Mazda is recalling the 2019 Mazda3 for a slight issue where the wheels could fall off at any moment.

So we’re not here to be alarmist, but Mazda3 drivers should probably get their car looked at. Mazda has recently begun a recall that could have major implications for owner safety, what with how awfully difficult it can be to drive a car without all four wheels attached.

The 2019 Mazda3 is being recalled due to a manufacturing defect that saw the lug nuts improperly tightened at the factory. According to the NHTSA filing, a “manufacturing process error” caused a "partial gap between the hub bolts and hub flanges during assembly." This basically means the wheel lug nuts weren’t properly tightened when they were being installed.

The filing goes on to explain that "wheel lug nuts may loosen and fall off during normal driving” and “in the worst case, continuous use will lead to a wheel falling off the vehicle." In typical bureaucratic understatement, the NHTSA warns that this could lead to loss of control of the vehicle causing a crash.

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A little over 25,000 Mazda3s are affected and they’re all 2019 model year cars built between September 2018 and April 2019. So far, no accidents or injuries have been reported, but better safe than sorry on this issue.

Mazda 3
via Mazda

The first report of a problem was received on April 9th from a case outside of the US. Mazda took that to their Japanese factory to see if it was a manufacturing error and found out that indeed it was. They then checked with their Mexico plant (which is the one that feeds the North American market) and found the same error there.

Mazda has since upgraded their processes to fix the issue at the source, but that still leaves a bunch of Mazda3s on the road that could have their wheels pop off at any moment.

Mazda will contact owners by mail to get them to bring their car in for a free lug nut tightening. The Japanese carmaker expects everything to be done and dusted by August 6th.

(via The Drive)

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