warranty voided
- Thread starter samsel450r
- Start date
SuperStretch18
Member
- :
- '07 CX-7 Sport, Black on Black; '04 Mazda3s
The point Shaun was making is that the dealer can not void your warranty. They are an intermediary; the warranty agreement is between Mazda USA and the buyer. Mazda USA though can and does void warranties if need be...
Its semantics. A dealership cannot void your warranty, they can deny warranty work. Mazda NA voids the warranty. Unless Mazda works differently than the manufacturer I work for.
thats how it works
Mazda can also authorize a dealer, with or without the buyer's consent or notification, to void warranties on their behalf. I am sure this is probably part of the standard dealer agreement between Mazda USA and most, if not all, Mazda dealers.
Point is, the language is there that places the burden on the buyer to not modify the car, or seek written blessing from Mazda that something is not a modification.
I don't have my original sales agreement here, but I believe that when you buy a car, you are buying it from your dealer, not from Mazda USA, so the agreements in force are between you and the dealer. I am not confident this has any bearing on whether or not it is a dealer or MUSA that can void a warranty. There are probably all kinds of cross-authorizations that allow them to do pretty much whatever they want.
+1
Also, when a dealer calls up Mazda, they (Mazda) have NO idea what the car has on it. It's the dealer that 'rats' the owner out. So while the dealer themselves don't authorize the voiding of the warranty, they are indirectly responsible for it. If a dealer wants to be cool, they can perform warranty work on a car with crazy mods and Mazda wouldn't know squat.
You seem pretty knowledgable about the subject. You supplied all the necessary sources and paperwork. And you used industry specific vocabulary. All of this plus the March Join date leads me to this conclusion...
Mazda Warranty SPY ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! (getout)
Hehehe jk jk jk.
Just talk with your service tech writer when you bring it in for service to figure out what they allow. I also have been told that anything before the TB and any exhaust is ok, even a full Turboback. The service manager I spoke with even went as far to say that the smoking turbo is an acknowledged problem that mazda is working on resolving, and that a full turboback won't void my warranty and won't be blamed for my car smoking. Oh and there just one of 6 dealerships within 30 miles...
-mk
Im not sure but I believe if its something major as a motor or trans, mazda will send someone to take a look at the car.
Hahah! No... I thought about saying that, too, since it did sound that way. I'm actually a new Mazda3 owner (two weeks and two days ago!) and so far I like the car a lot, except that it's a total rattlebox and it drives me crazy.
I also just happen to read everything before signing anything, so I know what I am getting into
I would even go so far as to speculate that MazdaUSA probably has a bonus program to reward dealers for turning in warranty fraud cases, and there are probably metrics for warranty work dollars that dealers are held to when determining their year-end factory bonus (which is the only money dealers really make).
That is 100% pure speculation, though, and I have no information that supports it in any way. I just wouldn't be surprised if it were true, and I don't put anything past corporate America anymore.
I doubt they would even blink an eye at things like cosmetic changes (rims, tires, window tint, etc) but big mechanical changes, they will absolutely want to take a look at.
If you do anything at all to increase performance, that indicates a severe driver who likely abuses the car, so they definitely want to get rid of these warranties asap.
smakdown61
Member
The best thing to do is keep the car with bolt-on mods that are EASY to remove in case you need a warranty repair. Right now, I have a motor mount and shifter bushing and I'm going to add a cobb sri and probably Cobb AP. All of that stuff can be easily returned to stock if needed. I'm most hesistant about a downpipe with all the smoking going on. I'd rather not have to pay to have my stock pipe put back on to get my turbo fixed.
astraelraen
Member
Warranties are a Liability to Mazda Corp. If they void warranties they remove the liability from their balance sheet, etc. This is good for financial reporting. Positive financial reporting probably means higher bonuses for Execs. Execs like higher bonuses.
Of course they probably have some sort of program to reward dealers for voiding warranties, or at a minimum reducing warranty work.
I'm pretty sure you're right about that. It happens in the computer service industry. If we do too many warranty repairs, hp charges us more for parts or we get less discounts. Same thing with Apple, etc. It would make sense in the Auto service industry as well.
But I've seen dealers bend over backwards for people so the outcome, imo, still rests heavily on the dealer's overall attitude.
Good point about the execs.
But, I don't think they can overtly pay dealers to void warranties. However, what they can do is use the amount of warranty dollars spent by Mazda at a dealer as a measure of that dealership's overall performance, and set their quarterly or annual bonus accordingly.
In other words, they can't pay you to void a warranty, but they can sure as heck reduce your bonus if you do too much warranty work. This is an incentive to the "it's normal" explanation that you get 99 times out of 100 when you go to the dealer shop for warranty work.
Case in point, my other ride is a 2003 pathfinder. The second winter I had it, it started misbehaving - it would not go into the higher gears at all when it was cold, so I would end up driving down the highway at 4000 RPM at 55mph on my way to work for the first 10 minutes or so. "It's normal" because it's waiting for the transmission to warm up. I took it to 3 different dealers. It was always "normal," even though I also drove a new one one morning and it did not do it. They refused to document my complaint beyond "customer reports transmission problem. No problem found."
Long story short, I brought it in for it's 60k mile service at around 62k, and I get a call, "Hey, did you know your transmission won't go into high gears when it's cold? You need a new transmission, and it costs $5000," 2k miles after the warranty on the powertrain expired.
You can't tell me there wasn't something fishy going on there.
You would be so surprised how far you can get just being NICE to the people working at the dealership. I've seen so many people in the shop yelling and screaming at people who are just trying to feed their kids and send them to college. I can't imagine they got much help.
builthatch
Member
I took it to 3 different dealers. It was always "normal," even though I also drove a new one one morning and it did not do it. They refused to document my complaint beyond "customer reports transmission problem. No problem found."
Long story short, I brought it in for it's 60k mile service at around 62k, and I get a call, "Hey, did you know your transmission won't go into high gears when it's cold? You need a new transmission, and it costs $5000," 2k miles after the warranty on the powertrain expired.
You can't tell me there wasn't something fishy going on there.
did you pursue that? there are numerous documented instances of you complaining about it prior to the warranty expiring. surely you can get that taken care of FOC with some phone calls and stammering...
i know i would (scratch)
how you ever let it slide 3 times, i don't understand. i'd have raised absolute hell until something happened in my favor and the problem was corrected to spec, probably by the second time.
i honestly don't take crap from anyone when it comes to an investment and/or a tool which cost me good money. if i have an issue, it gets corrected. i just keep escalating things until it happens. the old addage "knowledge is power" is oh-so-true, as is a strong will ; )
did it help you with your pathfinder? i'm not saying be unreasonable, but for god's sake, stand up for what you pay for, and for what you rightly deserve. You know it as well as i that the first line of defense at these dealers will take advantage of people's fear of confrontation, lack of knowledge and inherently weak will.
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I couldn't agree more with this philosophy, and yes, it did work just fine. I went to a dealer I hadn't gone to and just explained what happened, and we sat down and brainstormed about possible causes. At one point, I suggested there might not be a problem with the hardware, but rather with what the computer THINKS about the hardware (this is after all what I do for a living). Sure enough, the A/T temp sensor was telling the computer the trans was 30 degrees colder than it actually was, so the computer was locking out high gears to help warm it up.
$50 part..
I never back down if I know I am right, but at the same time I am tactful about doing it. You might be right, but that doesn't mean you win.
builthatch
Member
I couldn't agree more with this philosophy, and yes, it did work just fine. I went to a dealer I hadn't gone to and just explained what happened, and we sat down and brainstormed about possible causes. At one point, I suggested there might not be a problem with the hardware, but rather with what the computer THINKS about the hardware (this is after all what I do for a living). Sure enough, the A/T temp sensor was telling the computer the trans was 30 degrees colder than it actually was, so the computer was locking out high gears to help warm it up.
$50 part..
I never back down if I know I am right, but at the same time I am tactful about doing it. You might be right, but that doesn't mean you win.
right, tact is of the utmost importance, i agree wholeheartedly. I definately don't want to promote being rude or disorderly! I just hate to see anyone get run-over by a dealership without truly exploring all options, and stopping any forward momentum toward the problem getting fixed simply because there are one or more "eunuchs" involved.
i had an 07 si (not the one i have now, the one before that) which had a battery of problems, i mean, soup to nuts, issue after issue, and eventually it was found to be that the car was hit sometime before we bought it...a brand new car, and the damage resulting from the hit contributed to many of the problems we were seeing with the car. the original dealer from where my broker procured the car denied any involvement, and was highly resistent, hoping i would pursue the lemon law i guess, however my broker stepped in and ate the car. i know not everyone has that luxury, so i encourage people to push and push as i stated if you believe you are deserving yet denied.
smakdown61
Member
Dealerships are not there to be your friend. They're not there to help you reach the best possible solution. They are there for one thing only...what every business drives for...and that is to make the maximum profit they can off of you. Everything they do is based around that philosophy. Now, what makes them the most profit may not be the most honest nor whats best for consumer satisfaction. I will always attempt to be nice to a dealer until they either A) Get an attitude with me or B) Disrespect my intelligence as a consumer. I don't pussy around with dealers...if I have a problem i'll tell it to them firm (firm does not mean yell). No dicking around, either they're going to fix it or not.
I
I never back down if I know I am right, but at the same time I am tactful about doing it. You might be right, but that doesn't mean you win.
+1
It's about taking the path of low resistance. Be nice first and slowly escalate things as needed even if it means switching dealers. I've never had a problem with this approach, but I'm also blessed with a dealer that have competent mechanics (another important factor). I've had a tranny + engine replaced on my last car without any drama.
On that car I had a tranny cooler on and had issues with hard shifting (I know it wasn't the cooler because it was a common issue on some cars) but the dealer decided to call up Mazda USA. The service advisor came to me and said they wanted to void the tranny warranty because they thought I was racing it. He said they didn't but I should take the cooler off and bring it back and they'll take care of it. They end up putting in a brand new tranny (not rebuilt) and paid for a rental no questions asked. Had I been an as*hole about the whole thing, my drivetrain warranty would've been voided for sure.
