May 25, 2010 re: Failure of traction control module: I have a 2004 Mazda 6 wagon that I bought new in the spring of 2005 from the dealer. It is the spring of 2010, therefore it has been 5 years. The mileage is 32864. The ABS (anti- lock braking system) light, the tcs (traction control system) light, the brake light, and a picture of a car skidding light, all came on together. The manual said if they come on together to drive slowly and carefully to the dealer, so I did to the same dealer that I bought it from and where it has been serviced continuously. They hooked it up to the computer and it told them that a part that sits on top of the ABS system, the traction control module, had failed. It has to be ordered and will take 2 weeks to arrive and the part costs $1600. The dealer said that the car might have its brakes fail after a while. I am letting you know so that you can track complaints like this in case there needs to be a recall, at which point I would be reimbursed. I have a 20 year old car that never had an expensive problem like that occur in terms of a part failing. A little voice tells me that something is wrong with the part and that this should not happen. I paid about $20,000 for the car, and $1600 for a part plus tax makes that close to 10% of the purchase price and I have not yet driven even 35,000 miles. And if it involves other cars, that is only the financial cost. Not everyone who experiences emergency lights come on take the car to the dealer to be diagnosed and when brakes are involved, as here, that can result in loss of life.

- Santa Cruz, CA, USA