Mazda recalls top-selling Mazda3

MAZDA Australia is preparing to recall almost 40,000 previous generation Mazda3 small cars due to a potential windscreen wiper defect that can cause the wipers to stop working.

The alert – on cars built between January 2008 and March 31 2009 – is part of an international recall on 494,500 Mazda3s, apparently after the problem surfaced in the United States.

The electrical glitch in the front wiper motor can cause the wipers to stop working, posing a possible safety hazard. Mazda has decided to fit a new ground wire to the wiper motor of each car to prevent that happening.

Mazda Australia public relations manager Steve Maciver said a small number of cases of the defect had been reported in Australia, although no accidents relating to the problem had been reported anywhere in the world.

He said that once Mazda Australia and its dealers had secured the required parts for the recall repairs, a letter would be mailed immediately to the Australian owners of 38,944 Mazda3s to ask them to make an appointment with their dealers to have the work done.

“In the meantime, if any customer has a problem with the wipers, we would invite them to contact their dealer as soon as possible to have the vehicle inspected,” he said.

In Japan, Mazda says the problem was subsequently fixed at the manufacturing stage, and no current Mazda3s are affected.

The Mazda3 is the top selling small car in Australia this year, with exactly 17,000 sales to the end of May.