"How reliable is the 2006 Mazda Mazda3?"

"Based on 224 NHTSA complaints, the 2006 Mazda Mazda3 has a median complaint mileage of 71290 miles. The most common issue is STEERING."

"What are common problems with the 2006 Mazda Mazda3?"

"The most frequently reported component in NHTSA complaints for the 2006 Mazda Mazda3 is STEERING, accounting for a significant portion of the 224 total complaints filed."

2006 Mazda Mazda3: Reliability Data

Source: NHTSA — 224 complaints

224

Total Complaints

71,290mi

Median Mileage

STEERING

Top Issue

Crash Reports

When Do Complaints Happen?

Distribution of NHTSA complaints by vehicle mileage at time of report.

35,171 25th Percentile

71,290 Median Mileage

104,232 75th Percentile

What Fails?

Most reported component issues from NHTSA complaints.

STEERING

AIR BAGS

ENGINE

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

POWER TRAIN

TIRES

ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING

SUSPENSION

SERVICE BRAKES

UNKNOWN OR OTHER

Severity Assessment

Crashes

Fires

Injuries

Deaths

Sample Complaint Reports

"2006 MAZDA 3, 5DOOR AUTOMATIC PURCHASED NEW IN OCTOBER, 2005. CAR PULLS LEFT. ITS BEEN TO 2 DEALERS 7 DIFFERENT TIMES. THEY CANT FIX IT. I'VE GOT AN ATTORNEY NOW AND GOING THROUGH LEMON LAW PROCEDURES. WE DID GIVE MAZDA SEVERAL EXTRA CHANCES TO FIX IT AND HAVE THEIR ZONE MANAGER AND HIS TECH RE..."

"2006 MAZDA 3 MAKES A NOISE AT THE REAR OF THE VEHICLE. *TS THREE MONTHS AFTER THE VEHICLE WAS PURCHASE THE CONSUMER BEGAN TO HEAR AN ANNOYING CLICKING SOUND COMING FROM THE REAR OF THE VEHICLE. THE DEALER DETERMINED THAT EH PROBLEM WAS NOT MECHANICAL AND THAT THE VEHICLE NEEDED TO BE TAKEN TO AN ..."

"I AM THE OWNER OF A MAZDA 3 2006. BOUGHT THE CAR 1 MONTH AGO AND JUST TWO DAYS AGO WHILE DRIVING IN A VERY BUSY INTERSECTION, THE VEHICLE SIMPLY STOP WHILE IN GEAR AND WOULD NOT START AGAIN. VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO THE NEAREST DEALER. TODAY I WAS TOLD THAT THE VEHICLE'S COMPUTER SIMPLY CRASHED AND A..."

Source: NHTSA ODI Complaints Database. Names and identifying details omitted.

Data source: View this vehicle on NHTSA.gov | NHTSA ODI Complaints Database. Public domain.

Methodology: Complaint counts and mileage distributions are computed directly from consumer-reported NHTSA complaints. This data represents reported issues, not failure rates — vehicles without complaints are not represented. Full methodology.

Data through: 2026-03-28