Well I don't think the car is supposed to do everything for you. With the amount of technology cars bring today there may be a tendency to think that we don't need to know how to drive. A few years back you wouldn't complain about any of that because that simply didn't exist.

 

A silly argument tbh. I upgraded to the Mazda 3 from a 2006 Renault Laguna ... that had auto wipers which sped up and slowed down dependent on the amount of rain fall. The Mazda 3 is supposed to have the tech and in theory should be a lot more advanced. Yes it shouldn't do everything for me, but it atleast should do what it has been designed to do!

Yes several years ago (like almost two decades) you wouldn't complain because the tech didn't exist (or wasnt the norm) but if something doesn't work as expected then ofc people are going to complain. If you bought a car with auto inflating tyres ... but always found you had to manually inflate them cause the tech didn't work right, your dealer wouldn't say "well 20 years ago people had to do it manually, you can't expect your car to do it for you all the time" ...

I have the problem # 2 as well but it does not have to rain for this to happen, allegedly this is fixed by simple firmware update (at least that what my Mazda Dealer told me), so call to your dealer to get an appointment.

Just found in the manual the following

"The front radar sensor functions by detecting the radio waves reflected off a vehicle ahead or an obstruction sent from the radar sensor. The front radar sensor is mounted behind the front emblem.
1. Front radar sensor

If “Safety and Driver Support Systems Temporarily Disabled. Front Radar Obscured. Drive Safely” is displayed on the multi-information display of the instrument cluster, clean the area around the front radar sensor."

If it's "fixed" with a firmware update, that would suggest all the update does is adjust the sensors sensitivity. If it can be triggered by rain fall it shows its a bit over sensitive.

Also this doesn't sound like something a firmware update would fix, but more a setting change that the dealer can do, and if settings can be change ... time to investigate how We all suspect there is a secret menu, just how to get to it hasn't yet been found out . Some cars you have to plug them into specific computers, or short pins, or press keys in a certain order which I am sure will be found out one day.

 

I have since noticed the car fails and doesn't work right when you get heavy rain.

1. The auto wipers do not change to their fastest setting, I tried various settings I was forced to switch the wipers to permanently on, auto was useless and dangerous.

2. Message comes on the dash ... Safety measures have been temporary disabled ... WTF

3. Front Parking sensors detects a collision ... what a collision with rain!! This could be why Number 2 kicked in?

This video from my dash cam shows the issue. Rain starts about 20 seconds in and wipers which are perm set to AUTO start as expected. Then notice at about 1:00 they just decided to stop and I have to change them to HI, around 1:20 ish I set them back to AUTO still just as bad. AUTO + Heavy Rainfall is dangerous!

https://youtu.be/8myAUej23qI

I have the problem # 2 as well but it does not have to rain for this to happen, allegedly this is fixed by simple firmware update (at least that what my Mazda Dealer told me), so call to your dealer to get an appointment.

 

I remember the previous gen 3 also had issues with the wipers. sometimes it couldn't pick the appropriate wiper speed for the amount of rain. Heavy rain and the wiper speed would still go slow, then you have to manually set the speed. So at least for that, it's not just a 2019 thing.

 

I have a 2017 and the rain sensing wipers does not do a good job. It takes a while before it gets going and then wipes too much when there is little to no rain. I have adjusted the sensitivity many times but it can get frustrating. In the winter, I just disable the sensor and use intermittent setting which works better for me.

 

My 2018 doesn't have this issue. The automatic wipers work as they are supposed to. It has never failed to activate or adjust speed depending on the amount of rain falling.

Get a firmware update.
CK

 

My 2016 has no issues. The auto wipers come on when it rains, and speed adjustment is done using the intermittent dial.

 

My 2016 has no issues. The auto wipers come on when it rains, and speed adjustment is done using the intermittent dial.

Auto wipers means it automatically comes on and adjusts for you. If you are constantly adjusting the speed then it is not automatic.

I have a 2017 and the rain sensing wipers does not do a good job. It takes a while before it gets going and then wipes too much when there is little to no rain. I have adjusted the sensitivity many times but it can get frustrating. In the winter, I just disable the sensor and use intermittent setting which works better for me.

Same, I had 2017 and was constantly adjusting the wipers. It was very frustrating.

 

My 2014 has no wiper issues. I don't have front sensors.

 

My car also has smart city brake support. It’s shuts off in heavy rain or when sunlight hits the sensor at a certain angle. The idiot crash symbol light illuminates. It’s useless tech.

 

My 2019 sedan has the auto wipers. I ended up turning off this feature because it never seems to set the speed of the wipers fast enough. I gave up. I use them manually now. Also, I also find that the front radar stops working in heavy rain. Of course, that means no cruise control. Just as well. Probably shouldn't be using cruise control in heavy rain, or any rain for that matter.

 

My secret, is no front license plate. They purposely changed out the design of the front bumper because of the radar.

 

1. Front plates must be fitted in the UK, 2. The sensor is in the mazda logo so how not having a license plate will that help.

 

I found the auto wipers a bit more sensitive in my Gen 3. It could at least detect light rain and sometimes mist/spray. My Gen 4 I often need to turn on the wipers manually in light rain.

 

I have a Gen 4 2019 3 and so far the wipers have worked as they are supposed to. The adaptive cruise control has faulted out in heavy rain but I just backed off and waited until the rain let up and it would start working again. I only wonder why a 4th generation would have the issue when I looked at a 3rd gen with the same cruise control system. I would have thought that Mazda would have addressed the issue already.

 

I was driving at night in moderate rain with my adaptive cruise on, and the car automatically slammed on the brakes with nothing on the road in front of us. Now I turn off the adaptive cruise when I get in the car because I don't trust it, and wish I could turn it off and have it stay off the next time I start the car.

 

I have not had the problem of the adaptive cruise control activating during a heavy or moderate rainstorm. I have had it react to a vehicle in the lane next to me, it will be about 1 or 2 lengths ahead while going through a sweeping turn. It also has activated when the radar sees the ground in an area of the road where it drops rapidly, something similar to a roller coaster turn. The radar will pick up the road itself and slam on the brakes which can be quite disconcerting.

 

Some safety experts advise to not use cruise control in the rain.

Maybe Mazda has programmed this into its system.

Naw.

 

Some safety experts advise to not use cruise control in the rain.

Maybe Mazda has programmed this into its system.

Naw.

When you use the cruise control in the rain you are more likely to have an accident. If you drive through a deep puddle at speed, one or more tires can start hydroplaning a bit and be slowed significantly. This normally would not be a big issue, but the cruise control detects the speed reduction and tries to accelerate to return the car to the set speed. Since the tires have already lost traction because of the hydroplaning, when the cruise control applies throttle the wheels start spinning and you can lose control of the car.
I don't think this is the problem though. If the system is applying the brakes in the rain when there is no reason to, the system is probably overly sensitive and is detecting the rain itself as a object in front of the car.

 

I've noticed it happens if you point the front of the car to those other parked vehicles. Imagine you are turning the steering to skip a pot hole, the moment you point at a parked car, the car thinks you are gonna bump into it.

 

The same. I think it is depends by mazda's firmware (mazda's minds), i hope they will do a correct upgrades soon. When auto wipers is switch on, they are living by themself life.
But i like your dashcam. Could you say what is model are you use?
Thx

 

My 2019 with 10K miles has had the windshield wipers/washer come on upon starting on random days. When this happens, the wipers will run until all the fluid was gone. Dealership thought they found a short in the stem and fixed it. When I picked the car up today, It did the magic washers trick for the technician again when he started the car. They held it for another three hours and think that the battery was registering a little low on the voltage, so they replaced the battery. Won't know if that fixes it for a while since the car is going to stay undisturbed in a garage for the next 2 weeks while the new paint job (soul red) cures. My dealership did a great job convincing the company that my paint was defective and got me a new paint job with a thicker coat of paint and clear-coat! This has been a great car even with the bad paint chipping and weird wipers issue, lifetime fuel mileage is just over 37 mpg and that's on the AWD model!