From: Boris@invalid.invalid   
      
   My daughter has a 2020 Mazda 3, with about 75k miles.  Back on July 2, I   
   wrote about acceleration issues the car was having:   
      
      
      
   A software update seems to have fixed the problem.  A new battery was   
   also installed.   
      
   My daughter is now having more problems with her 2020 Mazda 3.   
      
   The problem is that every few days the car won't start, and she has to   
   use a charger for about 15 minutes to get it started.  She carries the   
   charger with her.  Then, it will be fine for a few more days, only to   
   have to repeat the procedure in another few days.  Luckily, she's always   
   been at her house or my house where she can plug in the charger.   
      
   She dropped the car off at the dealer's today.  I ususally go with her,   
   but I couldn't today.  She said the service rep seemed very   
   knowledgeable, but some of the things he told her seemed very odd to me.   
      
   1) He said this is a common problem with newer cars when the owner takes   
   a lot of short trips, and these short trips don't allow the battery time   
   to charge.  She does take a lot of short trips, but this seems nuts to   
   me.  He sees this a lot with elderly owners who only drive to their   
   nearby store every day, and that it takes about 40 minutes of driving to   
   keep a battery charged.  Also, on newer cars with all the computerization   
   and 'features', the battery is always being drained by something, even   
   when unoccupied.  He says this is especially common with Mazdas and   
   Subarus.  He suggested using a trickle charger to keep the battery   
   charged.   
      
   The dealer gave her a loaner, the same model but a 2025.  If the above is   
   true, this loaner will also at some point die on her.  She's still   
   carrying the charger.   
      
   2) Something else he said about newer cars (which has nothing to do with   
   my daughter's car), is that the newer cars get used to how a driver   
   drives, and when another driver gets behind the wheel, the car wants to   
   drive like the first driver is in control.  He says a husband and wife   
   will come in saying that the car has a mind of it's own.  I can   
   understand a car automatically saving and applying things like seat and   
   mirror positions, and maybe climate control, but...   
      
   Anyone ever heard of any of the above?   
      
   Thanks.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)