In the world of sedans, Mazda is at the top of the food chain in terms of making high-quality cars. The Mazda3 is one of the better vehicles in Mazda’s roster, and it’s earned its spot for many reasons. One of those reasons is the fact that the Mazda3 is a pretty reliable car, all things considered.

The Mazda3’s history of reliability 

If you’re planning on buying a used car, then buying a Mazda is generally a good idea. This is especially true for the Mazda3, which has seen better days than its most recent model years. For example, according to Consumer Reports, the Mazda3 has been redesigned three times in the last decade, once in 2010, again in 2014, and most recently in 2019.

Consumer Reports said that the 2010 redesign year had a pretty stellar record for reliability. The 2010 redesign had four models in the generation, and three of them received a reliability rating of five out of five. The 2014 redesign had five models, and three of them received a reliability rating of four out of five. The 2017 and 2018 models, however, had a reliability rating of five out of five.

So, these two generations of Mazda3 models showed that they’re generally very reliable cars. However, things have started to look a bit worse for Mazda3 owners. 

The latest redesign isn’t as reliable as before

Consumer Reports wrote that the 2019 Mazda3, which was the first model year from the most recent redesign, only had a reliability of three out of five. This represented a relatively significant drop in reliability between the 2018 Mazda3 and the 2019 model. The 2020 version is still being evaluated, but its predicted reliability is still three out of five.

There are two reasons for this drop in reliability, according to Consumer Reports. Most parts of the Mazda3 have been unchanged in terms of their reliability; however, two parts of the car have become significantly less reliable than the past model years. For example, the suspension didn’t experience any significant reliability issues from the 2015 to 2018 model years, but for the 2019 model year, it had a sharp drop in reliability.

The other significant change in reliability had to do with the Mazda3’s in-car electronics. It didn’t have as dramatic of a drop as the suspension experienced, but it was still a big drop nonetheless. Overall, Consumer Reports said that this most recent redesign of the Mazda3 had an overall reliability rating of about 42 percent. In comparison, the Toyota Corolla had an overall reliability rating of about 96 percent.

The Mazda3 is still a powerful and good car, though

The last two model years of the Mazda3 may not have the same great reliability that the older model years do, but the Mazda3 is still a great car nonetheless. For example, it still has a good engine that makes the vehicle fun to drive. For the 2020 model year, it has a 2.5-liter four-cylinder that gets 186 hp.

Additionally, it’s still a very safe car thanks to all the standard safety equipment that it has. Consumer Reports said that the 2020 Mazda3 comes with forward-collision warning, automatic emergency braking, lane departure warning, and other safety features as standard. Additionally, the the sedan still does well in its crash tests. That said, the 2020 Mazda3 also had issues with its controls, so that did drag its overall score down.