I don't have the latest 'm' flash, as a matter of fact I know I dont have the pre-latest 'l' flash. Service depts claim ignorance and say my vehicle is up to date. i plan on taking a copy of the TSB that mentions the 'm' flash and see what thy say, but I can already tell you, "whatever is in our system you have, so it's the latest."

It seems these guys have no desire to ensure that my $30,000+ car is up-to-date in all respects. why is that?

will report later!

 

What dealer?

 

they may have to download it...the newest TSB concerning flashing states they are to flash the cars whenever they're in for any type of service

 

Russell on us19

 

They are supposed to flash it when you "take it in for any other service". Try reporting a rough idle as well when you push this.

 

My dealer is telling me that the "M" re-flash has not been accepted well by their customers. Complaints about power loss are common. For that reason I am staying with my "L". I am getting 22 m.p.g., it runs great, and breaks the tires loose going into 4th gear. Can the performance get any better?

Charles

 

IT'S NOT A POWER LOSS! in previous pcm versions you got what felt like a surge above 5k rom. what was happening was a dip in power before that so when fulll power came back it felt like a surge. now there is no dip and the power curve is more linear with more power lower and no dip.

 

When Itook mine in the service reptold me 2 other peoplehave come in w/the same TSB for the update. He kept askingme if I have had trouble starting it or if it cranks a lot. He wastrying to get me to make those statementsto him anduntil I finally lied and said "Yes the pastfew weeks Ive hadtrouble starting thecar b/c Ive been letting valet drivers park it" he would not set me up for it on the service screen. I evenhighlighted the part of the TSB that said the M flashhad to be installed onany customers carsthat brought in the TSB and asked forit yet he still insisted thatI need a reason. On my invoice he listed -- customer states intermittently vehicle cranks and is hard to start. It stilldoesnt look like alot of these guys will haveyour car flashed unless youpresent that reason to them.

I havethe flash now and yes the drive ismuch smoother andyou canactually get some pickup out of the engine w/o being over 5000 RPM. Overall I think the car may not really be any faster than it was before but now it definitely has more umph in places where it previously never had any. Oh andso far my gas mileage has not changed.

 

I just went in and got my M flash today. I've had my K&N intake on for about 5 months now and they've seen it at the dealer each time i've taken it in. I just said I had problems starting it this week and when I did get it started, large puffs of white smoke came out the exhaust. I stated I read a TSB and followed the chock procedure to start it. They gave me the M flash on the spot. Then at the end said "hey, nice intake".

Drive is much smoother now, and I don't get any bogging when shifting from 1st to 2nd anymore.

 

Wish I had that problem. I took my car into Rosenthal Mazda in Tyson's Corner, VA, used the exact wording and they wouldn't flash my car (which has "J" btw), saying that it didn't need it. I walked in today, with TSB in hand and they said that I wasn't authorized to have the TSB (it came off of THEIR website) and that they wouldn't do it.

I guess a call into MNAO is in order. Grrrr...I hate doing this.

 

What!!?!? I got my copy of that TSB off Rosenthal's site also. Thats crazy. I just don't understand why all the dealers try to make these flashes so hard to get. I mean, we bought a $30k+ car. Thats like buying a computer, and if there is something wrong with it, not being able to update your software or hardware. Doesn't make any sense to me.

What surprised me tho about my dealer is they didn't give me any static about having a replacement intake.

 

I called Santa Monica Mazda and they refused to do the reflash even though I brought the TSB to their attention. I called the owner of Santa Monica Mazda, Mr. Bob Horton. He was very nice about the whole issue but said that he was unable to do it and requested that I call MNAO (800) 222-5500.

I spoke with Albert (ext 1260) at MNAO he immediately got on the phone with my dealer and authorized the reflash. Later I get a call for the Service Manager at Santa Monica Mazda (big time A-hole with a real bad attitude) trying to convince me that since I didn't have a problem with starting I shouldn't get the reflash. I attempted to quote the TSB to him and he cut me off saying that "He could read." What I want to know is what part of "This includes vehicles coming to the dealer for...normal scheduled maintenance" does he not understand? I had to insist that I still wanted the reflash and now have an appointment scheduled for next Tuesday.

Later I got a call saying that a bulletin is being sent out to all dealers to make sure they reflash all cars coming in for regular service.

Recap:

Owner of Santa Monica Mazda = Great Guy.
Service Manager of Santa Monica Mazda = Jerk
Albert at MNAO = Great Guy.
RX-8 = Incredible Car

 

Call Steve Miller at 703-749-6550

Who in the world did you deal with when you were here? I though I had this straightened out the other day....

Tommy

 

I'll do that. Thanks.

 

Look at that...you pay all that money and you cant even get some half decent customer service.....for shame on any Dealer that behaves like this

 

Has anyone figured out yet that the back of the building is more important than the 500.00 you saved by going from dealer to dealer to get the best price on the car?

 

This has nothing to do wiith the topic, huhsler, but I just had to tell you that your rotating-ball thingy is the coolest non-feline avatar I've seen in a long time. Resist the urge to put a limehat on it.

 

lol! Thanks. :-)

Do I look like a cat to you boy? Am I jumpin' around all nimbly bimbly from tree to tree? Am I drinking milk from a saucer? DO YOU SEE ME EATING MICE?

...MEOW.

 

Hey huhsler
I bought my 8 at Malloy Mazda in Woodbridge. So far they've been great about service. Mine's in right now for an oil change and recall fixes. I mentioned the M flash and they said they would take care of it today. You might want to give them a call.

 

mazda oakland gave me a hard time about the flash. i just called Mazda NA right away and they gave the service adviser a call. i heard her explaining to the corporate office why they couldnt do TSBs. now, the car was towed to the dealer for no start flooding the week before. plus i had the TSB there.

they put a sticker on my car, but how do i tell which flash it is from all the numbers on it? one number ends with "-L"

james