So we have an incredibly unique situation, and I’m hoping there’s someone out there who can help us, because we’re grasping at straws at this point…
When we arrived back in the States in 2020 after being stationed overseas, we wanted to find a good, reliable “mom car” to transport my son, and future children, around. We decided on a 2017 certified pre-owned CX-9. We thought this size car was great for our growing family, and we loved the advantages of certified pre-owned over new, since cars depreciate so quickly after driving off the lot. Plus we would have additional coverage for longer, since we planned on essentially running my car into the ground.
Last year, when we found out we were being stationed in Germany, I felt confident bringing my car with us because I knew it would be reliable and it would be a safe car for my two toddlers. We arrived in October of last year, and my car arrived the following month. In February, my husband was changing my oil and noticed a leak. After doing some research, he learned my car was notorious for having a cracked motor head. This is a common, expensive repair, but unfortunately it hasn’t been recalled by Mazda. Knowing my car was certified pre-owned and had a 100,000 mile powertrain warranty, I reached out to Mazda Customer Experience to see how this could be fixed since we were overseas. I reached out to German Mazda, as well as the Mazda dealership where we purchased the car and the dealership at our last duty station, since they knew me by name and were always so helpful.
Mazda Customer Experience assigned us a case manager on February 21 and said they would be in contact with us as to what they could do to help us with our repairs. We were told since we’re outside the United States, they typically do not cover any repairs, but since we’re military on orders, they were looking into an exception to help reimburse us.
After a couple weeks of back and forth with Mazda Customer Experience, we were getting restless since I was without my car in a foreign country and really needed an answer. We were told by Mazda Customer Experience to even consider reimbursing us, we would need to take my car to a certified Mazda dealership for an official diagnosis. We towed my car to the closest dealership for them to look at it. We were warned by the German Mazda dealership that this wouldn’t be cheap. They wanted 2000 euro to even look at it, as my car’s engine would need to be disassembled to find the crack. We explained the costs to Mazda Customer Experience, and they again told us they wouldn’t give us an answer without an official diagnosis. Being the optimist I am and having a generally positive outlook about people and their ability to do the right thing, I trusted Mazda and hoped we would get positive news about them reimbursing us after the diagnosis. Indeed it was a cracked head. I gave Mazda Customer Experience the diagnosis and sent the estimates for repair in an email on Tuesday, April 9. Unfortunately, the cost to fix it was a little over 9,000 euro, since my car is not made in Europe and the parts had to be shipped from the US.
I was told I’d have an answer at the end of the week as to whether they could reimburse us for repairs or not. When Friday came, we were assigned a new case manager because of our unique situation and was told to give them even MORE time to figure out a solution. After a week of this, my husband spoke on the phone with the new case manager. She seemed somewhat positive about reimbursement and told my husband it wasn’t a matter of if they would reimburse us, but how, since they couldn’t send a check overseas or pay the German Mazda dealership directly.
Finally, the saga concluded this last Monday, April 29 with a resolution: Mazda would not pay for repairs. After two months of back and forth, after shelling out thousands of dollars for a diagnosis, we found out we will not be reimbursed for the repair that is a known issue with my car — that would be fixed for free in the States under my warranty — because we were living overseas on military orders when my car stopped working.
Needless to say, we’re upset. Yes, we understand we technically voided our contract by bringing my car overseas. Yes, we know we’re not owed anything for being a military family and don’t expect people to bend over backwards for us. Yes, we should have known we were not guaranteed reimbursement from the get-go. But we feel like we should be given a tad bit of grace. The only reason I brought my car over is because I love my car, it is paid off, and it’s a safe, dependable car to transport my children around. If I had the foresight to know my car would not be dependable and Mazda would not honor their promise to fix my car if we brought it with us while living overseas, I would have sold it before we left. Our biggest fault in this whole situation is having trust in Mazda.
I know our situation is extremely unique, but has anyone had a similar experience while being stationed overseas? Or does anyone have advice about who I could contact within Mazda to explain our situation? We spoke with our case manager’s supervisor, who told us the case manger(s) should have told us months ago they would never cover this and was extremely rude and unhelpful to my husband. (Would have been nice to know a couple thousand dollars ago, but I digress…) But if anyone can point me in the right direction, I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you!
When we arrived back in the States in 2020 after being stationed overseas, we wanted to find a good, reliable “mom car” to transport my son, and future children, around. We decided on a 2017 certified pre-owned CX-9. We thought this size car was great for our growing family, and we loved the advantages of certified pre-owned over new, since cars depreciate so quickly after driving off the lot. Plus we would have additional coverage for longer, since we planned on essentially running my car into the ground.
Last year, when we found out we were being stationed in Germany, I felt confident bringing my car with us because I knew it would be reliable and it would be a safe car for my two toddlers. We arrived in October of last year, and my car arrived the following month. In February, my husband was changing my oil and noticed a leak. After doing some research, he learned my car was notorious for having a cracked motor head. This is a common, expensive repair, but unfortunately it hasn’t been recalled by Mazda. Knowing my car was certified pre-owned and had a 100,000 mile powertrain warranty, I reached out to Mazda Customer Experience to see how this could be fixed since we were overseas. I reached out to German Mazda, as well as the Mazda dealership where we purchased the car and the dealership at our last duty station, since they knew me by name and were always so helpful.
Mazda Customer Experience assigned us a case manager on February 21 and said they would be in contact with us as to what they could do to help us with our repairs. We were told since we’re outside the United States, they typically do not cover any repairs, but since we’re military on orders, they were looking into an exception to help reimburse us.
After a couple weeks of back and forth with Mazda Customer Experience, we were getting restless since I was without my car in a foreign country and really needed an answer. We were told by Mazda Customer Experience to even consider reimbursing us, we would need to take my car to a certified Mazda dealership for an official diagnosis. We towed my car to the closest dealership for them to look at it. We were warned by the German Mazda dealership that this wouldn’t be cheap. They wanted 2000 euro to even look at it, as my car’s engine would need to be disassembled to find the crack. We explained the costs to Mazda Customer Experience, and they again told us they wouldn’t give us an answer without an official diagnosis. Being the optimist I am and having a generally positive outlook about people and their ability to do the right thing, I trusted Mazda and hoped we would get positive news about them reimbursing us after the diagnosis. Indeed it was a cracked head. I gave Mazda Customer Experience the diagnosis and sent the estimates for repair in an email on Tuesday, April 9. Unfortunately, the cost to fix it was a little over 9,000 euro, since my car is not made in Europe and the parts had to be shipped from the US.
I was told I’d have an answer at the end of the week as to whether they could reimburse us for repairs or not. When Friday came, we were assigned a new case manager because of our unique situation and was told to give them even MORE time to figure out a solution. After a week of this, my husband spoke on the phone with the new case manager. She seemed somewhat positive about reimbursement and told my husband it wasn’t a matter of if they would reimburse us, but how, since they couldn’t send a check overseas or pay the German Mazda dealership directly.
Finally, the saga concluded this last Monday, April 29 with a resolution: Mazda would not pay for repairs. After two months of back and forth, after shelling out thousands of dollars for a diagnosis, we found out we will not be reimbursed for the repair that is a known issue with my car — that would be fixed for free in the States under my warranty — because we were living overseas on military orders when my car stopped working.
Needless to say, we’re upset. Yes, we understand we technically voided our contract by bringing my car overseas. Yes, we know we’re not owed anything for being a military family and don’t expect people to bend over backwards for us. Yes, we should have known we were not guaranteed reimbursement from the get-go. But we feel like we should be given a tad bit of grace. The only reason I brought my car over is because I love my car, it is paid off, and it’s a safe, dependable car to transport my children around. If I had the foresight to know my car would not be dependable and Mazda would not honor their promise to fix my car if we brought it with us while living overseas, I would have sold it before we left. Our biggest fault in this whole situation is having trust in Mazda.
I know our situation is extremely unique, but has anyone had a similar experience while being stationed overseas? Or does anyone have advice about who I could contact within Mazda to explain our situation? We spoke with our case manager’s supervisor, who told us the case manger(s) should have told us months ago they would never cover this and was extremely rude and unhelpful to my husband. (Would have been nice to know a couple thousand dollars ago, but I digress…) But if anyone can point me in the right direction, I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you!