There are tons of Mazad3 out there has the door dented. Anything that is made by Feb 2006 should have the problem addressed at factory. MazdaSpeed3 should not be affected by this problem, so those who tried to hit the door on MazdaSpeed3 are possibly newbies or kids trying to do it for fun.
Basically if you are driving a Mazda3, people will try the door no matter what.
Mazda has issued a door cover plate to address this problem at dealer level. If the Mazda3 is made prior to Feb 2006, the dealers can have the door cover plate re-inforced and install a shock sensor to all GT models.
Mazda will not fix the damages caused by the dent.
I personally just leave the dent there, so kids know I have the car fixed. Since it cost about $400 to get the dent fixed, I don't want to get it fixed one day and get a new dent the next day.
Philip |