While driving, the swing arm which attaches the adjustment bar under the driver seat cushion to the left seat slider broke. The seat rocks freely approximately 1 foot, making the seatbelt useless and the car could not be driven safely. I had to remove the seat and re-weld the swing arm. The dealer solution would be a complete seat replacement costing $900. Mileage: 71000

- Ringtown, PA, USA

Drivers side seat became loose. When sitting down in the car a loud cluck was heard and the front driver seat moved backward. Upon inspection the weld holding the seat to the bracket had snapped. Car was stationary at the time been rendered un-drivable due to the movement in the seat.

- Vienna, WV, USA

Drivers side seat broke at welded attachment point to adjuster rail. My son's driver seat was rocking, I thought that the locking washer had fallen off and went to replace, when I removered the side cover I discovered that the bracket that attached the seat to the adjuster frame had broken. Search the web and discovered that this was a common issue with the Mazda 3. when to dealer and discovered that I had to replace the whole subframe which cost $300 for the part and $300 for the labor to install it. Mazda needs to do a recall and fix this issue before someone gets hurt and also reimburse everyone who had to replace the poorly constructed part

- Vacaville, CA, USA

I was driving my 2010 mazdaspeed 3 on 10/20/2016. Driving home from work I suddenly realized while accelerating it was like sitting in a rocking chair. After being able to check it later that night I looked up under the seat and the brace that holds the seat frame to the seat track has completely sheered off on the left hand side. The right side is still in tact... for now. Reading online it seems the dealerships are wanted around $700 to replace this. I don't feel as though I should be responsible for such a high bill on a huge safety concern. If I get into an accident what's to keep my seat from completely launching and impaling me into the steering wheel. Mazda please step up and take care of this problem. To make an added note, my seat has had a slight rock in it for from what I can remember being at least 2-3 years now. Talk to someone about it when I first noticed it and they say that's normal and do nothing about it. So, clearly if this is normal for Mazda, then there is going to be a lot more problems coming out of the woodwork.

- Columbus, OH, USA

When accelerating from stop or making turns on the street or on a curved highway, my driver's seat reclines back from the base of the seat approximately 3-4 inches. It's been repaired (washer and nuts replaced) several times over the past 3 years. Took it in today (10/17/2016) and was told that I needed a new seat track assembly ($500 parts and labor). There are numerous complaints for this model vehicle about the same situation for their 2010 Mazda 3 and mazdaspeed 3.

- San Diego, CA, USA

Driving along a city street, with my 2 1/2 year old in the vehicle, and the left side of the driver seat bracket broke. I have had this happen before in a previous Mazda before, a 2003 protege5. In attached photo, the bracket on the middle-right should be welded on to the bar-section in the middle-left.

- Pullman, WA, USA

Vehicle was stationary. Upon sitting in the driver's seat, I heard a "pop" sound. The seat now moves approximately 6 inches fore and aft upon braking and accelerating.

- Maumee, OH, USA

After getting into the drivers seat, I heard a loud pop and drivers seat became very loose. Upon inspection, front left bracket for vertical seat adjustment was broken in half. Loose seat would shift during braking and acceleration, an uncomfortable and dangerous situation.

- Statesboro, GA, USA

The front drivers seat started rocking back and forth after hearing a loud crack sound. Closer inspection of the seat in the car revealed that the weld attaching the adjust and the seat failed. Contact Mazda and they refused to fix despite noting it in a service bulletin tsb #09-049/10 titled "2010 mazda3 - rattle noise from bottom of driver seat" 2010-11-08. This is a safety issue and could have been very dangerous if driving at the time.

- San Jose, CA, USA

While driving under typical conditions, navigating a turn at speed, a popping noise sounded from the bottom of the driver side seat. Subsequently, the driver side seat began to wobble, seemingly pivoting at a point in the back, right area of the seat. Further inspection revealed that the seat mount bracket that secures the seat to the frame of the vehicle had broken at the weld. Simple online research reveals that several other consumers have experienced similar issues.

- Remington, VA, USA

I was in the vehicle about to back out of a parking spot when I heard a pop and the seat suddenly felt loose. The seat itself will rock back and forth a few inches and generally feels unstable. I looked under the seat and found that one of the 4 seat mounting brackets (connects the seat portion to the seat rails) had broken in half. This bracket has been discolored by heat from the welding process (black at the weld fading to blue/gray and then back to the bronze-type color of the part). The part broke right where the color fades from blue/gray to the orginal bronze color. A quick google search reveals that this is a recurring problem. I have included several links with owners complaining about this exact same issue. One driver mentions almost colliding with a wall when it broke. I have spoken to both Mazda and my local dealer. Both refuse to cover the repair costs. Mazda does not acknowledge the issue as a manufacturing defect. The dealer repair would be an out of pocket cost of ~$1000. I was quoted 2.5 hours labor and a parts cost of $700 for the seat and frame. The responses I received from Mazda and the dealer were disheartening. Obviously I'm not happy about a potential $1000 repair bill to fix the seat, and the broken bracket and wobbly seat represent a serious safety risk. I'm hoping the folks at the NHTSA can help advocate for the consumer and convince Mazda that they must acknowledge this rather serious manufacturing defect. Reference links: www.carcomplaints.com/Mazda/mazda3/2010/accessories-interior/broken_seat_weld.shtml www.reddit.com/R/Mazda/comments/2S51X8/mazda_3_2010_seat_weld_broke/ www.mazdaspeedforums.org/forum/F436/driver-seat-loose-100964/ www.torontomazda3.ca/forum/showthread.php?72586-my-seat-broke forum.mazda6club.com/mazdaspeed6/209501-broken-seat-frame.html

- Knoxville, TN, USA

The seat height adjuster is operated by a lever on the side of the seat. The lever rotates a rod with two brackets (one on each side of the seat) which are welded to the bar on one end and pinned to the seat adjuster base. The bracket cracked at the base of the weld on the outboard side of the seat. The failure occurred while accelerating from a stop; however, I had noticed some a rattle or creaking sound from the seat for a few days before the final failure occurred. The seat is not completely loose at the front left corner. The seat has side airbags. I am concerned that they will accidentally deploy due to the excessive seat movement in a panic breaking event. Mazda has changed the part design, but the repair is not covered under a recall or extended warranty even though a defective seat is a safety issue. The only repair is to replace the seat adjuster assembly or entire seat.

- Appleton, WI, USA

While driving, I heard a slight pop from under the seat. Upon rounding a curve, the entire driver seat rocked loose 7 to 8 inches sideways. I was able to stop the vehicle and carefully drive back to my home. I discovered that instead of bolts & locknuts, the seat is secured to the seatframe rails with 4 pins (approximately 12mm). The parts are only held together with press-on thrust washers. These washers had popped off. This is a serious safety issue. If I had been driving slightly faster I could have totally lost control & crashed.updated 07-16-15 updated 9/21/2015

- Ringtown, PA, USA

While I was entering the freeway I felt the seat moved back I almost got into accident when it happen luckily it didn't happen. I went to a Mazda dealership and asked them about the seat they said its not covered by the warranty I have to pay 800 plus labor to fix the seat. The second time it happen I was at the stop light and when the light turn green the seat moved way back and I couldn't reach the gas and the clutch pedal so I stalled in the middle of the street and there was traffic coming, almost got into accident again. So now I have to hold the steering wheel and move closer to the steering wheel just to reach the gas, brake, and clutch pedal and that's not the proper way to seat for the drivers if anyone got into accident that close to the air they might suffocate if the air deploy during an accident. Please fix this problem I don't want this to happen this to anyone. I have pictures to prove it.

- Vallejo, CA, USA

I was taking a clover-leaf off-ramp when I heard a snap (or pop) and felt my seat rock back about 3 inches with more inches to go back. I took my 2010 mazdaspeed 3 into morrie's minnetonka Mazda in order for them to inspect the part that had broken. The washer came loose from the bottom of the driver side seat rail on the left side. The mechanics had reattached the washer, which appeared to be a pressed-on washer, and when testing the seat by rocking in it, the washer fell off again. The recommendation that the dealership had given me was to purchase a new driver seat rail assembly, which costs $1080 + tax/ss. I had declined to purchase this part, as I don't believe the seat rail assembly is worth that amount, plus I could have purchased a nice set of aftermarket seats like brands bride or sparco. After posting to a facebook group page called "Mazda community blog", many other members have posted similar experiences, and have provided many references to other websites that have close to the same issue that I have experienced. It appears to be mostly related to the 2010 mazdaspeed 3 / 2010 Mazda 3 years of when this issue has had occurrences. Some other similar issues that others have also had are the welds breaking on the seats, which have a similar effect to what my seat felt like.

- New Richmond, WI, USA

We were driving on a highway when the seat bracket that holds the driver's seat to the position adjustment frame snapped, causing the seat to tip backwards. A collision was narrowly avoided. In the event of an accident the seat would not have been likely to stay connected to the car. The part in question is a 1/4" or 3/8" steel bracket that appears to have broken near a factory weld. Pictures are available. The dealer performed an investigation, but concluded that they did not know why it had happened and have never seen something like this before. There appears to be a pattern of this establishing on the NHTSA database and anecdotally on automobile enthusiast websites. There was no early indication of a pending failure. We are concerned the same may happen with the passenger seat or again to the drivers seat after repair.

- West Des Moines, IA, USA

Driving when seat made a loud popping sound and began rocking wildly. Upon investigation realized the weld had broken. There is a tsb that applies to my VIN number, but Mazda wants $700 to repair the seat. There are a lot of online complaints about this very issue. Shouldn't this be a recall as it is a major safety issue. If I had been driving faster I would have crashed. Tsb #09-049/10 "2010 mazda3 - rattle noise from bottom of driver seat" applies to vins lower than [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).

- Pflugerville, TX, USA

The contact owns a 2010 Mazda Mazdaspeed3. The contact stated that the driver's seat fractured from one side of the frame rail. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who stated that the seat frame was fractured and needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure who offered to cover partial repair expenses. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 40,000 and the current mileage was 51,835.

- Houston , TX, USA