My First Mazda. Late 2010 (60) Sport 2.0 DISI

[Bodgerx]

Just bought my first Mazda. Pick it up on Thursday.

It looks pretty clean, it's the new shape model with leather, electric doors and iStop. 24k miles.

Anyone any experiences of the direct injection 2.0? Felt fairly similar power wise to my 2008 1.8 Civic. Was impressed with the smoothness of the engine, didn't sound clattery like the Di BMW 3 series I had. Wanted the 1.6 diesel, but it was just too expensive and we wouldn't have made it back in the fuel savings.


I was planning on doing the DRL upgrade that they have on eBay with the OEM looking fog panels. Anyone done this yet?

 

[Secondtyme]

Welcome aboard! Look in the accesories forum for the DRL posts, I think that is where they are. Curse you Europeans and your diesels LOL

 

[chief_wiggum]

Curse you Europeans and your diesels LOL

No kidding; anxiously awaiting a U.S. skyactiv-d mazda5.

 

[foxhound1979]

No kidding; anxiously awaiting a U.S. skyactiv-d mazda5.

hoping to see those in Canada too

 

[Bodgerx]

Ok, so I picked it up today. Looks very sweet for an MPV/mini van type thing. Previous owner had some nice extras fitted such as blue led welcome lights and chrome kick plates with an illuminated blue Mazda5 logo in them.

Got 43mpg (36 us mpg) on the trip back home, which is not bad considering my 1.8 Civic would only get fractionally better than that on the same trip. iStop works a treat, and kicks the engine back in much faster than the BMW system.

Only issue I have is steering wobble between approx 65mph and 70mph. Should have expected it - the Mazda dealer fitted dirt cheap 'Evergreen' Chinese (or some other Asian brand) tyres. I have seen the thread where someone else has this problem. The car is still under manufacturer warranty (is 3 years old at the end of Sept). It also has a 12 month 'approved used' warranty. What are the chances of getting this looked at under this warranty - are they going to throw at out as a 'wear and tear' item?

 

[Secondtyme]

You can bet they will do all they can to blame the "wobble" on the tires. Make sure that they at least evaluate all possible causes, before accepting the "it must be those tires" explanation. I would see if they might be willing to fit better tires as a goodwill gesture. Did you say you bought it as a Certified Pre-Owned, as in backed by Mazda UK?

 

[phunky.buddha]

I'd take it to another dealer and have them try to honor the warranty to try to replace the tires... since the dealer that sold it to you deemed it proper to put crappy tires on in the first place.

 

[Bodgerx]

Yep, bought it certified pre owned. Has the balance of the new warranty and a 12 month used warranty with road side assist.

I was kind of hoping they would offer to fit different tyres. I doubt they will.

It is disappointing. Drives like a beat up Renault 5 I had when I was 17 on the motorway!

I will call them today.

 

[Bodgerx]

I'd take it to another dealer and have them try to honor the warranty to try to replace the tires... since the dealer that sold it to you deemed it proper to put crappy tires on in the first place.

Yeah that's my feeling about it.

I am quite some distance away from the dealer I bought it at, so I will take it to the local one.

 

[Bodgerx]

Called the dealer on their 0844 number. Pressed '1' for the service dept. Static on the line, line goes dead. Tried again, the same. LOL, this doesn't bode well...

 

[Bodgerx]

Finally got in touch with the dealer. They aren't interested. Basically, they say it's a wheel balance problem, and that's not covered under warranty. I explained that I have literally just bought it, and they just put brand new tyres on it. He said that doesn't matter, and they probably did it wrong. He said you could take it back to the dealer. I said its over 100 miles away. He said, they can only cover warranty items only here.

So I have to go and get it done at my own expense. Great. A great start to Mazda ownership. Come back Honda...

 

[Secondtyme]

I understand your reluctance to travel to the same place you bought the car, but your best chance of leveraging your recent purchase into a "goodwill" fix is there. In the interests of saving the cost of a potential repair I think you would be well served in going back to the original dealer. I would first contact Mazda Corporate and ask them if they spec a certain tire for certified pre-owned vehicles. If Mazdas feeling is that "rubber and round" is good enough then you should just go ahead and get the tires fixed on your dime. If instead they are bothered by the fact that the dealer installed lowest bidder rubber, you may have a case with Mazda Corporate. Don't give up until you are satisfied, and above all try not to give up on the brand because the dealer is a douche (Honda dealers here in the US are notorious for rotten customer service)

 

[Bodgerx]

It would probably cost me in fuel to get there and back what it is going to take to get the wheels balanced, so I think I will just pay for that locally. If the problem isn't solved by that, then I'm going to contact the dealer again.

I like your suggestion about telling Mazda about the cheap tyres, they need to know. I looked up the cost of these tyres online, they are less than half the price of a mid range Goodyear, for example.

 

[X-Tanker]

I wouldn't be surprised if all dealers put on the cheapest tires they can find. When I bought my 5 used (from a Honda dealer), they mentioned it had brand new tires. After buying it I noticed it constantly pulled to the left. After an a alignment and rotation, it still pulled. Looked more closely at the tires and they were Sailun Atrezzos. Never heard of that brand. When I took them off and put my snow tires on later that year, it drove straight. Dumped the Sailuns in the spring and put on some Coopers. No problems since.

 

[phunky.buddha]

Yeah that's my feeling about it.

I am quite some distance away from the dealer I bought it at, so I will take it to the local one.

Finally got in touch with the dealer. They aren't interested. Basically, they say it's a wheel balance problem, and that's not covered under warranty. I explained that I have literally just bought it, and they just put brand new tyres on it. He said that doesn't matter, and they probably did it wrong. He said you could take it back to the dealer. I said its over 100 miles away. He said, they can only cover warranty items only here.

So I have to go and get it done at my own expense. Great. A great start to Mazda ownership. Come back Honda...

Yuck.

I wouldn't be surprised if all dealers put on the cheapest tires they can find. When I bought my 5 used (from a Honda dealer), they mentioned it had brand new tires. After buying it I noticed it constantly pulled to the left. After an a alignment and rotation, it still pulled. Looked more closely at the tires and they were Sailun Atrezzos. Never heard of that brand. When I took them off and put my snow tires on later that year, it drove straight. Dumped the Sailuns in the spring and put on some Coopers. No problems since.

That's been my experience- the local dealer I bought my S2000 from (Certified Used Honda too) put some pretty crappy tires on it- they only gave me $100 off at signing too. The rears were too narrow, so it spent a lot of time with the back end sliding, and the tires weren't even speed rated to match the capabilities of the car. Let's just say that those tires spent 20k miles creating smoke and were then replaced soon afterwards.

 

[Bodgerx]

Yuck.

That's been my experience- the local dealer I bought my S2000 from (Certified Used Honda too) put some pretty crappy tires on it- they only gave me $100 off at signing too. The rears were too narrow, so it spent a lot of time with the back end sliding, and the tires weren't even speed rated to match the capabilities of the car. Let's just say that those tires spent 20k miles creating smoke and were then replaced soon afterwards.

I like it. If only the 5 had some more power, and I think I'd be doing the same

 

[Bodgerx]

I have posted some photos:

http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/show...going-Thread&p=6208188&viewfull=1#post6208188

 

[Bodgerx]

Ok, so I took it to my local tyre place. They balanced all 4 wheels. They said they were not balanced (including the wheels with the new Chinese tyres). In particular they said whomever did the balancing before did a poor job, putting weights all over the wheel in opposite directions counter balancing them. Make of that what you will.

Anyway, I took it out on the local dual-carriage way for a blast and all is fixed! Hurrah!

They also gave me a warning on the inside edge of the rear tyres saying they were starting to 'feather'. He said this is probably common on this car as there is a fair amount of camber set on the rear. Interesting - I always thought that kind of wear was only a problem on the previous generation 5.

 

[phunky.buddha]

I like it. If only the 5 had some more power, and I think I'd be doing the same

Next on my list is more power, since I've already taken care of suspension, wheels/tires, and some of the stereo. Well, after I upgrade the brakes. I can't decide between boost or just I/H/E- I have the know-how, just no spare cash.

I have posted some photos:

http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/show...going-Thread&p=6208188&viewfull=1#post6208188

Very nice! I love those side/foot panels.

Ok, so I took it to my local tyre place. They balanced all 4 wheels. They said they were not balanced (including the wheels with the new Chinese tyres). In particular they said whomever did the balancing before did a poor job, putting weights all over the wheel in opposite directions counter balancing them. Make of that what you will.

Anyway, I took it out on the local dual-carriage way for a blast and all is fixed! Hurrah!

They also gave me a warning on the inside edge of the rear tyres saying they were starting to 'feather'. He said this is probably common on this car as there is a fair amount of camber set on the rear. Interesting - I always thought that kind of wear was only a problem on the previous generation 5.

Yuck. Sounds like a dealer tech that doesn't know how to use tire machines. As for the rear feathering, the current gen Mazda 5 shares the same suspension geometry as the 1st gen 5, which means that there is a LOT of toe change under compression in the rear. It's documented elsewhere on the forum, recently too (last month or two). I think it was something like a 3/16" change from unloaded to family inside. I've partially cured mine through running MUCH heavier springs than stock to reduce the amount the rear moves around, but I still get funny inner edge wear. It might be time for me to start shopping for a poly bushing kit to remove some of the play in the suspension. Remember, toe kills tires, not camber alone.

 

[neonpla]

I had the death wobble and it was attributed to a broken rear strut, the strut broke off the mount.