My car’s CD player occasionally fails to operate. Usually it is the CD only that sometimes fails to operate. Once the entire audio unit failed to turn on.
When I first reported this problem to the dealer, they said it was caused by using homemade CDs. But I only use prerecorded disc and the problem has resurfaced a few times.
The dealer says to bring it in the next time the problem occurs, but it always resolves itself after the car has been turned on and off a few times.
I’m afraid one day it will shut off for good and the car will be out of warranty.
I think it is important to document that you have this problem. Bring the car into the dealership and specify on the work order that you have this problem, so that when the CD player finally kicks the bucket days after the warranty expires, you can claim that the dealership failed to fix the problem in the first place, and that has led to the complete failure. Do this several times, especially near the end of the warranty period.
I don’t think using homemade CDs should cause any problem. The owner’s manual should state that CD-R is compatible, or fails to mention that CD-R is not compatible. Either way, it’s just an excuse. Even if you do, claim that you never play homemade CDs.
Car dealers are pretty clueless about car audio systems. It’s not what mechanics were taught how to work on. It’s a sideline, at best, for them. It sounds to me like you have some intermittent problem in your system. I agree with Roger124, you should make sure you’ve reported this and have documentation that the dealer looked at it during the warranty period. Then, when it fails solid later on you should be covered.
Also, stock stereo systems in cars are notoriously low quality. You might just want to check out replacements from Crutchfield or some local car audio shop. You’d be surprised at how cheap it is to improve on quality by going aftermarket. I’m betting your head unit has problems, by the way, but I’m just guessing.
We’ll see it how it goes. I have documented the problem with the dealer because I’m confident the CD player will indeed crap out within days of the warranty expiration. I was wondering if I had a lemon or if other Mazda5 owners experienced this issue. By the way, the owners manual does warn against using homemade CDs. This is the first time I’ve seen a car that had a CD player that was so sensitive. Thanks for the feedback.
You may not remember the days of the tape eaters…but the same expression applies; once a tape eater, always a tape eater. These things last a long trouble free time, but occasionally, when they start to go bad, they just continue. Demand it be replaced now.
BTW; either it will play a home made CD or it will show error and not…it should not cause it to malfunction. The unit is bad…and it goes down hill from here.
I’ve had similar problems but it resolves itself before I take it for its next service. I will be mentioning it at my next service visit - might not be just a quirk of my (or your) system.
People still listen to CD’s?
If Mazda is like Ford/Lincoln, they will replace the CD changer the third time you take the car in with this complaint, even if they can’t duplicate it.
There are two reasons for the complaints about homemade CDs.
- Many of them are thinner than a prerecorded CD if you don’t add a stick on label.
- Stick on labels can start to peel off while in the CD changer and jam it up.
What’s a CD? I would suggest you ditch the CD player and get a stereo with either a USB port or an accessory jack for your iPod/MP3 player. As an alternative, you could get an FM transmitter that plugs into a portable player, but they don’t work as well.
curious to know what came of this - I have a 2010 mazda 5 (less than 5K on it) - single CD player just stopped recognizing CDs one day, hasn’t worked since. I only play factory CDs on it. Taking it to the dealer, but wondering if there is some OEM CD player issue at work. Before anyone else chimes in with “use the aux jack for the mp3 player” or whatever - that isn’t the point. You pay $$$ for a brand new car, you expect stuff like this to work longer than 5 months or whatever.
I know more about home CD players than auto, but failure to recognize CD’s is generally a sign that the laser has failed. If you have a CD cleaning disc, you can try that, but since your car is new, I doubt that dirt is the issue.
On the original post, it IS true that homemade discs have a somewhat lower reflectivity than factory, and I occasionally experience read issues in the car – especially on rewritable discs. The symptom is more likely to be a skip/scratch; it does not keep the disc from playing altogether.
as an aside, that’s why I like lightscribe CDs. They’re the same thickness as a regular CD, and to label them you flip the disc over in the CD writer, and the writer burns the label onto the disc.
The hardware’s pretty cheap too. You can get a lightscribe DVD/CD-RW drive for about 30 bucks.
Its true that most Auto shops and car dealers are less knowledgeable about car audios… There maybe some electronic shops that can help. However, the problem here is not really about the dealer, its the CD Player right? So maybe its something you can check about the part directory… or maybe you could go find a new one… There could be many reasons. wiring maybe?