Out-of-Production Part Leaves Some Manual Mazdas Undrivable

[ZLoth]

From The Drive:

Out-of-Production Part Leaves Some Manual Mazdas Undrivable
A discontinued cable in the first manual Skyactiv 3s are pushing the cars to an early grave.

Mazda's vehicles have been go-to suggestions among enthusiasts for a long time. The automaker has an uncanny talent for turning boring cars into reasonably fun machines, and, up until recently, Mazdas have punched above their weight in terms of value quotient. But a number of 2012-2013 Mazda 3 owners are at risk of having to recant their faith in Mazda, now that an out-of-production part has left their cars without hope for repair.

The replacement part is a cable in the gear shifter assembly of the first Mazda 3 Skyactiv models in North America, specifically those equipped with the 2.0-liter inline-four engine and six-speed manual transmission. It turns out that cars with this combination of engine and transmission use a cable that's unique to them.

FULL ARTICLE HERE

[Max Rockatansky]

The link is dead.  No aftermarket parts are available?

[ZLoth]

The link is dead.  No aftermarket parts are available?

Link is fixed. Error is on my part.

[SectorZ]

I wonder if this vehicle was sold in the EU, because it sounds like something ready to run afoul of their parts replacement laws.