So after having my 8 for a month, the rear passenger side strut failed. At the same time, there are some mysterious kinks and ripples in the sheet metal that have appeared on top of both rear quarter panels (over the wheel wells).

The car is at the dealership now for repairs. They have repaired the failed strut and are going to have the body work done even though they claim not to know the cause of the kinks and ripples (the damage looks like the sheet metal was flexing, sort of like the way metal on a soda can kinks when you squeeze it slightly).

The service manager is adamant the failed strut did not cause the sheetmetal damage. I do not know enough about how struts work to know if this is true or not. Anyone have any thoughts or experience this problem? I am concerned the problem will repeat itself since the shop was unable to discover the cause.

Cheers

 

yikes, man. ive never heard of this happening.

 

wtf. So the dealer is basically saying the car crumpling up is normal?

who CARES if the struct caused it or not. The car is new and under warranty. They need to fix it.

 

Man, that's scary! It sounds almost like it was damaged before you bought it and someone fixed the damage, except that it was too much damage to be able to fix and have hold. Was this a brand new car or a used car?

When I was going to get my hood fixed because of the rock dent the body shop said they coudl fix the dent in the aluminum, it was just a matter of how much damage was done to it as to whether or not it would be able to hold the repair. Fortunately, mine was able to be fixed and hold the shape, they say. If not, it's warrantied for life and the shop gives me a new hood.

 

did the failed strut affect your MPG?

 

The car was purchased new with a mere 18 miles on it. The strut failure happened at just short of 1800 miles.

 

That's very strange. I'm inclined to believe it was damaged in shipping and they fixed it, although not very well, apparently.

 

that's not cool

 

good luck with the strut. i had a front strut fail, but it took the dealer 5 trips before it was really fixed...that was just the beginning of a long line of problems

 

be very careful about this here at the delership sometimes cars are repaired in transit and they tie the car down too hard which can cause the frame to bend if the tractor trailer hits a dip in the road or highway!!before you go to far let your insurance co. know about this as soon as possible.it's not a lemon it's transportation damage that the dealer might have missed!!it's not anyones fault but you can not! tie some cars down too much because this is the end results!!

 

thats complete bull, get them to fix the sheet metal or call mazda

 

So, a few folks have mentioned they believe this could have been from previous damage. Is it normal for previous damage of this nature to be 'patched' only to reappear? If that is the case, anyone have ideas on what course of action I should take? Also, is it worth having the frame inspected and whom would I go to to get an objective answer. At this point, I don't fully trust the dealership. The shop manager just seems kind of shifty.

 

There is a possibility that there is some overheating in the rear end and that could cause metal/plastic distortion - some of the earlier 8s had a lot of hot problems - after it gets fixed, run her a bit and check that out it will be hot in the trunk and to your hand. Also consult Rotar God...

 

you can't bend metal at temperatures that won't cause your upholstery to burst into flames.

Although they say that the strut wasn't the cause of the crumpling metal, I'd say that it's possible the strut failure is a symptom of what is causing your crumpling.

As for the ripples and kinks in the rear panels BIG RED FLASHING ALARM on that one, the only way you get that to happen is with a massive failure in the structural integrity of the car, it almost sounds like they dropped it off the truck when they delivered it and they patched it up on the outside before selling it. I'd have the car inspected by a third party for sure, just so that they can recommend that you contact mazda USA directly and have them give you a new car, I doubt you can fix that kind of damage. You might want to have an aircraft body guy have a look at it too because they deal with that kind of crumpling damage all the time (I'm being serious here).

If I were in your position I would not take that car back no matter what.

 

PS: I 'd tell them not to fix it until you can have it looked at

 

A. Body damage before delivery is not that uncommon. Through the years I have had 2 dealers try to hide pre-delivery collisions and did everything possible to deny the damage existed.

B. Poorly executed body work ie bondo too thick can get more and more obvious over time. My guess is that in your excitement to take delivery of your new car that you probably didn't inspect too carefully. The damage was probably visible when you signed for delivery and you just noticed after your excitement settled.

 

I agree 100% with this post, something major is causing that type of damage, get the local rep down in person.

 

The rear quarter panels are welded to the unibody structure. Any ripples and kinks in the rear panels indicate a bent rear structure like the car was rear-ended in a collision or went cross country or hit a curb head on at high speed. I would want another car!

 

the point here was(to erizik)is that not all problems are the fault of the dealer it falls on the transportation company for not training there new guys or girls how not to over tighten the chains that hold the vehicle in place while transporting them.there was a time when they transported 15 passenger vans they pulled them down so hard both 1/4 panels buckled on the way down the road.not saying other factors could be in place then this.no flames just a spark!!it's bad he has this problem but to have your guard up won't hurt.this is all have a good day.

 

also 30 PLUS years of this crap is bad as it is i have taken the dealerships defense towards trans. companies for them trying to hide damages.any new vehicle should come with a disclosure of damages that were repaired in transit(it's the law)and the customer should know when they buy it.only if they tell you will you know that is the law also for the dealer to tell you of frame damage,body damage,and repairs over 3% of the cost of you car or truck(in virginia) bumpers,glass,fenders,tail lights,head lights are ok to replace but 1/4 panels door skins,frame work are reasons for the transport company and dealer to buy back the vehicle.even better not even sale it!!!!

 

Crud. This is not good news I am reading. I got the car back this morning, all fixed. They were able to roll the ripples out so the factory seal on the paint wouldn't be broken. It's looks perfect. I didnt think they could do it.

As far as serious structural damage is concerned, I'll keep an eye on the quarter panels over the next 500 to 1000 miles to see if any new damage occurs. If it does, at least I have a paper trail. I drove the car hard (I mean HARD) when I brought her home to see if I could get any immediate replication of the damage. So far, nothing.

I looked into Washington state Lemon Law and it states if here are 4 failed attemps to repair or diagnose the problem, or the same problem occurs 4 times within 2 years, I am entitled to a free arbitration hearing to get the manufacturer to repurchase or replace the vehicle. It's a lot of crap to go through, but at least I am glad that law is there just in case. I highly doubt they manufacturer will even remotely consider replacement of the vehicle before such a hearing no matter what is wrong with it.

If I do end up getting a new 8, I'm gonna demand a blue one as that is the color I wanted to begin with but they didn't have a single one for sale in the entire state when I bought mine. The crummy thing is though, I was all set to have the appearance package added. No I think I better wait.

 

I don't know about frame-wise but if the part of the vehicle he is talking about (body panel) is aluminum then, yes, it can re-damage itself. The material has been too damaged/weakned to hold the repair and that is why it would be crumpling again. That was a concern with my hood.

 

if those ripples do appear again I would take it to an aircraft sheet metal expert or a reputable body shop, if they do reappear it means your body is damaged and is slowly breaking in half causing the panels to crumple in the process. to test the car I would go drive on some really crappy roads with lots of potholes or on a dirt road with washboard bumps on it, the jarring will cause the problem to return much faster (only bad part is you'd be driving what might be a perfectly good car on bad roads for no reason). And if it does call mazda USA before going to the dealer, dealers are shady ppl that will do anything to get out of any work they don't want to do.

If it is what we think it is, then this isn't some failing sensor or fouling spark plug, this could be a major problem. I don't mean to scare you really bad here, but I think you should have it examined anyway to determine what is up with your body structure.