2003 MAZDA MAZDA6 — Complaint #451632
Open-data reference.
NHTSA Complaint about SUSPENSION:FRONT:SPRINGS:LEAF SPRING ASSEMBLY:U-BOLT, LEAF SPRING TO AXLE filed January 25, 2004
NHTSA complaint #451632 (ODI reference 10054861) concerns a 2003 MAZDA MAZDA6 and was filed on January 25, 2004. The owner reports the failure occurred on January 10, 2004. The vehicle had 13,253 miles on the odometer at the time of the incident. The report was geocoded to Ohio based on the filer's self-reported location. The affected component is categorized as suspension:front:springs:leaf spring assembly:u-bolt, leaf spring to axle, one of NHTSA's standardized taxonomy codes used to group defect patterns across make, model, and year.
The filer flagged the following severity indicators: crash: no, fire: no, injuries: 0, fatalities: 0. No crash, fire, or fatality was associated with this report, which places it in the early-warning stream rather than the priority-review stream. Because a VIN was supplied, this complaint is tied to a specific vehicle and not just a model-year cohort.
Individual complaints are consumer-submitted and unverified by NHTSA engineers — the agency's role at this stage is to collect, index, and make them searchable. What matters for federal action is the pattern: when many owners of the same MAZDA MAZDA6 cohort independently describe similar suspension:front:springs:leaf spring assembly:u-bolt, leaf spring to axle failures, defect investigators have grounds to open a PE and request manufacturer data. Related filings for the same vehicle and component appear below, and the detail page for the full 2003 MAZDA MAZDA6 shows the complete component-level complaint distribution alongside any active investigations or recalls.
Complaint Description
I PURCHASED MY MAZDA 6S IN FEBRUARY OF 2003. I HAVE LOVED THIS CAR SINCE THE DAY I FIRST SAW IT. IN DECEMBER OF 2003, I BEGAN HEARING GRINDING/MOANING SOUNDS FROM THE FRONT SUSPENSION AREA WHEN MAKING SLOW TURNS INTO A PARKING SPACE. THIS HAPPENED APPROXIMATELY 3-4 WEEKLY. I TOOK MY 6S IN FOR IT'S REGULAR SERVICE IN DECEMBER (OIL CHANGE AND TIRE ROTATION), AND ADVISED MY DEALERSHIP OF THE NOISE I WAS HEARING. I WAS TOLD THAT MY ONE FRONT TIRE WAS 2 LBS LOW, AND THAT IS WHAT CAUSED THE NOISE. THE VEHICLE ONLY HAD 12000 MILES AT THIS TIME, AND I KNEW THE SERVICE TECH WAS SUGAR COATING THE PROBLEM. ON JANUARY 9, 2004, I WAS LEAVING WORK TO GO HOME WHEN I HAD SOME SERIOUS PROBLEMS WITH MY VEHICLE ON THE WAY HOME. AS I WAS GETTING ON THE EXPRESSWAY, I EXPERIENCED SEVERE VIBRATION IN THE STEERING WHEEL AND ALSO UNDER THE DRIVER SEAT, ALONG WITH THE VEHICLE WOULD NOT ACCELERATE OVER 3,000 RPM NO MATTER HOW HARD I PRESSED THE ACCELERATOR. I WAS TERRIFIED TO DRIVE THIS VEHICLE HOME IN
Complaint Details
| NHTSA Complaint ID | 451632 |
| ODI Number | 10054861 |
| Date Filed | January 25, 2004 |
| Failure Date | January 10, 2004 |
| VIN | 1YVFP80D035 |
Source: NHTSA Vehicle Complaints Database. Component taxonomy and severity codes are standardized by NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation.
Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.