You know?....I have to say something about those on the "3" section of our website saying " I told you so" or "thats how it is with first year models" .....
I say "bullsh.." !! :mad:
Heres why (and I am speaking from my experience and a few friends/coworkers too) Also, I know this is not everyones' opinion and I "do" respect that ...but I gotta tell you.....
I traded in a 2002 Protege'5 for my 04' 3s 5-door. That Protege (a model that had already been produced for years I might add) had plenty of "first-year" type problems...This from a model line of cars produced since 1999.......
Here are just a "few" to give you an idea..........
3 different transmission troubles from unreal "jolt" shifting , to not shifting at all, to slipping .....Told by 3 dealers in 3 cities that "is how they are" or they could not duplicate the problems.(shrug)
An A/C system that constantly froze up and blew cold steam on hot days after 2-3 hours of highway driving....1 dealer repaired it with some part behind the glove compartment...but guess what??? It did it again on the next long trip and the other two dealers told me to just let it defrost and roll down the windows for a while and you should be ok ...."Ok? i said"....yea "they do that from time to time" was the reply. (protest)
A cruise control system I would have to say was the worst I have ever owned. It would go 4 mph above or below where you set it but "never" where you set it even on level ground.....2 dealers said "as long as it is within 6-7 mph of where you set it, Mazda considers it normal"....Tell that to the cop for me will ya'?......(uhm) ( a system used since 99' as well)
Rattles, Rattles and more Rattles from the dash, headliner and cargo area....(notcool) Dealer said, oh that is normal with temperature changes....."b.s i say"..
About this A/C issue on the 3?....My P5 sucked also at times(when it worked)....went back and forth being good and bad...I really feel the 3 has better A/C than that Protege, not fantastic mind you, but it is better.
Now here is the clencher, I was even told by 2 very well known Mazda dealers that Mazda "rarely ever updates a cars parts through its cycle with new and improved versions... It almost takes an act of God for them to do it". "They pretty much keep them the exact same stuff" and that they just keep replacing a lot of the bad stuff with the same stuff that has gone bad. (screwy)
Now I know that may not be the case with our brake pads and rotors and these "invisible raised serial numbers" that cause the problems, but I will say this....
You may want to prepare yourselves that the 05', 06' and 07' models are probably going to be almost the same as our 04' models. Not a big chance of "new and improved" parts (although we can hope!)....just a bunch of "programming upgrades" and new type of "adjustments and TSB's" to fix things (which we can benefit from on our 04's). You can "count-on" a slew of later model cars that are going to have issues as well. Those owners may even have some issues that we will not have on our 04' cars. This has happened to other manufacturers with model runs where the first year cars were good or had a few problems and the later year cars were good or had a few "unique" problems of their own that the first series did not. My friends, co-workers, relatives and myself have owned Hondas (yes Honda), Toyotas, BMW, Nissan, Saab, Subaru, definitely VW and a few American makes that have fallen into all of these categories. And yes, even MAZDA.
So do not just say it is "first year problems". The problems are with the customer service as well as parts and design (REGARDLESS OF WHEN THE CAR WAS BUILT IN THE CYCLE). The manufacturers do not prep these service people with the right training, tools, help or good ideas on how to do things right the first time. Two techs at one dealer said to me when fixing something on my 3 , "well I dont know, I have not had any training on these, we have been to bogged down concentrating on the 6...nice car though dude".....
They do not know how to fix the car because it is (yea I know) a first year model and therefore do not have any "experience" fixing it the first time. But I do have to BLAME it some on the training of the people working on our cars. The owners of future 05', 06' and 07' cars will benefit from our experiences in the form that when those cars bust something (and they will), hopefully they will know what to do. (cool)
But also important.....If Mazda, or any other manufacturer for that matter, does not improve the parts, the cars will just keep returning to the dealer for the same repair over and over again.
I know this was long and I am sorry to b****, but you cant just say "I told you so" , there is a lot more to it and it can happen on "ANY" year car of any model run in the start, middle or end of the production........(cryhard)
DOES IT REALLY COME DOWN TO WHO BOUGHT A CAR BUILT ON A MONDAY OR FRIDAY???????(shrug)
I say "bullsh.." !! :mad:
Heres why (and I am speaking from my experience and a few friends/coworkers too) Also, I know this is not everyones' opinion and I "do" respect that ...but I gotta tell you.....
I traded in a 2002 Protege'5 for my 04' 3s 5-door. That Protege (a model that had already been produced for years I might add) had plenty of "first-year" type problems...This from a model line of cars produced since 1999.......
Here are just a "few" to give you an idea..........
3 different transmission troubles from unreal "jolt" shifting , to not shifting at all, to slipping .....Told by 3 dealers in 3 cities that "is how they are" or they could not duplicate the problems.(shrug)
An A/C system that constantly froze up and blew cold steam on hot days after 2-3 hours of highway driving....1 dealer repaired it with some part behind the glove compartment...but guess what??? It did it again on the next long trip and the other two dealers told me to just let it defrost and roll down the windows for a while and you should be ok ...."Ok? i said"....yea "they do that from time to time" was the reply. (protest)
A cruise control system I would have to say was the worst I have ever owned. It would go 4 mph above or below where you set it but "never" where you set it even on level ground.....2 dealers said "as long as it is within 6-7 mph of where you set it, Mazda considers it normal"....Tell that to the cop for me will ya'?......(uhm) ( a system used since 99' as well)
Rattles, Rattles and more Rattles from the dash, headliner and cargo area....(notcool) Dealer said, oh that is normal with temperature changes....."b.s i say"..
About this A/C issue on the 3?....My P5 sucked also at times(when it worked)....went back and forth being good and bad...I really feel the 3 has better A/C than that Protege, not fantastic mind you, but it is better.
Now here is the clencher, I was even told by 2 very well known Mazda dealers that Mazda "rarely ever updates a cars parts through its cycle with new and improved versions... It almost takes an act of God for them to do it". "They pretty much keep them the exact same stuff" and that they just keep replacing a lot of the bad stuff with the same stuff that has gone bad. (screwy)
Now I know that may not be the case with our brake pads and rotors and these "invisible raised serial numbers" that cause the problems, but I will say this....
You may want to prepare yourselves that the 05', 06' and 07' models are probably going to be almost the same as our 04' models. Not a big chance of "new and improved" parts (although we can hope!)....just a bunch of "programming upgrades" and new type of "adjustments and TSB's" to fix things (which we can benefit from on our 04's). You can "count-on" a slew of later model cars that are going to have issues as well. Those owners may even have some issues that we will not have on our 04' cars. This has happened to other manufacturers with model runs where the first year cars were good or had a few problems and the later year cars were good or had a few "unique" problems of their own that the first series did not. My friends, co-workers, relatives and myself have owned Hondas (yes Honda), Toyotas, BMW, Nissan, Saab, Subaru, definitely VW and a few American makes that have fallen into all of these categories. And yes, even MAZDA.
So do not just say it is "first year problems". The problems are with the customer service as well as parts and design (REGARDLESS OF WHEN THE CAR WAS BUILT IN THE CYCLE). The manufacturers do not prep these service people with the right training, tools, help or good ideas on how to do things right the first time. Two techs at one dealer said to me when fixing something on my 3 , "well I dont know, I have not had any training on these, we have been to bogged down concentrating on the 6...nice car though dude".....
They do not know how to fix the car because it is (yea I know) a first year model and therefore do not have any "experience" fixing it the first time. But I do have to BLAME it some on the training of the people working on our cars. The owners of future 05', 06' and 07' cars will benefit from our experiences in the form that when those cars bust something (and they will), hopefully they will know what to do. (cool)
But also important.....If Mazda, or any other manufacturer for that matter, does not improve the parts, the cars will just keep returning to the dealer for the same repair over and over again.
I know this was long and I am sorry to b****, but you cant just say "I told you so" , there is a lot more to it and it can happen on "ANY" year car of any model run in the start, middle or end of the production........(cryhard)
DOES IT REALLY COME DOWN TO WHO BOUGHT A CAR BUILT ON A MONDAY OR FRIDAY???????(shrug)
Infuriated children are cute/funny and nothing infuriates them more than being denied crap they don't need. It sometimes applies to spoiled adults too. Just watch "clerks" if you want proof of hilarity from uptight customers.
