Short version: my gripe with Mazda 3 when driving on winter highway...
- keeping the heater at the highest temperature will make the display panel to dim (the left display showing the avg mileage)
- Mazda 3 doesn't hold sufficient washer fluid
- Salt spray gets into every gap there is
Long version:
Last few days, while travelling on snowy, cold highway, I had the heater on at full, blasting the front windshield for a while with the temperature set at 90F to melt the freezing snow that was forming on the windshield. Within 30 minutes or so, the display that shows the mileage dimmed to the point where nothing was showing. It came back showing bright when the car cooled. At first, I thought moisture somehow formed inside the display panel, but now I can confirm that it's the hot blast of air that's causing it. Repeated the process few times and the display dimmed every time. When I turned the heat off, the panel displayed bright numbers again.
Another topic... The Mazda 3 hatch really attracts dirt on the rear window... AND the washer reservoir doesn't hold a lot of fluid. Make sure to have extra winter washer fluid when travelling on the highway that's been salted and has some snow that is melting... I think I used up a gallon of washer fluid every 300 miles or so even when making sure not to follow the spray making cars in front too closely. My wife's Honda Fit hatch's rear windows doesn't get dirty so quickly as the Mazda 3.
Finally, the salt spray will find its way into every tiny gap it can find and leave white residues. At least on my car, inside the engine bay gets splattered with white spray, the rubber seals around the doors get coated with whites, and somehow dried white salt forms within the cavity between the rear hatch and the rear body. I think the air flow on the Mazda leaves more salt residue on the car body than other cars. I drove two days on the salted highway, and the rear is completely white while the front and the sides are splattered with whites and barely shows the original car paint.
- keeping the heater at the highest temperature will make the display panel to dim (the left display showing the avg mileage)
- Mazda 3 doesn't hold sufficient washer fluid
- Salt spray gets into every gap there is
Long version:
Last few days, while travelling on snowy, cold highway, I had the heater on at full, blasting the front windshield for a while with the temperature set at 90F to melt the freezing snow that was forming on the windshield. Within 30 minutes or so, the display that shows the mileage dimmed to the point where nothing was showing. It came back showing bright when the car cooled. At first, I thought moisture somehow formed inside the display panel, but now I can confirm that it's the hot blast of air that's causing it. Repeated the process few times and the display dimmed every time. When I turned the heat off, the panel displayed bright numbers again.
Another topic... The Mazda 3 hatch really attracts dirt on the rear window... AND the washer reservoir doesn't hold a lot of fluid. Make sure to have extra winter washer fluid when travelling on the highway that's been salted and has some snow that is melting... I think I used up a gallon of washer fluid every 300 miles or so even when making sure not to follow the spray making cars in front too closely. My wife's Honda Fit hatch's rear windows doesn't get dirty so quickly as the Mazda 3.
Finally, the salt spray will find its way into every tiny gap it can find and leave white residues. At least on my car, inside the engine bay gets splattered with white spray, the rubber seals around the doors get coated with whites, and somehow dried white salt forms within the cavity between the rear hatch and the rear body. I think the air flow on the Mazda leaves more salt residue on the car body than other cars. I drove two days on the salted highway, and the rear is completely white while the front and the sides are splattered with whites and barely shows the original car paint.