Last Friday on my drive home something got caught under the car and made this horrible sound as if I was driving on a bare rim. I pulled into an empty lot and after a quick inspection I didn't see anything out of the ordinary. I got back on the road and everything seemed fine. The next morning I get a CEL and take the car to the dealership. Received a callback today and was told that the 02 sensor broke into 2 pieces and that the cat is also gone as well. The dealership said they would not be able to cover the repairs under warranty since they noticed there was some damage under the car. They basically inferred that I had ran over something and that it is not a valid warranty claim since its not a manufacturer defect. End result is that they want approx $2800 to put in a new cat and new sensor which I laughed off and said no thanks to.

Do you all think this a valid reason to deny the cat repair under the EPA emissions warranty?? My initial guess is yes, but I wanted to get some of your opinions before I give in so easily and not call BS on the dealer.

If I do in fact need to get this fixed on my own, I think this is probably a perfect opportunity to replace the stock cat with the RP Supercat. It sounds like the RX8store and SR high flow cats do not compare. I have an HKS Legamax on the car already and am hoping that the loudness isn't too drastic. If so, I can always get a resonator added, correct? In addition to the Supercat, I will have to get a new 02 sensor. Is it possible to go with the cheap "universal" alternatives or is it a safer bet to find an OEM sensor? I tried searching around but couldn't get a clear cut answer.

Worse case scenario, I figure a $400 pipe and $100+ sensor is still cheaper than a $2800 bill from the dealer. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

new sensor, mazport dual resonator mid pipe and MM AP... and you'll still be less then half what the dealership wanted.

 

supercat and new o2 sensor def. if you need a cat

if not, then mazsport dual resonated midpipe is awesome--not loud at all and no droning....you will have to wait almost 2 months to receive it tho as they are built after order is received.

edit: Dammit laythor....beat me

 

hehe.. i r ninja

 

Well if you want to save a little you can always use your insurance since it was damage while driving and just pay the deductable. I would probably end up bashing something else up myself like the front bumper or muffler also in that situation to get a lot out of the insurance.

 

+2 best way to go by.

 

Buy a cat from one of our members, or Mazmart - should only be $100/$200 for cat and a new (non-Mazda) rear O2......

S

 

i had similar situation 2 months ago but just with the O2 sensor. My dealer told me i might have run over some animal and broke the rear o2 sensor. the good thing was that the dealer actually told me it was due to poor placement of the o2 sensor and they replaced the sensor for free...

 

what the others have said. if the dealership is claiming its damage than you can go to your insurance company and have them cover it.

and if its $2800, your insurance will pay you $2800 minus your deductible. make sure your insurance writes the check to you. then take the check and spend a few hundred dollars and repair it yourself.

i'd buy a supercat for sure. and the accessport mazdamaniac edition. and probably a few other mods. new rims? new tires? haha. there is an upside to everything.

 

I appreciate all the advice. I didn't even think about the insurance route, which I might end up doing depending on the impact it will have on my premium.

I have a flywheel, clutch, and shocks all waiting to be installed once all the oem parts give out that the cash could be used for. I might look into just grabbing a used oem cat as I'm still debating if the gains with midpipe and MM AP are worth the investment since I don't plan on going FI anytime soon. I guess it depends on what my impulses do with the cash, lol...

Thanks again.