expo1

This might be hard to use in the case of CAT removal. You would have to admit to violating one federal law in order to get another enforced.

Tayninh

no doubt about it, he could be in dire financial trouble is something major goes up on the RX without a warranty. Hope the best for him and hope he puts the cat back on with the original set-up. Its a wonder he did not get dash signals or something telling him to have the car checked out.

BoxerGT2.5

Just to set the record straight I realize what the consequences are for removing the cat. I did not put it back on before hand cause I quite frankly didn't think replacing a AC button would require my car to be lifted 10ft in the air. Had I known this I would have put her back on.. All I can say is that I will NEVER buy Mazda again if MNAO voids my warranty. (will find out after work). I will stick with my 05 Legacy GT and sell the friggin car.

alnielsen

iTrader: (4)

Name the dealer. If it is mine, he won't see me again.

Griffin

It's gonna be hard to sell w/o a warranty to transfer. Best of luck to you. hope it all works out.

Tayninh

The story then has nothing to do with Mazda or the car, the issue is the Cat removal. what a shame the dealer did that. I frankly would not ever go back there. It certainly is a good way to kill off customers. I think they went toooooooooooooo far with the whole issue to start with. Same could happen with any dealer. This is the first I ever heard of a dealer doing this. Its just a shame it has to be a Mazda dealer and it happens to be an RX. The car is a great car and I certainly would not sell it just because one dealer gave him a real hard time with this issue. I would seek reconsideration to get the warranty back from Mazda. I would kind of tell them their response certainly depends on if he ever wants to have another Mazda. Not with harsh words but I would do it business like since this is critical to the owner to keep the warranty. Then I would most certainly look for another dealership to deal with. This was the result of some mechanic perhaps who thought he was doing the country a favor by reporting this. We don't know why the dealership did this without first consulting with the customer. They should have just talked to him first as one other already has said. I hope he lets us know what happens tomorrow then.

BoxerGT2.5

Oh I will write MNAO if they void my warranty. I understand your comments about it being a prob with the dealership and not the car or Mazda. But at some point and time that excuse can only work so long. For instance, your on vacation and your enter your hotel to check in and the receptionist looks at you and says "Welcome, to the Holiday Inn fat a$$", is this going to prompt you to want to stay at more Holiday Inn's. No, it won't. The bottom line is if Mazda is willing to let these dealers sell their car, than mazda or any other manufacturer is going to have to accept the negative image some dealerships may bring onto their product and their operations. The first person you see walking into a doctors office is the receptionist...believe me, the doctor knows that she/he sets the standard for how you view his practice.

BTW...the dealership was schaumburg mazda...

Tayninh

I got the sort of the "nose in the air" from GMAC too and so I have no intention to ever buy a GM car ever!!!!!!! Some look good but beyond that they fail in quality and workmanship. Its a long story. I do think the Mazda RX-8 is put together rather nicely for the price. Yes, I hope you can turn things around and I am so amazed that some punks at the service center went way too far against you. I would almost want to see the sales manager and tell him they really made you mad by the way they handled the whole thing and that they just gave this dealership a bad risk. Already folks are asking their name so they can stay away from there. Whoever did this at the service department needs to be talked to because sales is what keeps them in business and doing things like this will hurt their bottom line in the future if not now. Yes, once you get this settled, I would seek another dealer to take my car too. I can understand you are frustrated with this whole thing. Thanks for keeping us informed and let us know what the final outcome is. I hope its in your favor.

Furby

when my parents decided to buy a mazda3, they found one they liked at a dealership (palm beach mazda for those in the area). they got ready to sign the papers, and my dad noticed the VIN was different on the papers... the car had 2000 extra miles compared to the one they wanted (8 miles). they were trying to dick my parents. but my parents and I agreed the car is still a good car, some dealers are just crooked, regardless of company. so they went to cityplace mazda, and they're probably the most honest dealers out there. ended up with a different mazda3 that only had 4 miles on it.

Tayninh

A Mazda 3 is a very good car indeed. Consumers Report rated it very high. Waiting to see how they rate the RX-8s

Furby

me too tayninh. i'm waiting for some sort of reliability report to find out if i'm going to buy it. sorry, went off topic there..

G8rboy

I knew it!! Those guys were ******** to me when I considered buying there. I'll be sure to remind people that ask me where to buy to avoid that place.

93rdcurrent

I want to say this from the beginning... I am all for getting more hp out of our cars. It is a federal offense to do anything with the emissions system and to drive your car on public roads. In states like California it is a $10,000 fine. You may have gained 5-10 hp tops by going to a mid pipe with no cat and you could have the same gains with an aftermarket high flow high temp cat and it would've cost you less than $600 for the parts. Unless you are only racing your car on the track there is no point to going catless.

That said I don't see why you would be so pissed at Mazda for doing their job. I think if I was the mechanic I would've talked to you first but that is only because I hate to see a warranty go up in flames. You have no place to complain and you need to deal with your own actions without trying to throw the blame on Mazda. If I went in and someone discovered that there was the CZ piggyback ECU in my car then it is my fault for not taking it out, right? Sorry you are having such a hassle but you shouldn't be driving around without a cat anyway.

thew

bull this is not right.. get a lawyer. have them write a letter.
they have to prove that the mod he did caused damage to the car . The cat thing is a diffrent issue. I suppose they could report him to the feds for that but his mod did not cause a problemb with the car so how can it void the warenty.. Get a Lawyer...

Brian1f

This is right... We dont want to breath in his **** cause he didnt want to spend a few bucks to get 5hp cleanly. Im not tree hugger but cats have really helped cut smog and as I as a business owner, would not give you a warranty as your vehicle is now far more likely to have problems and glitches of your own fault. They never said "hey man jack this up and we will pay for anything you can do to her!" did they?

BoxerGT2.5

I'm sorry, I don't recall giving them the authority to put my car on the lift???

BoxerGT2.5

What problems or glitches is my car more prone to than yours???

Razz1

Serves you right. It's against the law to run without a CAT.

BoxerGT2.5

Thanks for pointing that out...intelligence at it's best. It's also against the law to pull the tag off a mattress?? Good point.

Rob Tomlin

I agree that you should get your button replaced since removing the cat had nothing to do with that.

The real problem that you have now is that if you have any problems with your motor, Mazda will not cover it under warranty, assuming the dealer has noted the removal of the cat on their computer. You will not have a very good chance in prevailing on the issue, either.

Why did you remove the cat? Do you race?

I know hindsight is 20/20, but I would never have removed the cat prior to the warranty expiring (and probably not even then).

BoxerGT2.5

Ok...took my car to have the button replace....they replaced it....and THEN decided to put my car up on the lift for no apparent reason. My only complaint to them was the button. Nothing with CEL's or rough idle ect ect ect. And yes I have been getting more involved with racing.

Rob Tomlin

I suggest that you look at the work order that you signed. More likely than not, you gave them permission to do all kinds of things that you didn't think you were consenting to.

I don't want to be harsh, but you really have nobody to blame but yourself. You got caught, and now you are pissed, and now you are taking out your anger on the Mazda dealership, despite the fact that they were not the ones who removed your cat. You did.

There is a valid reason that warranties are voided when you do something as drastic as remove the entire cat.

BoxerGT2.5

I would just like one good reason from them for puttin my car on the lift....obviously, they have yet to give me one.

Rob Tomlin

Are you sure that they put the car on the lift, or are you assuming they put it on the lift because they discovered the removal of the cat?

Yes, it would be difficult to notice without putting the car on a lift, but not impossible. Or is it?

BoxerGT2.5

They told me they put my car on the lift....I asked why? The basically just said cause...???? Either way...I will fight it. To my understanding a dealer cannot "void" any warranty. MNAO authorizes all warranty work??