Mazda 3 owners want to sue for bad locks

(CBC) - Hundreds of Canadian drivers who own a type of Mazda 3 car that has lock flaws are trying to get approval for a class action lawsuit against the company, saying their vehicles are sitting targets for thieves.

The drivers who initiated the lawsuit - who live in British Columbia, Alberta and Quebec - say their Mazda 3 cars have been broken into because of a defective lock mechanism that makes it easy for anyone to open the door.

Mazda Canada has already admitted the generation of Mazda 3 cars in question has a problematic locking mechanism, and the company has offered to retrofit vehicles for free with a reinforcement device.

Locked doors on Mazda 3 models built between 2004 and 2007 can reportedly be opened without forcing the frame or breaking the window.

The drivers who have brought the lawsuit want to be compensated because they don't believe the company's repair fixes the problem and the car's value has dropped due to its tarnished reputation, said Vancouver lawyer Jim Hanson, who is leading the legal battle. They also want the cars recalled, he said.

The drivers hope to get permission to go ahead with the lawsuit in January 2008.

"We're still at the stage of trying to identify from a scientific point of view what the failure is," he told CBC News. "And it appears that Mazda has not taken the proper steps at this point to remedy the defect. Our position is that they're selling shoddy goods."

Mazda Canada has installed several reinforcement devices for owners who have approached their dealers, said Gregory Young, a Toronto director of the company's corporate public relations, in a recent interview with CBC News.

"It's not a model issue. It's a generation issue," he said.

The problem has been fixed in newer generations of the Mazda 3. Cars produced since January 2007 have a "countermeasure reinforcement on the lock," Young said.

'Word travels very quickly'

Customers who want greater security should look at purchasing a security system, he suggested.

That's as much as the company can do in what is a delicate situation, he said.

"Word travels very quickly," he said. "And we've been careful to not create a problem for all Mazda 3 owners with break-and-enter artists attempting to break into cars."

Mazda's offer to retrofit cars for free doesn't go far enough, Hanson said.

"The fix isn't being imposed as a recall. We're not convinced the fix is remedying the defect, and we think the failure is occurring even in the cars that have the fix."

Drivers with Mazda 3s now own cars that are perceived to be lemons, "because of the image this car has on the marketplace," Hanson said.

"It may be that the reputation of this vehicle may be diminished, with or without the fix. People may not want this car because it may be the target of thieves."