Hi I'm new and i need help

[thenightvision88]

Hey guys

I'm the proud owner of a 08 Mazda 3 GT or S. (Same thing i think) its gun metal grey and only got 56000 kms on it. (I should mention i haven't even filled it up with gas yet...)

But, 4 days after buying it i rear ended a women who rear ended another women who wasn't paying attention. not much damage was done. (If i could figure out how to put pictures on here i will) Also i should mention me and the second car was at fault.

When i first test drove the car i know it needed brakes because they were grinding. So the sales man herd it too since he had to come with me and my girlfriend. he marked it down on his list of things to do to the car and i was there the next day to pick it up. upon getting the keys, the women at the front desk said they found nothing and when i went for a second test drive, i found the grinding had disappeared.

When the car was on the flat bed ready to roll away i looked at the brakes myself. To my amazement the front brakes were close to brand new, however the back brakes looked almost done to me. In Canada the brakes are part of the safety.

Should i try and go after Mazda for this or should i take the blame myself and have to shell out for everything?

[Kiyomi]

you probably wouldnt get anything from mazda, even if they skimped out on the back brakes <--- not saying its right. even if you had no back brakes, the front brakes do most of the work and should have stopped you in time. imo its driver error here.

[stevenma188]

Yes brakes are part of the safety inspection. However, just because they look "almost done to you" doesn't mean they are unsafe. If a dealer sells you a car that has been safetied, with parts that are not up to standard, they will be penalized. However, right now, you have no proof of anything. If you really thing they did screw up, go measure the rotor and pad thickness. There is a minimum spec for both to pass safety (can't remember off the top of my head.

I highly doubt a Mazda dealer would give you a bad safety, and TBH, if I had to guess, I would say it was driver error. Shit happens.

[Polish_Eagle]

Hey guys

I'm the proud owner of a 08 Mazda 3 GT or S. (Same thing i think) its gun metal grey and only got 56000 kms on it. (I should mention i haven't even filled it up with gas yet...)

But, 4 days after buying it i rear ended a women who rear ended another women who wasn't paying attention. not much damage was done. (If i could figure out how to put pictures on here i will) Also i should mention me and the second car was at fault.

When i first test drove the car i know it needed brakes because they were grinding. So the sales man herd it too since he had to come with me and my girlfriend. he marked it down on his list of things to do to the car and i was there the next day to pick it up. upon getting the keys, the women at the front desk said they found nothing and when i went for a second test drive, i found the grinding had disappeared.

When the car was on the flat bed ready to roll away i looked at the brakes myself. To my amazement the front brakes were close to brand new, however the back brakes looked almost done to me. In Canada the brakes are part of the safety.

Should i try and go after Mazda for this or should i take the blame myself and have to shell out for everything?

The blame is strictly on you. Just like MZ3-Kiyomi_17 said, the front brakes do the majority of the braking and therefore you should have been able to stop.

[thenightvision88]

alright, another issue was that the brake petal was very soft and i had to press it a good 2 inches before the brakes started to grab. as well as the ABS never came on. There was no pulsation in the pedal or indication on the dash. (if there is one) i just feel if i had 4 to 5 car lengths and was only doing 60 (because of traffic) i should have been able to stop. I was pressing on the brakes hard...

Id post pictures of the brakes that i took while it was in the shop getting repaired but i not sure how.

[thenightvision88]

hers the picture of my brakes.. ive included the front (which are new) as well as the back. (which aren't)

[sube]

alright, another issue was that the brake petal was very soft and i had to press it a good 2 inches before the brakes started to grab. as well as the ABS never came on. There was no pulsation in the pedal or indication on the dash. (if there is one) i just feel if i had 4 to 5 car lengths and was only doing 60 (because of traffic) i should have been able to stop. I was pressing on the brakes hard...

Id post pictures of the brakes that i took while it was in the shop getting repaired but i not sure how.

So lets get things straight here, you drove the car for 4 days with what you think was faulty brakes. You are twice in the wrong (1) you were technically driving an unsafe car and could be charged. (2) you rear ended somebody, unless in extremely extenuating circumstances like somebody getting in front of you and jumping on the brakes, the person doing the rearending is always at fault. Oh and you would have to be able to prove that the person you hit,deliberately caused you to hit them.

Pat.

[The Wolf]

There is an issue (not sure if it's been confirmed by Mazda) that many people have complained about with the ABS on our cars. I've rear-ended someone (no damage, just a handshake afterwards) but I was travelling about 10km/h, looking down to change the radio, looked up and the car I thought had started moving was stopped. I slammed on the brakes, and the car felt like it did absolutely nothing. There was a small amount of gravel/sand on the road from construction, but I had 10+ feet to stop from 10km/h and I still hit them

As I said, this same sensation has been described by others on this site in the past.

[thenightvision88]

Alright well as it stands now, once the car is out of the body shop, its going to Mazda to get looked at. If they find nothing well then i guess ill have to live with it...

[sube]

There is an issue (not sure if it's been confirmed by Mazda) that many people have complained about with the ABS on our cars. I've rear-ended someone (no damage, just a handshake afterwards) but I was travelling about 10km/h, looking down to change the radio, looked up and the car I thought had started moving was stopped. I slammed on the brakes, and the car felt like it did absolutely nothing. There was a small amount of gravel/sand on the road from construction, but I had 10+ feet to stop from 10km/h and I still hit them

As I said, this same sensation has been described by others on this site in the past.

I have a 2010 GT sport and the brakes are excellent on this car, absolutely no complaints.

Pat.

[mikey32235]

the dealer never fixed anything when u went for the second test drive. the pads are used and the rotors are garbage and rusted. u should go back and give them shit cause yes in a safety test, if the brakes are rusted and noisy, it would be a recommendation to change. unless they are fully functional then they won't do it. and if u have to push far down on the pedal for it to start braking, you have bad brake fluid. the last option should be getting it fixed yourself. go to the dealer and try fighting them. call corporation!

[thenightvision88]

the dealer never fixed anything when u went for the second test drive. the pads are used and the rotors are garbage and rusted. u should go back and give them shit cause yes in a safety test, if the brakes are rusted and noisy, it would be a recommendation to change. unless they are fully functional then they won't do it. and if u have to push far down on the pedal for it to start braking, you have bad brake fluid. the last option should be getting it fixed yourself. go to the dealer and try fighting them. call corporation!

I've talked to them less then a week after the accident. They said the pads pass safety and they can't do anything about it. The car is still in the body shop so I can't look at them right now.

[stevenma188]

Your brakes look fine. Rust is normal on rotors.
Looks like you still have lots of pad left. Although your rotors are worn, based on the picture, they still look like they have enough thickness to pass safety (this is a guess though).

[Swerny]

So lets get things straight here, you drove the car for 4 days with what you think was faulty brakes. You are twice in the wrong (1) you were technically driving an unsafe car and could be charged. (2) you rear ended somebody, unless in extremely extenuating circumstances like somebody getting in front of you and jumping on the brakes, the person doing the rearending is always at fault. Oh and you would have to be able to prove that the person you hit,deliberately caused you to hit them.

Pat.

I agree.

OP, you're at fault, you didn't leave enough space and/or you reacted too late.

There's nobody else to blame here.

[rukus]

the dealer never fixed anything when u went for the second test drive. the pads are used and the rotors are garbage and rusted. u should go back and give them shit cause yes in a safety test, if the brakes are rusted and noisy, it would be a recommendation to change. unless they are fully functional then they won't do it. and if u have to push far down on the pedal for it to start braking, you have bad brake fluid. the last option should be getting it fixed yourself. go to the dealer and try fighting them. call corporation!

i beg to differ

the pads look fine enough to pass a safety. the rotors have a lot of surface rust, which is common with a vehicle that has sat for 24hrs or more.
the squeals on the test drive very well may be the rust on the rotors

if the OP had driven the car for 4 days, he had surely used the brakes once or twice. he would have noticed very quickly if the brakes were shot. squealing, weak braking, scoring on the rotors, and more would most likely have appeared. unfortunately, this puts the accident on the OP.

In almost every case where a vehicle is rear-ended, the rear vehicle is at fault.

i rear ended a women who rear ended another women who wasn't paying attention.

if you had been paying proper attention, had given proper space etc. , you would have avoided this incident.

Hope everything works out OP.

[Honva]

I think the OP knew the answer to this. During the accident, were you too close and too fast?...or were your attention was on something else?.....or did you drive properly but the brakes just failed?

The answer should already be in your statement to the police. What did you tell the police? If you feel strongly that it was the brake problem, then you would have told the police what happened. In that case, just find a good laywer and wait for the 3rd party vehicle inspection report. If the report indicates brake problem, then you have a case. As a customer, we don't necessary have the knownledge to know if the brake is safe during the 4 days. Your good lawyer will help you to get justice.

Just be honest. On the other hand, if you knew the accident was your fault being too fast, too close or not paying attention, then be fair to other people and not use this as a way to unload your fault.

[thenightvision88]

I had 4-5 car lengths to stop but the middle person in the accident stopped so fast. I tried to hit the brakes as hard as I could but I feel like they should have been able to stop me. As for telling the officer I did but he didn't believe me and I had 2 other people in the car. I was not speeding due to traffic I was going 60 in a 70 zone.