I'm coming up on my 4 year anniversary (7/18) and my car will shortly be leaving its warranty period despite its relatively low 22,000 miles. So I took my RX-8 in today for the last free-maintenance covered by the magic card I got from Mazda as part of the settlement for initially selling the RX-8 claiming 247HP on the window sticker.

When I got home, I realized that within about 45 days, everyone who was part of that settlement, and whose car is still under 50K miles, will be out of warranty and that Mazda will finally be free of that fiasco.

I guess time really does heal all wounds ....

 

wow i never knew they gave out free-maintence cards.

 

Oh yeah. I kept mine after my warranty ran from mileage just as a momento. We have that and the earrings that I bought my wife with the debit card that Mazda sent.

I always sort of enjoyed going in to the dealer every single time that I had the car serviced and explaining that it was free, and having them tell me haughtily that "Mazda doesn't do that," then producing the card and having them call the 800 number. Those cashiers ate a lot of crow.

 

Actually, my dealer never gave me any static about the free maintenance. Toward the end, I didn't even have to show the card because the service writer remembered.

 

I might be wrong, but I am pretty sure that everyones warranty was extended a year because of the engine recall fiasco.

 

extended powertrain, nothing else.

 

Everytime I start my car I'm reminded by my Borla exhaust that I bought with my $500 Mazda debit card that I don't have 247 HP.

It's not so bad.

 

So would they have changed your oil every month or whenever you felt like it for free if that's what you decided? Or was it only by the maintenance schedule?

 

The card explicitly states the 4 years 50K miles warranty period. As noted, the engine recall is a powertrain warranty extension only.

 

Scheduled maintenance only.

 

so how much does a stock rx8 have rwhp? is it 198 or something?

 

170-190 is the normal range.

 

yep i was actually scheduled for my last freebie last week on friday . however they overbooked themselves(despite telling me there was plenty of open time) and hadnt got to my car by1pm so i pulled the plug and got my car back. ill reschedule for next week sinc ei didnt have time this week.

they have replaced their service advisors abotu once a year since i got the car and service manager twice. so i have had to explain the free service bit at least once a year since the start of the program. last friday was no different. i am only at 30k miles so i had to show this new guy that he had to use the larger 50k mile code since they dont have codes go by months. i had to get the paperwork from a previous service so i could show him the codes they have been using and i also had to show him on my file and the paperwork where it says "schedule 2 only" and explain that to him. i also told him how to look the program up when doing a vin inquiry and that it would show in the recall section as an open recall. i love training new guys

while waiting i also went over to the sales side and showed a sales guy how to go on the corporate website and find the PDFs for the new model year info since he didnt know how to do that. he had access but just didnt know where to find the info.

 

That's hilarious Charlie! MNAO should pay you a "consultant fee"

 

i know why they offered the free service but i do not know why my dealership did not offer it knowing i bought it new and they did my first two oil change's(after that i did them myself problem with them over filling it).should people be reimburst or what ?

 

Was this only for people who purchased the car new in 2004?

 

Why? You planning on building a time machine?


It happened prior to my April 2004 purchase, so the answer is no

 

This was for people who purchased a 2004 RX-8 prior to the end of August 2003. Mazda sold the RX-8 with window stickers saying 247HP when that was not the case. People who bought the car early were not made aware of this issue and Mazda provided several forms of settlement. A $500 debit card and free scheduled maintenance for the warranty period was one of the settlements. A buy-back of the car was another.

This was not an issue after August 2003 as customers signed a release. Ultimately they redid the window stickers changing it to 238HP.

 

Mine ran out a few months ago.... I've had to pay for one oil change since then. It wasn't nearly as bad as I expected.