See my post here https://www.rx8club.com/rx-8-discussion-3/my-black-beauty-going-surgery-monday-35645/

The tranny has been very "notchy" and even slightly grinds sometimes in second. It's been getting worse....I have 8900 miles....I just put the redline in about 1,000 miles ago....It didnt really help...(obviously)

I had the SHOP FORMAN test drive my vehicle. He said...yes I think something may be off...."It feels like a bearing or something" is what he said....HE DID FEEL THE issues I was complaining of.....the notchiness/ grind. This was last Monday....I then made an appt. fo the NEXT Mon. to bring it in. I call Tuesday afternoon to see how things are going. They tell me my cars ready......I almost **** since the forman told me that they'd have the car at least a week because it was the first MAJOR thing they had ever had to do to an 8.

I was told that my car was "re test driven" and COMPARED To OTHER 8's on the lot and that what is happening is actually normal.....and that my car was actually smoother. I couldn't believe that.

To top it all off he wants to give a a WORK ORDER stating that the service dept test drove the vehicle and found nothing wrong. I ALMOST DIED!
How can he say that when the shop forman (last week) said the opposite?????
So, I demanded a letter stating what the shop FOREMAN said LAST WEEK to be written and that such occurances are "normal". He was unable to produce that as the shop foreman was gone for the day.

Before I would even look at my car, I asked to test drive the demo they had.....It had 2400 miles

IT was NIGHT AND DAY DIFFERENT.....especially second gear.

I then said I'm sorry but I can't consider my car "normal" and that it needs to be fixed.....I left my 8 there and drove away in my rental....

Do note: The service manager said he had already called MAzda Tech support and he said the Tech support staff said that they wouldn't issue a new tranny based on the problems I was having....he also said there was "NO FIX"!!!!
The service MGR kept saying "a first year production is going to have issues...and at this time there is no fix" (I think that's inexcusable)

Also, as I was about to leave and the service manager said he'd call the "regional rep" to talk about my issues. (he's gonna do that tomorrow)
Sadly, he didn't seem to confident he'd be able to get the rep to come by and drive the car himself (or that I'd get to talk to him for that matter)......

So.....Do I need to get my lawyer involved in this?
What are you all's recommendations?

I live in Atlanta
I'm 32 and PISSED!

 

is ther anyone else out there with a notchy / occasional grinding going on????

 

you seem to be doing everything you need to at the moment. why do you think you need a lawyer?

 

because I feel as if they are giving me the run around.....


last week it was messed up per the shop foreman.....and now its "normal"

I just don;t buy that....

 

calm down and talk to this "forman". btw is he/she a "manager" as like the head service writer or is he/she the head of the whole service dept? what are said person's qualifications as opposed to the person who said it was fine? are any of them MAzda Master techs or Master rotary techs?

 

When you involve a lawyer, it tends to "turn things up a notch" and the shop guys will wash their hands with it and let the "front office" work it out. So if you want to get money out of them, try the lawyer. But if you want it fixed, there are some other things you may try.

The first thing I would do is try another dealer. Regardless of what anyone in the shop tells you, your Mazda warranty is good at any Mazda dealer. Go for a second opinion. The other dealer will most likely see your service history in their computer, and if they question you, you can just tell them that you were not satisfied with their service and would like to try using a new service department.

My old 86 RX-7 had a similar problem...(from the sound of it)... but that was just the synchro wearing out from old age. I wouldn't tolerate it on a new car.

Good luck

 

I agree w/ Murph, regarding the involvement of a lawyer, I think it is too soon for this. If you live in ATL, there must be many other dealers you can try first before getting to this stage. Some dealers service depts are just **** poor and don't want to get invoved in any heavy line (engine,tranny) warranty work.

 

kstkrt,

Have you read the DIY: Transmission and Differential fluid replacement thread and considered replacing your fluids? Doing so has helped many of us.

rx8cited

 

The "shop forman" said he's been to the classes on the rotary....so I dont know what that makes him......but apparently he's qualified

 

both the service mgr and the "foreman" RE TEST drove the vehicle and determined it was fine.

Jeff

 

been there done that.....REDLINE....didn't help

 

My car also does the same once in a while but since i have had such bad experience at the dealer i have decided to let it go until something actually goes wrong and then they can't tell me that there isn't a problem. It isn't so consistant so i am not worried. How often does it happen to you?

 

i would skip the service manager and call the regional rep myself.

beers
john stewart

 

You may be overreacting just a bit on this, but I don't really know, because I never drove vehicle. Sometimes it's just as bad to completely mistrust someone as it is to trust them, but if you think something is wrong, your best bet is to try another dealer. Why stress yourself out about this? The car is afterall under warranty, and you have a long way to go on the bumper to bumper. You definitely need a second opinion, so if they insist nothing is wrong, you need to try another dealer and see what they say. Even considering a lawyer at this point is utterly foolish, because right now it will only cause more problems. Just be patient, kind, and rational, and express your genuine concern about a vehicle that may possibly fail you. If this vehicle is not shifting properly, and it is as bad as you say, it's likely another dealer will confirm there is a problem rather then walk away from it. I know it's hard but do not assume that service center is ducking the problem. They may indeed genuinely think it's normal, but if you are concerned enough about this then it's your job to convince them that it's not normal, and there is a problem, rather then assume they are ducking you. Good luck!!

 

if none of this works and you can't get a stealership to service the tranny make sure you get a work order stating the customers says the car was noisy, shifting hard or what ever other symptoms you experienced and that the stealership did nothing. Goes along way in court when you show you attempted to mitigate the problem

 

Sounds like J*m Ell*s in Chamblee. They tormented me with my GTI VR6 for a while, until I went elsewhere to be tormented by other dealers....

Look up MazdOnly in the Chamblee/Doraville area. If I'm not mistaken, they can do warranty work (but they're an independent shop, not a dealer). At least, you'll get either a quality opinion or a referral.

I wouldn't leave my car at the dealer if you're not on the best of terms with them... but that's just me.

At least you're in Atlanta, where you have a LOT of options. You could be somewhere wishing you were in Atlanta.....

JM1FE
I'm 34 and DEPRESSED!

 

Have you tried test driving another RX-8 to confirm for yourself that yours is really different? ....... Also have someone you trust drive yours and maybe both of you go test drive another RX-8 together and compare notes.

rx8cited

 

I did test drive another...it had 2400 miles on it.....it was pristine compared to mine........esp. in second gear.....

mind you....my tranny isnt ALWAYS grindy.......I get 2-5 shifts per day that I feel the grind in second.

 

What irritates me is that the foreman did acknowledge the notchiness last week....and now all of a sudden things have changed.......

They said they test drove other cars and that mine was actually better than the others on the lot......I say hogwash....that one I drove with 2400miles was night and day different.

 

I drive 35 miles each way to work....5 days a week. I would say the notchiness /grinding occurs about 2-8 times going into second gear during that 70 mile treck.
VERY rarely do I get a FULL day of total smoothness.....that only happens about 1-3 days out of the month....

Today on the 40 mile drive home from the dealership...it happened 2X.

 

My car has the same problem / frequency you've described.

rx8cited

 

So what are you going to do about it????

I find it inexcusable......

Mazda REFUSES to fix it basically until the car is so bad that it does it on a more consant basis....

I'm afraid that at 70k miles.....My second gear will be nubbs and useless. and of course out of warranty.....

If this is so "commonplace", I'd be happy if they'd offered me a 6 year 120K mile warranty. Then I wouldnt be so intense about it......


I've had my car 5 months and put 9k miles on it......
In 6 years when I pay my last payment, I'll have roughly 129,600k miles assuming I put miles on tha way I do now.

 

Dude, the same thing has happend to me. My tranny grinded into second occasionaly and doesnt feel the same lightness that it used to. I took it in and they drove it and said it drove fine, but i know there is something wrong in there (when u drive it everyday and all of a sudden things change, you know about it) My dealer told me that i had 50000 miles worth left of warranty (only had 3k on the car) and said bassically to just wait and if something is gonna go wrong it will go before then, and that they would fix it when it went completely. I live in atlanta also, i take my car to Henessey Mazda down in Morrow. Basically im just stuck driving the thing till my tranny blows up and i get stranded somewhere WOHOO!....just what i wanted. But they havent given me any issues concerning warranty, and he said that if it went i they would fix it. Keep in mind im only 16 (so "car abuse" is a comon stereotype for me, but they so far havent given me any crap like that) anyways good luck with it.

 

UPDATE:
Since the dealer who's foreman originally acknowledged something felt odd and then a week later after I brought them my car they changed their story after driving mine again while comparing it with the feel of some of the other 8's on the lot, the dealer has come to the conlclusion that ther is nothing wrong with my car. Here's the kicker....when I asked them for a written statment stating that occasional grinding and notchiness is considered NORMAL, THEY REFUSED TO DO IT!! Can you believe it??!! They'll tell me to my face that there is nothing wrong, but when I ask them to jot down what the foreman felt on the original test drive, they want to deny it ever happened. The service manager stated that his superior told him that he was not allowed to write a letter stating that my tranny was notchy or grinded----even thought the foreman DID feel it on our first test drive.....I don't doubt that the y may not have felt it when they did the second test drive.....I TOLD them the car doesnt do it ALL the time....

So, basically I'll have to just drive it until it isn't driveable....then they'll fix it. [yippee]

To me, thats not customer service.....I feel like they are covering things up....

 

Stop wasting your time at this dealer and go somewhere else.