Heidi

Hey guys, I'm new here. I bought a used 2008 Mazda 3 I Touring in August 2010. It was fine for the first couple of months, but lately I have had nothing but problems with the brakes. I have to allow twice the amount of space in order to come to a complete stop, and that's only going about 30-35mph. Sometimes I brake and the car doesn't brake at all until I practically hit something, even when I'm going slow. The brakes just don't seem to engage at all. I brought it to Mazda, and they supposedly did a bunch of tests, just to tell me the brakes are fine. I think it's complete BS. There is something definitely wrong with the brakes. It shouldn't take as long as it's taking to brake. The brakes don't seem to "grab" and the car slips all of the time. Any thoughts? The Mazda guy said that's just how the anti-lock brakes work, but it does this all of the time, even on dry roads. Sometimes the car doesn't feel like it's going to stop, and it's gotten to the point that I can only go about 25mph because it takes soooo long to stop. It's pretty scary.

icspots

Since you didn't mention it I assume that your ABS isn't engaging at any point, right? I mean you'd notice that. Is the pedal feel different? Soft? Hard? Are you getting any noise at all? How's the pad life? Brake fluid level?

If your car is having issues stopping it's likely because of something to do with the front brakes. Not that the rears don't do anything, but the brakes are so heavily biased to the front that when those stop working you literally can't stop. In my old truck each of my brakes lines rusted out and began leaking individually. When the rear ones were leaking it was just annoying. When the fronts leaked I was a runaway train.

If you're still having the issue and the dealer isn't helping you have a couple of other options. 1) find another dealer and get a second opinion. 2) take it to a reputable brake shop. 3) find a random mechanic to check it out.

scottp

the brake pedal height is important here - if it's lower than normal it may indicate several possible causes: 1) the master cylinder may be bypassing 2) the rear brakes if they are drum may be out of adjustment

if the pedal feels spongy - air in the system - bleed brakes

if the pedal is high and solid feling - 1) check caliper pins and surfaces to ensure that they slide properly 2) check for seized pistons in calipers