Just got off the phone with the dealer b/c car has been hard to start among other things. The dealer just called and said it failed the battery test. No comes the interesting part.. dealer said that I have to pay for part of the battery because it is "pro-rated". I know that there is an updated battery and stated such. The dealer said they know nothing of it.

I've done a search and hard to dig through what to exactly tell the dealer to get them to have it fixed under warranty. I also checked the TSBs and they only have a battery replacement tip. Can anyone point me to a tsb or anything else that can prove my point? Or anything I can tell them to sway it to my case. Thanks in advance

 

lol i am not going to waste my day going to another dealer when they are about to put this battery in and i need that little bit of convincing. The battery should not be done with only after 20 months and 22k miles. $65 is good gas money.

 

My battery kept dying and I brought it to the dealer to get them to replace it. They told me they can't because it went bad because of my turbo heating the engine bay up more than its designed for. Complete BS.

 

They just called me again and explained that the warranty for the battery is only for 13 months and after that it is "pro-rated". I have one hour to dig for more info.

 

https://www.rx8club.com/showpost.php...0&postcount=12

I had no problem getting the battery replaced under warranty. Not sure how much this will help you though because it appears this is something that depends on the dealer's interpretation of this TSB which talks about battery replacement and reimbursement requirements on the first page.

Regarding 13 months and pro-rating after that, my car is turning two years just now, so that is definitely BS.

 

I guess it depends how good your dealership is. I have my car for about 2 yrs now and the battery crapped out at home. I had it towed to the dealership. The replaced it for free. I'm not sure if having the free maintenance for life-of-warranty helped or not.

 

I complained of weak starts and had mine replaced, free, from the dealer after the 13 month mark but before the car had reached 12,000 miles.

I think the issue is left to the discretion of the dealer.

 

I just said forget it and went and bought the Interstate battery for my car on my own. Just make sure they don't put the same old crappy 300cca battery in there as a replacement. You need the 640cca battery.

 

do yourself a favor and go out and buy a Group 34 (not 35) yellow top Optima

you won't regret it as that battery will last over 10 years.

 

Dealer is charging me $61 but I'm going to pull out the $10 off coupon and settle this. And I will make sure it is the MT-35 battery. Thanks for all your help.

Jon, which dealer did you go to?

 

make sure it is the MTP-35, the MT only has around 500cca, the MTP has 640cca. Probably doesn't matter since they are both better than stock, but you want to get your money's worth I would assume.

 

Pro rating is typical; it's like with tire warranties. Honda did the same thing to us with our Odyssey battery. I guess I can understand why they do it. It's considered a wear part that you use up partially with each month of use. They're just making you pay for the months in which you actually used the part.

 

I've had all my warranty service done at Tyrone Mazda on Tyrone Blvd. in St. Pete. They've always treated me very well, and I highly recommend them.

 

Yep, FYI I contacted Mazda NA and they said the battery is covered 100% within the first 12 months, then 50% from 12-24, then only 25% after the second year. So go if your 2004 8 is about to hit the 12 month mark or 48 month mark and you are going to have it serviced, may as well get the battery tested especially for those who bought 04's late which may have been sitting on the lot for a while. The ones that got upgraded batteries free of charge just happen to get lucky and I no longer feel so bad. The new battery comes with a 3 year warranty. They did not have the MTP-35 available so I was forced to settle with the MT-35. It should be good enough as 300 CCA to 550 CCA is a big improvement.

 

My 8 had been having problems starting for almost two weeks. At one point I saw that my lights were dimming while attemting to start. I also had the CEL on and off. I took it to the dealer and had the battery replaced free of charge under warranty because the battery had failed the test. The technician stated that the printout from the failed battery test was all he needed IOT replace the battery. I have an early model with 33k on it. You might want to go and read the warranty again so you know for sure in the future. Everyone at MNAO may not know enough to guide you accordingly. I would not just rely on word of mouth.

 

Thanks, I may try them next time!

 

All this talk about starting out with the proper battery is all well and good, but I think it's also important to realize that no car battery lasts forever. In fact, over the past 30 years that I've lived in Florida, I've yet to have a battery last longer than 2 1/2 years, no matter how expensive it was. I'm told our extreme summertime climate contributes to rapid demise of these batteries.

That said, I'm sure the extreme temperatures generated by the rotary will limit the useful life of whatever battery ends up in the 8.

 

Just like JonsToy said we have the same battery life issues in Texas too, hot summers and pretty cold winters too. I have never had one last anywhere near the 60 month life or whatever it is that you buy aftermarket. (different prices=different life ratings)

 

Well just to throw this out there, the factory battery in my parent's 1998 Ford Mustang is still running strong, that's 7 years in piedmont NC's climate of 90+ degree humid summers and 25-35 degree winter mornings. Car is not garage kept.

 

My 8 is 2yrs old 12k miles. I had the failed battery replaced under warranty last week. Guess I was one of the lucky ones with a good dealer who wants my future bussiness. I've bought 2 cars from them in 6 years already.

 

Mine needed to be replaced after 8 months. I have neons, and large sound system running off of it, and they replaced for free.

 

shoulda just went on a "test drive" and got a free battery.....