My Engine is Trashed

I bought a 2017 GT back in April from a local Mazda dealer. The car was a trade in and had 1 local owner, 63k.

A few weeks ago I was driving in the city and heard a knocking sound ricocheting back at me from the buildings passing by. Is that my car? When I got home I checked everything, under car, engine pulleys, etc, scan tool PIDs all normal. Thrn verified that the sound was coming from the block. It sounded a bit like a rod bearing but I refused to believe it!

So I Took it into dealer. Sure enough, rod bearing is shot. Metal particles all in the pan and through the oil passages. Even coolant somehow got into the oil which is strange because there was no smoke from the exhaust or high engine temp.

Thankfully I had a 1 year powertrain warranty and they are replacing the whole engine. But I was worried they were gonna try and deny the claim. Reason being, last owner seems to have neglected maintenance. The car fax report shows only 3 oil changes, and I noticed as soon as the pandemic hit, it pretty much just sat. Then they sold it. Still, I’m surprised it spun a bearing.

If I buy a used car again it’s gonna have to have extensive maintenance records!
 
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Wow! Your definitely dodged a missile!
My pure speculation.. because you bought it from a Mazda dealership, they were able to honor the warranty. Reason being.. the dealership should be aware of the lack of maintenance record in their system and they "inspected" the vehicle to be worthy upon the trade in. I would also speculate the dealership advertised the vehicle to be within warranty period so the lack of record wouldn't be a negative.
 
^That right there...if you happened to be under the new car powertrain warranty. You bought it with 63k miles so that's not the case. There's other stuff to be said in that situation but let's go on.

You say you had a a one year powertrain warranty. Where did that come from (he asks rhetorically)? That's a whole different kettle of fish from a new car warranty and may be the reason this was a slam dunk for you.

Who's paying for your new engine? Whoever underwrote that one year of coverage. It could be any of various parties. Curious...I'm guessing the new one is a rebuild. If so, is it coming from Mazda or elsewhere?
 
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Definitely dodged a big missile! The warranty situation with this was a little different. It was a limited powertrain 12k/1 year from the a dealer group, MileOne, on the east coast. They claim to stand behind their used cars. But the underwriter was Fidelity, whom also sell extended warranties. So I thought for sure I’d have some claim denial from them. I was asked to cover any labor during the process if the claim was denied, but only took removal of the oil pan. Dealer worked through the dealer, sent an inspector etc.

Current status of all this right now is I don’t yet have the car back but I’ve had a loaner the whole time thank god. Not sure if it is a brand new engine assembly or rebuilt, definitely not used or salvage.

Another thing I’ve learned from all of this… extended warranties seem to be pretty sketchy with claim denials. I’ve never had one personally, but after reading contracts I’m not surprised. Also, states have “implied warranties” that you are entitled to a working car, unless you buy the car “as is” . But that’s where it gets into a legal mess.
 
Congrats, having that engine dying on you within that one year powertrain warranty. Definitely dodged a major financial headache.
 
Make sure you get info on the new engine. Highly unlikely you will get a new engine. Possibly rebuilt. I know you said not salvage but don't be surprised if that's what you get. And there's nothing wrong with salvage as long as you know what you're getting.

Case in point:
My wife drove her Maxima through couple feet of water and trashed the engine. At the time the car had 63k on odo. Insurance replaced engine with salvage that had 5,800 miles on it. It was totalled from a rear end collision. She drove it for another 70k before trading it. Did not have one problem with the new engine.
 
Make sure you get info on the new engine. Highly unlikely you will get a new engine. Possibly rebuilt. I know you said not salvage but don't be surprised if that's what you get. And there's nothing wrong with salvage as long as you know what you're getting.

Case in point:
My wife drove her Maxima through couple feet of water and trashed the engine. At the time the car had 63k on odo. Insurance replaced engine with salvage that had 5,800 miles on it. It was totalled from a rear end collision. She drove it for another 70k before trading it. Did not have one problem with the new engine.
Agree. alot of salvage engines are operable, reliable and undamaged aside from normal wear and tear. Junkyards nowadays usually test the engines and offer small 90 day to 180 day warranties. That said I would never buy an engine from a frontal impact... Side and rear impact engines are more likely to be nice replacements.
 
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Interesting, great to know on salvage. I guess if you know what your getting. With the whole auto parts supply crisis who knows I might be lucky to just get an engine!
 
Definitely dodged a big missile! The warranty situation with this was a little different. It was a limited powertrain 12k/1 year from the a dealer group, MileOne, on the east coast. They claim to stand behind their used cars. But the underwriter was Fidelity, whom also sell extended warranties. So I thought for sure I’d have some claim denial from them. I was asked to cover any labor during the process if the claim was denied, but only took removal of the oil pan. Dealer worked through the dealer, sent an inspector etc.

Current status of all this right now is I don’t yet have the car back but I’ve had a loaner the whole time thank god. Not sure if it is a brand new engine assembly or rebuilt, definitely not used or salvage.

Another thing I’ve learned from all of this… extended warranties seem to be pretty sketchy with claim denials. I’ve never had one personally, but after reading contracts I’m not surprised. Also, states have “implied warranties” that you are entitled to a working car, unless you buy the car “as is” . But that’s where it gets into a legal mess.
That's what I thought. It would be very difficult for the extended warranty underwriter to deny a claim for improper maintenance by the prior owner since no one is in a position to provide a complete record. They could suspect it, they could say there's strong evidence for it, but they can't prove it. Now, they could reasonably demand service records from the date of your purchase forward to see if you did what was required if the contract so stated.

It's different under a new car warranty (or an extended service contract after that) is issued to the original owner. You are in a position to maintain all records, and those contract provisions can reasonably shift the onus to you to provide them.
 
That's what I thought. It would be very difficult for the extended warranty underwriter to deny a claim for improper maintenance by the prior owner since no one is in a position to provide a complete record. They could suspect it, they could say there's strong evidence for it, but they can't prove it. Now, they could reasonably demand service records from the date of your purchase forward to see if you did what was required if the contract so stated.

Thanks for your insight. That’s what I was thinking as well, or, prepared to argue that point. Had to prepare myself just in case. I had read of a couple instances of warranty companies getting denying claims similar to this, but also success with appealing the claim. And on my end I haven’t even had it long enough to change the oil!
 
A 2.5 swap is VERY popular in the Miata world. A new 2.5 with old engine trade in is just under $2600 through Mazda. I'm not sure if the Skyactive is the same price.
 
I’m curious, is the 2.5 engine mentioned above not a Skyactive but an L-series engine?
 
So turn out the warranty company ultimately denied the claim! They claimed it was a pre existing condition. So the dealer is eating the cost, but they are sending the car to the Honda dealer up the road who did the initial check of the car when it was traded in, and THEY are eating the cost, and giving me a Honda loaner. Sheesh. But I am greatful they aren’t trying to put anything on me.
 
So turn out the warranty company ultimately denied the claim! They claimed it was a pre existing condition. So the dealer is eating the cost, but they are sending the car to the Honda dealer up the road who did the initial check of the car when it was traded in, and THEY are eating the cost, and giving me a Honda loaner. Sheesh. But I am greatful they aren’t trying to put anything on me.
That's an interesting development. What does the alleged pre-existing clause in the warranty say? Are the Mazda and Honda dealers part of the same dealership group? Please post any further twists and turns going forward.
 
Hey Hardrightedge,

I didn’t find an actual pre existing clause per se. The warranty contract basically says:

“We will cover problems resulting from manufacture defects… and Not problems from a failure to maintain YOUR vehicle, accidents etc

When I talked to the manager on the phone he didn’t even bring up the warranty at all. He just said the other dealer (same dealer name/family) will be paying the bill since they did the initial inspection. I said “wait, so your saying they denied the claim?” And he said, “yes, this didn’t happen over night and was a result from lack of maintenance etc and they wouldn’t cover it.”And I said, it sounds like they are weaseling out of the contract. And he said, “yep, they do, and this is the cost of doing business” basically he didn’t want to go into detail really.

I’ll definitely update when I hear more. Figure this could help someone else down the line
 
Well the latest: Now I’m told by the manger that the warranty company IS paying for a new long block after all. The district manager apparently wrestled with the company to get them to cover it.

This whole saga seems to match up with everything I’ve read about extended warranties on the internet. They deny your claim for some BS reason, and they hope you will drop it, until you raise some Cain and appeal the claim!
 
Lots of back and forth in this tale. In this case, when push comes to shove, it's not possible to prove a preexisting condition attributable to improper maintenance nor place the onus on you as not the original owner. Perhaps this matter crossed the desk of somebody higher in the dealership food chain applying the necessary pressure.
 
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