So, the woman and I were spending Christmas in Breckenridge. Snowboarded all day, finally got tired, got back to the car and whaddya know....dead battery. No lights left on, nothing. Just plain old DEAD. To top it off, nowhere short of Vail had a 40R series battery. Also, the car was on the 2nd level of an underground parking garage....towing an AWD vehicle requires a flatbed truck or a wrecker with dollies for 1 axle. Long story short, they drag my car out of the parking garage with me steering, then put it on the flatbed. We rode in the cramped front cab of the flatbed 80 miles to Mazda of Lakewood, where the battery was replaced and the recharging system tested. Mazda prorated 20% of the cost, I paid the rest, no labor. Any other day, any other location, would have been fine for my battery to die. Did it have to die on f'ing vacation???? And 2 years for a battery....just pathetic. Anyone with a stock battery should look at a replacement.

Shitty timing for sure! Makes me seriously consider getting the AAA Premium plan. That way 100 miles is free towing wise. Hey at least when yours was on a flat bed it wasn't for something more serious.

That sucks... Sorry to hear... I found my battery dead 3 mornings in a row this week... Needed a jump every morning.... in the middle of the day after the initial jump it would start just fine then the morning dead.... Last couple days it's been holding charge and starting fine no problems...

This isn't just Mazda... My Saab batteries lasted 2-3 years. Rplaced them all with Autozone brand which never died.

+1 on the Autozone battery. I just replaced my battery this summer. The case was cracked and it bubbled when it was on the charger.

Shitty timing and location for your dead battery. Mine at least died on my garage.

Mazda gave me a "Performance Series" battery....it's smaller, so it may be a gel based acid instead of the water one I had. When Eric and I were working on our cars a few weeks back, I should have checked the fluid level on the "maintenance free" battery.

Good point Rich. I had one of my windows replaced a few weeks ago and the guy working on my car had to leave it in "on" mode the whole time. He took a little less than one hour to do the window, and when he went to turn the engine on it was dead. I suppose I better get a new battery before I am too far away from home. Sorry that happened on vaca!

My battery was dead Christmas day, so I feel ur pain Rich (not like i had nething to do besides work that night, but neways) I knew my battery was on its way out since 4doord and tested it and it wasn't performing up to par, but I figured it'd last thru the winter...I was wrong. I'll start looking for one tho when i can afford it...say after February.

My battery died about 6 mnonths ago on my speed6. Got 40% of it prorated. Apparently mazda is well aware of how shitty the battery is, got an "upgraded" one put in as a replacement.

that sucks dude, but it may explain why my lights are dimming and my car won't start right up all the time. I am approaching 2 years myself. I haven't experienced
an oem battery with such a short lifespan, i hope that's the only thing that craps out on this car.

mine died in nj while i was home on leave... not even 2 years old wouldn't hold a charge. now i have a optima red top

I had to attempt 2 starts this morning for the first time with my Mazda. I'm almost to the 2-year point in ownership. (next month)

AIM WO4 wrote:I had to attempt 2 starts this morning for the first time with my Mazda. I'm almost to the 2-year point in ownership. (next month)

i've had to do that a couple of times in the past few months...i should probably start looking for a new one as I appear to be on borrowed time.

My 92' Protege and 94' Miata gave me plenty of battery problems. I wonder if it's the battery itself, because even aftemarket batteries (Westco brand) failed me.

On the other hand, I am amazed that my 7 year old Acura with its stock battery has yet to fail me, even under treaterous temperatures. Knock on the wood?

I got about 2 1/2 years out of stock battery on my 6s. Of course it died after a late meeting and it was pouring rain, walked 3 blocks to an autozone and bought a new one and changed it in my clients parking lot with only a leatherman- what a fun experience!