Adjusting your seat position while driving is unsafe, but it can be even more perilous if you don't know when your seat is going to move. That's why Mazda has recalled nearly 174,000 cars with seats that unexpectedly change position by itself.
The Brand Has Recalled Cars Due To Malfunction
The Associated Press reports that the car manufacturer has recalled 174,000 the model year 2010 to 2011 Mazda 3 and Mazda Speed 3 and model year 2011 Mazda 2 automobiles over seat adjustment problems. The carmaker says that the seat's height adjustment links can break or detach from the seats' frame unpredictably. If this happens, the seat angle can change, and heighten the risk of a crash.
While the recalled cars have not been posted to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's website, more than a few owners of the vehicles have filed complaints on the agency's safercar.gov database.
Database Shows Owners Have The Same Problem
- The owner of a 2010 Mazda 3 reported in April 2012 that the driver's side seat broke at the soldered connection point binding to the adjuster rail.
- Another owner expresses NHTSA that the driver's side plastic elevation adjuster broke, causing the seat to move anytime the car completed a turn.
- In May 2012, another owner of a 2010 Mazda 3 reported that the driver's seat would shift back and forth depending on whether the vehicle was accelerating or braking.
- The owner of 2011 Mazda 3 tells NHTSA in a complaint that the driver's seat doesn't stay on the gliding track.
"If I move the seat onward to accommodate a rear passenger, it's like the seat will not sit evenly in the track, and it will either sink or elevate at one corner and slide forwards or backward," the complaint states. "It's hazardous, if I were to hit the brakes, the seat move forward unintentionally causing me to slam on my brakes."The AP reports that Mazda will begin informing owners of the concerned car types next month. Dealers will inspect the seat links and either install a strengthening bracket or change the whole seat tuning unit.
