Why, Mazda, why? *weak rant*

[ivan2]

well after seeing how hard it is to remove the cabin filter, the $50 dealer charge for replacement seems to be well worth it...

 

[CraigRT]

To be fair, your part of the country is about the worst in the entire Western hemisphere when it comes to road salt use and premature vehicle rusting. Out west everyone laughs at you if you bring an ON/QC out here to sell.
Two year old Toyotas completely rusted solid underneath, and such.

Absolutely, it just seems accelerated on the Mazda's.. My Nissan is fairly clean underneath, and the car came from the GTA area.. It's spent its whole life in SW Ontario.

 

[lupi]

Not only are things getting to the point that it seems they are ignoring such maintenance concerns at the design table, but I'm likely to believe they are designing with the intent for these items to be increasingly difficult.

 

[Toastedlightly]

Miatas are supposed to be easy to work on, being RWD with a longitudinal engine layout... But Mazda placed a lot of things extremely badly. To get to the oil filter, you have to remove the splash shield under the engine bay and then go through the wheel well.

Or you have someone with small hands (my girlfriend was more than happy to oblidge) and reach under the intake to do it from to top (as it was meant to be done).