Mazda Likes To Screw Us

[SeanMSIII]

*sigh* I think ethically a Judge would have to rule otherwise...
Maybe I'm getting my hopes high but every person I've talked to period says it should be an in and out sort of thing IF IF IF IF IF it goes to court.

Speaking purely hypothetically, and not regarding any particular legal matter, the lack of a Monroney statute issue doesn't mean a hypothetical car manufacturer or hypothetical dealer doesn't have any legal obligation to live up to its representations, written or otherwise. Maybe, just maybe, there is a contract law issue when someone relies on written representations that may or may not be part of a contract. I'm not a contracts lawyer, but I think I could play one on TV if I had a good script. I heard somewhere that the first rule in contracts law is to actually look at the contract. I just looked at what I have. It's a preprinted Motor Vehicle Buyers Order which near the bottom says that the window sticker is a part of the contract and overides any contrary provisions on the contract of sale.

Given that, in my case I'm ready to move onto damages. And if I was on TV, say the People's Court, I would argue that my damages are the cost of the Bose components or equivalent purchased from Mazda or somewhere plus installation, minus the market value of my current system minus uninstall costs. Case closed, Judge Wapner bangs the gavel.

 

[SeanMSIII]

....

How would you people like Mazda to handle this? Seems like nothing is good enough. Mazda could offer a free warranty extension and $500 dollar Amex gift card, and people would still complain because 500 dollars can't buy you the bose system.. because it can't be bought. The fact of the matter is, with the sport model you didn't actually pay for the Bose system, and we all know that.
....

You knew that, EC didn't b/c he relied on the sticker. Everybody making a sale has a duty to be careful in their representations b/c there is crazy tradition in our social system of buyers relying on what sellers say, whether in a contract or a window sticker or the packaging. If you went to Best Buy and bought a computer that said on the box it had very fast processor and then you opened it up and it only had a medium-speed processor, would you just take your lumps and leave it at that? No, and neither should EC.

 

[elderlycoffee]

The dealer I bought it from is just a small branch of multiple dealers owned by the same individual in my area.
I went to his main dealer today the GM dealership and spoke directly to him.
He was minorly outraged that the manager at his Mazda dealer hasn't been helping me with this situation and promised me a result I will like in less than 48 hours.

We discussed alternitive options because he stressed that it might not be a good idea to have his mazda dealership which would be angry that they had to do the swap change it out and there is a chance of rattles and what not and the car will never feel the same again.

We spoke about new rims or an upgraded radio system from a place like cartoys that is much better than a bose system.


I think my situation is being resolved, I'll find out for sure in 48 hours.
Of course this is just out of the goodwill of the owner, I can only hope that he can have some type of influence on Mazda to do whats right for those other people.
After all "it's not a mistake untill someone finds it" and I highly doubt Mazda is going to send a letter to all sport owners telling them they messed up.

I'll admit I didn't research enough before buying the car, I was so caught up in it's speed and bragging rights that I forgot about the little things.
It was my first car buying experience however and I'm sure it will only help me in the long run because for the rest of my life I will be looking at every little detail before I buy a car.

 

[BlueMonsta]

The dealer I bought it from is just a small branch of multiple dealers owned by the same individual in my area.
I went to his main dealer today the GM dealership and spoke directly to him.
He was minorly outraged that the manager at his Mazda dealer hasn't been helping me with this situation and promised me a result I will like in less than 48 hours.

We discussed alternitive options because he stressed that it might not be a good idea to have his mazda dealership which would be angry that they had to do the swap change it out and there is a chance of rattles and what not and the car will never feel the same again.

We spoke about new rims or an upgraded radio system from a place like cartoys that is much better than a bose system.


I think my situation is being resolved, I'll find out for sure in 48 hours.
Of course this is just out of the goodwill of the owner, I can only hope that he can have some type of influence on Mazda to do whats right for those other people.
After all "it's not a mistake untill someone finds it" and I highly doubt Mazda is going to send a letter to all sport owners telling them they messed up.

I'll admit I didn't research enough before buying the car, I was so caught up in it's speed and bragging rights that I forgot about the little things.
It was my first car buying experience however and I'm sure it will only help me in the long run because for the rest of my life I will be looking at every little detail before I buy a car.

congratz for finding the owner of the dealership.
i wonder who screwed up at MazdaUSA or MazdaNA, must be someone unfiredable, since they don't want to fix the issue.

 

[elderlycoffee]

congratz for finding the owner of the dealership.
i wonder who screwed up at MazdaUSA or MazdaNA, must be someone unfiredable, since they don't want to fix the issue.

Perhaps so.
I was really quite impressed with this guy. He was very polite and all about helping us, VS. the manager of the mazda dealership who was all about himself. The manager from the mazda dealer really gave off that "too cool for school" impression.

 

[JDM Sam]

I'd consult an attorney before you do anything b/c no one here in this thread is legally licensed to give advice to you on the law.

 

[elderlycoffee]

I'd consult an attorney before you do anything b/c no one here in this thread is legally licensed to give advice to you on the law.

Of course not :-D
But it seems that I may have my personal situation resolved without having to involve any legal work.

 

[Kansei]

Perhaps so.
I was really quite impressed with this guy. He was very polite and all about helping us, VS. the manager of the mazda dealership who was all about himself. The manager from the mazda dealer really gave off that "too cool for school" impression.

Nice work, you took the right step and went to the next guy up on the chain of command instead of just going for the lawsuit route.

In all honesty I'd say to have them give you at least the 6CD/MP3 unit (the stock head unit is a modular system, they can remove your single cd part of your unit and replace it with a 6CD) and then enough money for you to get a nice amp and door speakers plus install at a reputable shop (not best buy lol).

As for the alarm, a dealership can install that no problem. It comes with installation instructions and is totally plug and play.

 

[highwaypizza]

Good work coffee!

There are always alternatives to a lawsuit, you just have to hunt them down.

And SAM- I think everyone in here understands that nobody is a lawyer and hasn't passed the BAR. However, it doesn't mean that some of us don't know the law as well as a lawyer.

 

[javanc]

On a side note. The new sports have a different, modified window sticker. Seems as though someone realized the mess up and have fixed it. So much for my free bose system and alarm.

 

[Olestra]

Well great job elderly.
Couple things to consider - other MS3 owners are probably in a similar situation and don't know. If they need to take some sort of legal action against Mazda then the more people the better. All this talk about Mazda not being bound by the law or whatnot isn't always the deciding factor. If 60 people filed complaints against Mazda for faulty stickers, it would become a public embarassment and then it would be in Mazda's best interest to fix the situation by installing the stereo etc. and probably give out some gift certificates as someone mentioned they did with RX8's and M5s.

If that does go through then you get a nice little deal. However if you accept this owner's goodwill, which in a law court could be seen as a bribe, then any legal credibility you might have goes out the window.

But if you're happy with an aftermarket stereo and you're never going to look back, get it and walk away. =) Never go to that dealership again.

PS. In regards to certain ppl thinking that elderly didn't pay for that system, he did what 99% of ppl do when purchasing something. Look at a price tag and if the price is right and the product interests you, buy it. There's only a handful of picky cheap ass ppl like me and those other certain ppl that would go research something to death and have every option memorized before buying a product. In US, with stickers on the car, the need to do that isn't necessary because you can see what you're getting right there. So elderly should have gotten that system.

Kudos to Sean for actually going to research that law instead of just making something up or waiting for someone to go find the answer...
Personally, I'm a "it's the principle of the matter" type of guy and I would still be going after Mazda for deceiving me.

 

[jadonP5]

lol...you would have the username Olestra so ironic.

 

[BlueMonsta]

On a side note. The new sports have a different, modified window sticker. Seems as though someone realized the mess up and have fixed it. So much for my free bose system and alarm.

hey, i cant see the pic in enough details to read the letters, can u zoom in?

 

[SeanMSIII]

I'd consult an attorney before you do anything b/c no one here in this thread is legally licensed to give advice to you on the law.

Probably true, but not necessarily. One of us could be an attorney licensed in the state where this is taking place. Then they would be legally qualified to give him specific legal advice on his specific legal problem. Of course, they would only want to do that with all the facts in hand and for a fee or at least a contingency. The problem with consulting an attorney is that you aren't talking about that much money. So EC has probably gotten about almost as much info from his friends for free as he would have after spending a couple hundred bucks on a consultation.

Anyway, what EC is doing and what I hope the dealership is doing is always the best way no matter what the law. On minor issues like these where nobody's health or life's savings is at risk, it's always better to keep good will and avoid the delay, cost, and hassle of the legal system.

 

[Hughes412]

How would you people like Mazda to handle this? Seems like nothing is good enough. Mazda could offer a free warranty extension and $500 dollar Amex gift card, and people would still complain because 500 dollars can't buy you the bose system.. because it can't be bought. The fact of the matter is, with the sport model you didn't actually pay for the Bose system, and we all know that.

500 dollars would not cut it for me. I would take them to small claims court and go for the max (5000 here) or 3000 and make them intall the Bose system. The thing is that an after market radio will look like crap in that car because the way the dash is set up. That and as the other guy said, it the principle of the matter. Why do you think they put labels on things? That's to let you know what you are getting. Even if he did know that the bose didn't normally come on that trim level, it doesn't mean that it some how it didn't get ordered with it. That's why they are legally bound by that sticker.

The anti-theft system, on the other hand, can be installed for pretty minimal cost to Mazda. From Mazdastuff.com, I bought the factory anti-theft system for just over 110 dollars, shipping included. Install took 20 minutes, a nice plug and play install.

If Mazda gave you a year or two of free oil changes, a $500 dollar amex card, and gave you the anti-theft system, would that shut people up?

One, it doesn't matter how easy the install is.
Tow if you sell me a product and said it does 5 things but when I got it home it only did 4 you would be fixing it or refunding my money. And I can tell you for a fact that a yrs worth of oil changes will only cost them about 50 bucks, I know this because I used to run a lube shop and know how much it takes to do that. And 500 bucks isn't s*** compaired to what he was short changed! That bose package would cost 1or 2 grand.

 

[BlueMonsta]

Kansei, its simple.
people want their bose system and anti-theft system; and maybe a loaner's car while they do the install.

and FACT of the matter is, its on the window label under STANDARD EQUIPMENT. Now, its not the mazdaspeed3 owner's fault for TRUSTING mazda.

mazdaspeed3 being a limited edition car, mazda should take more effort in regards to this issue.

 

[Kansei]

... and then they'll complain that their cars rattle after being ripped apart by some idiot tech at the dealership who is barely getting paid enough to not kill himself after the 15th bose system install of the day

 

[BlueMonsta]

... and then they'll complain that their cars rattle after being ripped apart by some idiot tech at the dealership who is barely getting paid enough to not kill himself after the 15th bose system install of the day

haha, seriously though.
the techs should be trained to install these parts.
The parts should have an excellent fit such that it won't rattle.
If the parts doesn't it should have never left the factory.
Techs are on salary at certain dealerships.

 

[Hughes412]

I wonder what they will do.

 

[highwaypizza]

It would be in Mazda's best interest to work with people on this instead of trying to sweep it under the rug.

I wish companies would start taking a little responsibility for their mistakes. Good luck to all of you that have the funky window stickers, I wish the best outcome for all of you, no matter how you handle the situation. Just try to work it out before going all lawyer crazy.

FYI: All of you complaining about the 'alarm' issue. Anti-theft and theft-deterrent are two different things. The GT has both. Theft-deterrent is the alarm, anti-theft is just an engine disabling feature. Look at your sticker very carefully for the sport - it should only list anti-theft, which has no audible or visual alarm.