Google "Mazda Battery Management System Malfunction" to see how widespread this problem is. Quite Severe.

I am surprised that this has not been reported yet, but the problem is this: ALL Mazda 3's and Mazda 6's fitted with the I-STOP or I-ELOOP system have a flaw that causes premature death of the Q-85/T-110 battery.

Most car batteries are good for at least 3 years, and usually considerably more, and are usually not very expensive to replace. This battery on the other hand is a proprietary battery, costs $450-500, requires a special jump starting procedure, requires a special charging procedure, and to top it off, has a high failure rate and a short lifespan.

I was told that my battery failed "due to a bad cell" and that "this is a common problem". The whole point of designing a system to use a capacitor is to avoid the pitfalls of a hybrid system, which are notorious for battery failures.

Mazda is aware of this problem, and what is their solution? THEY HAVE REMOVED I-ELOOP AND I-STOP FROM ALL NEW MODELS! This means that they could not find a fix for this system, so they simply removed it altogether. Hopefully there is a recall or a system bypass, because it is ridiculous to spend $500 on a new battery every 3 years.