Mazda is SO on my bad list...

[mz3girl]

I just have to rant to everyone right now. So, on July 29 I took my car in to get the brake dust checked... they said it wasn't a big deal, so I just clean her alot (no problem). Well, I had a question about my moonroof because the molding seemed to be sticky. Well, they said that it was warped (the glass, i guess?) Okay. So the guy that took care of my car had to order the moonroof from Japan or wherever... well, he was an ass and didn't do it until 2 weeks later because, well he quit. Fantastic.

So that brings me to August 24th. I took it in because the moonroof FINALLY came in (stupid idiot). SO I get a call about noon that day from my service guy saying that this roof was even worse than the original. They said that it looked okay, but when they put it in they saw the problem with it (whatever.) So I had a bad moonroof in my car. It closed and opened and everything, but still... not a good one! So he ordered ANOTHER moonroof and I would have to bring it in again. Now mind you, this dealer does NOT give loaners if the warranty work is less than 8hrs. SO I had to rearrange the cars in my family to get all of us to work.

The problem with this roof was that it kind of sat on TOP of the car when it was closed... so when you would press the button to slide, it would bring it down, but not slide b/c it had to PULL it down from the roof. Sounded like my poor roof was gonna cave in!

Well today (9/9) I took it in to get the SECOND new roof put in.... I went tonite to pick it up.. looks great! Looks like it fits... so I get in & test it... this one makes a thump & moves the actual roof of the car when it goes from closed to tilt. Then it does it when it goes from closed to slide. I showed the guy and he went in to the showroom to test a new 3, it was perfect (duhh). SO... tomorrow, I work about 20 miles away from the dealership, mind you. They are coming to my work to pick up my car (they had no loaner there & enterprise was closed tonite already...), and they're taking it back so the jackass mechanic who OBVIOUSLY DIDN'T TEST IT! can fix the damn thing.

Here's my question to you guys... you know way more than I do. Now, I'm mad... only at the mechanic because I really like my service guy... he's nice. It's just a pain in the ass to deal with this. I spoke w/ a friend at another dealer and she said that they always send sunroof problems to this auto glass place down the road. I am going to say that to my service man tomorrow morning when I talk to him.... is there a place I can complain to Mazda or anything? Is it worth it to complain?

I'm just so frustrated about it! My dealership isn't a bad place, but they just can't keep mazda mechanics (it's a Mazda/VW dealer)... they only have 1 guy. It's ridiculous... any thoughts on what I should do?

 

[dannyboy]

funny because i just noticed that my moonroof molding looked sticky as well. i'm glad you mentioned that though, it's working fine even though i don't use it that often. I've heard from so many people that mazda service is known for bad service (not all though) so I would email/call mazdausa and complain to them. I did it once and they were on the ball with calling up the dealership directly. it could help. good luck!

 

[wongpres]

The sticky substance on the moonroof molding is residue from the protective plastic they wrap the cars with for shipping. I'm amazed mz3girl's dealership went to all this trouble of ordering a new moonroof (and obviously causing even more problems). There's even a TSB related to this which I've copied & pasted below.

The TSB refers to some paint staining on any sheetmetal, but using something like goo-gone will remove it from the molding. I'm VERY surprised the mechanics didn't realize this.

Anyways, here's the TSB:

09-015/04 2004 MAZDA3 - STAINS ON PAINT
Note: This bulletin contains revised sections. Please update your records accordingly.
BULLETIN NOTE
This bulletin supersedes last issued 04/26/2004. The APPLICABLE MODEL(S)/VINS information has been revised.
APPLICABLE MODEL(S)/VINS
2004 MAZDA3 with VINs lower than JM1 BK**** 41 174130
DESCRIPTION
Paint stains may be present on the hood, roof, and/or trunk after removal of RAPGARD material. The concern may be more noticeable in areas of cold ambient temperatures. This is caused by moisture trapped between the paint and RAPGARD.
Vehicles having this concern should use the following repair procedure.
REPAIR PROCEDURE
The following procedure requires a 1000W (100V AC) heat gun.
NOTE:
This repair procedure requires hot air. Before getting started on the repair, be sure to remove rubber parts or other parts which are easily affected by heat in the surrounding areas.
Use extreme care to maintain a surface temperature below 140 C (284 F).
Place heat gun approximately 5 cm (2 inches) from stained surface for 20 seconds.
Then move heat gun approximately 10 cm (4 inches) from stained surface and apply heat for a maximum of 20 minutes. Use a slow, back and forth motion to control heat.
NOTE: Do not apply heat for longer than 20 minutes, or surface damage may occur.

If the above steps do not remove the stains, refinish the affected surface(s).
WARRANTY INFORMATION
NOTE:
This warranty information applies only to verified customer complaints on vehicles eligible for warranty repair. Refer to the SRT microfiche for warranty term information.
Additional diagnostic time cannot be claimed for this repair.

Warranty Type

A


Symptom Code

98


Damage Code

9X


Part Number Main Cause

5555-04-016A


Quantity

0


Operation Number / Labor Hours:

XX666XR1 / 0.5 (Steps 1 & 2)
XX666XR2 / 0.9 (Steps 1 through 3)


Period Covered

PDI Only

 

[goldwing2000]

Yeah, I had sticky stuff on my moonroof molding, too.
I cleaned it off with some acetone.
Problem solved.

 

[Mazda3Zoomer]

Yeah, I had sticky stuff on my moonroof molding, too.
I cleaned it off with some acetone.
Problem solved.

WD-40 took it off for me.

 

[BlkZoomZoom]

mz3girl- Sounds like your frames bent and your gonna need a new car. lol

Man I hope your not talking about the Mazda/ VW dealership I work at.

 

[ZippityZoomZoom]

It can't hurt to at least make a call to Mazda customer service and get it on record. It's a very good idea actually.

 

[p5stockr]

My dad is the service mgr at the dealership in town(mazda/suzuki) , an supposedly your supposed to get a "customer satasfaction" type survey whenever you bring the car in for warranty work, Mazda REALLY goes nuts over that, they uise the results to give like a "average satisfaction rate" or sumthin, if u get one be totally honest an fill it out, even NOT sending it back goes bad for em cause it shows up as a bad review! lol
But callin mazda customer service wouldnt hurt, especially if you tel em you like the people you deal with just not the actual work, they get hundreds of calls from 'unhappy" customers just wanting to complain cause their car broke,
so as long as you explain in detail the problem it gets results, act the least but md they think yout just ventin tryin to cause trouble for the dealer....
hope it works out, im thinkin of swappin my P5 for a 3hatch!
Brian

 

[mz3girl]

Well... I haven't gotten the survey yet, but I will be honest on that sucker! I'll probably call mazda on Monday on my lunch break...

They took my car back Friday (I can't even describe how sick I was to know someone strange was driving my baby on the highway - ick). They only had it for a couple of hours - the actual service manager guy I had been working with drove it back out to my work for me and he said that they had to make a slight adjustment on it. Now it works perfectly - and they are DAMN LUCKY IT DOES!

I'm just glad its over with... I don't plan on taking it to that dealer anymore for service. I just can't do it. I found one out by my work and took her there to get an oil change and I liked them. So they can have my business if I need it from now on!

But thanks for all the info guys! I appreciate it!

**I wont say the name of the dealer, but it's not the one you work at BlkZoomZoom ***

 

[BlkZoomZoom]

Its good to hear they fixed it for ya. If a guy owned the car theres no way they would've come to pick it up for you.......sad but true... My ex-gf said it was sexist, I told her it was perks of being a girl.lol

 

[sndsgood]

learned your lesson i guess there are thousands of mazda dealers out there. find one that knows what their doing.

 

[Mikey444]

Welcome to the wonderful world of bad Mazda service. My service guys were always good with me and when they started being bitched, I went to the director of the dealership, and he's not about to let service ppl treat me like s*** bought 2 fully loaded cars in the same year from him. And now I get the respect I expect again.

 

[blizz81]

Service is always a dealership-to-dealership gamble. People are involved. People can even mess up fast food, or assembly line manufacturing. Obviously there's general trends - and as Mazda owners, we can't expect Lexus-level service in general. But you get, and probably already fully realize, my drift.

I will say there's times I'm glad that I opted out of the moonroof pkg Even though I've loved using them, I've had nothing but trouble with sunroofs/moonroofs on past cars, though they were 'finely aged' cars.

Good luck at the new dealership!