Wondering if I need consider lemon law this thing

[ihaveworms]

I posted a while back saying that I was having issues with my airbag light flashing. This started the weekend after we got the car on October 2nd. Last year the timeline is as follows:

1. Go to dealership to get a tire repair, ask about flashing airbag light while there. They tell us to come back if the light starts flashing again.
2. Go back to dealership over light. They recalibrate the passenger seat sensor.
3. Go back to dealership over light. This time they replace seat sensor.
4. Go back to dealership over light. They replace the airbag module.

The last fix was I think sometime in December. Now the light is flashing again. This will make the 5th time I have had to go to the dealership about this issue. Note that when this happens, the passenger airbag light will periodically illuminate indicating the airbag being disabled and during this time my wife is in the passenger seat. This isn't just a minor convenience, but also a safety issue.

 

[dblgoat]

Before using the Lemon Law why not get Mazda corporate customer service involved. You can contact them by email on the Mazda website--using email (rather than the phone) you'll then have a record of all your communications with them.

 

[yrwei52]

I'd call Mazda Customer Experience Center at (800) 222-5500 to file a complaint and set up a case. You'd express this is a safety issue as airbags are indeed dangerous. You should ask Mazda North American Operations sending a field engineer to help the dealer diagnosing the problem as apparently your dealer is incapable of fixing it. Of course you can check into the lemon law in your state as each state is different. Watch for the time limitation and don't let the deadline pass on lemon law if MNAO couldn't give you a satisfactory resolution. MNAO even-exchanged a brand new CX-5 when a forum member's transmission failed very early on his new CX-3! Sometimes MNAO may really do a good thing when their customers are having problems.

I'd ask for extended warranty on airbags of your CX-5 even if Mazda claims they have fixed your problem just in case.

 

[craigo]

Very strange and sounds like the dealer is incompetent. I know our dealer hates the "throw parts at it" way of solving problems and corporate discourages this by not paying for fixes that don't work. I agree with the others that you try to get Mazda NA involved.

 

[vroom]

You say this happens when your wife is in the seat. Is she per chance very small or lightweight?

 

[ihaveworms]

You say this happens when your wife is in the seat. Is she per chance very small or lightweight?

No, over or under weight is not an issue. Just got off the phone with corporate a few minutes ago. The woman I spoke to put some notes in my file as I had previously spoken to corporate before. It was mostly we are sorry we will talk to the dealership to figure out the cause. She told me if they replaced the airbag module again that would be fix #2 for that issue. I was quick to point out that you can't just replace different parts and reset the attempt-to-fix count back to 1. All these attempted fixes count as a whole for my single issue. You can't just go replace a wire and say well that was the first time we tried replacing the wire so we only attempted that once.

Honestly at this point I don't have a lot of confidence it is going to get fixed correctly and remain fixed. I think it is going to take more than some guy reading a code and looking down a chart to see which part to replace first, second, third, etc.

 

[Natey]

I bought a new Jetta for my wife. VR6 GLX with BBSs and every bell and whistle they could pile on it.

At under 1k, we'd be driving along and all the lights would go out...dash, headlights, EVERYthing. 5 min later the car would die, only to be restarted at the dealership and only the dealership. This happened about 5 times in 6 months, until one day I had a VW service tech IN the car with me when it took a s***. He couldn't get it going again and we had it towed to the dealership ...again.

That's the last I saw of that car. I just quit paying for it. About 3 months later i got a nasty note from veedub, threatening to sue me and repossess the car. I told them they already had that POS and if they wanted to call it even I would too. Sue me or mess with my credit, and I'll see you in court with all my Lemon Law paperwork.

I never heard back from them. This was 10 years ago. I was out my 3500 dollar broncoII trade-in, but I also drove the new car for 6 months. After that, I hit the Mazda dealership, bought my P5, and haven't looked back.


CLIFF NOTES: Lemon Law'ing it is an option, especially if the dealership is incompetent like mine was.

 

[Unobtanium]

Lemon Laws are EXTREMELY hard to invoke in many states. I don't know how TN is, but I'd wager you don't have as much of a case as you think.

 

[dblgoat]

As mentioned above: "You should ask Mazda North American Operations sending a field engineer"

 

[Tom 6-6]

Usually you only can invoke the lemon law in the first year and the car has to have been in the shop for 30 days for the problems. Keep notes and get all paperwork from the dealer every time it is there. ( and all the tow bills )Good luck

 

[ihaveworms]

I am going to get in contact with corp again tomorrow to see what the plan of action is.

 

[Unobtanium]

As mentioned above: "You should ask Mazda North American Operations sending a field engineer"

When I had issues with my 370Z, NNA had multiple GTR techs in the area work on it, and get in touch with their engineering. They were incompetent, except for 1 of the GTR techs. He finally figured things out. Nissan North America had the dumbest suggestions and were full of absolute stupid. Beware "engineering". Find a smart kid who knows his job. That's what fixed my "trouble car".

 

[jasonl99]

I have a CX-5 specifically because I brought a lemon law case with my previous vehicle (a Jeep). I'm in Florida, but in most states, three incidents with the same issue are enough to start the process, which involves notifying the manufacturer at the address in your owners manual (and I highly suggested certified mail), specifically explaining that you have had three repair attempts for the same issue, and you are now giving Mazda a final opportunity for repair, after which you will demand a refund. In Florida, they have ten day to respond to you to schedule a final repair opportunity, and after THAT if it fails again you're golden.

The process for a lemon law claim is not particularly difficult, but you must follow extremely specific steps with very tight timeframes. I suggest the very first thing you need to do is official notification to Mazda. Telling the dealer is not enough, it must be the manufacturer, and it must be to the address in the owners manual. I'd also call your state's lemon law office -- in Florida, they were extremely helpful, to the point where I couldn't believe this was a government agency .

 

[blitzebill]

I contacted Mazda and my dealer about issues with a CX-3 and Madza corporate was extremely helpful and replaced that 3 with a new 5 at no extra cost.

Call Mazda!

 

[ihaveworms]

Well just an update, they had the car for about a week and replaced some more things. They had a engineer come and try to reproduce the problem, but they couldn't figure out why it is happening. They told us to just call if it happens again. And now today (05/04/2016) the windshield has a large crack in it. For my first Mazda....things are definitely not looking like I will be a repeat customer.

 

[yrwei52]

Well just an update, they had the car for about a week and replaced some more things. They had a engineer come and try to reproduce the problem, but they couldn't figure out why it is happening. They told us to just call if it happens again. And now today (05/04/2016) the windshield has a large crack in it. For my first Mazda....things are definitely not looking like I will be a repeat customer.

Sorry to hear that and I don't blame you that you won't get another Mazda next time. Have you asked Mazda for possibility of car replacement if they can't figure out the problem or have you looked into the lemon law in your state?

Is the windshield a stress crack starting from sensor area? I also believe the windshield on CX-5 is weak based on overwhelming number of complaints at NHTSA website, and our CX-5 was the only car, among many cars parked next to each other, the windshield got damaged during the recent hail storm. Some people had the cracked windshield replaced under warranty if there's no obvious hitting mark by hard object. And windshield replacement on CX-5 is expensive. Ours with Tech cost $666.25 for part and $201.65 for labor!

re: Cracked Windshields on CX-5's and Poll

 

[Mr.Gadget]

I posted a while back saying that I was having issues with my airbag light flashing. This started the weekend after we got the car on October 2nd. Last year the timeline is as follows:

1. Go to dealership to get a tire repair, ask about flashing airbag light while there. They tell us to come back if the light starts flashing again.
2. Go back to dealership over light. They recalibrate the passenger seat sensor.
3. Go back to dealership over light. This time they replace seat sensor.
4. Go back to dealership over light. They replace the airbag module.

The last fix was I think sometime in December. Now the light is flashing again. This will make the 5th time I have had to go to the dealership about this issue. Note that when this happens, the passenger airbag light will periodically illuminate indicating the airbag being disabled and during this time my wife is in the passenger seat. This isn't just a minor convenience, but also a safety issue.

My wife and I had an experience with the "Lemon Law" several years ago. If you can get the dealership on your side it makes the process almost too easy. Just keep contacting your dealership with each occurrence and be as pleasant as you can (although it is frustrating) because the dealership wants to fix it and look good too. Once they realize they have to call in the engineers, as I think they have, then your case gets better for Lemon Law. Our dealership actually suggested we take the Lemon Law route. It was on a brand new Ford Freestyle that had all sorts of issues. We told the dealership that we would purchase a different Ford if they help us through the process. They did and we did! Overall, it was painless - once you get the dealership on-board to support your case. Keep at it and treat all involved with kid gloves. Heck, they might even fix it and save you a lot of time and paperwork... (Here's to hoping).
OH, and one significant note on the Lemon Law: If you turn in car A for car B, they do take the value of your current vehicle minus miles driven. So, you may not get back $30,000 on that $30,000 car, but it will be close. That was a surprise to us.

 

[ihaveworms]

Sorry to hear that and I don't blame you that you won't get another Mazda next time. Have you asked Mazda for possibility of car replacement if they can't figure out the problem or have you looked into the lemon law in your state?

Is the windshield a stress crack starting from sensor area? I also believe the windshield on CX-5 is weak based on overwhelming number of complaints at NHTSA website, and our CX-5 was the only car, among many cars parked next to each other, the windshield got damaged during the recent hail storm. Some people had the cracked windshield replaced under warranty if there's no obvious hitting mark by hard object. And windshield replacement on CX-5 is expensive. Ours with Tech cost $666.25 for part and $201.65 for labor!

re: Cracked Windshields on CX-5's and Poll

Dealership refused to cover it under warranty. Come on guys I have been here 5 times over an issue and you won't cover this? People...

My insurance will cover it without deductible so I guess that is good. Do you all think safelite glass is fine? I don't have the tech package or any sensors. Also I see they have a soundproofing and non-soundproofing model. Does the 2016 CX-5 have the soundproofing?

 

[yrwei52]

Dealership refused to cover it under warranty. Come on guys I have been here 5 times over an issue and you won't cover this? People...
My insurance will cover it without deductible so I guess that is good. Do you all think safelite glass is fine? I don't have the tech package or any sensors. Also I see they have a soundproofing and non-soundproofing model. Does the 2016 CX-5 have the soundproofing?

All OEM windshields on CX-5 are not acoustic glass. There lsn't any aftermarket windshields available for 2016 CX-5 GT with Tech Pkg. at this time. I believe windshield with acoustic glass will be thicker. If it doesn't cause any installation issue due to thickness, and your insurance can cover it, won't hurt to get a windshield with acoustic glass.

 

[ihaveworms]

Just another update, after the 5th time of repair with the Mazda tech helping, I am still having the problem. Airbag light started flashing just as it used to and again flashed yesterday. I went back to the dealership today where I bought the car and have had all the repairs done. I went in and told them I am tired of dealing with this issue and want to exchange it. I simply stated I want the same car, I'm not asking for an upgrade to compensate me (even though that would be nice). The guy I spoke to who so happened to be the same guy who sold me the car seemed very helpful and was like sure we will get this taken care of. After about 30 minutes later, the guy over him comes over with a blue book value of my car @ 18k and says ok new car price - 18k leaves you with this much you will need to pay.

Woah there man...I said exchange. I am not trading in this car that should be working. It was fairly insulting they would even try pulling that with me. Seriously? You expect me to eat thousands of dollars in loss because you can't fix the problem? I financed the car through the credit union I use and they asked me how much I had left to pay. I told them I have $18,480 left. They go back to their computers and stay over there a while and come back. This was their "best offer" they could give me:

They take my car back and pay off the $18,480. And then give me a new CX-5 2016.5 Touring (no tech package) for $368.50 for 63 months + $300 destination charge. (I already had the 2016 Touring with the navigation card already, this is essentially the same car to me. Not an upgrade)

That is $23,515.50 or $5,000 they want me to just piss away in all the payments I have made since I bought the car. Really? After all this you want me to eat 5 grand and that's the best you can do? I told them they can keep the deal I am calling corporate. The guy told me that corporate would likely give me less for the car and this deal is probably better. I don't think you have the knowledge to speak on corporate's behalf.

I called corporate when I got home and explained all of this. This is the 3rd time I have contacted corporate through this whole saga of the airbag issue. I just want them to make this right and take the car back and give me a new one. Is that so hard? After 5 times trying to fix this even with a Mazda engineer visiting the dealership I am pretty sure this warrants admitting something is wrong with the car and should be replaced.