Consumption and Real Estate
2007 Mazda 3 engine is blown. Dealer wants to charge us for repair when it’s under warranty?
Question : 2007 Mazda 3 engine is blown. Dealer wants to charge us for repair when it’s under warranty?
My husband’s 2007 Mazda 3 has been knocking. He had to drive it home and then to the dealership on Monday (9/29). The car is still in the shop. We’ve provided all the maintenance receipts as of Friday. Dealership called my husband today saying they needed his OK to open it up and if they see that it wasn’t properly lubricated they will charge him for the whole deal. The car is still under warranty, they have the proof of maintenance. Is this guy just being a jerk? Or have other people experienced something similar? This smells like a lawsuit!
Engine started knocking on Sat 9/27. Dealership is closed on wknds. Delivered to dealership at 9am Monday 9/30.
We only drove it to the dealer. No one is arguing negligence. It’s been properly maintained on schedule. They STILL don’t want to do the work.
btw, it’s $ 8,000 for a new engine.
home maintenance warranty
Best answer:
Answer by Steven D
The first question I would ask, as a mechanic, is how long has it been knocking? If it’s been more than 2 days it’s your responsibility. Any one who has a vehicle should be able to check the oil. By letting it go too long it voids the warranty due to your negligence.
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#2 written by unrly1 1 year ago
First of all, if it was knocking the first thing I would have done is check the oil level. If that wasn’t the problem I would have had it towed home and then to the dealership. Driving it like that sealed its doom. But I agree with someone who said to call Mazda USA directly. They will be the only ones who can tell the service department to open it up free of charge, no matter how many times you threaten to sue them. Either that or have the car towed to another Mazda dealer. A car this new shouldn’t be experiencing engine issues like that unless it was run out of lubricants, but from your posts it should have plenty of oil. I have a 2001 Protege and I have yet to experience any oil leakage at all after 114,000 miles, so there has to be something wrong internally with the engine for it to have failed so early. The car is only a year old, they really shouldn’t be charging anything unless the drivetrain warranty is already up mileage wise. Call Mazda USA, see what they can do for you. But if it were me, and I have been ASE certified with 10 years in the industry, I would take it to another dealership. I have done that with my motorcycles when I have been jerked around by the service department at the dealer I bought them from on warranty issues. Contact another dealer, see what they say and call Mazda. Let me know what they say.
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#4 written by C7S 1 year ago
Law suit.
Many dealerships try to pull this and say it is not covered under warranty.
Powertrain warranty for Mazda 3 should be 3 years or 36,000 miles.
If you went over 36,000 miles, then warranty for powertrain is done.
If not, threaten to sue them and say that you will never buy Mazda again to scare them. They should fix it free. -
#5 written by Terrence B 1 year ago
First off’ was the car low on oil? If you own/drive a car, then you should know at all times. Hopefully, the car didn’t have a leak around the drain plug that went unnoticed. If that’s the case, then the blame will fall on the last shop that changed the oil or your husband- who should be checking his oil at least once a week. Please, don’t use the “but it’s a new car” line if you’re thinking it. This isn’t his fault if the car is out of oil, but it could’ve been prevented had he checked his oil. Did he check it before he took it in? At least, then he could say, “Well I checked my oil level and…” It’s not lawsuit time just yet and maybe the tech wasn’t really being a jerk. Give them time to assess the situation first. You maybe jumping the gun and suddenly Mazda says, ” It’s under warranty so we’ll just install a new engine in your Mazda 3.” This does take time to do unfortunately, but you have to understand that if it is engine failure, it will take time for them to get it, and install it. Sounds like you and your husband did the right thing taking it in with all of your service recepts. Now wait and see what Mazda is going to do. If all else fails do what Mark_hen said.
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#7 written by mark_hensley@sbcglobal.net 1 year ago
Keep your cool and be reasonable even if they do not oblige. Maintenance records are key, be sure the paperwork shows the narrative of a principled car owner for a period of time. Their claim of negligence will show up as an excuse. Contact Mazda officials listed in the owners manual. Go up the “chain of command” with the paperwork, first. Give them a solution that would make you happy, like a new car. Perhaps in your state their may be a Lemon Law. This too should be in your owners manual. Find out what qualifies as a lemon and what is the time period? Do not file an insurance claim, your premium will increase and you will pay for the repair in the not so long run.
Let their be one spokes person who is supremely confident, this doesn’t mean arrogant but informed and articulate. Ask for a Mazda Customer Satisfaction Survey and complete it. Have them call you. Contact the Attorney General’s consumer affairs office and request an investigation. Your tax dollars are paying for this legal service, why pay money out of pocket for a private attorney at this point? Contact your Congress person’s office and ask if they could contact the dealer to see what their process will be for a remedy. This is all you need to tell them. They will ask for paperwork or they may not. Keep it simple. Ask for the Legislative Aide to assist your family. If you take these steps their will be sufficient heat in the kitchen. Cheers.
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#8 written by MazdaTech_PR 1 year ago
who do the last tune up? maybe the problem was there
the new cars are not suppose to do that kind of problems so early
consult a lawyer because some one here has the fault on this, i think the last person who do the job was the problem but there are many other questions to makethere are some laboratories who take samples of the engine oil to determine what was wrong with the engine and with the metal particles on the oil they can say from what part the problem came
take a good consult before everything
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#9 written by Kurt F 1 year ago
im not a mechanic, but i agree with the Steven. i work in insurance and as they said, if its been knocking for the past couple day and you failed to inspect, it counts as negligence on your part, negligence being the key word, which voids most contracts, and i would surmise would void the warranty as well…
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You don’t blow up a 2 yr old engine without doing something wrong. Thats why they wont cover it.