warranty issues

[eman124]

I brought my car to forbes mazda (parkway mazda, waterloo) last friday to have them fix all of the problems

I purchased the car Dec, 2004
so i guess the 3 years warranty is over
but I purchase the extended-warranty so it's 7 years (84 months)

they did the recalls free of charge (door re-enforcement plates, oil pipes)
rusted area (rear wheel wells) are going to be painted at some bodyshop
(waiting for the warranty centre to get back to me)
but I had 2 other problems that I wanted them to check


1. 1-2 shift shock
2. water in the fog light (the water level is pretty high)

so they reprogrammed the PCM free of charge but they charged me 1/2 hour of labour for it. I asked isn't this under warranty, he said that the 3yrs warranty is over and even though I have the extended warranty. I would have to pay for labour (them doing diagnoses on the car).

then he told me that he will call me back to confirm if the fog light will be replaced under the warranty (because it takes them few hours to do the claim) then he called me back today and said it is NOT covered under the warranty because he said that the extended warranty doesn't cover "condensation in light". Then he asked if I want to go ahead (pay) to do the repair, then i said no cause the fog light still works.

anyway, i want to ask what is the difference between the 3 yrs and the extended period. How come so many things are not covered.

thanks

[Jeff-TheBiz]

M.A.P. does pay for the diagnostic, so I am not sure why they charged you for the PCM labour.

As for the light, condensation is no longer covered even under the 3/80,000 regardless of Extended Warranty. So that one, they are correct on.

[ZoomZoom Girl]

I'm having the same issue as you with rusting around the wheel wells but my dealership says that they have no responsibility for paint chipping. How exactly did you go about getting your dealership to foot the bill for repainting your wheel wells?

[Cardinal Fang]

Paint chipping as a result of debris hitting the car is not covered under warranty. This is simply wear and tear. If the paint chips as a result of rust that's another matter altogether. Are they telling the paint chipping is the result of wear and tear?

[eman124]

I'm having the same issue as you with rusting around the wheel wells but my dealership says that they have no responsibility for paint chipping. How exactly did you go about getting your dealership to foot the bill for repainting your wheel wells?

I told them i purchased the rust warranty thing and they inspected it and sign that card and told me to mail back to the warranty centre, then they will refer me to a bodyshop to do the work.

[eman124]

M.A.P. does pay for the diagnostic, so I am not sure why they charged you for the PCM labour.

As for the light, condensation is no longer covered even under the 3/80,000 regardless of Extended Warranty. So that one, they are correct on.

they said that the labour was for diagnostic and taking off panels, test stuff.. etc...
then I asked him, isn't all these stuff standard procedures before fixing my car.
then he said because of my extended-warranty only covers powertrain and something else (forgot)

[ZoomZoom Girl]

Yup, at close to 108 000 km (car will be 4 years old next month), that is exactly what the service manager said - "wear and tear". Granted, I can see that the wheel wells would be very susceptible to chipping due to the way they are designed, but I ALSO have paint bubbling which now peppers both sides of the car. The service manager says that those are also due to high mileage and rock chips (though I can't see any chips over the bubbles). I can't see how bubbling could occur other than a crappy factory paint job. If left alone, they'll eventually burst through, then rust, then perforate. Of course by then my 5 year warranty on perforation will be up. Frustrating, especially since some people have had if not their entire repair bill, at least some of it covered by Mazda Canada whereas others get zip. I'm definitely going to follow this up with the Regional Mazda rep and Mazda Canada directly. Sometimes "goodwill" (i.e. paying part of the repair bill) is offered to customers to keep up the appearance that they value their business.....

[ZeroChalk]

do you have pics?

[ZoomZoom Girl]

No digital camera so no pics to post but it looks identical to what others have posted here. Basically, the paint on the inside of both wheel wells is rusted off, there are rust patches (from leaving blistered paint go...no idea they were there to begin with!) on both sides at the seams where the bumper attaches to the sides, and also on both sides at the rear side sills by the back passenger doors there is rust.

Now I just found out 2 days ago that there are paint blisters all over the sides of the car. These are imperceptible unless you know what to look for and/or look at the car from the side. A friend who works at a car dealership (NOT Mazda) showed me the blisters when I complained of the rusting on my 4 year old Mazda3.

Can't believe that the service manager told me that it's due to "wear and tear"! I see vehicles with double, even triple the mileage whose paint jobs look great. And no, I don't drive on dirt roads and have gotten my car serviced every 4 months at the dealership. It gets washed at LEAST once per week, more in the winter. No other explanation (since I don't see rock chips in the blisters) other than a crappy factory paint job or corroding body panels....

[Stylus_MZ3]

+1

I have a 2004 and the same rust build up on my rear wheel wells I think I'm just going to go to Krown Lakeshore or FixAuto for them to take a look at it.

Cause I don't have time to fight with Mazda Canada over this anymore

[ZoomZoom Girl]

Well, to get the wheel wells and other patches of rust I mentioned fixed, I got an estimate of $800! They'd have to remove the bumper to get at the rust between the sections. This would break the clips that hold the bumper into place so they'd all have to be replaced, hence to high cost. And this would not even address all the blistering I have on both sides of the car so yes, I'll be having some serious (though diplomatic...for now) discussions with my dealership and Mazda Canada.

I have a friend who works at a luxury car dealership who has given me some inside tips for getting some financial help with the repairs. If my service manager can't help (right now he's apparently "looking into it"), then I'll insist that he take pictures to send to Mazda Canada's warranty office. If he won't do that, I'll do it myself. Barring that, I can find out when the Regional Mazda rep. is in Sudbury and directly address him/her. Mazda extends a certain amount of "goodwill" to customers....i.e. "we're not really responsible for this but since you're such a good customer and we value your business, we'll offer to pay part of the expense".

So, for over $1000 in costs to repair the crappy paint on my 2004 car, I would definitely consider that worthy of considerable effort on my part. Don't give up on yours! It's worth following the avenues I outlined above to at least get some financial assistance from Mazda...

[stormin84]

Well, to get the wheel wells and other patches of rust I mentioned fixed, I got an estimate of $800! They'd have to remove the bumper to get at the rust between the sections. This would break the clips that hold the bumper into place so they'd all have to be replaced, hence to high cost. And this would not even address all the blistering I have on both sides of the car so yes, I'll be having some serious (though diplomatic...for now) discussions with my dealership and Mazda Canada.

I have a friend who works at a luxury car dealership who has given me some inside tips for getting some financial help with the repairs. If my service manager can't help (right now he's apparently "looking into it"), then I'll insist that he take pictures to send to Mazda Canada's warranty office. If he won't do that, I'll do it myself. Barring that, I can find out when the Regional Mazda rep. is in Sudbury and directly address him/her. Mazda extends a certain amount of "goodwill" to customers....i.e. "we're not really responsible for this but since you're such a good customer and we value your business, we'll offer to pay part of the expense".

So, for over $1000 in costs to repair the crappy paint on my 2004 car, I would definitely consider that worthy of considerable effort on my part. Don't give up on yours! It's worth following the avenues I outlined above to at least get some financial assistance from Mazda...

that quote is a little high, exact same problem with mine done under warranty, ($544 and change, had a peak at the bill that was going to mazda) the job was to remove the bumper and get all of the blistering between the fender and bumper (both sides). Btw they had a problem with the paint and had to do more work also.

zoomzoomgirl PM me and i can tell you where i got it done if you would like a quote from them.