Got broken into -- Mazda3 lock "bug" applies to RX-8
 

Hi,

I searched and didn't find anything similar, but forgive me if this has been discussed. (I know you guys don't take kindly to non/n00b searchers.)

I've been a long time reader of this site (since 2004), and I wish I had a more pleasant topic for a first post.

My car was parked on the street outside my house, and this afternoon, I found a fist-sized dent on my driver-side door above the door handle. Inside, the glove box and center console were opened and my belongings were strewn about. I don't keep anything valuable in my car, and nothing was stolen, but what really sucks is that my driver-side door lock is jammed in the lock position, and the door can't be opened from inside or outside.

Seems that our 8's are succeptible to the Mazda3 "bug" that's been reported recently.

I called Metrotown and Wolfe Mazda here in Vancouver, but neither one of them have heard/been instructed of anything official to address repairs. They've gotten numerous reports from Mazda3 and Mazda6 owners...but I'm the first RX-8.

Anyway, I'm leaving the glove box, center console and coin holder open from now on. Hopefully future potential thieves will see that there's nothing worth stealing and not bother at all with my car.

Anyone else have a similar experience?

well thats good news....

hadn't heard of that so it's news to me. thanks for sharing and welcome aboard. sorry to hear and see what happened.

I would hope Mazda would get on this soon seeing as how it's already a known problem with the 3. You may want to call MNAO so they know about it and can have the opportunity to offer a fix.

Unless Mazda fixes ALL cars with this issue, we're going to see people bashing random car doors in to see if the bug exists ...

We really need to push Mazda to fixing this, or this is real bad news.

ah, the benefits of having a garage.

that sucks, look's like it's time to camp with the rifle.

:SHOCKED: Awww shit the sky is falling again.. run away run away!

Really a Mazda 3 bug??????? ::Runs out to Mazda 3 and bangs above the handle:: Eh, yeah it works but now i have a big dent in my car :banghead:

Oh shit really ?

God damn ....

You got a garage in front of the place where you work and every store and restaurant you visit? ;)

Seriously, I thought I heard about this with maybe the Mazda 3s, but I might be wrong. What really burst my security bubble was watching a lock-smith at work on a truck I'd borrowed some weeks back. It turned out none of the locks worked - not with the keys, not with the fob, not either side. Well, I locked it downtown because I didn't know what the owners had in it and they'd forgotten to tell me about that. So, the locksmith comes, pries the top of the door-frame open an inch or so with an nice assortment of pry-bars and then reaches in with the most perfect wire (longer and thicker than coat-hanger wire with a great 90-degree bend at the end) and he hooks the door handle on the 3rd try. $60 / 5-minutes.

Seriously, anyone with a couple of tools and half a brain can get inside any car. In toxin's case they smashed first one window, then a 2nd to get his laptop.

More relevantly, I'd hate to see a zillion copy-cat crimes against Mazdas if this really works and word spreads.

OMG! Now I will be paranoid to park my car outside anywhere anytime! Maybe if I remove mazda badge, thieves won't know it's mazda.

No, it's worse than that! Some kids (or idiots) tried the same thing on my `89 F150 (same dent, same place). It stayed locked, but the driver's door wouldn't open from the outside afterwards.

Don't park any car outside anywhere anytime!!!! Something bad could happen to it!!! ;)

Wow. You guys are pretty blase about this, but that seems like a pretty major deal to me.

Mazda purportedly has known about the Mazda3 problem for months and offered no fix. Probably it will be costly and difficult and they were hoping it would just go away? Like say the flooding issue...

You can understand they wouldn't announce "yes you can easily break into any mazda 3" since that just breeds the crime, but this is another rather sizeable hit on the reputation, no?

Oh noes! People are demanding that their cars not suck complete ass! How dare they!

Given the recent history of Mazda the fact that you're insinuating people are overreacting is ridiculous.

Well considering our car has been out longer than the 3 and shares a completely different door design, and the fact that this shows up AFTER the door bump issue came to light for the 3's I'm very skeptical of this being legit.

We all know how everyone over reacted with the Recall last year and I can easily see people doing the same with this.

ok everybody go and bump the door of your 8 to verify!!! Unfortunately I don't have one yet, otherwise I'd do it.

No.

Boy, I don't know what you folks expect from car-makers. I'd be amazed if I quit being appalled.

I'm sure you can bust into any number of cars with a similar approach. Beat on the door until you break something. If that fails, slim-jim it, pry it or break a window. A car is sheet-metal and glass, not a fortress.

If the door spontaneously unlocked, that would be Mazda's bad.
If the doors unlocked when nearby Mustang owners unlocked their cars, that would be Mazda's bad.
If water leaked in the seals, rusted out the lock mechanism and caused the locks to fail in the first couple years of use, that would be Mazda's bad.

The fact that someone, somehow can break parts of the car to defeat the locking system is not Mazda's bad.

Let's apply this logic to something else -
I'm sure Mazda knew people could get into the car if they broke one or two windows. They've probably known that for years. Cover-up? Ignoring it and hoping the problem just goes away?

How about does-not-apply.

I didn't see toxin440 claiming there should be a recall so we can all get bullet-proof, shatter-proof, magic-glass after his laptop was stolen.

yeah - if a thief is determined to get something, nothing short of you sitting out in some bushes with a shotgun will stop them.

I do agree that the problem with the 3's (and now seemingly the 8's) Mazda should look into the problem. I doubt there is a simple/cheap fix short of redesign and re manufacture.

I'm sorry for your loss - I know what it feels like to come back and find your shit all smashed up and gone, its a terrible feeling. I hope insurance covers it and helps out.

...so you believe this is not a problem and Mazda should do nothing about it.

You think it's exactly the same as someone being able to break in through a window?

Huh. I do see things differently. I see this as a design flaw, unfortunate, not something they should raked over the coals for since I wouldn't expect them to test out a car by hitting it on every possible spot to see what happens, but a problem nonetheless that needs to be dealt with.

The issue for Mazda is that these kind of things keep cropping up, from issues on the car (flooding, blown engines in hot weather, engine recall etc) to service (leaked video, etc).

Now I certainly agree all manufacturers have problems, but Mazda seems to be less than stellar on the damage control on these things...

The general sense is that they drag their feet on issues until there is simply no possible way to avoid dealing with them. It would be nice to see them being proactive for a change.

Maybe this thread can be retitled to simply "Got broken into".
Wait, what am I thinking!?! Let's publicize this as loudly as possible! I know—maybe someone can attach a chart indicating precisely where—and with how much force—to hit the door!!! Or better yet, let's make a video of someone doing it and send it into Dateline!

Honestly, people. God forbid someone can read the numbers on your precious license plate in a photo, but this? This is OK.
:rolleyes:

The "general sense" is that driving is safer than flying. Unfortunately, perception often is not reality. This is your perception because you live here in the "Mazda sucks" world. If you would statistically compare Mazda reliability to that of other cars, I suspect you'd find it's not much better or worse than others.

Remember, generally people don't bother to go online to say "nothing bad happened with my Mazda today."

Just need to install a two-way paging alarm. That way if anything happens you are alerted.

I've been lucky enough to assist the police in taking a few thieves down. The best time was on rollerblades late at night. I caught a guy reaching into the glove box from the driver's side both legs were sticking out the window of the driver's door. :rofl: I screamed at him and he about lost it.

I like the sitting in the bushes with shotgun idea think I might try that next time

Shitty deal dude....I had my cars broken into 3 times when I lived in Vancouver.

No suprise though since it has the highest car theft rate per capita in North America. :(

I agree with this, the title really catches your eye. I can remember in the early 80's the local St.Louis news doing a story on the car jackings that were occuring in LA and New York....later that week we had our first car jacking in the St. Louis area!!

I do really appreciate the info as an owner though. My car and I spend a good deal of time down in New Mexico, where casual theft and car break-ins seem to occur on a regular basis. I am always careful about where I park my car, but will be even more cautious knowing this information so thanks to the original poster for sharing his story..

Jeff