one for a courtesy; now would be a good time to pitch selling your old with a full year's MOT and consider a replacement?  They'd be crazy not to give you a decent test drive

Hoping all you say of the 3 vs 2 turns out for the better...

[StevenRB45]

Much as I would like one they're a bit out of my price range without taking a hit of finance, while I own my current car out right which is one less thing to bother about each month. Once you can get a one with all the jazzy bits for 10k or so I'll be more interested.

My Dad is looking at a gen 3 to replace his long suffering Focus (had it from new on an 05 plate) although he has been procrastinating over the decision for a long time.