The dealer replaced my headlights becuase they were foggy and now ther are aiming way down to the ground. i maybe have half of the visiblity i had before. The dealer wont fix tehm they want me to pay alot of money to adjust them. Can u telll me how i can adjust them myself

 

???

They replaced them but won't level them? What kind of dealer is that? I'd report them to MNAO and your state's vehicle safety department.

 

That's what we call 'half-assing' the job!

I'd go back and make them adjust them.

Wait a second: aren't the HID's self-adjusting?

 

you can say that again, teh delaer does not like me as much as they did becuase i reported them to mazda usa.

 

Hmm, that would be a good reason to GO SOMEWHERE ELSE

 

if i go to a diffrent dealer i will have to pay out of pocket whic i can not afford right now. Nor will i spend money doiung so. I would rather fix it my self and get it done right then let a bunch of babbling bafoons go near my car :D

 

why would you have to pay out of pocket to go to another dealer, they all are suppose to take care of your car under warranty, no matter where you bought it.

 

Definitely report them. Sending you on your way with flagrantly mis-aimed headlights is a BIG DEAL.

You can adjust them yourself with a Phillips screwdriver. The thread is here on the forum somewhere. Be sure to find the diagrams too -- there are specific measurements involved, not just "aim until they look ok".

 

since the new dealer i am at can not do them because they were replacd by another dealer. Its somthing like liablity or somethin in that nature i dont know, all i know is it sucks while driving at night my light is cut off about half of what it should be.

 

There will be a greater liability exposure to them when they send you away without fixing the issue. If you get in to an accident and it's attributable to the HIDs then you can point your finger at them and say "I told them to fix it but they didn't want to".

 

LOL, its a mazda warranty! Not a Jim Bob's dealership warranty! you should be able to take it anywhere and get it fixed. Esp. if they used OEM Mazda products, then it should be very easy to have some other place do it.

 

bullshit, call mazda and make the dealer re-align them. My dealership didn't align mine after the replacement. I called them up and they did it for me no problem...

 

I take it, the US models don't have "auto-levelling" headlights?

 

^^No, we have the "auto-levelling" feature, although I have not been able to notice it, so it must be very slight.

 

I believe the lights need to be course aligned for the 'zero' point then the auto leveling will take over when weight is added or removed from the car.

If the course alignment is way low the auto leveling might not be able to compensate. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Either way it doesn't sound as if they are giving him enough night view and are therefore a distinct safety hazard. If they are indeed incorrect, the dealer can be held liable for it if they are a contributing factor to any accident. On top of that they are negligent in that he informed them and they blew him off. They have really opened themselves up to fault.

Does Florida still do yearly safety inspections? They use to and checking headlight alignment was one of the checks. Might want to get it verified they are out of alignment.

Either way the dealer should at least put your fears to rest by showing you they are in spec. The way they blew you off is unacceptable and wanting to charge you extra to align a warranty replaced part is total crap. I'd call them up and let them know if they didn't complete the installation correctly, which aligning them seems to be a part of, I'd inform MNAO.

I assumed they were replaced under warranty? Even if not, you would think that alignment was part of the installation costs.

 

I do believe he is right to some extent of dealership 2 not wanting to touch something that dealership 1 did not complete the installation on, they don't want to be liable for what dealership 1 might have screwed up. I would go back to dealership 1 and insist that they fix it or you are calling MNAO, and once they do it to you satisfaction, I would never go back there because they are obviously too lazy to be working on such a nice ride.

 

isnt the 'auto-levelling' feature completely seperate from the aim though?

the auto levelling adjusts the headlights based on sensors on the shocks to keep them at the same perspective on the roadway.

but the aim can be adjusted seperately, and the auto-levelling shouldnt affect the acutal aim of the lights

or at least thats my understanding. let me try a visual....

if your headlights are aimed like so:

_______________________-------------------------------------'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

then when the auto-levelling kicks in because of a heavy load or you start the car or whatever reason, they shall always remain aimed that way, right?

but if you aim your lights like so:

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

they should always be aimed that way as well, even when the auto-levelling feature kicks in...

i may be wrong, but it was explained to me as such (that the aim and auto-levelling are seperate things)

is that not the way it is? has anyone tried this to see if the auto-levelling re-aims your lights?

 

more like this



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i cant see crap at all

 

I think Vizacar is right. The auto-level has no idea where the lights are actually shinning. It is just calculating and adjusting by X% up or down to compensate for how the car is sitting. (heavy in the back, lite in the back etc) If the headlights are not adjusted correctly from the get go, the auto-level doenst know it. It just knows if the car is sitting level and if it needs to compensate for that level.