Bought my 3 brand new in 2009 and haven't had many issues at all with her. But end of 2015 beginning of 2016...a co worker told me my brake lights were out. Upon closer inspection...we noticed the red plastic was actually melted away from the bulb...on both brake lights...and all you could really see was the white light. I do drive alot and use my brakes a great deal. I made an appt with a Mazda dealer to look at the problem and told me they were melting because I had debris around the outside of the housing that was clogging the vent holes?! They wanted to charge me around $800.00 to replace both brake light housings. I shopped around on EBay and found a brand new after market pair for $210.00 and they fit perfect. I asked for the old pair back and noticed...there are no vent holes btw...big surprise. So I had the new lights installed in June and I now have one brake light out. Looking at it closer...it appears the red plastic housing is melting again!!! I've known for a while now that Mazda's are notorious for light issues but this is ridiculous! I actually think it's an electrical problem that's causing this...but no proof. I'm going to take the car to the guy who works on her and see if he has any suggestions...I'll keep you posted:)
Bought my 3 brand new in 2009 and haven't had many issues at all with her. But end of 2015 beginning of 2016...a co worker told me my brake lights were out. Upon closer inspection...we noticed the red plastic was actually melted away from the bulb...on both brake lights...and all you could really see was the white light. I do drive alot and use my brakes a great deal. I made an appt with a Mazda dealer to look at the problem and told me they were melting because I had debris around the outside of the housing that was clogging the vent holes?! They wanted to charge me around $800.00 to replace both brake light housings. I shopped around on EBay and found a brand new after market pair for $210.00 and they fit perfect. I asked for the old pair back and noticed...there are no vent holes btw...big surprise. So I had the new lights installed in June and I now have one brake light out. Looking at it closer...it appears the red plastic housing is melting again!!! I've known for a while now that Mazda's are notorious for light issues but this is ridiculous! I actually think it's an electrical problem that's causing this...but no proof. I'm going to take the car to the guy who works on her and see if he has any suggestions...I'll keep you posted:)
- leblancpa, Bethlehem, PA, US