I just thought I would make a thread to tell you exactly what happened in the case of my engine warrenty claim and how the issue finally ended up. Hopefully this can be of use to someone in my position in the future.
I purchased the car in Georgia and my father drove the car 1000 miles back to me in Nebraska. I took ownership of the car and drove it for roughly 320 miles. I started the car up and was still letting it warm up (I allways would let it fully warm before engaging boost) when crusing about 40-45mph and I went to pass a car and then I heard a distinct knocking coming from the #1 Cylinder. I proceeded to immediatly shut the car off and coast into a parking lot where I got the car towed by AAA to our local dealership Woodhouse Mazda.
This happened on a Saturday night, after the service dept. had closed, so I got a call early Monday morning from a Service man named Josh. He wanted to know what happened and told me that the #1 Cylinder was definatly knocking and that they would start breaking into it to examine it. One hour later Josh called me back and informed me that my car was not stock. Please keep in mind that I purchased the car in comletely stock form, there was no visible alteration to anything in the engine bay, and the window sticker said it had a full factory warrenty. Josh informed me that the car had a Cold Air Intake installed on it at one time and that the increase in air flow to the engine probably had caused a rod to snap or a piston to shatter. I was outraged at the blatent lie and when I asked him how that was physically possible his response was that they had allready repaired 4 MSPs with cold air intakes on them that had cracked rods. This was a lie b/c there arent even 4 MSPs in town.
Josh preceded to tell me that for them to take a look inside the engine and diagnos it I would have to approve a 300.00 tear down expense. I asked why it wasnt covered under warrenty, and he told me that the tear down would determine whether or not I would have to pay for it. They then proceeded to tear the engine apart and find that the engine had been spun a bearing due to lack of oil in the engine. The regional rep for mazda voided warrenty repair on the engine due to the lack of oil. Josh then told me that it was probably someone who didnt like me and drained oil out of the drainplug causing damage to the engine. He also promptly quoted me 6300.00 for repair.
Anyone who has ever worked on their MSP knows that it is impossible to drain oil while the car is on the ground. This was lie #3. I then filed a dispute claim with mazda NA, and contacted an attorney. The final judgement was that the car was modified b/c the vacume hose clamps were not factory and therefore someone had raised the boost on the car. I talked to Chris, the Service Manager and he told me the same thing. I told him that the Magnus Moss act of 1975 states that he had to produce evidence that the clamps being altered caused the engine to fail. He said that he did not have to do such a thing, and that Mazda never followed the Magnus Moss act and could just shoot it down in court. To avoid going postal, I left.
My car sat in the air at Woodhouse for two weeks. Nothing changed, no one would help. THe car dealership in GA wouldnt buy back the car, or do anything to help me. WOodhouse wouldnt do anything to help me b/c they wanted an extra 6300.00 in their pockets. I talked to service managers in different states that told me point blank that if my car was in their shop it would've allready been fully repaired free of charge under warrenty. Finally, I picked up my car and had it towed to my buddies shop on wed after payiny my 300.00 tear down fee.
A couple things you should know, and that i learned.
(1). Mazda DOES read this forum - A LOT. They had exact transcripts of every thread I had opened in the service managers hands before i went in to see him.
(2). Dont be 18 and want your car fixed. Pay an old man to represent you when you go in there, otherwise the dealership will just push you around.
(3). NEVER EVER EVER GO TO WOODHOUSE MAZDA IN OMAHA NEBRASKA FOR ANYTHING.
(4). My car was spewing oil out the tailpipe the entire time i owned it, but never made any blue smoke. If you see black specs on your bumper you might be in trouble.
(5). Arson is a perfectly good alternative to trying to talk to someone at a Dealership.
(6). If you buy a car that is stock, the dealer says is stock, you can still get ****** over by Mazda, or a independent dealership, or in this case both.
What I really think is that we should start a list of dealerships that treat their customers like s***, and those that treat their customers good. So that members here can not only know where to go, but who to watch out for before they get ****** over. Just make it a sticky. Other forums, like evoltuionm.net do it, why shouldnt we?
I purchased the car in Georgia and my father drove the car 1000 miles back to me in Nebraska. I took ownership of the car and drove it for roughly 320 miles. I started the car up and was still letting it warm up (I allways would let it fully warm before engaging boost) when crusing about 40-45mph and I went to pass a car and then I heard a distinct knocking coming from the #1 Cylinder. I proceeded to immediatly shut the car off and coast into a parking lot where I got the car towed by AAA to our local dealership Woodhouse Mazda.
This happened on a Saturday night, after the service dept. had closed, so I got a call early Monday morning from a Service man named Josh. He wanted to know what happened and told me that the #1 Cylinder was definatly knocking and that they would start breaking into it to examine it. One hour later Josh called me back and informed me that my car was not stock. Please keep in mind that I purchased the car in comletely stock form, there was no visible alteration to anything in the engine bay, and the window sticker said it had a full factory warrenty. Josh informed me that the car had a Cold Air Intake installed on it at one time and that the increase in air flow to the engine probably had caused a rod to snap or a piston to shatter. I was outraged at the blatent lie and when I asked him how that was physically possible his response was that they had allready repaired 4 MSPs with cold air intakes on them that had cracked rods. This was a lie b/c there arent even 4 MSPs in town.
Josh preceded to tell me that for them to take a look inside the engine and diagnos it I would have to approve a 300.00 tear down expense. I asked why it wasnt covered under warrenty, and he told me that the tear down would determine whether or not I would have to pay for it. They then proceeded to tear the engine apart and find that the engine had been spun a bearing due to lack of oil in the engine. The regional rep for mazda voided warrenty repair on the engine due to the lack of oil. Josh then told me that it was probably someone who didnt like me and drained oil out of the drainplug causing damage to the engine. He also promptly quoted me 6300.00 for repair.
Anyone who has ever worked on their MSP knows that it is impossible to drain oil while the car is on the ground. This was lie #3. I then filed a dispute claim with mazda NA, and contacted an attorney. The final judgement was that the car was modified b/c the vacume hose clamps were not factory and therefore someone had raised the boost on the car. I talked to Chris, the Service Manager and he told me the same thing. I told him that the Magnus Moss act of 1975 states that he had to produce evidence that the clamps being altered caused the engine to fail. He said that he did not have to do such a thing, and that Mazda never followed the Magnus Moss act and could just shoot it down in court. To avoid going postal, I left.
My car sat in the air at Woodhouse for two weeks. Nothing changed, no one would help. THe car dealership in GA wouldnt buy back the car, or do anything to help me. WOodhouse wouldnt do anything to help me b/c they wanted an extra 6300.00 in their pockets. I talked to service managers in different states that told me point blank that if my car was in their shop it would've allready been fully repaired free of charge under warrenty. Finally, I picked up my car and had it towed to my buddies shop on wed after payiny my 300.00 tear down fee.
A couple things you should know, and that i learned.
(1). Mazda DOES read this forum - A LOT. They had exact transcripts of every thread I had opened in the service managers hands before i went in to see him.
(2). Dont be 18 and want your car fixed. Pay an old man to represent you when you go in there, otherwise the dealership will just push you around.
(3). NEVER EVER EVER GO TO WOODHOUSE MAZDA IN OMAHA NEBRASKA FOR ANYTHING.
(4). My car was spewing oil out the tailpipe the entire time i owned it, but never made any blue smoke. If you see black specs on your bumper you might be in trouble.
(5). Arson is a perfectly good alternative to trying to talk to someone at a Dealership.
(6). If you buy a car that is stock, the dealer says is stock, you can still get ****** over by Mazda, or a independent dealership, or in this case both.
What I really think is that we should start a list of dealerships that treat their customers like s***, and those that treat their customers good. So that members here can not only know where to go, but who to watch out for before they get ****** over. Just make it a sticky. Other forums, like evoltuionm.net do it, why shouldnt we?
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