Plastic mushroom around the hatch release button, located in the center of the hatch, cracked apart and would not hold the release button in position. It fell inside the hatch. I took the interior trim off the hatch to take a look. I used some duct tape to tie it into a workable position so that it would not fall back into the door when pressed or via normal driving vibrations. It wasn't really a fix, but it was just a hack/bodge to continue using the hatch until I could get a fix.
THREE recalls exist on the vehicle at this point, and I was never going to have time to deal with them at the dealer. The driver's seat slider recall (applicable 100%), the hatchback lifters (recalled but mine were okay), and the dashboard lifting off the gauge pod (a cosmetic problem).
Additionally, the turbo was starting to go. I'm sure the dealer putting the wrong oil into it twice (0W20 instead of 5W30 or 5W40) probably helped it along to its death. I'm not going to have time to deal with the dealer or a shop to replace the turbo, so I've traded the car in June. Somebody will get a rare and otherwise lovely MS3 that needs a turbo. It's really a blast to drive.
See our lemon odds and nada odds page to see vehicles with no repairs or vehicles with more than three repairs. To see how
frequently 2011 Mazda Mazda3 problems occur, check out our car reliability stats.