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Rear Brake Wear issues 2016 Mazda 3

10K views 17 replies 10 participants last post by  tedb16 
#1 ·
A couple years ago when the car had about 30k miles on it, I brought it in for the rear brake/emergency brake issue. The pads on the rear where almost gone which means I had a problem. They put new pads and calipers on it and now at 60k miles I am still having the same issue. They want to charge me $120 to diagnose the issue that should be covered under the same recall as before. I already diagnosed it for them. The rotors are starting to show signs of wear as well. The front brakes are about half way through their life with about 1/4" of pad left. These have 60k miles on them. The rear ones have less than 1/8" on them with half the mileage. Every car I have ever had went through 2 or three sets of brakes on the front before the back ones needed replacing. This car is the opposite. I mean Mazda has been making cars for a long time and they can't design a rear caliper that releases properly? So the question is to I make them deal with the problem or do I just get some aftermarket calipers and fix it myself. Problem is they will most likely have the same issues as the original calipers because they will most likely be rebuilts of OEM.



Any ideas here folks?


Perry
 
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#3 ·
I just had my rears done at 40k. Sliders were hanging up. Couldn't say if it was part of the greater problem with the rear brakes. I did find out, however that rear brakes for a japan built car are almost double what it would be for a Mexico built car.

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#7 ·
Recall is 1217F but it won't let me post a link. For some reason I can't change my password to something I can remember.


This doubled the pad life from 20k miles to 40 k miles but still that is not right. I think there is a design flaw. Might be something simple as the cable is too tight. Mine was made in Mexico and the build quality is not as good as my wife's CX5 Japanese made car. The pads are pretty thin when new compared to the front and that could be some of the issue. I don't think so because the rotors are starting to get a lip on them which indicates excessive wear. The brakes could also be equalized with too much going to the rear. I have been driving FWD 4 bangers for 30 yrs and never have I seen this.



Perry
 
#8 ·
Well, I've been wrenching on cars from all over the world for decades, and Mazda isn't the only manufacturer which is known for wearing the rear brakes out first.
 
#11 ·
I'm glad I found this thread.

I have a 2015 Hatch, and I've felt like I've been just demolishing rear brakes for no reason. (My last pair only survived about 12,000 Miles!) A Mazda mechanic once mentioned that the brake system is designed to apply the back brakes first, then the front if needed, which means the back brakes wear down more... but this seems absolutely excessive. Has anyone else heard this (or can anyone confirm if this is really how the brake system works)? Everything else on my 3 has been GREAT, but holy hell the brakes are frustrating!
 
#12 · (Edited)
Utter and complete nonsense. If that was the case, then every Mazda3 in the world would immediately spin into the ditch in icy weather. The reason the rear brakes wear so quickly is they are so much smaller than the front brakes.

As for why your particular brakes are wearing so quickly, there may be something wrong with your car. Our 2016 Mazda3 hatch has nearly 60,000 miles on the factory brakes.
 
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#15 ·
On my daughter’s Mazda 3 (2015 iTouring, auto), the last 2 sets of rear pads have lasted about 14k miles. That is about 12 months of use. Car appears to have done this since new (we got it with about 40k miles, and are the 2nd owner).

The dealer checked and says the brakes are working normally.

I am a competent amateur mechanic and I didn’t find anything faulty such as a sticking caliper piston or bad sliders. One factor could be that 80% of her driving in urban (big city). Currently I’m resigned to live with replacing pads yearly and rotors every 2 years. Fortunately these are relatively inexpensive.
 
#16 ·
@fivert, something doesn't sound correct, my wife's 2016 Mazda3 has nearly 90,000 miles on the clock and is still on the factory rear brake pads (it's on a second set of front pads). Her driving is mostly sub-urban with a smattering of heavy traffic rush-hour traffic added in.
 
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